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Gilded Nightmares – Timeless British Library Books
Scotland the Strange: Weird Tales from Storied Lands
Something was coming down the tide. It came down as quiet as a sleeping bairn, straight for him as he sat with his horse breasting the waters, and as it came the moon crept out of a cloud and he saw a glint of yellow hair.
From misty moors, crags and clifftops comes a hoard of eighteen strange tales gathered by Johnny Mains, award-winning anthologist and editor of the British Library anthology Celtic Weird. Sourced from Scotland’s storied literary heritage and bustling with witches, ghosts, devils and merfolk, this selection celebrates the works of treasured Scottish writers such as John Buchan, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dorothy K. Haynes and Neil M. Gunn alongside rare pieces by lesser-known authors – including two tales translated from Scots Gaelic.
Brooding in the borderlands where strange folklore, bizarre mythology and twentieth-century hauntings meet, this volume promises chills and shivers as keen and fresh as the wind-whipped wilds of Scotland.
From misty moors, crags and clifftops comes a hoard of eighteen strange tales gathered by Johnny Mains, award-winning anthologist and editor of the British Library anthology Celtic Weird. Sourced from Scotland’s storied literary heritage and bustling with witches, ghosts, devils and merfolk, this selection celebrates the works of treasured Scottish writers such as John Buchan, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dorothy K. Haynes and Neil M. Gunn alongside rare pieces by lesser-known authors – including two tales translated from Scots Gaelic.
Brooding in the borderlands where strange folklore, bizarre mythology and twentieth-century hauntings meet, this volume promises chills and shivers as keen and fresh as the wind-whipped wilds of Scotland.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 23, 2024
As is often the case, collections of stories often combine some real zingers with others that don't quite connect with the readers. This is true with this anthology of weird Scottish tales, but its editor worked hard to compile an excellent assortment of Scottish stories written from 1818 to 1976. It also includes a gorgeous collection of illustrations featuring ancient Celtic stones. Finally, the hardback edition released by The British Library is itself a thing of beauty.
I'll soon be going to Scotland and will be spending a week at a baronial estate in the Highlands. It advertises a large library for the enjoyment of its guests. I think that would be a great place to leave this volume, now that I have finished it.
The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.
I'll soon be going to Scotland and will be spending a week at a baronial estate in the Highlands. It advertises a large library for the enjoyment of its guests. I think that would be a great place to leave this volume, now that I have finished it.
The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.
September 30, 2024
This was an anthology book that I got the chance to check out as a critic copy thanks to Valerie from Independent Publishers Group. Seeing that this was an anthology book from an array of Scottish writers intrigued me, being from that heritage. What I didn't realize was that Johnny Mains, who is the editor and the one who compiled these stories, took eighteen stories, from an array of authors and time periods for the construction of this.
Synopsis: witches, ghosts, and merfolk from the wilds of Craig-Aulnaic to misty moors, readers will be transported to this mythical land
Now I'm not going to run through each story, because that would be difficult to do. What I will first comment on is Mains. The number of stories and books that he had to read through to be versed enough to compile this book is impressive. There are so many different themes and styles here. It does feel like they are in chronological order. I didn't confirm that, but I realized the further I got into this, the more modern that tales felt. The last one I thought I saw was published in the 1970s. The early ones were more old English. Just wanted to credit that here.
Things that I'll note here is that we have stories that feature witches messing with people. The first one stuck out there as they turn people into animals and then they're hunted. That would be a terrifying situation to be in. That like a parable about being cautious and how you treat others can affect you. Almost a take on the 'golden rule'. Sticking with the magic theme, there is one about an arrogant wizard who steals away a bride-to-be. That one reminded me of something from Macbeth or Lord of the Rings with a play on words that spell doom.
