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The Dead of Summer: Strange Tales of May Eve and Midsummer
May Day Eve, Walpurgis Night and Midsummer Eve – or the Summer Solstice. Tales of these fated days and nights, and their riotous rituals and feasts, have rung down the centuries, and yet in today’s world those that observe their ancient ways are few.
Setting out on a mission to re-weird this lost stretch of the ritual year, Johnny Mains returns with a collection of tales of the bizarre, the beastly and the brutal to welcome the summer and raise the cry: Wyrd is Icumen in!
Setting out on a mission to re-weird this lost stretch of the ritual year, Johnny Mains returns with a collection of tales of the bizarre, the beastly and the brutal to welcome the summer and raise the cry: Wyrd is Icumen in!
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 24, 2025
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July 17, 2025
A collection of tales from the British Library. These focus on Mayday and Midsummer, the editor is Johnny Mains. In terms of date the earliest is from 1823 and the latest from 2020 and is a Covid ghost story. There is a varied bunch of authors: Caroline Pichler, Ambrose Bierce, J. Meade Faulkner, Walter de la Mare, , F Britten Austin, Robert E Howard, G.G. Pendarves, Nick Joaquin, Joan Aiken, Donald R. Rawe, Mary Williams, Susan Price, Jenn Ashworth and Minagawa Hiroko. As always quality is variable, but it was a good collection to read during a heatwave. It was also assisted by a lively editor who isn’t afraid to drop in the occasional Beyonce reference!
There’s plenty of stuff about the summer solstice and inevitably Stonehenge pops up at least once, as do the moors and tors of Cornwall. There is a straying onto the continent for Walpurgisnacht and a ghost story from Japan, set in the summer, which is the traditional time for ghost stories in Japan.
There are some stand out stories
Aiken’s take on the Brigadoon myth is good as is Hiroko’s ghost story. The pandemic story hits the mark too, although the ending is a little obvious. The Withered Heart by Pendarves (real name Gladys Trenery) is a good and rather gruesome tale. I enjoyed these and they suited the weather.
There’s plenty of stuff about the summer solstice and inevitably Stonehenge pops up at least once, as do the moors and tors of Cornwall. There is a straying onto the continent for Walpurgisnacht and a ghost story from Japan, set in the summer, which is the traditional time for ghost stories in Japan.
There are some stand out stories
Aiken’s take on the Brigadoon myth is good as is Hiroko’s ghost story. The pandemic story hits the mark too, although the ending is a little obvious. The Withered Heart by Pendarves (real name Gladys Trenery) is a good and rather gruesome tale. I enjoyed these and they suited the weather.
May 11, 2026
3,5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️
Letto in edizione italiana
Letto in edizione italiana
June 30, 2025
3 ⭐️
The Dead of Summer, Strange Tales of May Eve and Midsummer. First of all I need to make a declaration that summer is my least favourite month, I hate the heat and the long days of light I can found overwhelming. This collection of short and longer short stories specifically focused on the folklore and ghost stories of summer. I thought this an interesting twist on the classic ghost story which usually focuses on the shorter colder days of autumn and winter and particularly Halloween. Somehow the juxtaposition of the brightness and heat of summer made the stories even more menacing.
As always with collections of short stories I always find some more engaging than others and this was the case with this edition, however, while I didn’t like some of them they were in the minority and I particularly liked the time span of stories from a story first translated in to English in 1826 to a contemporary story set during the Covid pandemic. This time span and the inclusion of stories set in other parts of the world give a wide ranging view of the genre and also showcase how style and language changes over time.
My particular favourites were The First of May or Wallburga’s Night set in 17th century Switzerland, The Withered Heart I found utterly disturbing, very dark and menacing in both plot and atmosphere, Night on Roughtor set in Cornwall amongst the eerie landscape of Dartmoor, and Heaven on Earth the final story in the collection set during Covid pandemic which was horrific enough to live through and this story really echoes that time of places emptying and the isolation and quietness of public places.
Well worth a read particularly in the oppressive suffocating heat of an English heatwave that seem to be getting more common. When there there seems to be little air and the heat feels suffocating these stories will take away what little breath you have left.
