Heavy Weather Tempestuous Tales of Stranger Climes

Since Odysseus’ curious crew first unleashed the bag of winds gifted him by Aeolus, the God of Winds, literature has been awash with tales of bad or strange weather. From the flood myths of Babylon, the Mahabharata and the Bible, to 20th century psychological storms, this foray into troubled waters, heat waves, severe winters, hurricanes, and hailstones, offers the perfect read on a rainy day—or night. Featuring a selection of some of the finest writers in the English language—Algernon Blackwood, Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, and more—this collection of weird tales will delight and disturb.

Kevan Manwaring is Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, and the author of The Windsmith Elegy fantasy series. He is also an active poet and poetry historian whose books include The Bardic Handbook and Ballad Tales: An Anthology of British Ballads Retold.

Introduction

History of a Six Weeks' Tour (extract) - Mary Shelley
The Lightning-Rod Man - Herman Melville
A Descent into the Maelstrom - Edgar Allan Poe
The Great Snow - Richard Jefferies
The Horror-Horn - E. F. Benson
May Day Eve - Algernon Blackwood
August Heat - W. F. Harvey
A Mild Attack of Locusts - Doris Lessing
Through the Vortex of a Cyclone - William Hope Hodgson
The Wind-Gnome - Jonas Lie
Summer Snow Storm - Adam Chase
The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes - Margaret St. Clair
Monsoons of Death - Gerald Vance
The Purple Cloud (extract) - M. P .Shiel
The Birds - Daphne du Maurier