McNally & Florescu – In Search Of Dracula

Raymond T. McNally & Radu Florescu – In Search Of Dracula: A True History Of Dracula And Vampire Legends (Nel-Mentor, 1975)

illustrated Back cover blurb ” — there are such things as vampires; some of us have evidence that they exist.” So wrote Bram Stoker in his now famous horror novel Dracula. This was the first work of fiction to pick up on the centuries-old legends of vampires and transform that incarnate Prince of Evil, Count Dracula, into a ‘hero’ of novels, plays and particularly, films. The two researchers, McNally and Florescu, have delved through the layers of legend and myth to the origins of the legend, to Vlad Dracul, a 15th century nobleman of Wallachia, nicknamed ‘the Impaler because of his delight in impaling his enemies, alive, on wooden stakes. The authors trace the intertwined reality and myth to the twentieth century cult, revealing much that is fascinating, much that is truly horrific. The source for many horror novels (notably Peter Tremayne’s Dracula Unborn), this is a well regarded study of Vlad the Impaler, the ‘real’ Dracula, which includes translations of several 15th Century documents and purports to tell the story of Vlad the Impaler. Also includes a 16 page photo spread and handy checklist of Countess Bathory, Stoker and Dracula in film and literature.

Elliot O’Donnell – Casebook of Ghosts 2

Elliot O’Donnell – Casebook of Ghosts Volume Two (NEL, March 1971)

Jan Parker

More True stories by the world’s greatest ghost-hunter.

The Jansen’s kept one of their rooms boarded up – because those who’d stayed there in the past always experienced a strange compulsion to kill. And then one night, a visiting cousin with nowhere else to stay emerged from the room clutching a pair of gleaming scissors in her fist.

What was the power that had her in its spell? Only Elliott O’Donnell’s steel-nerved persistence could track down the origin of such a trance.

Here are more case histories by the fearless author of NEL’s bestselling “CASEBOOK OF GHOSTS”, Volume 1. This sequel includes true tales of headless sailors, disappearing secretaries, haunted elevators and much, much more.

Thanks to Steve Goodwin for providing the scan and blurb!

Elliott O’Donnell – The Screaming Skulls

Elliott O’Donnell – The Screaming Skulls & Other Ghost Stories (Four Square Horror, September, 1966) [Edited by Harry Ludlam]

Screaming skulls in action

Blurb:

These gripping true ghost tales, together with some compelling legends, are the cream of those collected by Elliott O’Donnell in over half a century spent ghost-hunting.
He writes of creeping hands, vengeful phantoms and tortured wraiths exactly as they were seen — from accounts by witnesses, and from records made at the time or shortly afterwards.
Besides documenting the cases of others, O’Donnell tells of his own creepy experiences. He has investigated numerous cases of supernatural phenomena, disturbing Me and horrifying, from inexplicable hauntings in lonely country houses to those in the heart of town cursed by appalling events of the past.
No one reading these tales by Britain’s most renowned ghost-hunter can remain, a sceptic … or refrain from a shudder in the dark.

Rhiannon Hughes – Legends of the Mist

Rhiannon Hughes (ed.) – Legends of the Mist (Nel, 1972)

 

Introduction

I. Legendary Tales
The Lady of the Fountain
Merlin and the History of Tom Thumb
The Legend of the Mountain Bard

II.Witchcraft and Satanism
Satan Playing Cards on Rhyd-y-Cae Bridge, Pentrevoelas
Satan Snatching a Man Up Into the Air
Satan Frightening a Man For Gathering Nuts On Sunday
Satan Taking Possession Of a Man Who Fished On Sunday
Satan Taking Possession Of a Man Who Travelled On Sunday
Satan Outwitted
The Devil’s Tree by Eglwys Rhos
Witches Transforming Themselves Into Cats
The Witches Revenge on Huw Llwyd
A Witch transformed into a Hare injured by one whom she tormented
Ceriden and Gwion (Gwiawn) Bach’s Transformation
How To Break, or Protect People From a Witch’s Spell

III. Supernatural
The Murderess
The Infidel
The Sighs of Ulla
The Curse of Pantannas
Goronwy Tudor and The Witches of Llanddona
Nansi Llwyd and The Dog of Darkness

Blurb:
From the land of the mist, this anthology brings together some of the best short fantasy fiction. From the legends of King Arthur and Merlin, the curious romantic tales of the Mabinogion, to the anecdotes and tales still related over the hearthstone, this collection is one to be treasured.
In ‘Legends of the Mist’, noted anthologist Rhiannon Hughes has brought alive again a rich vein of superlative Welsh storytelling to be enjoyed by readers everywhere.