Curious England: A Guide Volume One

by H.E. Bulstrode

Illustrated with 113 photographs, this book, a casual and somewhat idiosyncratic guide to various folkloric and historical curiosities dotted about England’s villages, towns, and countryside, is meant primarily for the reader’s entertainment and enjoyment; it is not intended to be an academic tract. It is by no means comprehensive, as no single volume could ever hope to be, such is the vast scope of the subject matter covered within. What it will provide, however, are a few pointers respecting what to look out for, and what to be aware of, whilst you explore the areas covered within these pages. It may be said to be a travel guide of sorts, as well as a time machine; a ramshackle vehicle into the peculiar realms of folkloric memory. Thus will you encounter ghosts; curious carvings in stone and wood; enigmatic echoes of a lost pagan past; stories of vanished villages and the Devil’s many, and often incompetent, works; tall tales and prehistoric monuments, and the sometimes deadly beauty of the English countryside.

259 pages, Paperback

Published July 21, 2021

About the author

The author's childhood and formative years were spent in the English West Country, a region in which reality and fantasy are frequently confused, and where what elsewhere would be taken as peculiar, regarded as nothing more than an everyday occurrence. Soaked in myth, folklore and cider, his imagination eventually whirred into life and prompted him to pen, or at least type, a number of understated tales of the uncanny, drawing upon his wry observations of esoteric subcultures and beliefs, and the rich store of lore that seems locked into the land itself.

From the mist, the frost, and the wind, comes something ambling through the murk, seeking to ensnare the unwary: a village cunning man; a malignant Jacobean mannequin; a psychedelic Crowley wannabe; the sickle-wielding spirit of old Dorset; a pious guide who emerges from the fabric of a venerable minster; a mediaeval animalistic heretic with a still beating heart. Ghost stories, bizarre rites, and mental disintegration populate a world in which the living and the dead meet in an eternal present, and the author dares - the most horrific thing of all - to use adverbs where appropriate.

His tales have frequently been compared to the likes of those encountered in Tales of the Unexpected and The Twilight Zone, but the Bulstrodian world, as you will discover, is a realm unto itself, and quite distinct from either.

He is currently working on a number of future publications, including a 1970s ghost story set in the Somerset Levels, a novel set in 17th-century Cornwall in which the reader will encounter a heady mix of superstition, piracy and religious fanaticism, and a third anthology of supernatural fiction.