What do you think?
Rate this book
Gilded Nightmares – Timeless British Library Books
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
4 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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.
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews