SOME MONTHS AGO …

… and why it has taken so long to tell you, I don’t know, Orrydian published Ebenezer DuLally Uvney’s startling book THE GHOST AT CRONE.

The publishers’ puff stated:

“An isolated stately home in the dead of winter: the circumstances could not be more ominous for the disturbing manifestations which beset Crone Castle, the ancestral seat of the Lords Broodfest.

“THE GHOST AT CRONE was Ebenezer Uvney’s first foray into fiction. This strange story, based on actual occurrences, had not been told before, though it has undoubtedly intruded into the nightmares of many of its future readers.”

The first edition of this book, published well over a century ago, received much critical acclaim. However, a letter in THE ANTIQUE BOOK REVIEW showed that not all readers appreciated the story.

Sir, We the undersigned, wish to dissociate ourselves completely from the jejune and, frankly, insulting portrait of the noble state of ghosthood presented by Uvney in THE GHOST AT CRONE. The terrifying and tragic events at the Castle are worthy of a far finer author, and – indeed – of an authority who properly understands what it is to haunt. Yours etc, The Canterville Ghost, Peter Quint, The Ghost of Banquo, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, The Headless Horseman, The Ghost in the Machine