John a Whitbourn

Binscombe Tales - the Complete Series John a Whitbourn

Binscombe is a place where things go bump in the night and often in the daytime too. Here you will find stories to fire the imagination, quicken the pulse, and chill the blood.

It is a place where waiting for a bus may take a lot longer than you think, where the rustle in the bushes is likely to be something considerably more secretive and more dangerous than a wild animal, where inanimate objects may have strong views of their own, and where past, present and future sometimes collide with unpredictable results.

To this inward-looking corner of England's Home Counties comes Mr Oakley, a newcomer in the village but one whose family name appears on some of the oldest gravestones. Mr Oakley believes in the comfort, convenience and security of the modern world and he fancies that the past is safely dead and buried. It is a world view that he will have repeatedly challenged by the mysterious Mr Disvan, who acts as his (and our) guide to the winding byways of the bizarre that thread through Binscombe life. Now that Mr Oakley has returned to his ancestral homeland, he will soon discover that reality is a relative concept, and the world outside Binscombe will never seem quite the same again.

"Whitbourn's wit is both unforced and splendidly droll." -The Daily Express

"These stories bring enjoyment of good company and the vicarious chill of a good fright at someone else's expense, and are to be heartily recommended." - Interzone

"Original and intriguing." - Starburst

"Pulled off with panache and no small amount of humour." - The Daily Express

"He doesn't cheat, and he doesn't soften the edges." - Mary Gentle

"Marvellously inventive." - The Times

"Imagine, as a lover of the classic English ghost story, that you had yet to discover the works of M R James. Yes, seriously; it's like that." - Phil Rickman