Horror & Gothic

Showing 1–36 of 51 results

£425



London, Newnes, [c.1925].

Newnes' New Size Novels edition. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers, priced 1/-.

Rare soft cover edition of this classic werewolf title which has been described by Richard Dalby as possibly the definitive werewolf novel. First published by Eveleigh Nash in 1919.

£250



London, Odhams, [1919].

First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth.

A notoriously rare collection, including the tale 'The housekeeper', subsequently republished as 'The Confession of Beau Sekforde'.

£395


Traduction Nouvelle Précèdès de Souvenirs intimes sur la Vie de l'Auteur Par P. Christian
Paris, Lavigne, 1843.

Large 8vo. Original, black ripple-grain cloth, heavily blocked in gilt to the spine, upper and lower covers, with borders to both covers blocked in blind. All edges gilt. Yellow endpapers.

Generally, a nice copy of a handsome edition rare in the original cloth boards and of especial note for the illustrations.

The contents, newly translated by P Christian (and preceded by a 13-page memoir of Hoffmann's life) comprise: (1) 'The Song of Antonia', 'Salvator Rosa', (3) The Adventures of Young Traugott', (4) 'Annunziata', (5) 'The Cooper of Nuremburg', (6) 'Olivier Brusson', (7) 'Pharaoh's Bank', (8) 'The Chain of Destinies', (9) ' Coppelius', (10) 'King Trabacchio', (11) ' Berthold the Mad', (12) 'The Mystery of the Desert House', (13) 'The Walled Door', (14) 'The Agate Heart, (15) 'Fascination', (16) 'The Lost Reflection', (17) 'Heroic Story of Minister Klein-Zacu'

Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (1804-66), who worked under the pseudonym 'Gavarni', was originally a contributor to la Mode, specialising in fashion drawings. 'His lithographs give an insight into the manners and morals of his time …' Using every technique in a brilliant way, he described the social life of the upper classes, of the stage and in particular the habits of the Parisian of the 1840s and 1850s – Man, Artists Lithographs p. 43.

£95


...with an introduction by Austin Dobson
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1896.

First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial black cloth blocked in silver.

A near fine example of this attractive edition of Hood's melodramatic ghost story in verse, "a masterpiece of it's kind" according to Edgar Allan Poe. The first edition in book form.

£325



London, Ivor Nicholson & Watson, 1935.

First edition. 8vo. Original dark blue cloth with white illustration to upper cover.

An anthology of one of the best ghost story writers of the 20th century.

£650



London, Heinemann, 1938.

First edition. 1½ page autograph letter from the author tipped in at front. 8vo. Original orange-brown cloth lettered in gilt.

A superb association copy: Roughead's writings inspired the Shearing novel The Fetch (dedicated to him). The book is notable for containing the ghost story 'They Found my Grave' not available elsewhere in the reprint collections issued in the author's lifetime. Edward Wagenknecht was exuberant about this ghost story in his essay on Marjorie Bowen (Seven Masters of the Supernatural), praising its 'atmosphere of evil'.

£650



London, Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1929.

First edition. 8vo. Original russet cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.

An attractive first edition of this important work on vampire lore, by the author of History of Witchcraft and Demonology (1926).

£325



London, Hutchinson, [1935].

First edition. 8vo. Original red pictorial cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.

A handsome anthology, featuring contributions by Algernon Blackwood, Thomas Burke, F. Marion Crawford, James Hilton, M.R. James, Arthur Machen, and Dennis Wheatley himself.

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.  

£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.

£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'.

£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.

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

£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.

£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).

£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.

£395



London, John Murray, 1922.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt.

A scarce golfing murder mystery set on a links in Cornwall during the Miners' Strike, and featuring a shell-shocked war veteran.