A truly fascinating backstory makes the rendition of Jones in this slim book feel kind of underwhelming.

The story of the original latin 14th century manuscript containing a dozen medieval ghost tales, and how this was later found in the British Library by an actual ghost story author, is just brilliant. Pages of the original can be viewed on the website of the British Library: https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illumina...

The actual story itself gives vibes of A Christmas Carol, with three ghosts mentioned, Beedle Bard by Rowling, while I also thought of the fairytale of the three dogs encountered by the soldier from Andersen (The Tinderbox).

Snowball the Tailor and Borin his horse travel and then a broken raven falls from the sky, lights up green and transforms in a kind of zombie dog, and later on into the titular king. Underlying it all is a quest for redemption in the afterlife, only to be obtained by an absolution of a priest.
Despite being written in an abbey the church people don’t have a glamorous role in this book, more corrupt and haggling than pious.

For a ghost story the book nowhere feels scary, and its stretching the factual content thinly when trying to make it into a standalone slight book. Still kudos are due for Jones in uncovering this medieval story and making it known to a broader audience, 2.5 stars rounded up.

While I liked the idea, and I liked the story, I'm not sure that Dan Jones is the right person to write it. Nor am I sure that 9.99 is a price that people will pay for a hardback of a story that can be read in one sitting. This feels like a story that should belong in a collection, and having read the introduction (which was a solid 10% of the book) I can see why. It looks like the Latin at the end was added just to pad out the page count too. All in all, a nice little volume, but something I think we'll struggle to sell a lot of.

MR James would be proud.

This short story is based on one from a set of manuscripts discovered by MR James in the early 1920s. The manuscripts dated from 1400AD and were penned, in Latin, by a monk at Byland Abbey , Yorkshire. James transcribed several , and published them.

Now, writer and broadcaster Dan Jones has taken one of the stories and re-written it for the modern day. It tells the story of Snowball the tailor and his experiences on the ride home following a commission. On the way he encounters a raven and a dog. To say more would be to spoil the story, but sufficient to say, the tale has all the makings of a classic MR James tale, told around a table, by candlelight. The language, the atmosphere, and the imagery are spot on and really do bring a shiver to the spine.

The book opens with some lovely "woodcut" style drawings, which will add to the allure of the small format hardback the publisher has promised (hopefully in the style of the gorgeous Susan Hill volumes). I was privileged to receive a NetGalley eARC but will be rushing to buy a proper copy when it arrives.

For fans of proper supernatural stories, of MR James and Dickens. Thoroughly recommended.

4.5 Stars
This short story (about Snowball the tailor) has been adapted from the original Latin medieval text and retold here for a modern audience. It is a hugely enjoyable ghostly, ghoulish tale from Yorkshire’s Byland Abbey that’s gruesome enough to grab and hold any students’ attention. I only wish the author had ‘tailored’ more! A lovely touch to include the original Latin script at the end. Published just in time for Halloween …
My thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.