The Dead of Summer, Strange Tales of May Eve and Midsummer. First of all I need to make a declaration that summer is my least favourite month, I hate the heat and the long days of light I can found overwhelming. This collection of short and longer short stories specifically focused on the folklore and ghost stories of summer. I thought this an interesting twist on the classic ghost story which usually focuses on the shorter colder days of autumn and winter and particularly Halloween. Somehow the juxtaposition of the brightness and heat of summer made the stories even more menacing.
As always with collections of short stories I always find some more engaging than others and this was the case with this edition, however, while I didn’t like some of them they were in the minority and I particularly liked the time span of stories from a story first translated in to English in 1826 to a contemporary story set during the Covid pandemic. This time span and the inclusion of stories set in other parts of the world give a wide ranging view of the genre and also showcase how style and language changes over time.
My particular favourites were The First of May or Wallburga’s Night set in 17th century Switzerland, The Withered Heart I found utterly disturbing, very dark and menacing in both plot and atmosphere, Night on Roughtor set in Cornwall amongst the eerie landscape of Dartmoor, and Heaven on Earth the final story in the collection set during Covid pandemic which was horrific enough to live through and this story really echoes that time of places emptying and the isolation and quietness of public places.
Well worth a read particularly in the oppressive suffocating heat of an English heatwave that seem to be getting more common. When there there seems to be little air and the heat feels suffocating these stories will take away what little breath you have left.
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June 21, 2026I do love a seasonal read, and there's no reason Christmas and Hallowe'en should hog all the spooky fun, but while there are some great stories here, overall it doesn't quite hit the spot. Partly it's the general British Library anthology policy of having the stories in chronological order of publication, which normally makes sense, but when you're covering two different hinges of the year in one volume, meant I only knew to read the two stories that clearly flag their May credentials in the title circa Beltane, and was stumbling on others when their moment had passed. Then too, it surprised me that those two were one of them from Germany (in the early nineteenth century, very much of the school who read like they were paid by the word) and one the Philippines (a nicely nasty little story about the toll of the years and the incomprehension between generations, but only debatably weird), Not to come over all Reform, but the May was one of the richest zones of the British ritual year, and I expected more local stories founded in that. Granted, Walter de la Mare's The Looking-Glass was hiding in here too, with that fugitive quality of his I never know whether I appreciate or am exasperated by, but I still felt a little shortchanged by that half of what was promised.
(There is, granted, one wild card, GG Pendarves' The Withered Heart, set quite firmly at the end rather than the beginning of May, which only confuses matters further. But in fairness, it's one of the best things here, despite being assembled from what at first look like overly familiar components)
Still, the Midsummer material starts strong with Ambrose Bierce's The Suitable Surroundings, a Midsummer ghost story about reading a Midsummer ghost story at Midsummer. Yes! This is exactly the sort of feedback loop my entirely neurotypical brain craves, everything in its right place to a positively Castrovalva degree, Would I have put it right at the end, to catch the day itself? Obviously. Though I might then have offed all the readers, if the story is to be believed. Otherwise...well, there are recurring themes. Several tales see city folk ignoring warnings, going camping near some ancient and haunted spot at Midsummer, and having cause to regret it. Which, yes, you could cut 'near some ancient and haunted spot at Midsummer' and still be describing my general feelings on camping, but mostly they work. Though it's unusual seeing The Black Stone, very much at the Lovecraft end of Robert E Howard's work, alone in this company, when lately I've been encountering it more as the overarching Macguffin of the recent Conan comics. Closer to those barbarian antics in mood is the editor's avowed favourite, F Britten Austin's Midsummer At Stonehenge. This is an exercise in bringing history to life rather than something envisaged as a weird tale, but hell, it has human sacrifice and ancient revels; surely they qualify in their own right, without needing to be revived or glimpsed by later ages? You could argue that its primitive man isn't as thoroughly worked out as we'd now expect, a little too much like us except speaking in a sort of faux-mediaeval formality, but I like its suggestion that one thing which has remained constant across millennia of Brits in summer is overdoing the celebrations and the bants turning ugly. And if I slightly resent its suggestion that we already fell for monotheism once before the current version, well, I'm sure our own recreations of the past will look just as curious to our successors, at least assuming they've not been thrust right back to this level by everything falling over.
