It's cold outside. Huddle close round the fire and mind the candle doesn't blow out. That tapping at the window is only the branch of a tree, quivering in the winter wind.

It's time for a story.

For thousands of years, humans have gathered together to be entertained by the blood-chilling tales of the storytellers.

A shape-shifting serial murderer, a girl who gives birth to a cat, the four demons who have everything sewn up – Folk Horror Folk Tales is an illustrated collection of traditional yarns from the repertoire of master storyteller Bob Pegg.

Gathered largely from the British Isles and Europe, many are versions of ancient narratives that are found in cultures across the world. They reflect a universal appetite for the strange, the sinister – and occasionally the downright gruesome.