Charles Dickens wrote a number of supernatural and horror stories, some of which were included in his longer works, while others were published in magazines. This collection provides an invaluable insight into the author's storytelling apprenticeship and his steady growth towards excellence.

As well as offering a further dimension to the world of his better-known masterpieces, these tales - from ?The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton' to the celebrated ?The Signalman' - illustrate Dickens's well-known love of a spooky story told around a blazing fire, the pastime of a bygone age to be rediscovered for our own delight.