As the contributions near the present day, the book starts to wobble again, and not in a cool timeslip way. Like The Wild Hunt Of Hagworthy, Joan Aiken's The Sale Of Midsummer leaves me feeling that whatever strange power she channelled in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase started to elude her once the weather warmed up. And Susan Price's Foxgloves did my head in simply by being a story from a Point Horror anthology – books I thought too young for me when they were coming out! – now rubbing shoulders with Victorians and Edwardians in a British Library collection. It ain't right. Excellent story, though, really selling the spookiness of that shortcut on a warm night where you're sure you're only spooking yourself...right? But that's not even the last story, or the next to last, and by the final piece we're more caught up than I care to be, courtesy of a COVID ghost story, which is one nightmarish glimpse back at a benighted time that I could really have done without.
(There is, granted, one wild card, GG Pendarves' The Withered Heart, set quite firmly at the end rather than the beginning of May, which only confuses matters further. But in fairness, it's one of the best things here, despite being assembled from what at first look like overly familiar components)
Still, the Midsummer material starts strong with Ambrose Bierce's The Suitable Surroundings, a Midsummer ghost story about reading a Midsummer ghost story at Midsummer. Yes! This is exactly the sort of feedback loop my entirely neurotypical brain craves, everything in its right place to a positively Castrovalva degree, Would I have put it right at the end, to catch the day itself? Obviously. Though I might then have offed all the readers, if the story is to be believed. Otherwise...well, there are recurring themes. Several tales see city folk ignoring warnings, going camping near some ancient and haunted spot at Midsummer, and having cause to regret it. Which, yes, you could cut 'near some ancient and haunted spot at Midsummer' and still be describing my general feelings on camping, but mostly they work. Though it's unusual seeing The Black Stone, very much at the Lovecraft end of Robert E Howard's work, alone in this company, when lately I've been encountering it more as the overarching Macguffin of the recent Conan comics. Closer to those barbarian antics in mood is the editor's avowed favourite, F Britten Austin's Midsummer At Stonehenge. This is an exercise in bringing history to life rather than something envisaged as a weird tale, but hell, it has human sacrifice and ancient revels; surely they qualify in their own right, without needing to be revived or glimpsed by later ages? You could argue that its primitive man isn't as thoroughly worked out as we'd now expect, a little too much like us except speaking in a sort of faux-mediaeval formality, but I like its suggestion that one thing which has remained constant across millennia of Brits in summer is overdoing the celebrations and the bants turning ugly. And if I slightly resent its suggestion that we already fell for monotheism once before the current version, well, I'm sure our own recreations of the past will look just as curious to our successors, at least assuming they've not been thrust right back to this level by everything falling over.
As the contributions near the present day, the book starts to wobble again, and not in a cool timeslip way. Like The Wild Hunt Of Hagworthy, Joan Aiken's The Sale Of Midsummer leaves me feeling that whatever strange power she channelled in The Wolves of Willoughby Chase started to elude her once the weather warmed up. And Susan Price's Foxgloves did my head in simply by being a story from a Point Horror anthology – books I thought too young for me when they were coming out! – now rubbing shoulders with Victorians and Edwardians in a British Library collection. It ain't right. Excellent story, though, really selling the spookiness of that shortcut on a warm night where you're sure you're only spooking yourself...right? But that's not even the last story, or the next to last, and by the final piece we're more caught up than I care to be, courtesy of a COVID ghost story, which is one nightmarish glimpse back at a benighted time that I could really have done without.
July 27, 2026
As with all the weird tales collections put out by the British library, it can be hard to give an overall rating. There's some that I absolutely adored, some that left me more cold. But I enjoyed reading almost all of them, except for one. It helps that the ones I liked here, I really liked.
