There’s nothing more beautiful than a bookshelf filled with stories, and nothing more haunting than one where the covers all speak as one. 

A Shelf That Speaks 

As a child I loved Goosebumps. Excitedly trekking to Waterstones for the next in the series to add to my collection. Proudly showcasing them on my bookshelf, right next to my Mrs Potts piggy bank. I must have been about seven years old at the time.   

Each book, a doorway into something thrilling and strange. Their matching spines, their embossed logos, the way they lined up, perfectly matched in size, like a haunted army of imagination. It wasn’t just a collection. It was a vast portal into the strange.  

Though my Goosebumps collection is (regrettably) a relic of the past, that same aesthetic satisfaction, the quiet joy of a curated shelf, returned when I discovered the Tales of the Weird series from the British Library. 

Just like Goosebumps they speak in one voice. But this time, it’s quieter. Older. Even more haunted. 

Designing Dread

The Tales of the Weird collection is a treasure trove of gothic, fantasy, horror, supernatural, and psychologically strange fiction, from the late- nineteenth and early-twentieth century. All lovingly curated with a clear affection for the forgotten, the uncanny, and the beautifully bizarre. 

Visually unified by their striking cover artwork, each plays a crucial role in evoking the eerie, archival, and emotionally layered tone of what’s inside.  

Each volume feels like an artifact unearthed from a forgotten archive. The muted palettes of dusty crimson, archival green and fogbound blue evoke a sense of decay and restraint. The woodcut-style illustrations lend a historical texture, as if the stories were etched into the paper by candlelight. Even the typography feels deliberate: clean, quiet, protective. It doesn’t compete with the artwork. It frames it. Like a museum label beside a haunted painting. 

These covers don’t just house stories. They set the mood. They whisper the atmosphere before a single word is read. 

While individual artists aren’t always credited on the covers themselves, research has told me that the British Library Publishing team commissions original artwork for each volume, often drawing inspiration from archival illustrations (e.g., 19th-century prints, botanical drawings, vintage maps) or contemporary artists who specialize in gothic, surreal, or folkloric styles. These books don’t scream ‘horror’. They hum. They whisper. They wait. 

The Collection 

The Tales of the Weird collection understands something essential: that horror isn’t just felt, it’s designed. Weird Woods invites you into the forest, but not to walk safely. Crawling Horror doesn’t just unsettle, it itches. Queens of the Abyss resurrects voices long buried, letting them speak in strange, beautiful tongues. Each title is a mood. A room. A memory. 

As of now, the Tales of the Weird collection spans 65 books. It’s grown steadily since its launch in 2018 with its first volume From the Depths and Other Strange Tales of the Sea. Each book offers a distinct thematic lens, ranging from haunted coastlines and botanical horror to uncanny railways and mythological strangeness. 

Yuletide Unease

The Tales of the Weird collection even has a Christmas-themed sub-series within the collection. Taking the festive season, and steeping it in spectral melancholy, uncanny quiet, and beautifully restrained dread.

Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings. Classic ghost stories set around Christmas, steeped in candlelight and Victorian melancholy. 

Chill Tidings: Dark Tales of the Christmas Season. A colder, darker take on festive folklore, where snow conceals more than it reveals. 

Sunless Solstice: Strange Christmas Tales for the Longest Nights. Leans into psychological unease and surreal winter strangeness. Perfect for those who find beauty in bleakness. 

Haunters at the Hearth: Eerie Tales for Christmas Nights. A quieter, more domestic volume. Ghosts by the firelight, dread in familiar spaces. 

Yuletide Unease. Simple, punchy, and tonally precise it captures the tension between festivity and fear.

Wrapped in Fog: Christmas Tales from the Archive.  Mystery, memory, and the beauty of obscured truths.

Delivered Dread: A Subscription to the Strange

For those who love their horror curated and arriving like clockwork, the British Library offers a monthly Tales of the Weird subscription. You can learn more and subscribe here.

Each delivery includes a newly released volume, complete with an exclusive mini print of the cover, a bookmark, and a personal note from the editor offering behind-the-scenes insights into the book’s creation.

Some months even include early drafts of the artwork or frontispiece, turning each parcel into a tiny haunted exhibition.

It’s not just a subscription, it’s a a way to build your own archive of unease, one beautifully bound volume at a time. Of course, if you just want start small you can purchase individual titles to see how you get on.

The Shelf That Grew Older

Although I don’t have my Goosebumps books anymore, no embossed spines, no haunted holograms, no proud little row beside Mrs Potts I believe this could be the start of something new.

The Tales of the Weird collection could never replace them, but it might just be the thing to continue their memory. Reframing them. Reminding me that the joy of curation, the thrill of the strange, and the beauty of a shelf that speaks in one voice never really left. It just grew older.