Fear Walks the Night; The Complete Ghost Stories of Frederick Cowles

London: Ghost Story Press, 1993. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. King, Andrew. No. 188 of 250 copies, large octavo size, 378 pp. From the Foreword: "The Ghost Story Press is now pleased to publish 'Fear Walks the Night' in its entirety for the first time, including a dozn stories never seen in print before, together with Cowles's earlier two rare collections...." Of the author, the Foreword tells us that "Frederick Ignatius Cowles was born in Cambridge on 15 April 1900. While working at Trinity College Library, he became a devout bibliophile and antiquary with special interests in folklore and local history..."

Cowles would travel England and give lectures on local history, particularly when associated with the occult. "It was not difficult for Cowles to embellish and transform some of these blood-curdling tales into imaginative fiction..." (Ibid).

Included in this volume are two of his collections of ghost stories, "The Horror of Abbot's Grange" (published in 1936) and "The Night Wind Howls" (published in 1938), both of which are "now among the rarest and most eagerly sought volumes in the entire genre" (Ibid). The stories brought to vivid life with six full-page black-and white illustrations by Andrew King, as well as historiated initial capitals opening each chapter.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full pictorial paper over boards, the image on the front a portion of the full-page illustration on p. 15 within the outline of a skull, yellow lettering on front and spine, the six illustrations bound in throughout, limitation statement on copyright page; large octavo size (9.5" by 6.25"), pagination: [i-vi] vii-xiv [1-2] 3-358 [2, blanks] [1, Afterword][1, blank] [1, publisher's ad] [1, printer's statement]. In the publisher's dust jacket (unclipped although no printed price), the jacket design exactly mirrors the boards.

___CONDITION: Volume fine, with clean boards utterly without wear, straight corners without rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, and entirely free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, and as new. The jacket also fine, clean, without wear other than the most shallow of creases and a hint of sunning to the spine; overall a fine copy.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.