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The Enchanted World
Night Creatures
The Enchanted World was a series of twenty-one books published in the time period 1984-1987. Each book focused on different aspects of mythology, fairy tales or folklore, and all were released by Time Life Books. This book opens with one of many stories in the book about creatures of the night. The first story is an old Danish tale. Following is an excerpt: "Within this hall, hearths and torches blazed warm and bright, and drinking horns passed freely among the warriors of the Scylding clan; bards intoned the praises of their chieftain, Hrothgar, the valorous King; harpists sang of warmth and light. Outside the hall, however, solitary in the cold and dark, another kind of being walked. Although manlike, that being was no man. Huge and hairy, it shambled through the night mists of fell and fen, its claws scrabbling from time to time in the dirt as it tore at its hapless prey - hares, ferrets and other small beasts".
143 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
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About the author
Ellen Galford
33 books20 followersEllen Galford is a Scottish writer of fiction and nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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November 23, 2021What I love about this collection of books (trying to get the whole collection) is that it is such a perfect mix of stories and history. Blended so well at times that you don't realize that you have transferred from one to the other.
March 20, 2012
A series from Time Life Books on myth, superstitions, and legend, brought to life with beautiful illustrations, and written in a fluid like prose that brings to mind a storyteller sitting by a crackling fire sharing his tales.
I remember reading some of the books in this series when I was younger. I had purchased some through a mail order subscription, but didn't complete the collection, although you can still find them on Amazon, Ebay, and the like. YouTube even has a video of the original TV commercial for when the series was first launched. Time Life could have gone the route of writing this in a dry, historical format, but luckily went with a style that plays well with the topics of the series.
From werewolves to other creatures both alive and undead that stalk in the night, if you are a fan of mythology as I am, this book serves as a great reference and fun read!
I remember reading some of the books in this series when I was younger. I had purchased some through a mail order subscription, but didn't complete the collection, although you can still find them on Amazon, Ebay, and the like. YouTube even has a video of the original TV commercial for when the series was first launched. Time Life could have gone the route of writing this in a dry, historical format, but luckily went with a style that plays well with the topics of the series.
From werewolves to other creatures both alive and undead that stalk in the night, if you are a fan of mythology as I am, this book serves as a great reference and fun read!
October 23, 2011
This was a such an interesting read. It was just different legends from different cultures and places about creatures of the night. From vampires to werewolves and everthing in between, this book has tales about all.
March 5, 2021
The topic of this volume, Night Creatures, is upon reflection a fairly broad brush. Here they take it to contain any old tale about a creature which lurks by night. In fact the first chapter, “Perilous Paths through the Dark” seems as if it were being used for all the stories left out, for space reasons, from the previous volume Legends of Valor. It opens with the tale of Beowulf - much more entertaining than the original Beowulf text - and fills the pages with brave heroes who were forced to face and destroy some random spawn of chaos.
Chapter 2 - “Visitations from the Realms of Shadow” - on the other hand, seems to be formed from leftover tales from volume 4 Ghosts. It focuses on nightly ghost visitations of specters, demon imps, and various other bogarts determined to spellbind men, and either steal their souls or semen. Of the monsters which feed on fear and bring nightmares into the world.
It isn’t until Chapters 3 and 4 - “Blood Feasts of the Damned” & “The Way of the Werebeast” - that the books takes on an identity of its own. The last pair of chapters discuss tales of vampires and lycanthropes respectively. Unlike the other volumes, this one at least brings in tales from outside of Europe, so it isn’t a retelling of Dracula and other well-known vampire and werewolf tropes. Instead, the other explores those vampire legends outside the norm, what Eastern and Eastern European cultures considered a vampire and how they dealt with them. The werebeast sections, while paying homage to the popular werewolf, looks at the phenomenon from the perspective of any tale involving man turning into beast. From the Berserker stories of Viking fame, to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, to the seven-tailed fox woman tale of ancient Japan.
Chapter 2 - “Visitations from the Realms of Shadow” - on the other hand, seems to be formed from leftover tales from volume 4 Ghosts. It focuses on nightly ghost visitations of specters, demon imps, and various other bogarts determined to spellbind men, and either steal their souls or semen. Of the monsters which feed on fear and bring nightmares into the world.
