European Thriller

Released in our new Young Adult Classics format, Henry James's classic ghost story is a masterpiece of the supernatural. The tale is taken from the diary of a governess, who describes her mounting sense of paranoia at the relationship between her two wards and the ghostly figures that haunt the estate.

Es ist Sonntag, ein Kind wird getauft, die Taufgesellschaft lagert sich um einen Baum. Auf den "wüsten, schwarzen Fensterpfosten" seines Hauses angesprochen, erzählt der Großvater die Geschichte vom Satanspakt der Christine, die die Seele eines noch ungetauften Kindes dem Teufel verspricht und in eine Spinne verwandelt wird.

Lawrence Karrier is the first to see the beauty while out on his morning run. A solitary thin cloud drifting down from the mountains and settling into the lake, like nothing he has ever seen before. Later in the day as the local factory empties and the bar fills up, the spectacle of a hundred such clouds against the evening sky beguiles the whole town. That is until someone is unfortunate enough to touch one.

When the body of a child is found in Paris, Interpol involvement is resented by Inspector Le Fur - a proud French man who believes that the inquiry should be carried out on French soil. However, when Jobin explains the case's history to him. Le Fur is more accepting of the way the inquiry progresses. With child trafficking becoming more and more common, Interpol are involved in the case. With victims under the age of nine years old, concern is mounting as the killer leaves his calling card.

New York, 1800. Three brutal murders. One impossible killer. The police have fingered David Stirling for the crimes, but Lord Muc—feared gang leader in the Five Points—doesn't believe a word of it, and sets out to prove the young man's innocence.

The low taverns and backroom gambling dens of Dublin are a long fall for an English nobleman. It is in these environs, however, where the growling evil within Thomas Olocher feels most at home. Each night, his darkness grows as he continues his cascade down toward the ultimate evil. Can Alderman James, ever seeking redemption for his own dark past, stop Olocher before it's too late?

"Don Blas s'avançait lentement dans la rue d'Alcolote, regardant de côté et d'autre les maisons avec ses yeux de lynx. Comme il passait devant l'église on sonna une messe ; il se précipita de cheval plutôt qu'il n'en descendit, et on le vit s'agenouiller auprès de l'autel. Quatre de ses gendarmes se mirent à genoux autour de sa chaise ; ils le regardèrent, il n'y avait déjà plus de dévotion dans ses yeux. Son œil sinistre était fixé sur un jeune homme d'une tournure fort distinguée qui priait dévotement à quelques pas de lui."

Un hombre rico es evitado por las mujeres a causa de su barba azul. Un día le pide a una vecina distinguida alguna de sus hijas en matrimonio, las cuales se pasan el compromiso una a la otra, por rechazo al aspecto de Barba Azul. Pero finalmente la hermana menor accede atraída por la vida opulenta que le ofrece el ricachón. Un día Barba Azul anuncia que partirá en viaje de negocios y entrega todas las llaves de la casa a su nueva esposa, incluida la de una pequeña estancia a la que le prohíbe entrar.