Mysterious Novice — Peter Haining

The Gothic "Bluebooks" were the hugely popular paperbacks of their time, eagerly sought by uncounted numbers of readers in the Nineteenth Century who could not afford the more decorous three-volume novels favoured by the gentry. Containing sensational tales of lustful monks, terrified females, dashing heroes and a whole variety of supernatural creatures, these one-hundred-page little works bound in blue-coloured paper became notorious as 'Shilling Shockers'-after the price they were sold at-but with repeated handling soon became impossibly rare. In this unique collection some of the best are reprinted, complete with their original illustrations, for all readers who love to thrill to tales of Gothic horror and melodrama.