More detailed reviews per story below, so warning for spoilers:
The First of May; or Walburga's Night - historical story that's showing its age, first published in 1823 but set around the 30 years war, and clearly working with some of the storytelling conventions of the early 19th century (such as having annoyingly morally upright and sympathetic protagonists.) That can rankle a bit just due to the disconnect with what more modern readers expect. But overall I still found it enjoyable and I was genuinely engaged with the plot. 3/5
The Suitable Surroundings - Tried to be clever in a kind of boring way, but it's short. 2/5
A Midsummer Night's Marriage - Somewhat predictable in its plot, but very enjoyable to read as it played out, there's a lot of fun detail. Also it helped me impress a girl at a gay bar, so 4/5
The Looking-Glass - Weirdly enough not the only one in this collection involving mirrors! But honestly, I don't know what de la Mare was trying to do with this one. Neither the plot nor the characters are intriguing, the atmosphere isn't terribly gripping, and the language nothing special. 1/5
Midsummer at Stonehenge - I adored this, but that's also because this is exactly my kind of thing. I love somewhat antiquated prehistoric fantasy and this is exactly what the doctor ordered. It's also enjoyably humorous at times, however the humour employed can be a bit tired from time to time. 4/5
The Black Stone - This is a Robert E. Howard story. It is, predictably, pretty racist. I don't personally rate stories from this period lower for that just because I don't think it's practical (something written today would be a different case), but I do want to give that as an acknowledgment. Aside from that, just like Midsummer at Stonehenge, this is exactly my shit, strange primeval cults hidden in the mountains gathering around strange monoliths for debased rites? Sign me up! 5/5
The Withered Heart - Honestly very fun! The plot itself is somewhat standard ("oh we're going to summon my dead relative from Transsylvania back from the dead, surely this won't have any negative consequences!") But the way the author writes the characters is a delight. They have this great, somewhat over the top, almost Jeeves & Wooster kind of way of talking and interacting with each other. (And just like Jeeves & Wooster, it certainly lends itself to a queer reading.) 4/5
May Day Eve - Good with its atmosphere, and does some fun things with story structure. 3/5
The Sale of Midsummer - I really liked this one as well. I won't spoil anything of the set-up because seeing it gradually unfold and piecing the puzzle together is very fun! 5/5
Night on Roughtor - shoutout to hippie college students going camping on cursed mountains in Cornwall despite the warnings of the local housekeeper. My favourite kind of guy, I'd probably get myself killed doing that too. 3.5/5
Where Phantoms Stir - Has some fun imagery, but it's a bit short. Fun but nothing amazing. 3/5
Foxgloves - Again a somewhat predictable plot, but competently told. 3/5
The Midsummer Emissary - Loved this. A supernatural comedy of errors in Taisho period Japan. At turns entertaining and melancholic (and this time the gay stuff isn't potential subtext!) 5/5
Heaven on Earth - the only one in the collection to genuinely unsettle me. Covid fiction about a man on a resort in an isolated island. If any of these stories capture the cloying oppressiveness of a midsummer heatwave, it's this one. 5/5
More detailed reviews per story below, so warning for spoilers:
The First of May; or Walburga's Night - historical story that's showing its age, first published in 1823 but set around the 30 years war, and clearly working with some of the storytelling conventions of the early 19th century (such as having annoyingly morally upright and sympathetic protagonists.) That can rankle a bit just due to the disconnect with what more modern readers expect. But overall I still found it enjoyable and I was genuinely engaged with the plot. 3/5
The Suitable Surroundings - Tried to be clever in a kind of boring way, but it's short. 2/5
A Midsummer Night's Marriage - Somewhat predictable in its plot, but very enjoyable to read as it played out, there's a lot of fun detail. Also it helped me impress a girl at a gay bar, so 4/5
The Looking-Glass - Weirdly enough not the only one in this collection involving mirrors! But honestly, I don't know what de la Mare was trying to do with this one. Neither the plot nor the characters are intriguing, the atmosphere isn't terribly gripping, and the language nothing special. 1/5
Midsummer at Stonehenge - I adored this, but that's also because this is exactly my kind of thing. I love somewhat antiquated prehistoric fantasy and this is exactly what the doctor ordered. It's also enjoyably humorous at times, however the humour employed can be a bit tired from time to time. 4/5