An earlier tale featured a group of killers with a 'murder hole' and bloodhounds. I wanted to credit this one for how creepy it was. Plus, it felt ahead of its time. Another standout was a homeless atheist getting mad at a pious family, taking advantage of them and this feels like a variation on Job from the bible. There was another in line with this about not being greedy and enjoying what you have. If not, it could spell your doom. There's also a Robert Louis Stevenson poem about Tico and death.
What I'll say then is in conclusion, this is worth the read. There are a lot of stories here that are ranging from Gothic, romance ghost stories to the different things that I've recapped here. I rather enjoyed my time reading this. If you're Scottish or interested in checking out literature from there. This is a great starting point to truly get a feel about their culture and how different works from there can be. Would recommend it for sure.
My Rating: 7 out of 10
Read more: https://horrorreview.webnode.page/new...
Synopsis: witches, ghosts, and merfolk from the wilds of Craig-Aulnaic to misty moors, readers will be transported to this mythical land
Now I'm not going to run through each story, because that would be difficult to do. What I will first comment on is Mains. The number of stories and books that he had to read through to be versed enough to compile this book is impressive. There are so many different themes and styles here. It does feel like they are in chronological order. I didn't confirm that, but I realized the further I got into this, the more modern that tales felt. The last one I thought I saw was published in the 1970s. The early ones were more old English. Just wanted to credit that here.
Things that I'll note here is that we have stories that feature witches messing with people. The first one stuck out there as they turn people into animals and then they're hunted. That would be a terrifying situation to be in. That like a parable about being cautious and how you treat others can affect you. Almost a take on the 'golden rule'. Sticking with the magic theme, there is one about an arrogant wizard who steals away a bride-to-be. That one reminded me of something from Macbeth or Lord of the Rings with a play on words that spell doom.
An earlier tale featured a group of killers with a 'murder hole' and bloodhounds. I wanted to credit this one for how creepy it was. Plus, it felt ahead of its time. Another standout was a homeless atheist getting mad at a pious family, taking advantage of them and this feels like a variation on Job from the bible. There was another in line with this about not being greedy and enjoying what you have. If not, it could spell your doom. There's also a Robert Louis Stevenson poem about Tico and death.
What I'll say then is in conclusion, this is worth the read. There are a lot of stories here that are ranging from Gothic, romance ghost stories to the different things that I've recapped here. I rather enjoyed my time reading this. If you're Scottish or interested in checking out literature from there. This is a great starting point to truly get a feel about their culture and how different works from there can be. Would recommend it for sure.
My Rating: 7 out of 10
Read more: https://horrorreview.webnode.page/new...
January 13, 2025
3.5 / 5 stars
This book started off really strong and then there were some stories that weren't such strong hitters. I enjoyed the majority of stories though and liked the blurbs/mini-bio's of each author before the story. Nice touch.
This book started off really strong and then there were some stories that weren't such strong hitters. I enjoyed the majority of stories though and liked the blurbs/mini-bio's of each author before the story. Nice touch.
August 23, 2024
James Hogg: The Hunt of Eildon
Es geht direkt mit einer langen Geschichte los, in der ein Mann seeehr seltsame Dinge bei der königlichen Jagd beobachtet. Inklusive Scots und diversen Liedern!
Catherine Sinclair: The Murder Hole
In einer abgelegenen Gegend verschwinden immer wieder Wanderer. Doch wohin?
JM Wilson: The Doom of Soulis
Ein mächtiger Mann lässt sich fü noch mehr Macht auf finstere Mächte ein... sehr lustig.
JM Wilson: The Seven Lights
Farmer M'Pherson beobachtet des nachts gruselige Lichter in seiner Scheune...
EL Linton: The Devil of Glenluce
Eine Familie wird vom Teufel terrorisiert - unfreiwillig saukomisch.
Wilhelm Hauff: The Cavern of Steenfoll
Ein deutscher Märchenonkel mit einer Mär über einen Mann auf der wahnwitzigen Jagd nach einem Schatz.
RL Stevenson: Ticonderoga
Ein untergegangenes Gedicht von Stevenson über einen Mann, der den Tod seines Bruders nicht rächen will. Gruselig.
