Tales Accursed: A Folk Horror Anthology

Tales Accursed is the second collection of classic supernatural stories selected by the artist Richard Wells. Each of the sixteen tales is accompanied by one of Richard’s striking lino-print illustrations.This anthology contains work from both the established masters of folk horror, and some more surprising contributors: from Shirley Jackson and M. R. James to E. F. Benson and William Croft Dickinson. Tales Accursed will raise the hairs on your neck and keep you alert to the slightest rustle in the trees: through the chill splendour of moonlit nights come apparitions through the orchard; sea-witches perch on the sharp fangs of rocks as they weave their spells; fir-woods lie unnaturally still with no birdsong, no breeze, nor any undergrowth; and hooded creatures crouch on grey secluded beaches. This book combines ancient horrors from the wilderness with sinister shadows of the landscape to remind us of the settings of our ancestors.Tales Accursed is a gloriously creepy collection of chilling folk horror tales that is both thrilling and unnerving.

Sinéad Gleeson, author of Hagstone and Constellations --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

"With folk horror, we tread uncertainly, for fear of whispering forests or liminal spaces that could wash the reader away with other ghosts of the sea. We can’t turn away, but can find a delicious crackle of fear in turning these pages, in engaging with old fears anew."

About the Author

Richard Wells is an illustrator and graphic designer and the designer and illustrator of the bestselling anthology Damnable Tales. Primarily working in the television industry, he has provided graphic props for the likes of Poldark, Sherlock, Doctor Who, and the 2020 BBC adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Outside of his television work, he makes and sells his own darkly folkloric artwork, often lino cut and hand-printed. His recent work includes a series of prints based on the ghost stories of M.R. James. He lives in the UK. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

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