The Black Stone - This is a Robert E. Howard story. It is, predictably, pretty racist. I don't personally rate stories from this period lower for that just because I don't think it's practical (something written today would be a different case), but I do want to give that as an acknowledgment. Aside from that, just like Midsummer at Stonehenge, this is exactly my shit, strange primeval cults hidden in the mountains gathering around strange monoliths for debased rites? Sign me up! 5/5
The Withered Heart - Honestly very fun! The plot itself is somewhat standard ("oh we're going to summon my dead relative from Transsylvania back from the dead, surely this won't have any negative consequences!") But the way the author writes the characters is a delight. They have this great, somewhat over the top, almost Jeeves & Wooster kind of way of talking and interacting with each other. (And just like Jeeves & Wooster, it certainly lends itself to a queer reading.) 4/5
May Day Eve - Good with its atmosphere, and does some fun things with story structure. 3/5
The Sale of Midsummer - I really liked this one as well. I won't spoil anything of the set-up because seeing it gradually unfold and piecing the puzzle together is very fun! 5/5
Night on Roughtor - shoutout to hippie college students going camping on cursed mountains in Cornwall despite the warnings of the local housekeeper. My favourite kind of guy, I'd probably get myself killed doing that too. 3.5/5
Where Phantoms Stir - Has some fun imagery, but it's a bit short. Fun but nothing amazing. 3/5
Foxgloves - Again a somewhat predictable plot, but competently told. 3/5
The Midsummer Emissary - Loved this. A supernatural comedy of errors in Taisho period Japan. At turns entertaining and melancholic (and this time the gay stuff isn't potential subtext!) 5/5
Heaven on Earth - the only one in the collection to genuinely unsettle me. Covid fiction about a man on a resort in an isolated island. If any of these stories capture the cloying oppressiveness of a midsummer heatwave, it's this one. 5/5
June 16, 2026
Il volume raccoglie 14 racconti di autori diversi, disposti in ordine cronologico dal 1823 al 2020, offrendo così un interessante viaggio tra epoche e luoghi diversi.
Uno degli aspetti che ho apprezzato maggiormente è stata la scelta di inserire autori poco conosciuti, mi piace, infatti, scoprire nuove voci e allungare la mia TBR.
Sono racconti che si svolgono durante Beltane, la notte di Valpurga o la vigilia di mezza estate, momenti dell'anno tradizionalmente legati a rituali, superstizioni e credenze popolari. Sono notti considerate magiche, in cui il confine tra i due mondi si assottiglia.
Il volume si apre con "Il primo maggio; o la notte di Valpurga", scritto da Caroline Pichler, che racconta di una donna gelosa e del suo patto con una strega. Tra i miei preferiti ci sono anche "Matrimonio di una notte di mezza estate" di J. Meade Falkner, che parla di un matrimonio tra passato e presente, e "Il cuore avvizzito" di G.G. Pendarves, dove il ritrovamento di una vecchia scatola è capace di sconvolgere la vita di tre persone.
Sono racconti molto diversi tra loro, ma accomunati da un'atmosfera suggestiva e da una sottile vena inquietante che li rende davvero affascinanti.
Le pagine sono popolate da personaggi appartenenti ai contesti più diversi: studenti, uomini e donne di varie classi sociali, persone comuni alle prese con eventi straordinari, ma anche creature enigmatiche e figure legate alle tradizioni folkloristiche.
Considerato il tema e l'atmosfera che si vive per tutta la raccolta, ho trovato questi racconti perfetti da leggere durante queste calde giornate, con una bella tazza di tè ghiacciato vicino.
Ho trovato molto utile la breve introduzione a ciascun autore, perché ci permette di conoscerli meglio e di contestualizzare i racconti. Inoltre, queste introduzioni sono anche un ottimo punto di partenza per scoprire altre opere.
Uno degli aspetti che ho apprezzato maggiormente è stata la scelta di inserire autori poco conosciuti, mi piace, infatti, scoprire nuove voci e allungare la mia TBR.
Sono racconti che si svolgono durante Beltane, la notte di Valpurga o la vigilia di mezza estate, momenti dell'anno tradizionalmente legati a rituali, superstizioni e credenze popolari. Sono notti considerate magiche, in cui il confine tra i due mondi si assottiglia.
Il volume si apre con "Il primo maggio; o la notte di Valpurga", scritto da Caroline Pichler, che racconta di una donna gelosa e del suo patto con una strega. Tra i miei preferiti ci sono anche "Matrimonio di una notte di mezza estate" di J. Meade Falkner, che parla di un matrimonio tra passato e presente, e "Il cuore avvizzito" di G.G. Pendarves, dove il ritrovamento di una vecchia scatola è capace di sconvolgere la vita di tre persone.
