Author Richard Jones takes you to 100 castles in the British Isles, from romantic ruins on sea-lashed headlands to splendid castles that have been transformed into luxury hotels.

Built to last, built to impress, built with style and grandeur - it is all the more remarkable when the most ostentatious of buildings fall into disrepair and become ruins. From imperial residences and aristocratic estates to hotels and urban mansions, Abandoned Palaces tells the stories behind dilapidated structures from all around the world. From ancient Roman villas to the French colonial hill station in Cambodia that was one of the final refuges of the Khmer Rouge, the book charts the fascinating decline of what were once the homes and holiday resorts of the most wealthy. Ranging from crumbling hotels in the Catskill Mountains or in Mozambique to grand mansions in Taiwan, and from an unfinished Elizabethan summerhouse to a modern megalomaniac's estate too expensive ever to be completed, the reasons for the abandonment of these buildings include politics, bankruptcy, personal tragedies, natural and man-made disasters, as well as changing tastes and fashions. With 150 outstanding colour photographs exploring more than 100 hauntingly beautiful locations, Abandoned Palaces is a brilliant and moving pictorial examination of worlds we have left behind.

Horror legend Ray Russell’s haunting and macabre stories, including “perhaps the finest example of the modern Gothic ever written” (Stephen King), with a foreword by acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro Haunted Castles is the definitive, complete collection of Ray Russell’s masterful Gothic horror stories, including the famously terrifying novella trio of “Sardonicus,” “Sanguinarius,” and “Sagittarius.” The characters that sprawl through Haunted Castles are frightful to the core: the heartless monster holding two lovers in limbo; the beautiful dame journeying down a damned road toward depravity (with the help of an evil gypsy); the man who must wear his fatal crimes on his face in the form of an awful smile. Engrossing, grotesque, and completely entrancing, Russell’s Gothic tales are the best kind of dreadful. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Describes paranormal activity at haunted locations from the Ballygally Castle Hotel in Ballgally, Ireland to Hibbing High School in Hibbing, Minnesota.

Readers are in for the fright of the night when they help Jodie and Johnny search for their Uncle Barnaby in the monster-filled halls of Grizzlemyst Castle. The reader chooses an optional path and gets drawn into an adventure where shrieking ghouls, brain-dead drudges, mutants, and torturers appear at every turn. Full color.

Highclere Castle, known as 'the real Downton Abbey' bustles with activity at the best of times, but it is never more alive than at Christmas. Christmas at Highclere is a look behind the scenes at the routines and rituals that make the castle the most magical place to be throughout the festive season. Lady Carnarvon will guide you through Advent, Christmas preparations and Christmas Eve all the way through to the day itself, and beyond. Learn how the castle and grounds are transformed by decorations, including the raising of a twenty-foot tree in the saloon, the gathering of holly and mistletoe from the grounds. All the intricacies of the perfect traditional Christmas are here: from crackers and carol singers. The festive feeling is carried through to Highclere's Boxing Day traditions, the restorative middle days and the New Year's Eve celebrations. This book also tells the story of historic Christmases at Highclere - of distinguished guests warming themselves by the fire after a long journeys home through the snow, unexpected knocks on the door, and, always, the joy of bringing family - and staff - together after a busy year. As well as telling the stories of Highclere Christmases past and present, Lady Carnarvon provides recipes, tips and inspiration from her kitchen so that readers can bring a quintessentially British festive spirit to their own home. Lady Carnarvon divulges the secret to perfectly flakey mince pies, the proper way to wrap presents so that you and your guests are guaranteed a Christmas to remember. Lavish, celebratory and utterly enchanting, Christmas at Highclere is celebration of one of the UK's most beloved historic houses and is the perfect gift for any Downton Abbey fan.

Looking for a Scare? Then Read These 15 Spine-chilling Stories The idea of a haunted castle isn't too foreign to most of us. After all, old castles undoubtedly saw many deaths, unjust executions, tortures, broken hearts, and violence in general. Even the most stunning and awe-inspiring castles can hide the darkest secrets, filled with spirits refusing to let those secrets die. From ghosts re-enacting their own executions to ever-present blood stains and playful phantom children, you will read chilling accounts of true hauntings in castles across the world. Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Austria, the Czech Republic, and more are the homes of castles whose astounding history and unusual architecture are shadowed only by their reputation for paranormal phenomenon and restless ghosts. Consider the imposing Houska Castle, the site of secretive Nazi experiments in physics and the paranormal, which was built hundreds of years ago to keep evil inside rather than invaders out like most castles. The notorious Tower of London has its share of unruly spirits, including a massive bear that nearly scared a security guard to death. Those are just some of the frightening true stories within this book as you learn about the world's most haunted castles. You will discover a man dragged down a dungeon hallway still inhabited by the ghost of an evil torturer. You may laugh about how many ghostly photobombers enjoy showing up in tourists' pictures or gasp at the account of a headless drummer boy who suddenly disappears. Consider awakening in the middle of the night surrounded by a group of Druid-like monks. Think of how terrified you would be to encounter a suit of armor that let out a blood-curdling, pain-riddled scream. Ponder viewing security footage displaying a heavy door flinging wide open only seconds before a massive, hooded figure appears. If you find these types of stories fascinating and creepy, this is the book for you. Ready to scare yourself senseless? Scroll to the top of the page and hit buy!