A mage for the British royals matches wits with a power-mad old foe in a beguiling novel of enchantments and daring by Shannon Fay, author of Innate Magic. London, 1958. By crafting magical outfits for his friend, Princess Katherine, cloth mage Paul Gallagher is getting ahead. It's not a seamless path. Not since the Virtuis Party came to power. The far-right faction is using criminals to create a protective barrier around England. The enchanted uniforms the prisoners wear may beget a demand for mages, but using luckless convicts as tools for warmongering reactionaries isn't Paul's dream for cloth magic. His road to success takes an even darker turn when the unexpected death of a member of the royal family plunges the country into chaos. The Virtuis Party is rising, its mysterious puppet master is gaining control, and Paul and his allies are prepared to do anything to protect the princess, the throne, and ultimately, the soul of the country. That means falling back on the innate magic Paul dreads using again. It's illegal, dangerous, and so potent it can raise the dead. But as the fate of the entire nation hangs by a thread, dire times call for extreme magic.

"Another recent volume of the Gothic Fantasy series is Haunted House Short Stories, which offers another selection of excellent fiction." - Kirkus Following the great success of our Gothic Fantasy deluxe edition short story compilations, Supernatural Horror, Murder Mayhem, Lost Souls and many others, this latest title takes housebound trapped spirits and creepy gothic mansions as its chilling subject. Contains a potent mix of classic and brand new writing, with authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. Oh, what is that sound within the walls? The creaking floorboards, the children hiding in the mirror, the spirits that rake across the flesh of the mind - all find a home in this anthology of spine-tingling tales. Classic authors include: E.F. Benson, Ambrose Bierce, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Rhoda Broughton, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Bernard Capes, Ralph Adams Cram, B.M. Croker, Joseph Sheridan le Fanu, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, O. Henry, William Hope Hodgson, W.W. Jacobs, M.R. James, Rudyard Kipling, H.P. Lovecraft, Guy de Maupassant, Edith Nesbit, Vincent O'Sullivan, Margaret Oliphant, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, Charlotte Riddell, Mark Twain, Hugh Walpole, Edith Wharton.