Sono racconti molto diversi tra loro, ma accomunati da un'atmosfera suggestiva e da una sottile vena inquietante che li rende davvero affascinanti.
Le pagine sono popolate da personaggi appartenenti ai contesti più diversi: studenti, uomini e donne di varie classi sociali, persone comuni alle prese con eventi straordinari, ma anche creature enigmatiche e figure legate alle tradizioni folkloristiche.
Considerato il tema e l'atmosfera che si vive per tutta la raccolta, ho trovato questi racconti perfetti da leggere durante queste calde giornate, con una bella tazza di tè ghiacciato vicino.
Ho trovato molto utile la breve introduzione a ciascun autore, perché ci permette di conoscerli meglio e di contestualizzare i racconti. Inoltre, queste introduzioni sono anche un ottimo punto di partenza per scoprire altre opere.
July 30, 2026
Ever since seeing the film Midsommar in 2019, I've been increasingly curious about the odd and the eerie undulations of the summer months in their own right, more so than as simply preludes to autumn. (The Halloween spirit begins its restless stirring within me mid-August). This collection of stories hit the mark: they're spooky, a bit weird, and lean into the strangeness that slips through the heat and light. Partial to stories of witches and ritual, "The First of May; or Wallburga's Night," "The Black Stone," and "The Withered Heart" were some of my favourites from this collection. ("The Black Stone" is the most graphic, although not so shocking to anyone who has seen the film Midsommar or is otherwise versed in modern horror cinema.) Though the content of a number of the stories was more frightening than Susan Price's "Foxgloves," I found this story to be the most successful in capturing the tone of a ghost story and felt myself on edge while reading. (Unlike some of the others, she doesn't show us too much, and the unknown stays largely unknown.) I was doubtful about Jenn Ashworth's "Heaven on Earth," the most modern story in the collection, but I found that I really enjoyed her style and the story itself. (The ending becomes apparent about halfway through, and I wish that it had been a bit harder to suss out. Though I do appreciate how she drops hints and uses foreshadowing.) Any of these stories I would gladly turn to again—Ambrose Bierce's "The Suitable Surroundings" is one in particular I would like to spend more time with to suss out the complications and layers of truth/fiction.
physical-tbr
May 17, 2026"The Feast of May; or Wallburga's Night" by Caroline Pichler (tr. R. P. Gillies)
rating: 3.5/5
rating: 3.5/5
July 17, 2025
This was a beautiful book to read during mid-summer and beyond, some of the weird tales were almost quite chilling in a heatwave! The time-span for the short stories included was also a delight, not expecting there to be more modern tales, they were a surprise and made a nice change for a traditional collection. There was also a fascinating insight into other cultures, traditions and parts of the world.
May 31, 2026
3.5*
I enjoyed the diversity of stories in this book but it took me SO long to finish. I found some of the stories hard to follow and I got fed up of looking at it and as a result didn't feel called to pick it up often.
I suggest this book is best read as a pick up book and not necessarily read from front to back in one go.
I'm glad I continued with the book and definitely want to re-read a number of the stories but I wouldn't read it again from cover to cover.
I enjoyed the diversity of stories in this book but it took me SO long to finish. I found some of the stories hard to follow and I got fed up of looking at it and as a result didn't feel called to pick it up often.
I suggest this book is best read as a pick up book and not necessarily read from front to back in one go.
I'm glad I continued with the book and definitely want to re-read a number of the stories but I wouldn't read it again from cover to cover.
July 27, 2026
Antologia interessante, che permette di scoprire storie e autori che rimarrebbero invece a noi sconosciuti. Alcuni racconti li ho trovati un po' complessi e non sempre ho trovato il brivido che cercavo, meriterebbe una seconda lettura più approfondita.
March 13, 2026
7.5/10
April 11, 2026
A strong (and rare) collection of summer solstice/midsommar stories that thrill.
July 11, 2026
Wide-ranging and very enjoyable collection of summer-set spooky tales. Style and quality vary, but it ends well with the fantastically effective Heaven On Earth by Jenn Ashworth.
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