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Return of the Ancients: Unruly Tales of the Mythological Weird
A goddess incarnate drives her worshipper to a glorious destruction in 1880s Italy. Archaeologists in 1940s Persia discover a maddening secret in Tiamat’s tomb. In 1990s Britain, an avowed sceptic is lured into a bloody initiation to the cult of Mithras.
Ancient tales of mythical gods and monsters are embedded deep in the world’s cultures, and as weird fiction developed, a haunting sub-genre emerged in which these eternal beings – and their power to wreak havoc and enthral mortals – remained alive in sacred ruins, cursed relics and the hushed whispers of their followers.
Delving into the rich lore of Greek, British, Norse and Egyptian myth and through lost pantheons from Carthage to Mesoamerica, Katy Soar has unearthed fourteen strange stories of beasts and deities tyrannizing the modern world. Offering classics and rare finds by Stephen Baxter, John Wyndham, Flavia Richardson and more, this collection also includes notes on the mythical figures of each tale.
Ancient tales of mythical gods and monsters are embedded deep in the world’s cultures, and as weird fiction developed, a haunting sub-genre emerged in which these eternal beings – and their power to wreak havoc and enthral mortals – remained alive in sacred ruins, cursed relics and the hushed whispers of their followers.
Delving into the rich lore of Greek, British, Norse and Egyptian myth and through lost pantheons from Carthage to Mesoamerica, Katy Soar has unearthed fourteen strange stories of beasts and deities tyrannizing the modern world. Offering classics and rare finds by Stephen Baxter, John Wyndham, Flavia Richardson and more, this collection also includes notes on the mythical figures of each tale.
- GenresHorrorShort Stories
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2025
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111 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 26, 2025
Dare I say, every story hit in this one? Definitely a top 5 entry in the series for me.
There was a really food mix of deities - Greco-Roman, Egyptian, from the British Isles, etc. - and a variety of settings and tones. This helped keep up the pace of the collection and brings something for every reader.
Favourite stories: "Dionea" by Vernon Lee, "The Wind in the Portico" by R. Ellis Roberts, "The Veil of Tanit" by Eugene de Rezske, "The Face in the Wind" by Carl Jacobi, "Above Ker-Is" by Evangeline Walton, and "Justice Tresilian in the Tower" by Ken Alden
There was a really food mix of deities - Greco-Roman, Egyptian, from the British Isles, etc. - and a variety of settings and tones. This helped keep up the pace of the collection and brings something for every reader.
Favourite stories: "Dionea" by Vernon Lee, "The Wind in the Portico" by R. Ellis Roberts, "The Veil of Tanit" by Eugene de Rezske, "The Face in the Wind" by Carl Jacobi, "Above Ker-Is" by Evangeline Walton, and "Justice Tresilian in the Tower" by Ken Alden
May 31, 2025
As always with the Tales of the Weird collection, a very entertaining and stylistically diverse anthology of weird encounters with long forgotten gods or godlike beings you better not mess with. Vernon Lee's Dioneia is a bit of an outlier, because of its highly literary style, especially the superb descriptions of landscape and atmosphere.
(I've read the eBook version.)
(I've read the eBook version.)
August 13, 2025
Now this is a fantastic and entertaining little anthology with nearly no duds. Great and diverse selection of pantheons and mythologies.
The stories within:
‘Dionea’ Vernon Lee: The anthology starts off with a solid but subdued tale.
‘The Ring’ Thomas Graham Jackson: Now this shows the dangers by
‘The Great Mother’ R. Ellis Roberts: Probably the weakest story in the anthology (for me).
‘The Wind in the Portico’ John Buchan: Great tale from Buchan. Glad I have his collection next in my to-read pile!
‘The Owl’ F. A.M. Webster: There is something unsettling with this story. The way Stroud is described, and his general mannerisms are just off-putting. Good creepy tale!
‘Pussy’ Flavia Richardson: Gotta love Egyptian mythology. Beware of the cat!
‘The Veil of Tanit’ Eugene De Rezske: Best example of the old saying “The clothes maketh the man”!
‘The Face in the Wind’ Carl Jacobi: Shows the importance of fixing broken walls on your property!
‘Serpent Princess’ Edmond Hamilton: nice Lovecraftian feel to this one!
‘More Spinned Against….’ John Wyndham: Now this was a fun one!
‘Above Ker-Is’ Evangeline Walton: Not much to say besides that this was another solid story!
‘Justice Tresilian in the Tower’ Ken Alden: This one was a bit discombobulated for me, slightly confused in the end.
‘Family History’ Stephen Baxter: Maybe the grittiest of all the tales but also maybe the tensest one too.
