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Illusions of Presence
Lost Christmas Ghost Stories
Brief Description
'Oh! Grandmamma, do tell us a story a nice, horrible ghost story.'A trip to the dentist becomes a ghoulish ordeal on Christmas Eve. Blood spilt over a Christmas wedding begets a ghostly vengeance. In the dark of a mine, an elemental spirit claims its Yuletide sacrifice.The...
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Illusions of Presence
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A beautiful collection of forgotten classic ghost stories to bring the eerie into Christmas, from the editor of the run-away Halloweird and ongoing bestseller Celtic Weird, Johnny Mains.
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Description
'Oh! Grandmamma, do tell us a story a nice, horrible ghost story.'
A trip to the dentist becomes a ghoulish ordeal on Christmas Eve. Blood spilt over a Christmas wedding begets a ghostly vengeance. In the dark of a mine, an elemental spirit claims its Yuletide sacrifice.
The Christmas ghost story is a cornerstone of supernatural writing, with a legacy stretching back centuries, and scores of classic tales awaiting rediscovery. Returning from a hunt through the murk of newspaper and journal archives, eminent anthologist Johnny Mains brings you the gift of fifteen long-lost yarns spun for weird Christmas days and nights.
With tales penned by Victorian novelists, anonymous enigmas and 1920s pulp writers, this sparkling selection of rarities is a festive riot of the spectral and macabre.
Series: British Library Gilded Nightmares
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780712355933
Publisher: British Library Publishing
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 16 October 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: British Library Publishing
Contributors:
- Edited by Johnny Mains
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 190.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 188
About the Author
Johnny Mains is an eminent horror anthologist renowned for recovering lost stories from the archives. His books edited for the British Library include Celtic Weird (2022), Scotland the Strange (2023), Halloweird (2024) and The Dead of Summer (2025). His latest books are Bound in Blood (Titan, 2024), The Anthologist's Folly (Ramble House, 2024) and His Beautiful Hands: The Short Fiction of Oscar Cook (Ramble House, 2025).
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