Natasha Pulley – författare

''Now''s the time to curl up with a ghostly tale - and this collection should be your go to!'' Fabulous

''This cracking collection of spooky tales is perfect for the season of darkling nights'' Mail on Sunday

FROM THE CREATORS OF THE HAUNTING SEASON AND THE WINTER SPIRITS COMES A BRAND NEW COLLECTION OF GHOSTLY TALES

Featuring new and original stories from:

Michelle PaverStacey HallsBridget CollinsImogen Hermes GowarKiran Millwood HargraveAndrew Michael HurleyJess KiddNatasha PulleyElizabeth MacnealSusan Stokes-ChapmanLaura Shepherd-RobinsonStuart TurtonCatriona Ward

_________

There is something peculiar about the hour after midnight.

It is the time when darkness reigns.

And strange things roam the earth.

In this dazzling collection of original haunted tales, thirteen bestselling and much-loved authors bring the old superstition of the witching hour to new and vivid life.

Transporting you from the smog of London to the freezing mists of Svalbard, from an Irish town riddled with rumour to a sinister English boarding school, these thirteen stories will serve as your spinetingling companion to the long hours of winter.

So curl up, light a candle, and wait for the clock to strike . . .

An apocalyptic novel about belief, religion, and the power of myth that blends the gripping, end-of-the-world storytelling of The Passage with the biting wit and epic queer romance that makes Natasha Pulley's books "delightful" (The Washington Post).Jesuit priest Avelyn Brocken was born into a mining family in Hreodwater, a small, totally isolated salt town in the Fens of England. At age 16, he fled, abandoning his faith in the god of the mine-the Salt King-and the mythology that killed his whole family.When a fellow priest is miraculously healed only to then be turned to salt after a visit to Hreodwater, Avelyn is sent by the Vatican to investigate. But in Hreodwater, the town's gentle doctor, Jericho, tells him that the priest is not the only one experiencing strange cures-and may not be the only one in danger from a substance in the mine that the locals call "salt light."Avelyn and Jericho team up to protect the world from the salt light-but they may already be too late: strange happenings are occurring at mines all around the world. At an archaeological dig on the Dead Sea, electrical devices froth salt; at another salt mine in Russia, a KGB officer finds the bodies of five tourists who seem to have turned to salt; and at the huge salt works at Wieliczska in Poland, all communication is lost, and rumors circulate of total annihilation.As salt light spreads, devastating cities around the world, Avelyn must decide what and who to believe-and whether his faith is strong enough to withstand an apocalypse.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERDon''t miss the brand new collection of never-before-seen ghostly tales from these eight authors plus four more. The Winter Spirits is out in October 2023 and available to pre-order now. ''You won''t find a more thrilling winter read this year, or a better line up of writers who have mastered the gothic and ghostly.'' SARA COLLINS, Costa Award-winning author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton Featuring new and original tales from: Bridget Collins Sunday Times bestselling author of The Binding | Imogen Hermes Gowar Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock | Kiran Millwood Hargrave Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies | Andrew Michael Hurley Sunday Times bestselling author of The Loney | Jess Kidd International award-winning author of Things in Jars | Elizabeth Macneal Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory | Natasha Pulley Sunday Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street | Laura Purcell Award-winning author of The Silent Companions ______________Long before Charles Dickens and Henry James popularized the tradition, the shadowy nights of winter have been a time for people to gather together by the flicker of candlelight and experience the intoxicating thrill of a ghost story.Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors - all of them master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre - bring the tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding new collection of original spine-tingling tales.Taking you from the frosty Fens to the wild Yorkshire moors, to the snow-covered grounds of a haunted estate, to a bustling London Christmas market, these mesmerizing stories will capture your imagination and serve as your indispensable companion to the cold, dark nights. So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of winters past . . .

THE DAZZLING SECOND GHOST STORY COLLECTION FROM THE CREATORS OF THE HAUNTING SEASON, NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK.''Terrific - every bit as good as an MR James collection'' ROSIE ANDREWS, author of THE LEVIATHANFeaturing new and original stories from:Bridget Collins Imogen Hermes Gowar Kiran Millwood Hargrave Andrew Michael Hurley Jess Kidd Natasha PulleyElizabeth Macneal Laura Purcell Susan Stokes-Chapman Laura Shepherd-Robinson Stuart Turton Catriona Ward The tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. These twelve stories - authored by some of today''s most loved and lauded writers of historical and gothic fiction - are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience. Taking you from a haunted Tuscan villa to a remote Scottish island with a dark secret,, these vibrant haunted stories are your ultimate companion for frosty nights.So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of winters past . . .

