Return of the Ancients

Unruly Tales of the Mythological Weird

Katy Soar

$22.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Miscellaneous
01 September 2025

Classic horror & ghost stories; Myth & legend told as fiction; Historical fiction; Ancient religions & mythologies; Short Stories Fantasy

Series: British Library Tales of the Weird

A goddess incarnate drives her worshipper to a glorious destruction in 1880s Italy. Archaeologists in 1940s Persia discover a maddening secret in Tiamat's tomb. In 1990s Britain, an avowed sceptic is lured into a bloody initiation to the cult of Mithras.

Ancient tales of mythical gods and monsters are embedded deep in the world's cultures, and as weird fiction developed, a haunting sub-genre emerged in which these eternal beings

and their power to wreak havoc and enthral mortals

remained alive in sacred ruins, cursed relics and the hushed whispers of their followers.

Delving into the rich lore of Greek, British, Norse and Egyptian myth and through lost pantheons from Carthage to Mesoamerica, Katy Soar has unearthed fourteen strange stories of beasts and deities tyrannizing the modern world. Offering classics and rare finds by Stephen Baxter, John Wyndham, Flavia Richardson and more, this collection also includes notes on the mythical figures of each tale.

Edited by: Katy Soar
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: 61
ISBN: 9780712355674
ISBN 10: 0712355677
Series: British Library Tales of the Weird
Publication Date: 01 September 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Katy Soar is a Senior Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at the University of Winchester whose research explores the resonance of archaeology in culture. She co-edited (with Dr. Amara Thornton) the Handheld Press anthology Strange Relics (2022) and edited Circles of Stone for the British Library Tales of the Weird.