A World Full of Spooky Stories: 50 Tales to Make Your Spine Tingle

In the tale of the Water Witch, originally from France, hero William goes to the bottom of an enchanted lake to find riches but is tricked by the witch and transformed into a fish. In the Inuit story of The Spirit of the Singing House, a curious woman gets more than she bargained for when she enters a sacred house despite being warned not to…

Organised thematically into categories such as Strangers at the Door, Home of the Spirits, Frozen Lands and Enchanted Places, this delightful collection of international stories celebrate the spooky in all manner of different ways. Tales of sea nymphs and sea goblins from Sweden and New Zealand sit together next to the Scottish story of the Seal Wife and the German tale of the Spectre Ship; the French story of the Enchanted Apple Tree is followed by a Russian tale of the Blacksmith and the Demon and the Native American Passamaquoddy story of the Girl and the Chenoo.

This is a truly diverse collection of stories, united in their haunting elements, yet it’s fascinating to notice similar themes in stories from very different times and places, which reminds us of the ways myths and folklore travel and develop.