A captivating anthology of programmes, painting a multi-faceted portrait of a unique countryJapan is a land of complexity, contrast and contradictions. The world''s third-largest economy, it is a powerhouse of innovation and a pioneer in technology, fashion and pop culture. But it also has a rich, ancient heritage and a deep reverence for custom, ritual and tradition. This illuminating 2-part radio collection traverses the different aspects of this fascinating country, from its famous historical figures to its diverse cultural landscape.Part 1: History opens with Japan in Five Lives, in which cultural historian Christopher Harding portrays the lives of five colourful characters from the country''s past to answer the question ''Who are the Japanese''? In Killing Time in Imperial Japan, he explores early 20th Century Tokyo, a bustling, cosmopolitan capital where the meaning of ''time'' was hotly contested. Dark Blossoms sees him examining the doubts and misgivings accompanying Japan''s rapid embrace of modernity, while in Japanese Tsunami, broadcasters Richard Lloyd Parry and Matthew Sweet discuss the devastating natural disaster that rocked the country in 2011. In Land of the Rising Sums, Alex Bellos visits Kyoto to ask why Asian cultures seem so much better at maths; in Japan and Religion, Roy Jenkins discusses the place of religious traditions in modern Japan; and in Supernatural Japan, Christopher Harding looks at how the Japanese have used ghosts and ghost stories to make sense of their world.Part 2: Culture celebrates Japan''s art, literature and film. In Japan Now 2020, Philip Dodd talks to writers Hiromi Ito and Yukiko Motoya and photographer Tomoko Sawada about women''s roles in Japanese culture today. Meanwhile, in Images of Japan, illustrator Fumio Obata and manga translator Jocelyne Allen discuss Japanese comic book imagery, and we join novelists Kyoko Nakajima and Yuya Sato in conversation with Christopher Harding. Landmark: Seven Samurai and Landmark: Rashomon see Matthew Sweet and Rana Mitter investigating the stories behind Akira Kurosawa''s two most influential films, in the company of guests including film scholar Ian Christie and authors SF Said, David Peace and Natasha Pulley. The Tale of Genji takes us into the shimmering world of mediaeval Japan, as Rana Mitter explores Murasaki Shikibu''s masterpiece, widely considered to be the world''s first novel. Finally, in Godzilla and Hayao Miyazaki, Christopher Harding considers cinematic depictions of Japanese fear, as exemplified by the legendary monster king and the 2013 animated film The Wind Rises.ContentsJapan in Five LivesKilling Time in Imperial JapanDark BlossomsJapanese TsunamiLand of the Rising SumsJapan and ReligionSupernatural JapanJapan Now 2020Images of JapanLandmark: Seven SamuraiLandmark: RashomonThe Tale of GenjiGodzilla and The Wind Rises© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

An Indie Next PickNow in paperback, Natasha Pulley's "witty, entrancing novel . . . burnishes her reputation as a gifted storyteller" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).In 1859, ex–East India Company smuggler Merrick Tremayne is trapped at home in Cornwall with an injury that almost cost him his leg. When the India Office recruits him for an expedition to fetch quinine--essential for the treatment of malaria--from deep within Peru, he knows it's a terrible idea; nearly every able-bodied expeditionary who's made the attempt has died, and he can barely walk. But Merrick is eager to escape the strange events plaguing his family's crumbling estate, so he sets off, against his better judgment, for the edge of the Amazon.There he meets Raphael, a priest around whom the villagers spin unsettling stories of impossible disappearances, cursed woods, and living stone. Merrick must separate truth from fairy tale, and gradually he realizes that Raphael is the key to a legacy left by generations of Tremayne explorers before him, one which will prove more valuable than quinine, and far more dangerous.

''Pure Pulley'' STUART TURTON''Joyful and profound'' CATRIONA WARD''Simply unputdownable'' THOMAS D. LEEJanuary Stirling was one of the principal dancers of London''s Royal Ballet. Now he''s a climate refugee bound for Tharsis, the notorious terraformed colony on Mars. It''s a utopia for the naturalised population. For January, as a dangerous Earthstronger whose body is unadjusted to the weaker Martian gravity, it''s a life sentence to hard labour and ferocious discrimination. But he will live.Aubrey Gale, energy trillionaire and hereditary senator, is running for election on a hardline platform to protect the native population from dangerous immigrants. The path to equality is simple, requiring all Earthstrongers who choose to come to Mars to undergo the disabling and sometimes fatal process of surgical naturalisation.Which is no life at all.When a disastrous media encounter plunges Aubrey and January''s lives into chaos, the solution is a five-year made-for-reality-TV marriage that could secure January''s future and ensure Aubrey''s political success . . . but it soon becomes clear that thousands of lives hang in the balance, and nothing is as it seems.Timely and utterly unputdownable, The Mars House is an exceptional genre-blending story about privilege, strength, life, and love across class divisions - perfect for fans of Babel by R.F. Kuang, The Ferryman by Justin Cronin, and This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

''Witty, bittersweet, surprising, and compellingly readable'' Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review''A completely original and bewitching adventure'' A. D. Rhine, author of Daughters of Bronze and Horses of Fire''A dazzling labyrinth of a book that pulls you in with both hands'' Luna McNamara, author of PSYCHE AND EROS''This is more than a story of love and escape and broken chains. This is more than an exquisitely crafted tale. This book is a candle in a dark hour'' Maya Deane, author of Wrath Goddess Sing''Quirky, tender, and endlessly inventive, this is a Greek myth retelling unlike any other. Pulley''s big brain and huge heart are deployed to godly effect in THE HYMN TO DIONYSUS'' V. V. James, Sunday Times Bestselling author of SanctuaryRaised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to follow his commander''s orders at all costs. But when he rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes'' palace, he defies those orders and keeps the blue-eyed boy''s existence a secret.Years later, after a strange encounter that led to the death of his battalion, Phaidros has become a training master for young soldiers. He struggles with panic attacks and flashbacks, and he is not alone: all around him, his fellow veterans are losing their minds.Madness is not his only problem: Phaidros has become entangled with the search for Thebes'' lost young crown prince-a search that leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus''s company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire . . .In The Hymn to Dionysus, bestselling author Natasha Pulley transports us to an ancient empire on the edge of ruin to tell an utterly captivating story about a man needing a god to remind him how to be a human.Praise for The Hymn to Dionysus''[Pulley] makes the ancient world feel close-by. I was enthralled from the first page to the last''Elyse John, author of Orphia and Eurydicius''[A] fresh and stylish reimagining . . . Fans of Greek myth retellings won''t want to miss this'' Publishers Weekly, Starred review ''This novel twists the ideas of duty and honour, exploring the depths of humanity and the power of connection in a world consumed by chaos. An absolute must-read'' Crystal King, bestselling author of In the Garden of Monsters and Feast of Sorrow