It’s cold outside. Huddle close round the fire, and make sure the candle doesn’t blow out. That tapping at the window is only the branch of a tree, quivering in the winter wind. Time for a story. Before the Wicker Man and the Midsommar sacrifices … before the days of television and radio … before Count Dracula landed in Whitby and Victor Frankenstein stitched together a man from scavenged body parts … all around the world people gathered to be entertained by the blood-chilling tales of the storytellers. A shape-shifting serial murderer. A girl who gives birth to a cat. The four demons who have everything sewn up. This is a collection of traditional tales from the repertoire of master storyteller Bob Pegg. Most are from the British Isles, and many are versions of ancient narratives that are found in many cultures. They reflect a universal appetite for the strange, the sinister and - occasionally - the downright gruesome.