As a schoolboy, Charles Dickens took a copy of The Terrific Register every week, and he later recalled how it 'frightened my very wits out of my head, for the small charge of a penny weekly; which considering that there was an illustration to every number, in which there was always a pool of blood, and at least one body, was cheap.' This selection contains the most gruesome tales from this 185-year-old publication. Including 'the horrible murder of a child by starvation', dreadful executions, foul tortures and one of the earliest mentions of a now notorious killer who turned his victims into pies, it will chill all but the sturdiest of hearts. Many of these tales have not appeared in print since Charles Dickens himself read them. Richly illustrated with original woodcuts, it will fascinate anyone with an interest in true crime.

From strange medical afflictions, including crumbling skeletons and 'mortifying' limbs, to miraculous escapes and singular preservations, wonderful beasts such as the vast guardian snake of Nurrah, and all manner of plagues, earthquakes and disasters, the Terrific Register was an essential purchase for lovers of strange tales across England. This selection contains the most startling tales from this 185-year-old publication. Amongst the prodigious marvels contained herein you will find giants, children with horns and babies brought up by wolves, uncanny dreams, devils, and attacks by everything from cannibals to buffalos, snakes, sharks, wolves, rats, crocodiles, bears, 'the ferocious attack of a lioness on the Exeter mail', and a man bitten twenty times by a shark whilst fishing in Yorkshire. Richly illustrated with original woodcuts, this volume will delight lovers of the Fortean everywhere.

As a schoolboy, Charles Dickens took a copy of The Terrific Register every week, and he later recalled how it 'frightened my very wits out of my head, for the small charge of a penny weekly.' This selection contains all the finest ghost stories from this 185-year-old publication. With countless reports of apparitions and premonitions of all kinds, extraordinary instances of second sight, and visitations from spirits predicting fortunes, deaths and dreadful disasters, it will chill all but the sturdiest of hearts. Many of these tales have not appeared in print since Charles Dickens himself read them. Richly illustrated with original woodcuts, it will delight all lovers of a good ghost story.

Excerpt from The Terrific Register, or Record of Crimes, Judgements, Providences, and Calamities, 1825, Vol. 1 The instances we have given of the surprising discoveries of crime, even after a long lapse of years, teaches the depraved that there is no safety in. Their pursuits. It is in vain for the sake of security that they reject confederacy, or veil their villanies in the blackness of night. There is one always in their council, whose scrutinizing eye penetrates the darkest dens of sin, and who in his own good time makes known those hidden mysteries, which appal the guilty and make mad the free. This fact is par ticularly striking in cues of murder, and from the narratives we have given, we come to this deduction, that however the deed may be surrounded by mystic circumvolutions, it will out and speak with most miraculous organ. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.