#Spooktober-‘The World Of The Unknown-All About Ghosts’

This is a rare gem indeed-a fan driven re-release of the 1977 classic, ‘All About Ghosts’

With a foreword by horror supremo, and League of Gentlemen Alumnus,Reece Shearsmith this slice of nostalgia is served with a side of chills .

About the book…

First published in 1977, this cult classic has been reissued for a new generation of ghost-hunters.

This book is for anyone who has shivered at shadowy figures in the dark, heard strange sounds in the night or felt the presence of a mysterious `something’ from the unknown.

Ghost stories are as old as recorded history and exist all over the world; described in this book are haunting spirits, screaming skulls, phantom ships, demon dogs, white ladies, gallows ghosts and many more.

From the Usborne press release-

Bring it back!

Resurrecting a classic-
Despite being out of print for over twenty years, Usborne’s World of the Unknown series lived on in the memories of a generation. And when the readers of the 1970s and ’80s grew up, they wanted it back. Connected via social media in a way that they couldn’t have dreamed of when ‘Ghosts’ was first published in 1977, readers began to discover that they weren’t alone in finding this book deliciously and addictively terrifying.
They connected online, sharing stories of their childhood terror – and how discovering this book in those formative years influenced them.
Many claimed that it had even had an impact on the careers they chose, with a handful of fans pursuing jobs directly linked to the paranormal world, but many more going into the creative industries, as writers and scriptwriters, working in books, TV and film.

“I took this book out of my local library so many times they just gave it to me” – Laurence Rickard, screenwriter

The first tangible result of this online groundswell was in Finland, where fans of Usborne’s Supernatural World lobbied Finnish publisher Tammi – who’d licensed the Finnish language rights from Usborne in the ‘70s – to reissue their childhood favourite. A Facebook group dedicated to Noidan Käsikirja (the Finnish book title) gathered nearly 3,000 fans. The book was reprinted in August 2018 and instantly hit the children’s book charts.
The first print run sold out within a week, and a Helsinki nightclub owner offered his venue for a launch party.
Total sales to date are well in excess of 18,000 copies.

“These books are etched in the memories of an entire generation” – Read It Daddy, blogger

Back in the UK, fans were still connecting online; the breakthrough came when Nucleus Films, the team behind Ashley Thorpe’s animated feature film Borley Rectory, called Usborne requesting an interview with author Christopher Maynard. They were put through to Usborne’s
Anna Howorth, herself a huge fan of The World of the Unknown and keen to reprint the cult classic.“When I found out that Reece Shearsmith and I shared a love for this book, I tweeted about it. He replied to say he’d write a foreword if we reprinted, and it snowballed from there”.
Anna set up a petition on change.org which quickly gathered momentum, exceeding the target of 1,000 signatures. That, plus the promised foreword from Reece Shearsmith, convinced the publisher to reissue for Halloween 2019. When the Amazon pre-order went live, it wentstraight to number one in its category.

“A wonderful book and ripe for a new generation to discover” – Ashley Thorpe, director

Anna says “the response to the online petition, the announcement that we’re bringing this book back, and all the other news that we’ve been able to share so far, has been phenomenal. So many people share a collective memory of this book, and it’s been great to have played a part in resurrecting it. As a huge fan of this book, I’m thrilled. But from a professional point of view, it’s also been fascinating to see how things haven’t really changed from those early days at Usborne. Peter Usborne’s passion and vision for the company is still the same; the way in-house writers and designers work together to make the very best books for children hasn’t changed. The ethos of never speaking down to children, making
knowledge irresistible and putting kids at the centre of everything we do at Usborne is just as it was when ‘The World of the Unknown: Ghosts’ was first published in 1977. Usborne is still leading the way in creating books that spark childrren’s imagination and curiosity – and for parents who grew up with Usborne books themselves, that’s a really powerful message.”

I have such fond memories of this book, which formed the backbone of my childhood horror library, alongside the Ladybird horror classics, ’50 Tales Of Horror’, ’50 Tales Of Terror’ and the Fontana Book Of Great Horror Stories Series

The notion of reading this with my mini horror addict children gave me great joy!

The illustrations are still as spleen shivering as I remember, but what strikes me most is how adult the text is. This is an adult author, talking to children through his research into the paranormal.So much history is woven into the text that it is hard to believe this is only 32 pages long!

It was where I learnt the word ‘gibbet’ and added it to my lexicon, discovered that ghosts can have rules and purpose,and the many, many techniques for attracting or repelling apparitions.

My hope is that they release other titles now! Perfect Halloween reading doesn’t come much better than this!

And the best part is the extensive reading list at the back for that uber curious child who wanted more(that would’ve been me for sure). Showing how legends and myths were debunked without losing the magic and romance of ghostly appearances is absolutely part of the endearing charm of a book that won over so many children that as adults, they petitioned to bring it back.

About the author..

Christopher Maynard is an editor and author with more than 50 books under his belt. He is the winner of the 1996 Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Junior Science Book of the Year, and has been the runner-up for the TES Senior Information Book Award. He is the author of Jobs People Do, Days of the Knights, Science Kit, The Best Book of Dinosaurs, and Pirates!: Raiders of the High Seas.

Links-https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2019/jun/12/ghosts-shaped-my-life-out-of-print-childrens-classic-to-be-resurrected