Ghost, paranormal and folklore books
Books about ghosts, folklore, witchcraft, paranormal research, dark history and the unexplained across Britain and Ireland.
1,217 books found
Cover unavailableUnexplained Ghosts and Spirits
Unexplained Ghosts and Spirits examines reported encounters with ghosts and spirits from around the world, combining famous cases with testimony from people who claimed to experience them. The book presents these accounts as mysteries rather…
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Cover unavailableUnexplained: Great Mysteries of the 20th Century
The Unexplained surveys reported mysteries and paranormal claims across the 20th century, arranged chronologically from the opening years of modernity to the approach of the new millennium. Jenny Randles places these accounts alongside changing science,…
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Cover unavailableUnhappily Ever After
Tom Phillips retells five folk tales for adults, concentrating on the stories that continue after the promise of a happy ending has fallen apart. These are tales of abandoned men, foolish choices, painful consequences and…
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Cover unavailableUnknown Ghosts of the South East
Unknown Ghosts of the South East presents reported hauntings from the South East of England, continuing Andrew Green’s long interest in regional ghost lore and psychical investigation. The book belongs to the same broad body…
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Cover unavailableUnlocking the Love-Lock: The History and Heritage of a Contemporary Custom
Ceri Houlbrook examines love-locking, the contemporary custom of engraving padlocks with names before attaching them to bridges and other public structures as declarations of romantic commitment. The practice became widely popular in the 2000s, spreading…
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Cover unavailableWalking Haunted London
Walking Haunted London sets out 25 routes through London and nearby locations, linking streets, buildings, pubs and theatres with reported apparitions, ghost stories and darker episodes from the capital’s past. Richard Jones includes well-known names…
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Cover unavailableWarwickshire Folk Tales
Cath Edwards gathers tales from historic Warwickshire, including Coventry, Rugby, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham. The collection brings together stories of Lady Godiva, Dick Turpin, Guy of Warwick and Saint George, alongside accounts of the Rollright…
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Cover unavailableWater Folk Tales
Water Folk Tales gathers stories shaped by rivers, lakes and seas, beginning in Welsh waters before flowing into traditions from around the world. Peter Stevenson brings together mermaids, selkies, swan girls, sea monsters, rain-makers and…
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Cover unavailableWaterford Folk Tales
Waterford Folk Tales gathers traditional stories from across County Waterford, linking its legends to the landscape in which they were told. The collection reaches back to the ancient Gaelic tribes and the ogham stones, while…
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Cover unavailableWeekend Book of Ghosts
Weekend Book of Ghosts is an edited collection of reported apparitions, haunting accounts and ghost lore, assembled within the popular British supernatural-book tradition of the 1970s. Richard Whittington-Egan presents the material as a varied gathering…
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Cover unavailableWeird Tales from the Island City: 9 Strange Portsmouth Stories
Nine strange stories turn Portsmouth into a setting for supernatural encounters, dark comedy and unsettling discoveries. Matt Wingett’s collection combines seven short stories with two novellas, featuring such possibilities as a mermaid, time-travelling cats and…
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Cover unavailableWelsh Bells, Wells, Stones & Dragons
This selection from Wirt Sikes’s Welsh folklore collection brings together traditions surrounding bells, holy wells, legendary stones and dragons. Its opening chapter records stories of bells said to possess occult powers, including legends associated with…
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Cover unavailableWelsh Folk Tales
Welsh Folk Tales brings together traditional stories, reported true tales, tall tales, myths, legends, gossip and memories from across Wales. Peter Stevenson draws on familiar material alongside stories preserved in forgotten manuscripts, out-of-print collections and…
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Cover unavailableWelsh Folk Tales of Coast and Sea
Peter Stevenson follows Môrwen, a Mesolithic Marsh Girl, along the Welsh Coast Path as she encounters stories shaped by the sea. The collection brings together Welsh coastal traditions including the lovesick mermaid of Llanina, the…
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Cover unavailableWelsh Folk-Lore: A Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales
Elias Owen’s collection records the folk-tales, legends and traditional beliefs of North Wales, presenting stories associated with fairies, goblins, witches, ghosts and other supernatural beings. The material reflects the lore of local communities and preserves…
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Cover unavailableWerewolves
