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Unearthing forbidden relics awakens the malevolent forces that guarded them

Dennistoun's scholarly pursuit of medieval manuscripts leads him to a decayed Pyrenean cathedral where a terrified sacristan offers him a priceless scrap-book. Compiled by the seventeenth-century Canon Alberic de Mauléon, the volume contains ancient manuscript leaves and a disturbing drawing of King Solomon confronting a demon. Acquiring the volume invites the creature depicted on its pages directly into Dennistoun's inn room. The ancient terror, summoned long ago by treasure-seeking magic, still clings to the physical relic.

CANON ALBERIC’S SCRAP-BOOK

Cruel ambitions of immortality end in retribution by past victims

Young orphan Stephen Elliott moves to Aswarby Hall to live with his reclusive cousin Mr Abney, an austere scholar of pagan mysteries. Stephen discovers that two previous orphan children vanished from the estate years earlier without a trace. Nightmares revealing phantom children with scarred chests precede Abney's attempt to sacrifice Stephen on the spring equinox for an alchemical ritual. The spirits of the previous victims intervene, exacting deadly vengeance upon their tormentor before he can cut out Stephen's heart.

LOST HEARTS

Art can become a living record of historical vengeance and crime

Museum curator Mr Williams purchases an unremarkable eighteenth-century mezzotint depicting an obscure English manor house. The artwork begins to alter mysteriously over successive hours, revealing a horrific narrative unfolding upon the canvas. A shrouded figure crawls across the moonlit lawn, creeps through a ground-floor window, and exits carrying an infant heir away into the night. The dynamic engraving acts as a spectral window into a forgotten revenge crime committed by a wronged local poacher.

THE MEZZOTINT

Guilt and vengeance take root in nature to strike generations later

Sir Matthew Fell deposes against an accused witch named Mrs Mothersole, securing her execution at the Suffolk assizes. Before hanging, she curses Castringham Hall, and Sir Matthew dies mysteriously in his locked bedchamber shortly thereafter. Decades later, his grandson Sir Richard sleeps in the same room near an enormous ancient ash tree that touches the house wall. The cursed tree harbors monstrous, venomous creatures born of witchcraft, delivering the same lethal retribution to the descendant.

THE ASH-TREE

Spatial realities warp where dark historic sorcery was once practiced

Scholar Anderson travels to Viborg to inspect Reformation records and lodges at the historic Golden Lion inn. He notices that room number thirteen is missing from the board, yet the physical room appears in the hallway at night. The room's dimensions shift unnaturally while strange dancing shadows and frantic hissing echo behind the temporary wall. Investigation uncovers the lingering presence of a sixteenth-century alchemist who bound his soul to the hotel's foundation through secret arts.

NUMBER 13

Reckless curiosity regarding evil figures can invite relentless pursuit

Travel writer Mr Wraxall researches the history of Count Magnus de la Gardie while examining family archives in Sweden. He discovers references to the Count's Black Pilgrimage to the fallen city of Chorazin to summon a demon companion. Expressing an unwise vocal desire to meet the long-dead tyrant at his mausoleum breaks the ancient padlocks securing the copper sarcophagus. The awakened noble and his monstrous creature pursue Wraxall across Europe, culminating in a gruesome fate in England.

COUNT MAGNUS

Skepticism cannot shield the mind from ancient summoned phantoms

Strict academic skeptic Professor Parkins visits the coastal town of Burnstow to play golf and inspect Templar ruins. Scraping among broken masonry, he unearths an ancient metal whistle inscribed with a cryptic Latin question. Blowing the whistle summons a furious coastal gale alongside a haunting entity that manifests through the vacant bedsheets in his room. The horrifying, face-like entity attacks Parkins in the dark, shattering his rigid disbelief in supernatural phenomena.

“OH, WHISTLE, AND I’LL COME TO YOU, MY LAD”

Cryptic riddles guarding hidden riches conceal terrifying monstrous guardians

Antiquary Somerton deciphers a Latin riddle hidden within sixteenth-century stained glass windows from Steinfeld Abbey. The clue leads him to a carved marble well in the abbey courtyard, where Abbot Thomas hid a hoard of gold. Reaching into the dark secret alcove beneath the well stones, Somerton touches not only gold but a slimy, toad-like monstrous guardian left to protect it. Traumatized by the entity's embrace, Somerton requires the assistance of a trusted friend to return the relic and seal the hollow forever.

THE TREASURE OF ABBOT THOMAS → III

Book

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

Classic tales of scholarly curiosity unearthing ancient, terrifying, and malevolent supernatural forces.

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