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A master of the conte cruel, often with a Grand Guignol finish, Birkin found true horror not in ghosts or the supernatural but in man's inhumanity to man. Never before reprinted and extremely scarce, Devils' Spawn (1936) collects sixteen of Birkin's stories, many of them first published in the Creeps volumes, including the horror gems "The Terror on Tobit" and "The Harlem Horror".

Contents:

• A Poem and a Bunch of Roses - (1933) - shortfiction
• An Eye for an Eye - (1932) - short story
• Angela - (1936) - shortfiction
• Havelock's Farm - (1936) - short story
• Henri Larne - (1935) - shortfiction
• Obsession - (1934) - shortfiction
• Old Mrs. Strathers - (1933) - shortfiction
• Premiere - (1936) - shortfiction
• Shelter - (1934) - shortfiction
• Special Diet - (1933) - shortfiction
• The Actor's Story - (1933) - shortfiction
• The Cockroach - (1934) - shortfiction
• The Happy Dancers - (1933) - short story
• The Harlem Horror - (1932) - shortfiction
• The Last Night - (1932) - short story
• The Terror on Tobit - (1933) - short story

A sinister baron and his wife inflict unimaginable tortures on their young niece to compel her to sign over her fortune. - In the aftermath of World War II, a German woman's garden is lush and beautiful, for an appalling reason. - Missionaries in Africa get a gruesome surprise when their converts take a biblical text too literally. - A child's fantasy becomes a deadly game with a macabre ending for his adult playmate.

Contents:

• "Dance, Little Lady" - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• "Is Anyone There?" - (1964) - short story by Charles Birkin
• Ballet Nègre - (1964) - short story by Charles Birkin
• Green Fingers - (1964) - short story by Charles Birkin
• Little Boy Blue - (1964) - short story by Charles Birkin
• Text for Today - (1964) - short story by Charles Birkin
• The Cornered Beast - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• The Cross - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• The Godmothers - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• The Interloper - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• The Lesson - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• The Serum of Doctor White - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• The Smell of Evil - (1964) - shortfiction by Charles Birkin
• Introduction (The Smell of Evil) - essay by John Llewellyn Probert

The thirteen stories in The Smell of Evil (1965) reveal Sir Charles Birkin (1907-1985) at his diabolical best. Largely eschewing ghost stories and tales of the supernatural, Birkin pioneered a different type of modern horror fiction, describing in exquisitely polished prose the sufferings of ordinary, decent people who encounter inexplicable cruelty and evil in their everyday lives. An important and neglected figure in 20th century British horror fiction, Birkin returns to shock a new generation of readers in this edition, the first in more than 30 years, which features a new introduction by John Llewellyn Probert.