Elliott O'Donnell’s Werewolves examines the changing ideas attached to lycanthropy, from human transformation and werwolf spirits to alleged methods of becoming a werwolf and attempts at exorcism. The book treats these subjects through folklore, historical…
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Cover unavailableWest Country Walks & Legends
West Country Walks & Legends combines walking and local legend across England’s West Country, linking places, landscape and the stories attached to them. John H. N. Mason’s account treats the region as both a geographical…
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Cover unavailableWest Midlands Folk Tales
Cath Edwards gathers folk stories from a county shaped by coal mining, ironworking, farming and the growth of industrial towns. The collection includes miners’ beliefs about broken shoes, warning signs, Gabriel Hounds and the Seven…
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Cover unavailableWest of Ireland Folk Tales for Children
West of Ireland Folk Tales for Children retells traditional stories rooted in the landscapes and beliefs of Ireland’s western counties. Among its tales are accounts of Knockma and its legendary inhabitants, a boy’s encounter with…
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Cover unavailableWest Yorkshire Folk Tales
West Yorkshire Folk Tales gathers stories from across the county, linking the open Pennine hills with the neighbourhoods of its industrial towns. John Billingsley presents traditions associated with local places and people, showing how communities…
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Cover unavailableWestern Isles Folk Tales
Ian Stephen gathers stories from across the Western Isles, combining traditional narrative with memories of island life and community custom. The collection reflects a culture shaped by oral storytelling, where tales could preserve local character…
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Cover unavailableWexford Folk Tales
Wexford Folk Tales gathers traditional stories from across County Wexford, bringing together accounts of witches, mermaids, grave robbing and buried treasure. The collection also includes tales of lurechan mischief, dangerous love potions and six supposed…
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Cover unavailableWhat is a Poltergeist? Understanding Poltergeist Activity
Geoff Holder’s study examines what is meant by a poltergeist and how reports of ‘noisy ghosts’ have been understood. It considers disturbances such as objects apparently moving without visible cause, unexplained knocks and other noises,…
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Cover unavailableWhen Day Becomes Night: Ghost Stories
Graeme Milne turns from recording reported hauntings to writing supernatural fiction in this collection of short stories. Some of the tales draw inspiration from events and experiences he researched as a paranormal investigator. Written in…
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Cover unavailableWhere Dragons Soar: And Other Animal Folk Tales of the British Isles
Where Dragons Soar gathers animal folk tales from across the British Isles, bringing together dragons, lake monsters, talking or scheming creatures and beasts entwined with local history. Familiar legends sit alongside less widely known accounts,…
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Cover unavailableWhere the Ghosts Walk
Where the Ghosts Walk is a gazetteer of reported hauntings across Britain, organised by the kinds of places where apparitions and related phenomena are said to occur. Airfields, ancient sites, ruins, bridges, battlefields, graveyards, gardens,…
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Cover unavailableWhispers from the Other Side
Whispers from the Other Side by Steve Higgins examines Electronic Voice Phenomenon, focusing on human-like voices reportedly captured on electronic recording devices. The book considers how such recordings are made, what investigators listen for, and…
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Who Killed Cock Robin? British Folk Songs of Crime and Punishment
Judge Stephen Sedley and folk singer Martin Carthy collect British folk songs about crime and punishment, with context for the tales of murder, poaching, piracy and injustice that have survived in song. A fascinating, sometimes…
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Cover unavailableWho Made England?
Who Made England? examines how England emerged from several smaller Saxon kingdoms during the early medieval period. Chip Colquhoun sets historical fact alongside folklore while asking whether Alfred the Great began the work of unification,…
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Cover unavailableWho's There?: The True Story of a Leeds Haunting
Who's There? recounts the Slater family’s reported haunting in Leeds, beginning with what sounds like a baby crying in their new home. Colette Shires, who experienced the events as a child, describes paranormal activity that…
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Cover unavailableWhy Mystery Matters
Neil Nixon and E. K. Knight explore what mystery contributes to human experience, moving between unexplained phenomena, religious belief, entertainment and psychology. UFO accounts sit alongside stand-up comedy and the unusual condition in which people…
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Cover unavailableWhy Was the Partridge in the Pear Tree?
