By Horror Haunted
'Britain's Patricia Highsmith'
Published on 9. October 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-571-39130-1 (ISBN)
Description
Spine-chilling tales for dark nights from Celia Fremlin, 'Britain's Patricia Highsmith' (Sunday Times) who is 'Irresistible' (Val McDermid), 'brilliant' (Elly Griffiths), 'a master of suspense' (Janice Hallett), 'packs a punch' (Ian Rankin) and 'got me hooked' (Ruth Rendell)
He was smiling, and covered in blood - face, hands, pyjamas - everything and in his hands - thrust towards her like a birthday gift - was Julie's teddy-bear, soaked and dripping with blood.
This collection of spine-chilling Gothic miniatures from Celia Fremlin is a nightmarish showcase of macabre domesticity: controlling husbands rub shoulders with manipulative wives, parasitic visitors meet fatal accidents, there are nervous breakdowns, toxic relationships, sinister villagers and mob justice. With an unerring nail, Fremlin picks the scabs concealing domestic fault lines and chills our blood.
He was smiling, and covered in blood - face, hands, pyjamas - everything and in his hands - thrust towards her like a birthday gift - was Julie's teddy-bear, soaked and dripping with blood.
This collection of spine-chilling Gothic miniatures from Celia Fremlin is a nightmarish showcase of macabre domesticity: controlling husbands rub shoulders with manipulative wives, parasitic visitors meet fatal accidents, there are nervous breakdowns, toxic relationships, sinister villagers and mob justice. With an unerring nail, Fremlin picks the scabs concealing domestic fault lines and chills our blood.
More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 124 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
182 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-571-39130-1 (9780571391301)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
02/2014
Faber & Faber
€34.86
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
CELIA FREMLIN (1914-2009) was born in Kent and studied at Oxford. During WWII, she worked as an air-raid warden and on the Mass Observation Project. Over four decades, Fremlin wrote sixteen novels - including the classic seaside mystery Uncle Paul and Christmas noir The Long Shadow - as well as one book of poetry and three story collections. Her debut, The Hours Before Dawn, won the Edgar Award in 1960.