These lively and entertaining folk tales from one of Britain's most ancient counties are vividly retold by local storyteller Kirsty Hartsiotis. Their origins lost in the oral tradition, these thirty stories from Wiltshire reflect the wisdom of the county and its people. From the Giant's Dance to the Great Western Railway, no stone is left unturned to discover the roots of the county. Discover the Moonraker's passages and Merlin's trickery, dabchicks and the devil, the flying monk of Malmesbury and a canal ghost story. These tales have all stood the test of time, and remain classic texts that will be enjoyed time and again by modern readers.

With its wild eroding sea, its gentle rolling fields and tall churches, Suffolk is a county of contrasts. It may seem a kindly and civilised place, but in that sea, in the reed beds, the woods and even down dark town streets lurk strange beasts, ghosts and tricksters. These thirty traditional tales retold by storyteller Kirsty Hartsiotis take you into a hidden world of green children and wildmen, of lovers from beyond the grave and tricksy fairy folk. Shaped by generations of Suffolk mardle and wit, in these stories you’ll discover the county’s last dragon, the secret behind Black Shuck, saintly King Edmund and heroic King Raedwald, haunted airfields, broken-hearted mermaids and the exploits of the county’s cunning folk. Embark on this journey around Suffolk and you’ll find you’re never far from a story.

Suffolk - a peaceful, rural county with big skies, rolling fi elds, unspoilt beaches, quaint towns and villages. But all is not as quiet as it seems. Could that be the eerie clanking of gibbet chains at the crossroads? Did you see a desolate face at an upper window or a spectral white form lurking in the hedgerow? Cats are not always lucky - and beware a north Suffolk Broad in the still, small hours of Midsummer Night . . . Kirsty Hartsiotis and Cherry Wilkinson retell, with spine-chilling freshness, thirty fabulous ghost tales from all corners of this beguiling county. So pull up a chair, stoke the fire and prepare to see its gentle landscape in a new light.

Whether it's white ladies, old ladies, monks, miners, blacksmiths, beggars, or bears, horses, hounds, priests or poltergeists, unwilling brides or all too willing femmes fatales, Dark Age warriors, Roundhead troopers, or phantom narrowboats, Gloucestershire's hidden places are seething with spooks. Anthony Nanson and Kirsty Hartsiotis imaginatively bring to life twenty of the creepiest and most engaging ghost stories from all over Gloucestershire - from the Forest, Severn Vale, and Cotswolds, the Upper Thames and Bristol. Enjoy them on the page on a dark and stormy night, or tell them yourself to freak out your friends.

How do you survive a mermaid's curse? Where lurks the immortal cat? Who cooks old boots in a stew? Is treasure really buried down under May Hill? Dive into these tales from forest, vale and high blue hill, on a journey that will take you far into the past, deep into other worlds and through the seasons of the year - all without leaving Gloucestershire! Strange and fabulous stories from all over the county are brought to life in this book by Stroud storytellers Anthony Nanson and Kirsty Hartsiotis.