David Grant: Death to the Head that wears no Hair!
Ein Beamter muss den Status der Schulbildung auf den Shetlands prüfen... sehr zum Unmut der Einwohnenden...
Anonymous: The Ghosts of Craig-Aulnaic
Es folgen drei sehr kurze Geschichten. Diese handelt von einem Geist, der von einem anderen Geist gefoltert wird, und Hilfe beim benachbarten Bauern sucht. Durch die Weirdness ziemlich witzig.
Mrs. Campbell of Dunstaffnage: The Stag-Haunted Stream
Sehr kurze Geschichte über einen Mann, der seine Tochter bei einer anderen Familie aufwachsen lässt.
The two Sisters and the Curse
Eine aus dem Gälischen übersetzte Geschichte über zwei Schwestern, von denen eine der anderen nicht vergeben kann.
John Buchan: The Outgoing of the Tide
Der Teufel treibt sein Unwesen mit jungen Leuten in einem kleinen Dorf...
EW Grierson: Assipattle and the Mester Stoorworm
Ein gigantischer Lindwurm bedroht die Küste. Man opfert Jungfrauen, doch wie wird man das Biest wieder los? Ein seltsamer Knabe namens Assipattle glaubt, helfen zu können... abgedreht und spannend!
Black-Haired John of Lewis, Sailor
Eine Piratengeschichte inklusive Raub der Herzensdame und Deal mit Räubern.
NM Gunn: The Moor
Wieder eine der Geschichten, die dem "weird" entsprechen - ein Mann, ein Moor, ein einsames Cottage mit Frau darin.
DK Haynes: Good Bairns
Zwei Rowdies lernen in ihren Sonntagsanzügen einen kränklichen Jungen kennen. Yay, eine Gruselgeschichte mit Kindern^^
Eileen Bigland: The Lass with the delicate Air
Ein Mann bekommt von seinem Arzt eine Burn-out-Präventionskur in den Highlands verschrieben und trifft eine seltsame junge Frau... wieso verschreibt mir mein Arzt keine Highland-Kuren?!
Simon Pilkington: The Inheritance
Ein Mann erhält einen Brief, dass er eine abgelegene Insel erben soll. Alle warnen ihn, dass sein Onkel lange tot oder wahnsinnig oder das Wasser zu stürmisch ist, doch er lässt sich nicht aufhalten...
AW Murray: The Curse of Mathair Nan Uisgeachan
Haben wir abgebrochen. Die ersten 10 Seiten handeln von Buchhaltung, dann fangen sie eine emotionale Affäre an... keine Ahnung, wo das hinführen soll.
Schaut euch dieses Cover an. Wie konnte ich daran vorbeigehen? Und über die Arbeit kriege ich auch noch 50% Rabatt, yeaah. Dann bekommt man auch noch lauter verrückte, gruselige, gälische, magische, heidelandschaftliche, schlossige, tierische Geschichten inklusive einiger verlorener oder vergessener Schätze. Ich habe jedenfalls noch die Anthologie über Celtic Weird bestellt, die über Vampire zum Geburtstag bekommen und die über historische Horror-Autorinnen auch bereits parat.
"Every one who has witnessed such a scene, will acknowledge, that it is a masterpiece of the ludicrous."
~ 23.08.2024
Es geht direkt mit einer langen Geschichte los, in der ein Mann seeehr seltsame Dinge bei der königlichen Jagd beobachtet. Inklusive Scots und diversen Liedern!
Catherine Sinclair: The Murder Hole
In einer abgelegenen Gegend verschwinden immer wieder Wanderer. Doch wohin?
JM Wilson: The Doom of Soulis
Ein mächtiger Mann lässt sich fü noch mehr Macht auf finstere Mächte ein... sehr lustig.
JM Wilson: The Seven Lights
Farmer M'Pherson beobachtet des nachts gruselige Lichter in seiner Scheune...
EL Linton: The Devil of Glenluce
Eine Familie wird vom Teufel terrorisiert - unfreiwillig saukomisch.
Wilhelm Hauff: The Cavern of Steenfoll
Ein deutscher Märchenonkel mit einer Mär über einen Mann auf der wahnwitzigen Jagd nach einem Schatz.
RL Stevenson: Ticonderoga
Ein untergegangenes Gedicht von Stevenson über einen Mann, der den Tod seines Bruders nicht rächen will. Gruselig.
David Grant: Death to the Head that wears no Hair!
Ein Beamter muss den Status der Schulbildung auf den Shetlands prüfen... sehr zum Unmut der Einwohnenden...
Anonymous: The Ghosts of Craig-Aulnaic
Es folgen drei sehr kurze Geschichten. Diese handelt von einem Geist, der von einem anderen Geist gefoltert wird, und Hilfe beim benachbarten Bauern sucht. Durch die Weirdness ziemlich witzig.
Mrs. Campbell of Dunstaffnage: The Stag-Haunted Stream
Sehr kurze Geschichte über einen Mann, der seine Tochter bei einer anderen Familie aufwachsen lässt.
The two Sisters and the Curse
Eine aus dem Gälischen übersetzte Geschichte über zwei Schwestern, von denen eine der anderen nicht vergeben kann.
John Buchan: The Outgoing of the Tide
Der Teufel treibt sein Unwesen mit jungen Leuten in einem kleinen Dorf...
EW Grierson: Assipattle and the Mester Stoorworm
Ein gigantischer Lindwurm bedroht die Küste. Man opfert Jungfrauen, doch wie wird man das Biest wieder los? Ein seltsamer Knabe namens Assipattle glaubt, helfen zu können... abgedreht und spannend!
Black-Haired John of Lewis, Sailor
Eine Piratengeschichte inklusive Raub der Herzensdame und Deal mit Räubern.
NM Gunn: The Moor
Wieder eine der Geschichten, die dem "weird" entsprechen - ein Mann, ein Moor, ein einsames Cottage mit Frau darin.
DK Haynes: Good Bairns
Zwei Rowdies lernen in ihren Sonntagsanzügen einen kränklichen Jungen kennen. Yay, eine Gruselgeschichte mit Kindern^^
Eileen Bigland: The Lass with the delicate Air
Ein Mann bekommt von seinem Arzt eine Burn-out-Präventionskur in den Highlands verschrieben und trifft eine seltsame junge Frau... wieso verschreibt mir mein Arzt keine Highland-Kuren?!
Simon Pilkington: The Inheritance
Ein Mann erhält einen Brief, dass er eine abgelegene Insel erben soll. Alle warnen ihn, dass sein Onkel lange tot oder wahnsinnig oder das Wasser zu stürmisch ist, doch er lässt sich nicht aufhalten...
AW Murray: The Curse of Mathair Nan Uisgeachan
Haben wir abgebrochen. Die ersten 10 Seiten handeln von Buchhaltung, dann fangen sie eine emotionale Affäre an... keine Ahnung, wo das hinführen soll.
Schaut euch dieses Cover an. Wie konnte ich daran vorbeigehen? Und über die Arbeit kriege ich auch noch 50% Rabatt, yeaah. Dann bekommt man auch noch lauter verrückte, gruselige, gälische, magische, heidelandschaftliche, schlossige, tierische Geschichten inklusive einiger verlorener oder vergessener Schätze. Ich habe jedenfalls noch die Anthologie über Celtic Weird bestellt, die über Vampire zum Geburtstag bekommen und die über historische Horror-Autorinnen auch bereits parat.
"Every one who has witnessed such a scene, will acknowledge, that it is a masterpiece of the ludicrous."
