A collection of stories and illustrations by the writer of classic160;literary fantasy, with the title novella an episode in the160;Gormenghast series151;one of the most original and sustained flights of imaginative writing of the 20th century160;In cooperation with the Mervyn Peake Estate, this is a160;selection of long out-of-print short stories and more than 50 never before published illustrations by one of England"s most unique and multi-talented artists. The160;title story will be of special interest to fans of the Gormenghast books, as it comprises a chapter in the life of Titus Groan that unfolds beyond the pages of Peake"s monumental trilogy. A disturbingly atmospheric tale, told with the force and simplicity of allegory, "Boy in Darkness" distills the strange logic of the Gormenghast trilogy into a story of pith and mystery, which bears comparison with Kafka and Poe. Written across a range of genres, from a ghost story to wry character studies drawn from his life in London and on the Isle of Sark, the other160;tales in the volume reveal surprisingly different facets of Peake"s uncanny imagination. Ultimately, the collection coheres through Peake"s powers to enchant the mundane and to render the fantastic normal.