Why Was the Partridge in the Pear Tree? traces the history of Christmas carols from medieval religious and seasonal traditions to their place in modern celebrations. Revd Mark Lawson-Jones begins with wassailing, the Welsh Mari…
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Cover unavailableWicklow Folk Tales
Wicklow Folk Tales gathers stories linked to villages, mountains, roads and historic sites throughout County Wicklow, drawing particularly on traditions from West Wicklow. Brendan Nolan, an experienced storyteller, brings together accounts of fairies, spirits, magic…
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Cover unavailableWild Waves and Wishing Wells
Wild Waves and Wishing Wells gathers 17 Irish folk tales shaped by water: the sea, wells, lakes, rivers and even a puddle. Órla Mc Govern retells stories involving Fionn and the Salmon, a boy who…
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Cover unavailableWill Storr vs. the Supernatural
Will Storr investigates reported hauntings, ghost hunters and the psychology of supernatural belief, beginning with a meeting with Philadelphia demonologist Lou Gentile. Experiences involving strange lights and disturbing sounds prompt him to examine claims he…
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Cover unavailableWiltshire Folk Tales
Wiltshire Folk Tales gathers 30 stories associated with the county, retold by storyteller Kirsty Hartsiotis. The collection ranges from the Giant’s Dance and the Moonrakers to Merlin’s trickery, the flying monk of Malmesbury, and tales…
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Cover unavailableWiltshire Folklore and Legends
Wiltshire Folklore and Legends gathers traditions connected with the county’s prehistoric landscape, rural communities and long-running local stories. Ralph Whitlock discusses the Devil’s supposed role in building Stonehenge and the tale of King Zel, whose…
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Cover unavailableWitch Hunters
Witch Hunters examines the people who claimed to identify, investigate and expose witches during the Renaissance and the great witch-hunting era. P. G. Maxwell-Stuart follows the careers and methods of figures including the Jesuit Martin…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft
Witchcraft traces changing ideas about witches from the remnants of early religious beliefs through Christian reinterpretation, deliberate diabolism and accusations dismissed by Hughes as cruel nonsense. The book considers how magical practices and beliefs developed,…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland
John Gregorson Campbell records Highland and Island traditions concerning witchcraft, charms, second sight and warnings of death. The collection includes stories of witches affecting milk, raising storms, causing drownings and taking the forms of animals…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft and Folk Belief in the Age of Enlightenment: Scotland, 1670–1740
Lizanne Henderson examines Scottish witchcraft and witch belief from 1670 to 1740, a period often associated with the decline of prosecutions and the emergence of the Scottish Enlightenment. Rather than treating the end of the…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft Continued: Popular Magic in Modern Europe
Witchcraft Continued examines the persistence of witchcraft beliefs and popular magic in Europe after the decline of the formal witch trials. Edited essays cover England, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Finland, Transylvania and Northern…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft in England
Christina Hole’s illustrated history surveys English beliefs and practices associated with witchcraft, from ancient rites and sorcery to later forms of popular magic. Its subjects include maleficium, familiars, methods used to identify suspected witches, alleged…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft in the Thames Valley
Witchcraft in the Thames Valley gathers traditional witchcraft tales associated with the Thames Valley, presenting local stories where folklore, reported marvels and historical memory overlap. Tony Barham’s short regional study centres on traditions attached to…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft in Wales
Witchcraft in Wales gathers Welsh traditions concerning witches, curses, magical practices and feared supernatural influence. Its material derives from the folklore collected by Elias Owen, whose investigations preserved stories and beliefs gathered from older inhabitants,…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft Today
Witchcraft Today presents Gerald Gardner’s account of witchcraft as a living religion, based on his claims to have encountered practising covens in England. He describes beliefs, ritual practices, initiation and meetings, while considering the roles…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft, Magic and Culture 1736–1951
Owen Davies examines witchcraft and magic in England and Wales after the 1736 Witchcraft Act, tracing how older beliefs survived alongside growing scepticism. The book considers educated attitudes, popular justice and the changing image of…
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Cover unavailableWitchcraft: A History
Witchcraft: A History traces changing ideas about magic and witchcraft from ancient Greece and Rome through medieval demonology, early modern prosecutions and twentieth-century paganism. P. G. Maxwell-Stuart shows how the meaning of witchcraft shifted across…
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