It isn’t until Chapters 3 and 4 - “Blood Feasts of the Damned” & “The Way of the Werebeast” - that the books takes on an identity of its own. The last pair of chapters discuss tales of vampires and lycanthropes respectively. Unlike the other volumes, this one at least brings in tales from outside of Europe, so it isn’t a retelling of Dracula and other well-known vampire and werewolf tropes. Instead, the other explores those vampire legends outside the norm, what Eastern and Eastern European cultures considered a vampire and how they dealt with them. The werebeast sections, while paying homage to the popular werewolf, looks at the phenomenon from the perspective of any tale involving man turning into beast. From the Berserker stories of Viking fame, to the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, to the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, to the seven-tailed fox woman tale of ancient Japan.
October 14, 2020
Though I'm a big fan of the The Enchanted World Series, this book was not as engaging (neither the prose or artwork) as the other books in the series. Still, if you're interested in reading tales of Beowulf, Vampires, Werewolves, Berserkers, other myths from Denmark, Greece, England, Scotland, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Romania, this is worth reading. And even though the artwork wasn't to my liking, it was scary.
February 3, 2019
Another in The Enchanted World series, all of which are lushly illustrated. From familiar stories (like Beowulf and Beauty and the Beast to unfamiliar ones, from all over the world (except Africa--a puzzling omission since Africa has as rich a folk tradition as anywhere else), I again enjoyed them all.
February 24, 2019
Another great book in the enchanted world series. I enjoyed this one even more so since it's about dark creatures, creatures of the night. Tales about vampires, werewolves, ghosts and apparitions that haunt the night and feed off the night's power and enchantment. Great book with stories from allover the world, can't wait for the next one.
January 12, 2025
A compilation of myths, folktales and stories of night monsters. A book full of wonderful illustrations and whilst it doesn't go into great depth, it does spread its web wide and list some obscure creatures alongside the more common tales.
This series was a must read alongside the readers digest mysteries of the world and the Usbourne Ghosts, UFOs books in my childhood.
This series was a must read alongside the readers digest mysteries of the world and the Usbourne Ghosts, UFOs books in my childhood.
April 3, 2022
Amazingly written with beautiful illustration. My only problem with this book is some stories will have a page of random facts or a one page story in between a 9 page story making it difficult to follow unless you skip that one page in the middle and go back and read it later.
August 19, 2017
Great book with interesting tales and wonderful pictures that take the reader into the folklore of the night. Always know grabbing a book by time-life is a grand adventure.
April 17, 2009
My review for all of these books in this series is the same.
Time-Life has once again done an outstanding job putting together a series. From cover to cover they are thoughtful, beautiful books. I'm starting to sound generic, but it's true.
I'm a DK fan, I like white backgrounds and side notes with clear sections for every subject. This series has none of that. What they do have is an old book feel. Timeless artwork, thoroughness, and very well written makes these a must on my occult/paranormal bookshelf at home. I've been collecting the series slowly over several years and still have a few books to go. I refuse to go on amazon and buy them. It's all in the hunt for me. There is no subject they have left untouched. I highly recommend them.
Time-Life has once again done an outstanding job putting together a series. From cover to cover they are thoughtful, beautiful books. I'm starting to sound generic, but it's true.
I'm a DK fan, I like white backgrounds and side notes with clear sections for every subject. This series has none of that. What they do have is an old book feel. Timeless artwork, thoroughness, and very well written makes these a must on my occult/paranormal bookshelf at home. I've been collecting the series slowly over several years and still have a few books to go. I refuse to go on amazon and buy them. It's all in the hunt for me. There is no subject they have left untouched. I highly recommend them.
November 4, 2016
I was a youngster when I first came across this book in my local public library and it made a lasting impression on me. Years later I found the book on Amazon and I had to own it. Its a purchase I've never regretted. The stories therein are fantastic and the artwork is impressive. The overall theme of the book is written as if these stories actually took place in some long forgotten age.
The book itself covers several different topics ranging from the legendary monsters of ancient myth to the tales of vampires and werewolves in the Dark Age. This book tries to skirt the line between mythology and horror and for the most part the Editors of Time-Life Books succeeded. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of folklore and mythology.
The book itself covers several different topics ranging from the legendary monsters of ancient myth to the tales of vampires and werewolves in the Dark Age. This book tries to skirt the line between mythology and horror and for the most part the Editors of Time-Life Books succeeded. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of folklore and mythology.
January 5, 2014
One of my all time favorite books. Perfect for anyone who loves learning about supernatural creatures. This book contains well researched information about the creatures that haunt the night, stylized tales, and cool pictures.
October 28, 2013
A series of short articles and stories.
March 4, 2016
Dit boek geeft een heel goed beeld van hoe mensen leefden in de middeleeuwen, en waarom dat er voor heeft gezorgt dat er zoveel angst ontstond voor spoken en andere wezens. Prachtige afbeeldingen.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews