A Haunting Beauty

Charles Birkin was the acknowledge master of the conte cruel or psychological horror story. His first collection was published in the 1930's as part of the famous Creeps series. After a lapse of nearly thirty years he returned to the field at the urging of Dennis Wheatly, rapidly turning out remarkably powerful collections that have profoundly influenced the field of modern horror. This present collection was assembled by the author with the assistance of noted editor Mike Ashley and was intended as a retrospective sampling of the author's work. The elegant and cruel tales of Charles Birkin have been too long unavailable to the modern reader; it is hoped that this will be but the first of several volumes collecting his best stories.

Contents:

• Introduction by Mike Ashley
• Little Boy Blue
• Some New Pleasures Prove
• King of the Castle
• Waiting for Trains
• Lords of the Refuge
• Ballet Nègre
• Text for Today
• A Right to Know
• Fairy Dust
• Hosanna!
• The Horror on Tobit (aka The Terror on Tobit)
• A Haunting Beauty
• The Mousehole (aka The Mouse Hole)
• Behind the Haunting (essay by Mike Ashley)