James Brogden – författare

A decade ago, teacher Nathan Brookes saw four of his students walk up a hill and vanish. Only one returned - Olivia - starved, terrified, and with no memory of where she'd been. After a body is found in the same woodland where they disappeared, it is first believed to be one of the missing children, but is soon identified as a Bronze Age warrior, nothing more than an archaeological curiosity. Yet Nathan starts to have terrifying visions of the students. Then Olivia reappears, half-mad and willing to go to any lengths to return the corpse to the earth. For he is the only thing keeping a terrible evil at bay...

After her hand is amputated following a tragic accident, Rachel Cooper suffers vivid nightmares of a woman imprisoned in the trunk of a hollow tree, screaming for help. When she begins to experience phantom sensations of leaves and earth with her missing limb, Rachel is terrified she is going mad... but then another hand takes hers, and the trapped woman is pulled into our world. This woman has no idea who she is, but Rachel can't help but think of the mystery of Oak Mary, a female corpse found in a hollow tree, and who was never identified. Three urban legends have grown up around the case; was Mary a Nazi spy, a prostitute or a gypsy witch? Rachel is desperate to learn the truth, but darker forces are at work. For a rule has been broken, and Mary is in a world where she doesn't belong...

From the critically acclaimed author of Hekla's Children comes a dark and haunting tale of our world and the next. After a brutal break-in leaves her family traumatised, Trish Feenan jumps at the chance of a fresh start in a charming historic community. But in the back garden of her new cottage sits an unsettling reminder of past wrongs: a standing stone, once one of the markers that kept plague sufferers outside the village bounds, its `powers’ renewed every year in a ritual that seems to be more than just local oddity. As the Feenans settle in, they experience unexplained accidents, accompanied by sightings of a girl who vanishes into thin air. Soon, it becomes obvious that there is a reason traditions must not slip, and that all acts of betrayal, even those committed centuries ago, have consequences…

From the critically acclaimed author of Hekla's Children comes a dark and haunting tale of an ancient cult wreaking bloody havoc on the modern world.YOU SHALL REAP WHAT YOU SOWStruggling with the effects of early-onset Alzheimer's, Dennie Keeling leads a quiet life. Her husband is dead, her children are grown, and her best friend, Sarah, was convicted of murdering her abusive husband. All Dennie wants now is to be left to work her allotment in peace.But when three strangers take the allotment next to hers, Dennie starts to notice strange things. Plants are flowering well before their time, shadowy figures prowl at night, and she hears strange noises coming from the newcomers' shed. Dennie soon realises that she is face to face with an ancient evil - but with her Alzheimer's steadily getting worse, who is going to believe her?

Twenty curses, old and new, from bestselling fantasy authors such as Neil Gaiman, Christina Henry, M.R. Carey and Charlie Jane Anders.ALL THE BETTER TO READ YOU WITHIt's a prick of blood, the bite of an apple, the evil eye, a wedding ring or a pair of red shoes. Curses come in all shapes and sizes, and they can happen to anyone, not just those of us with unpopular stepparents... Here you'll find unique twists on curses, from fairy tale classics to brand-new hexes of the modern world - expect new monsters and mythologies as well as twists on well-loved fables. Stories to shock and stories of warning, stories of monsters and stories of magic.TWENTY TIMELESS FOLKTALES, NEW AND OLDNEIL GAIMANJANE YOLENKAREN JOY FOWLERM.R. CAREYCHRISTINA HENRYCHRISTOPHER GOLDENTIM LEBBONMICHAEL MARSHALL SMITHCHARLIE JANE ANDERS JEN WILLIAMSCATRIONA WARD JAMES BROGDENMAURA McHUGH ANGELA SLATTERLILLITH SAINTCROWCHRISTOPHER FOWLERALISON LITTLEWOODMARGO LANAGAN