Terror Tales of the West Country

The West Country. England’s mystical heart. Hill-forts, ancient circles. Blessed by age-old powers, sanctified in blood. Where woods and pools stir to whispered summonings, forbidden names are carved in rock, and rebels died en masse, hanged and butchered, their gore-dabbled ghosts wandering vengeful in the rural night …

The drumming demon of Tedworth
The ocean predator at Ilfracombe
The sleeping bones at Wilcot
The creep-about killer on Burgh Island
The hateful entity in Cheddar Gorge
The flesh-rotting curse at Blackdown
The stalking spectres on Dartmoor   

Includes terrifying tales by A K Benedict, Andy Briggs, Mike Chinn, Adrian Cole, Dan Coxon, Steve Duffy, Paul Finch, Lizzie Fry, John Linwood Grant, Thana Niveau, John Llewellyn Probert, Sarah Singleton, S L Howe, Lisa Tuttle and Stephen Volk.

PRAISE FOR THE TERROR TALES SERIES

‘[Terror Tales Of The Scottish Lowlands is] by turns shocking, thrilling, poignant and maudlin, but with a pervading undercurrent of resilience and tenacity so typical of Scotland as a whole, all-in-all, this volume would be a great little addition to any Fortean library.’ C M Saunders, Phantasmagoria Magazine #20

‘In the “Terror Tales” series, the fiction is interspersed with “true” stories of real horrors written by editor Paul Finch so you get a lot for your money … As with any rich collection of stories not entirely dissimilar in nature, Terror Tales Of The Scottish Lowlands is best taken in small bites, like haggis.’ Eamonn Murphy, SF Crowsnest

‘A top-quality anthology … if you are a fan of short stories, especially the British variety, then this anthology is well worth closer inspection.’ Tony Jones, Gingernuts of Horror

‘Terror Tales of Cornwall, for me at least, has three levels as there are good stories, very good stories, and excellent ones.’ Joe X Young, Gingernuts of Horror

‘According to Finch, the mission of this anthology series is to “reclaim the dark heart of Britain’s literary legacy”. The best stories here do that. Befitting our present state of contagion anxiety, the creatures and dark forces that move through these tales are disturbingly indistinct and insidious.’ William Brown, Horrified

‘[Terror Tales of the Scottish Lowlands] is a smorgasbord of a book, a large spread of toothsome (in some cases toothy) stories all with their own particular flavours, and some are very stong meat indeed.’ Tina Rath, Ghosts & Scholars

367pp. B-format paperback original anthology.
ISBN: 978-1-84583-208-7
Published 31 October 2022

Cover by Neil Williams

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Former police officer and journalist Paul Finch was a script-writer on The Bill and now, as a best-selling crime novelist, is the author of the very popular DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg and DC Lucy Clayburn novels (the first one of which made the Sunday Times Top 10 list). He is also widely published in the horror and fantasy fields, having written Doctor Who scripts for Big Finish and winning the British Fantasy Award twice for his short stories and novellas. He has also now edited 14 volumes of the Terror Tales series.

Paul is a native of Wigan, Lancashire, where he still lives with his wife and business partner, Cathy.