These Wiltshire folk tales have all stood the test of time, and remain classic texts that will be enjoyed time and again by modern readers.

This enchanting collection of stories gathers together folk tales from across England in one special volume. Drawn from The History Press’ popular Folk Tales series, herein lies a treasure trove of tales from a wealth of talented storytellers performing in the country today, including prominent figures Taffy Thomas MBE, Hugh Lupton and Helen East. From hidden chapels and murderous vicars to travelling fiddlers and magical shape-shifters, this book celebrates the distinct character of England’s different customs, beliefs and dialects, and is a treat for all who enjoy a good yarn.

This collection, inspired by the folklore of the Royal County, contains a plethora of tales robustly retold for a contemporary audience. The exploits of well-known figures such as Herne the Hunter and Dick Turpin feature alongside many of the county's lesser-known legends. From a cruel ordeal by fire and historical trials by combat, to the lore of dragons and witches, Berkshire Folk Tales is a heady mix of bloodythirsty, funny, passionate and moving stories. But this is not only a book of folk tales. It is also a gazetteer to guide you, allowing you to make the same journey as the antiquaries and discover this land and its stories for yourself.

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross and listen to the tales of this ancient county. Hear how a King and his knights were turned to stone at the mysterious Rollright Stones; how Dragon Hill got its name; take the Devil's Highway to the End of the World - if you dare; or spend a night on the weird Ot Moor; listen in on the Boar's Head Carol; walk the oldest trackway in Europe in the footsteps of a Neolithic pilgrim; pause to try the Blowing Stone; leave a coin for the enigmatic blacksmith to shoe your horse at Wayland's Smithy; eavesdrop upon the Inklings in the Eagle and Child; and meet that early fabulist, Geoffrey of Monmouth in the city of dreaming spires. This collection will take you on an oral tour across the county - on the way you'll meet gypsies, highwaymen, cavaliers, a prime minister and a devilish mason.

How do you survive a mermaid's curse? Where lurks the immortal cat? Who cooks old boots in a stew? Is treasure really buried down under May Hill? Dive into these tales from forest, vale and high blue hill, on a journey that will take you far into the past, deep into other worlds and through the seasons of the year – all without leaving Gloucestershire! Strange and fabulous stories from all over the county are brought to life in this book by Stroud storytellers Anthony Nanson and Kirsty Hartsiotis.

The Little Book of Wiltshire is a compendium of fascinating information about the county, past and present. Contained within is a plethora of entertaining facts about Wiltshire's famous and occasionally infamous men and women, its towns and countryside, history, natural history, literary, artistic and sporting achievements, agriculture, transport, industry and royal visits. A reliable reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the county. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike. A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped into time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the county. It is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

With its wild eroding sea, its gentle rolling fields and tall churches, Suffolk is a county of contrasts. It may seem a kindly and civilised place, but in that sea, in the reed beds, the woods and even down dark town streets lurk strange beasts, ghosts and tricksters. These thirty traditional tales retold by storyteller Kirsty Hartsiotis take you into a hidden world of green children and wildmen, of lovers from beyond the grave and tricksy fairy folk. Shaped by generations of Suffolk mardle and wit, in these stories you'll discover the county's last dragon, the secret behind Black Shuck, saintly King Edmund and heroic King Raedwald, haunted airfields, broken-hearted mermaids and the exploits of the county's cunning folk. Embark on this journey around Suffolk and you'll find you're never far from a story.

Watch out for a ghostly ship and its spectral crew off the coast of Cornwall Listen for the unearthly tread and rustling silk dress of Darlington's Lady Jarratt Shiver at the malevolent apparition of 50 Berkeley Square that no-one survives seeing Beware the black dog of Shap Fell: a sighting warns of fatal accidents England's past echoes with stories of unquiet spirits and hauntings, of headless highwaymen and grey ladies, indelible bloodstains and ghastly premonitions. Here, county by county, are the nation's most fascinating supernatural tales and bone-chilling legends: from a ghostly army marching across Cumbria to the vanishing hitchhiker of Bluebell Hill, from the gruesome Man-Monkey of Shropshire to the phantom congregation who gather for a 'Sermon of the Dead' ...

Suffolk – a peaceful, rural county with big skies, rolling fi elds, unspoilt beaches, quaint towns and villages. But all is not as quiet as it seems. Could that be the eerie clanking of gibbet chains at the crossroads? Did you see a desolate face at an upper window or a spectral white form lurking in the hedgerow? Cats are not always lucky – and beware a north Suffolk Broad in the still, small hours of Midsummer Night . . . Kirsty Hartsiotis and Cherry Wilkinson retell, with spine-chilling freshness, thirty fabulous ghost tales from all corners of this beguiling county. So pull up a chair, stoke the fire and prepare to see its gentle landscape in a new light.

Jason Marc Harris's ambitious book argues that the tensions between folk metaphysics and Enlightenment values produce the literary fantastic. Demonstrating that a negotiation with folklore was central to the canon of British literature, he explicates the complicated rhetoric associated with folkloric fiction. His analysis includes a wide range of writers, including James Barrie, William Carleton, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Sheridan Le Fanu, Neil Gunn, George MacDonald, William Sharp, Robert Louis Stevenson, and James Hogg. These authors, Harris suggests, used folklore to articulate profound cultural ambivalence towards issues of class, domesticity, education, gender, imperialism, nationalism, race, politics, religion, and metaphysics. Harris's analysis of the function of folk metaphysics in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century narratives reveals the ideological agendas of the appropriation of folklore and the artistic potential of superstition in both folkloric and literary contexts of the supernatural.