~ 23.08.2024
December 17, 2024
As a longtime fan of
Macbeth
, cosmic horror, and gothic stories—especially those set on windswept moors—I approached Scotland the Strange: Weird Tales from Storied Lands, edited by Johnny Mains, with eager anticipation. Yet, upon opening the book and scanning the table of contents, I was struck by how none of the stories were familiar to me, nor were most of the authors, save Robert Louis Stevenson, famous for
Treasure Island
and
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror
. As I read, my initial assumptions of encountering a mashup of H.P. Lovecraft, M.R. James, and Emily Brontë waned. Instead, Mains presents a fresh argument for the significance of Scotland’s supernatural storytelling tradition, beginning with writers like James Hogg and Sir Walter Scott, who influenced the greats of 19th-century American literature, including Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.
You can read Stephen McClurg's complete review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Stephen McClurg's complete review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
September 4, 2025
I think like a lot of reviewers I cracked this open expecting a mix of truly "strange" tales from Scotland's moors and darker places. Like the dead dove in a bag labeled "dead dove" I don't know what I was expecting though. These aren't stories from an era disjointed by change and horror-the kind of thing that prompted Lovecraft, or event Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley to churn out their own startling works of horror and change.
Instead, Scotland the Strange is the stories of folklore and folklore inspired from a timelessly beautiful and often brutally severe geography. There's some light maritime horror here, but the two main themes rest solidly on witchcraft, faeries, bandits, and ghosts. Unfortunately shot through the former especially is a deep undercurrent of misogyny that's just very difficult to ignore in a few of these stories. These are stories born from an era where witches aren't just thought of as real, but actively preying on one's neighbors. The village outcast is rightfully feared, and a cabin alone on the moors is probably full of murderers. They justify and underpin a lot of very bad things that have happened in Scotland's history, but in that way they're a window into the thinking of the time.
In other words I'd recommend this book, but with a heavy caveat. These are historical tales, wonderfully curated and with excellent forwards by the editor. But if you're looking for "strange" tales where the punchline is harder to discern than you expect, you won't find it among these. If you're looking for perspective that puts a witch's hanging in context then these are oddly helpful, if not comforting for the same reasons.
Instead, Scotland the Strange is the stories of folklore and folklore inspired from a timelessly beautiful and often brutally severe geography. There's some light maritime horror here, but the two main themes rest solidly on witchcraft, faeries, bandits, and ghosts. Unfortunately shot through the former especially is a deep undercurrent of misogyny that's just very difficult to ignore in a few of these stories. These are stories born from an era where witches aren't just thought of as real, but actively preying on one's neighbors. The village outcast is rightfully feared, and a cabin alone on the moors is probably full of murderers. They justify and underpin a lot of very bad things that have happened in Scotland's history, but in that way they're a window into the thinking of the time.
In other words I'd recommend this book, but with a heavy caveat. These are historical tales, wonderfully curated and with excellent forwards by the editor. But if you're looking for "strange" tales where the punchline is harder to discern than you expect, you won't find it among these. If you're looking for perspective that puts a witch's hanging in context then these are oddly helpful, if not comforting for the same reasons.
May 22, 2025
I really enjoyed the stories but sadly for some I couldn't follow the conversation as they were written in gaelic or Scots. I've lived in Scotland now for 10 years and could decipher majority of the words but still made it hard to follow.
October 2, 2025
Fascinating. All in all I preferred the more modern stories.
October 22, 2024
A nice collection of stories that take us from 1818 to 1975, and show an evolving local literature of weird stories. I liked this book, but the collection and theme did not feel as strong as some of the other entries in the series as a whole. Some of the earlier stories in the book are a bit dry and not that interesting. Later ones in the book are very good though. If you like Scottish stories and writers, it's interesting reading.
This series as a whole features horror and ghost stories from different authors, and it's such a good series with excellent binding. This one should have leaned more into spooky or scary than it did go really fit in.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy of this book for review.
This series as a whole features horror and ghost stories from different authors, and it's such a good series with excellent binding. This one should have leaned more into spooky or scary than it did go really fit in.
Thank you to the publisher for the copy of this book for review.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews