Horror & Gothic

Showing 1–36 of 53 results

Horror & Gothic

[anon.] Ghost-Stories;

£1,250


collected with a particular view to counteract the vulgar belief in ghosts and apparitions
London, Ackermann, 1823.

First edition. 8vo. Original boards, printed spine label.

A rare and intriguing work on ghost stories, '...based on the theme of false supernaturalism.' (Bleiler)

£225

First edition. Includes stories by, E.S. Knights, Hester Gorst, Elliott O'Donnell, John Ratho, Charles Lloyd and others. London, Philip Allan, 1933 In our experience the most elusive of the Creeps series with no copies currently for sale online.

£135



London, Sands & Company, 1899.

First edition. 8vo. Woodcut device to title. Original pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.

A gothic mystery novel set on the English moors involves a country squire in danger and his son investigating threats to his life, tracing back to an Indian subplot. Central to the tale are a mad prince, a Dartmoor escapee, multiple disguises, a vengeful Indian thug...and extensive cycling. The story opens with a unique 'face at the window' moment. Uncommon, notably compared to its American counterpart.

£200



London, Robert Hale, 1963.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.

First UK edition of this collection of thirteen macabre and often shocking tales, from the author of Psycho.

£275

London, Herbert Jenkins, 1932.  

£150



London, Edward Arnold, 1948.

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 8s6d.

The second and final collection of ghost stories by retired civil servant and former governor of Ceylon Andrew Caldecott, distilling his lifelong fascination with the supernatural into simple yet remarkably disturbing stories, in a similar vein to publisher stable-mate M.R. James. The mundane becomes horrific, the everyday is unnerving...and the commonplace is terrifying.

£150



London, Edward Arnold, 1947.

First edition. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.

The first of two collections of ghost stories by retired civil servant Caldecott, distilling his lifelong fascination with the supernatural into simple yet remarkably disturbing stories, in a similar vein to publisher stable-mate M.R. James. The mundane becomes horrific, the everyday is unnerving...and the commonplace is terrifying.

£475

First edition.
London, John Lane. The Bodley Head, 1928
A scarce novel of fantasy involving the supernatural and the devil. No copies on line.

£495



London, Putnam, 1934.

First edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket.

Seven Gothic Tales showcases Blixen's range and depth beyond her famed autobiographical piece Out of Africa. While the latter presents an intimate view of colonial Africa, Seven Gothic Tales takes readers on a different journey into the realms of the macabre, mystical and romantic, something which had intrigued the author from a young age. Rex Whistler's characteristic artwork lends itself perfectly.

£175

Fifth printing, Putnam, 1948. An attractive early printing of this famous compilation of tales by Karen Blixen, under her pen name of Isak Dinesen.

£1,500



London, Philip Allan, 1920.

First edition. 8vo. Modern blue cloth with red leather spine label tooled in gilt.

A handsome copy of this second collection of supernatural tales by Henrietta Dorothy Everett, presumed the first appearance in book form. Includes one of the author's most famous stories, 'The Crimson Blind'.

£300



London, Herbert Joseph, 1937.

First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original green cloth, lettered in orange to spine.

A scarce haunted house novel.

£175



London, C.Arthur Pearson, 1916.

First abridged edition. Small 8vo. Original dark grey cloth blocked in black.

An attractive abridgment of the weird & supernatural tales of psychic detective Flaxman Low, written by mother & son team 'E. & H. Heron'. The stories first appeared in Pearson's Magazine (1899). Hesketh was a prolific turn-of-the-century author, creator of then then very popular sadistic bandit character Don Q., as noted by Bleiler now "deservedly forgotten".

£350



London, Hamish Hamilton, 1983.

First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced £7.95.

The famous ghost story that inspired film, television, stage and audio adaptations. Scary stuff.

£75



London, Robert Hale, 1956.

First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 12/6.

A semi-gothic thriller set largely in Victorian London, by a prolific writer and biographer. The book, like many of Hooke's, was subsequently made into a film, The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958).

£325



London, Quality Press, 1946.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 10/6.

An eye-catching first edition recounting the adventures of a ghost hunter. Scarce.

£195


In The Bookman: Special Christmas Number 1929
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1929.

Large 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers.

An important Christmas issue of The Bookman, featuring M.R. James' famous essay 'Some Remarks on Ghost Stories', but also featuring contributions by G.K. Chesterton, Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen.

£250

London, Edward Arnold, 1931. First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. The first omnibus edition of James' supernatural tales.

Horror & Gothic

King (Frank) The Ghoul

£150



London, Nimmo, n.d. [1940s].

Popular reprint edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.

An attractive and collectable edition of King's classic of modern horror, memorably transferred to the big screen in 1933 starring Boris Karloff.

Horror & Gothic

King (Frank) The Ghoul

£795



New York, G. Howard Watt, 1929.

First US edition, first printing. 8vo. Original grey cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced $2.00.

A rare edition of this classic of ghoulish horror, especially in the correct first issue dust-jacket with correct number of reviews and price.

Horror & Gothic

King (Frank) The Ghoul.

£750



London, Geoffrey Bles, [1926],

First edition. Signed & inscribed by the author. 8vo. Original cloth.

Signed and inscribed by the author on front endpaper with this distinctive, flourishing signature.

The basis for the movie of the same name starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger and Ralph Richardson (making his movie debut)

Extremely scarce signed and inscribed by the author.

£5,500



London, Tinsley Brothers, 1867.

3 vols. First edition. 8vo. Half-titles all present. Publisher's dark orange blind-tooled cloth, lettered in gilt to spines. Housed in modern morocco-backed cloth solander box.

The best example of this rare, Hubin-listed three decker by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu that we have ever seen, extremely uncommon in the original cloth and in such condition. The story itself features the Gothic tropes and elements one would expect from the author of Uncle Silas (1864) and In a Glass Darkly (1872), a crumbling family pile, hidden romance, suspicious death, a looming inheritance and dangerous ambition.

£5,750


A Tale of Bartram-Haugh
London, Richard Bentley, 1865.

First editions, mixed issues: vol.I first issue (with no edition statement); vol.I & II second issues (stating 'second edition'). 3 vol., 8vo. Half-titles, publisher's device to title-pages. Uniformly bound in late 19th century calf-backed cloth, spine compartments within raised bands with gilt tooling, leather spine labels lettered in gilt.

"Uncle Fanu is perhaps Le Fanu's most celebrated work, superior in atmosphere and emotional power. Draped in black, it is a psychological thriller with a highly concentrated small cast." Marshall B. Tymn, Horror Literature. Uncle Silas was Le Fanu's first success in England, derived from an earlier short story he published in an Irish journal which he also edited. It has probably remained his best known novel ever since, reminiscent in style of the more successful literary forays of Wilkie Collins.

The edition was reissued twice by publishers Bentley at the author's request, using the sheets remaining from the first print-run, prior to being published in a one-volume edition. The self-styled 'second edition' is therefore in fact a 'second issue', which was followed by a third issue stating 'third edition'. Save for the addition of the words 'Second Edition' and '[The right of Translation is reserved]' to the title page, it is identical to the initial issue (including the double hyphen in the sub-title). Both Wolff and Topp give the number of the 'second edition' as 500 copies, but Richard Bentley II in the List for 1865 states that the 'second edition' comprised 250 copies, which is corroborated by the apparent split of the sheets between the three issues as recorded by the publishers. The 'second edition' was published in March 1865.

Horror & Gothic

Lewis (M.G.) The Monk.

£1,500


A Romance of the most intense Interest
London, John Williams, 1826.

8vo. Handsomely bound in full speckled calf gilt, with gilt dentelles and spine compartments within raised bands, by Wallis.

A sumptuous edition of Lewis' horror classic, possibly issued to coincide with a post war (Peninsular) revival in all things gothic.

£450

London: Selwyn & Blount Limited, . Not dated. early issue (c.1932}.
The first edition of this book was published in 1931.
Contains 16 weird stories from Weird Tales and other sources. Includes the first book publication of H.P. Lovecraft's 'The Rats in the Walls.'

£150



London, The Readers Library, n.d. [c.1935].

First edition thus. Small 8vo. Original cloth, gilt. Dust-jacket, with advertisements printed to reverse.

Originally entitled A Chink in the Armour; a scarce Readers Library edition, in fun jacket.

£200

First edition. London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd 1925

£525



New York, Doubleday Doran, 1942.

First US edition (published in the UK as Uneasy Freehold). 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced $2.50.

An attractive first edition of this important ghost story, written by Irish writer and historian Dorothy Macardle. This US edition bears the same title as the subsequent film and stage versions; the 1944 film version was quite groundbreaking in that it did actually treat the supernatural elements in a horror context, something previously shied away from in mainstream cinema.

£975



London, Collins, 1935.

First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.

Cult novel about a man who discovers his mother has been hiding his monstrous brother in the attic, the author's only dalliance within the fringes of Sci-Fi. Very scarce in the original Rex Whistler jacket.

£595



London, F.V. White, 1901.

First edition. 8vo. Original green pictorial cloth, lettered in gilt to spine.

A great example of this rare horror title by the author of The Beetle.

£480


A Mystery
London, Skeffinton & Son, 1898.

Fourth edition. 8vo. Title printed in red & black, frontispiece and 3 plates, patterned endpapers. Original dark pictorial cloth lettered in gilt & black.

An early edition, in very good condition, of the author's most well-known title, a classic of Gothic horror.

"In 'The Beetle' Marsh introduces the supernatural entity known variously as 'The Oriental', 'The Woman of Songs' or 'The Beetle'. This malignant, deformed creature is inhabited by the soul of an ancient Egyptian princess...[and] can turn at will into an insect, or alternatively into a man or a woman or an enigmatic amalgam of both." - Richard Dalby, Book and Magazine Collector No. 163 (1997).

£3,000

Translated by Madge Pemberton. First English edition. London, Victor Gollancz, 1928. An excellent first edition in English of this phantasmagoric classic of horror, suspense and dreamlike mysticism, replete with the superb dust-jacket designed by E. McKnight Kauffer.

£475



London, Eveleigh Nash, 1914

First edition, signed and inscribed by author on half title. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.

Elliott O'Donnell was a prolific author known primarily for his books about ghosts.

Rare in jacket and especially signed.

£1,250



London, Denis Archer, [1932].

First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

Sinisterly appealing jacket artwork graces this scarce first edition in jacket; classic horror stuff, with a clergyman possessed by the devil. Genuinely rare.

£250



London, Faber, 1945.

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. dust-jacket, 9s6d.

An uncommon anthology of ghost tales published by Faber, including authors such as Wilkie Collins and Rudyard Kipling.

£975



London, Cassell, 1936.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with red spine label. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

A rare Sax Rohmer edition, in which an ancient Egyptian secret intriguingly like atomic power is unleashed. Distinctly hard to find in the original dust-jacket.