" W]orthy of being compared to Dickens's creations . . . First-class entertainment." - William F. Deeck, "The Mystery Fancier"
"An exciting story told in a pleasant narrative style with considerable skill, and a whole portfolio of Dickensian characters, drawn against a rich background make "The Slype" an almost perfect piece of light fiction." - "The Outlook"
"No one will care to hurry when he can spend his time in the company of such delightful people as the Dean, the Paper Wizard, and Boyce's Boy. . . . "The Slype" is] a book to be read and put by for future rereading." - "New York Times"
"A unique and unusual mystery yarn." - "Baltimore Sun"
The Slype is a dark passage, reputedly haunted, adjoining the ancient cathedral of Dullchester, and it plays a central role in this thrilling mystery. As the story opens, this sleepy cathedral city has a sinister visitor whose ominous pastime consists of cutting paper silhouettes depicting a corpse hanging from a gibbet. After his arrival, a series of terrifying events ensues: ghostly screams are heard to emanate from the Slype, and the town's residents begin disappearing one by one, inexplicably and without a trace. Young Daniel Dyke, Sergeant Wurren, and Inspector Macauley of Scotland Yard will have to join forces to unravel this deadly mystery and uncover a centuries-old secret . . . before it's too late
Russell Thorndike (1885-1972) is best known for his popular series of swashbuckling tales featuring the smuggler Dr. Syn, but as Mark Valentine writes in his introduction to this new edition, the rediscovery of Thorndike's mystery and suspense fiction is long overdue. This edition of "The Slype" (1927), a fast-paced and ingenious tale with a plot and cast of characters reminiscent of Dickens, is the first in 80 years and features a reproduction of the scarce jacket art of the 1927 first edition.

"Dr. Syn's creator cannot but write interestingly. . . . Some of the strange stories are horrible and not for the squeamish." - "Sydney Morning Herald"
"These tales of terror and violence are quite nightmarish in their exciting conception." - "Glasgow Evening News"
""Master of the Macabre" is certainly macabre and provides just what you want, if you enjoy reading of 'ghosts and ghoulies, long leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night.'" "The Star" (Sheffield)
"It is all very good reading for a windy night, alone in front of an open fireplace." - "Winnipeg Tribune"
"This book is strange, thrilling and certainly macabre." - "Yorkshire Evening Press"
Tayler Kent flees London in a blinding snowstorm, hoping to escape the ghosts that haunt his home. Instead, he finds things may have gone from bad to worse when he crashes his car, breaks his ankle, and is forced to take refuge at a medieval monastery now inhabited by the eccentric Charles Hogarth, known as "The Master of the Macabre." As Kent's ankle heals, Hogarth entertains him with fine food, brandy, and a series of gruesome stories connected with an odd assortment of old relics on display in a curio cabinet. But the terrors are not confined to Hogarth's tales: the monastery is haunted by the evil spirit of an apostate monk and besieged by more corporeal foes, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on one of the Master's treasures. . . .
Best known for his series of novels featuring the smuggler Dr. Syn, Russell Thorndike (1885-1972) in "The Master of the Macabre" (1947) delivers an irresistible mix of horror, adventure, and black humour that is sure to please fans of classic ghost stories and supernatural fiction. This first-ever republication of the novel includes the original jacket art and a new introduction by Mark Valentine.

"In reading it I had several splendid shudders. . . . It is a piece of living literature, not merely an evening's entertainment." - E. B. Osborn, "Morning Post"
"A bang-up ghost-murder-detective story with a background of bleak Northumberland moors, an old house full of haunts, and] a Roman Centurion who appears . . . with death in his wake." - "Scribner's Magazine"
"A well nigh perfect admixture of eerie horror, romance and good detecting." - "Saturday Review"
"Truly a little masterpiece of a book. Reminiscent of Christie at the height of her powers in its brilliant use of misdirection. . . . Really a classic of its kind." - J. F. Norris, "Mystery File"
From the moment William Mertoun arrives to catalogue the library at Colonel Barr's old mansion on the desolate Northumbrian moors, he senses something is terribly wrong. Barr's brother Ian has just died, mysteriously and violently, and the Colonel himself is hidden away in a locked room, to which his sinister nurse denies all access. As strange and supernatural events begin to unfold, Mertoun learns the local legend of a ghostly Roman centurion, slain on the site sixteen centuries earlier, who is said to haunt the estate. Mertoun is sceptical at first, but after another murder, a harrowing seance, and an actual sighting of the spirit one lonely night on the moor, he realizes that he and everyone at Barr's mansion are in mortal danger. What does the ghost want, and can it be stopped? This first-ever reprinting of "He Arrived at Dusk" (1933), R. C. Ashby's classic tale of mystery and the supernatural, features a new introduction by Mark Valentine and a reproduction of the original jacket art.