The Luck Of The Town

by Marion Fox

“Much more than a ghost story… One might say that Fox is haunted by the spirit of the place and time of which she writes, and she is able to reproduce in a remarkable way that sense of foreboding and mystery that all of us have experienced.” – The Argus

Where once a Romano-British settlement sprawled across the hills in the north of England, there lies a modern town. Caught in a tense struggle between the growth of the university and industrial expansion, its fate veers towards the uncanny when a discovery is made beneath the old town hall. Into the possession of the university comes the skeleton of a woman, found buried along with a mysterious tablet bearing a cryptic message, and as the ratcheting tension between the townspeople is compounded by an unseasonal heat and sightings of a shadowlike figure haunting the streets, the vengeful grip of a long-buried curse pushes the town towards a night of flames and carnage.

Genres: Horror

206 pages, Paperback

Published April 16, 2026

Reviews

[KDS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate having to DNF a book and so I struggled through this baffling book; I can see why this had not previously been reprinted in over a century.

Some of the writing is beautiful and evocative and other times it’s a muddled mess. It’s dull, pretentious, strung out, and really it is the first miss of this excellent long running series of reprinted works. I have little clue what on Earth this was meant to be about or why things happen. Even the characters are vapid and uninteresting, leaving little room to care about their vague plights. In the end, the poetic nature and symbolism of the prose too heavily covers the true nature of the story, if one is even said to exist at all. The book’s redemption (beyond an informative mini biography of the author at the start) lies in isolated descriptions of the town and the landscapes which are often magnificent in execution. There is also a picturesque and haunting scene of the spirit towards the end of the book which one of the very few nods to the weird genre it has been allocated to.

I love finding out about lost or obscure novels from yesteryear, and some I’ve read over the years have been unexpected gems. This is not included within that company. Give this a miss and instead refer yourself to another in the Tales of the Weird collection; Possession by Rosalie and Edward Synton. That is a remarkable supernatural story that is a travesty to have been left unrecognised for so long and one I can actually recommend.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written and restrained story with a subtle supernatural element - the remains of a buried Roman woman are unearthed and sets in motion a series of events.

It reminded me of John Cowper Powys and the way he uses the landscape and history of places to direct and influence the behaviours and decisions of characters.

[Michael John Paul McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent title from the British Library of the Weird. The Luck of The Town by Marion Fox is a great read. A slow burner to begin with but that let's you get to know the characters. I've never heard of Marion Fox before, and the introduction by Douglas A Anderson gives you an insight into her life. Well done to British Library for printing this book for the first time since its first publication in 1922. 10/10.

[Charlotte Huxtable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely haunting, Fox evokes the rising tensions of the town and brings the novel to a satisfyingly dramatic conclusion. One of my favourite unearthed novels of the collection I've read in a long time.

[Marina Vieira-Coen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Let the Earth lie over it and knowledge be as blind."