100 books like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

This Victorian classic sent shivers down my back when the ghost of Jacob Marley rattles his spectral chains to send a dire warning to Ebenezer Scrooge about the perils of his miserly life.

I was gripped from the first word as his tragic life is revealed by the narrator in the most effective and emotive way. I remember feeling anger as Scrooge mistreats his underpaid clerk, Bob Cratchit, dismisses his kind and generous nephew, Fred, and believes Christmas to be a “Bah!” and a “Humbug!” However, as Scrooge was shown the error of his ways by three phantoms, my anger transformed into sadness and pity.

How could someone be given so many chances at redemption and spurn them all? Happily, Scrooge learned his life lesson before it was too late.

I fell in love with these folktales after watching the television series of the same title when I was a child. I was ecstatic to be hypnotised all over again by the magic, charm, and wisdom contained within each gem. I found each story conjured up a sense of wonder, mystery, and the need to know what happened next within me.

I loved how the characters were beautifully portrayed. Each faced their own intriguing quest and struggled to overcome outlandish obstacles, and I was fascinated by how they would eventually achieve their goal no matter what the cost to themselves whilst learning a valuable lesson along the way.

The behind-the-scenes look at the show’s production from the Jim Henson Archives at the back of the book is a nice touch too.

When I found my second-hand copy for £5 in Acorn Antiques in 2006 (I still have the receipt!), little did I know I was holding the most magical, exquisite, resourceful, fascinating, beguiling, and immersive book on fantasy!

Each page is filled to the edges with intriguing folktales, legends, myths, and old wives tales (more than I could have wished for) and beautifully illustrated throughout. What more could I, an avid reader and writer of fantasy, want?

I still take joy in flicking through the pages until my eyes rest on another intriguing entry to be inspired by. I love losing track of time just reading about all aspects of fantasy, whether it’s the Broth of Oblivion, Floating Islands, the Hammer of Thor, The Bottle Imp, or Fomorians.

These stories run deep in my blood! I remember my Mum reading "Cinderella," "Hansel and Gretel," "Rapunzel," and "Snow White," to name a few, and being totally enthralled, captivated, and scared all at once.

Reading this edition as an adult evokes the same feelings, but I also experienced a sense of wonder and intrigue as I read the lesser-known stories such as "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers," "The Girl with No Hands," "The Nixie of the Millpond," and "Hans-my-Hedgehog." 

I loved discovering these stories, closer to the originally published ones in their first collection, Children's and Household Tales in 1812, as they are much darker and scarier in nature than modern versions, and reading what Philip Pullman says about each one is an unexpected delight!

 This was the first book I ever read that had me rooting for the Orc. With their lack of discipline, drug, and alcohol use, and loyalty to their comrades it’s easy to imagine them standing at the bar having a pint. Along with the action, there are some deeper issues delved into, including religious fanaticism and racism. For me personally, this really spoke of how exciting it can be to throw character roles in reverse. 

Christmas is a wonderful time for magical tales that children love. In this one, a poor but good-hearted cobbler is rewarded for his honesty during the night, when clever elves sneak into his shop and make shoes for him to sell. It gives children the chance to imagine invisible helpers, and also the thrill of doing good deeds in secret.

For a rational, well-educated woman, I’m also occasionally superstitious. This gripping compilation of folk beliefs and rural ritual–from two stalwarts of folklore academia–is a book I return to again and again.

Almost every aspect of rural life has a superstition attached. From churning butter to childbirth, I pour over these weird and wonderful subjects and am reminded of just how pervasive and persuasive folk beliefs still are.

With a title like Genuine Deceit, how could I not pick this book? How can deceit be genuine? The suspense begins in chapter one and doesn’t let up until the end.

The characters are well-developed, the story is perfectly paced to keep a reader’s interest, and there are plenty of red herrings, but not enough to reveal the truth until the last pages. The touch of romance between the main character and a former Navy SEAL is an added plus.

I have a real thing about needing the setting to be pretty much a character in itself in the folk horror I read.

For me, it is that which brings out the atmosphere, the sense of otherworldliness, critical to such stories. Starve Acre, a haunting tragedy, set in bleak moorland offers no rural idyll. The desolate setting perfectly mirrors the disintegrating marriage of a couple who are trying come to terms with the loss of their young son.

Whilst the wife turns to the spirit world, the husband researches a legend, uncovering the sinister story of the demonic Jack Grey as he does so. Bringing the legend to life and turning it into delusion, culminates in one of the most disturbing final scenes I’ve come across, certainly gave me chills. 

This book has over forty traditional folktales from thirty-one countries that speak of our relationship to the Earth.

This was my first Eco-Storytelling book, which I often return to because the stories are brilliantly retold. MacDonald is an American folklorist and storyteller who structures tales skilfully for oral telling - she also includes great tips for telling to live audiences.

Researchers, folklorists, and storytellers will appreciate the amazing detail and professionalism of the Bibliography and 'Tale Notes'.

I discovered my all-time favourite environmental folk story in this book, Mikku, and the Trees, a tale from Estonia that tells why trees no longer speak to humans unless you learn to listen very carefully. MacDonald is one of our most generous and highly respected folklorists.