‘The House of Fenris’ John Cooling: Moral of the story “be careful where you build your house”. Great finisher!
This made me want to read more of Tales of the weird from British Library. So that’s what I am going to do!
The stories within:
‘Dionea’ Vernon Lee: The anthology starts off with a solid but subdued tale.
‘The Ring’ Thomas Graham Jackson: Now this shows the dangers by
‘The Great Mother’ R. Ellis Roberts: Probably the weakest story in the anthology (for me).
‘The Wind in the Portico’ John Buchan: Great tale from Buchan. Glad I have his collection next in my to-read pile!
‘The Owl’ F. A.M. Webster: There is something unsettling with this story. The way Stroud is described, and his general mannerisms are just off-putting. Good creepy tale!
‘Pussy’ Flavia Richardson: Gotta love Egyptian mythology. Beware of the cat!
‘The Veil of Tanit’ Eugene De Rezske: Best example of the old saying “The clothes maketh the man”!
‘The Face in the Wind’ Carl Jacobi: Shows the importance of fixing broken walls on your property!
‘Serpent Princess’ Edmond Hamilton: nice Lovecraftian feel to this one!
‘More Spinned Against….’ John Wyndham: Now this was a fun one!
‘Above Ker-Is’ Evangeline Walton: Not much to say besides that this was another solid story!
‘Justice Tresilian in the Tower’ Ken Alden: This one was a bit discombobulated for me, slightly confused in the end.
‘Family History’ Stephen Baxter: Maybe the grittiest of all the tales but also maybe the tensest one too.
‘The House of Fenris’ John Cooling: Moral of the story “be careful where you build your house”. Great finisher!
This made me want to read more of Tales of the weird from British Library. So that’s what I am going to do!
August 17, 2025
"They have queer names in those parts, and other things queerer than the names"
Very nice collection. Have usually enjoyed the references to (directly or indirectly) ancient history in weird horror. These stories were all new to me, varied in style and all enjoyable.
Some of the stories that stood out most were:
The Great Mother: Mostly for the final or most climactic scene which features some great imagery of grass being trampled by invisible feet.
The Veil of Tanit: Loved the theme of someone who is terrified of what he has done coming back to haunt him, and who has lived such a boring life that he seeks out his own destruction. Cool little details like the idea of different kinds of tans and recognising a fellow traveller to the desert.
The Face in the Wind: Probably my favourite of the collection. Great plot well told. Loved the art theme and the way that the history of the place and its powerful architecture is hinted at. Never heard of multiple bibles being encased within a building to protect it, thought this was cool. Good amount of action and unpredictable plot.
More Spinned Against: A silly comedic story from the great John Wyndham. Enjoyable and refreshing read.
Above Ker-Is: Loved the writing style here and the framing as a confession to a priest.
Quotes I liked:
- "What he really wanted was magic... I have often wondered whether official Christianity... is not too hard on those who need magic"
- "In all my life, until that time, nothing had happened to me. Nothing had even come near to happening to me. Absolutely nothing"
- "The feeling of some vast inhuman mind also persisted"
Very nice collection. Have usually enjoyed the references to (directly or indirectly) ancient history in weird horror. These stories were all new to me, varied in style and all enjoyable.
Some of the stories that stood out most were:
The Great Mother: Mostly for the final or most climactic scene which features some great imagery of grass being trampled by invisible feet.
The Veil of Tanit: Loved the theme of someone who is terrified of what he has done coming back to haunt him, and who has lived such a boring life that he seeks out his own destruction. Cool little details like the idea of different kinds of tans and recognising a fellow traveller to the desert.
The Face in the Wind: Probably my favourite of the collection. Great plot well told. Loved the art theme and the way that the history of the place and its powerful architecture is hinted at. Never heard of multiple bibles being encased within a building to protect it, thought this was cool. Good amount of action and unpredictable plot.
More Spinned Against: A silly comedic story from the great John Wyndham. Enjoyable and refreshing read.
Above Ker-Is: Loved the writing style here and the framing as a confession to a priest.
Quotes I liked:
- "What he really wanted was magic... I have often wondered whether official Christianity... is not too hard on those who need magic"
- "In all my life, until that time, nothing had happened to me. Nothing had even come near to happening to me. Absolutely nothing"
- "The feeling of some vast inhuman mind also persisted"
August 13, 2025
Probably the best yet of the many short story anthologies that the British Library have published.
Editor Katy Soar has an excellent nose for a good story, there’s variety and lots of lesser known authors are featured, rather than the usual suspects.
The stories themselves range from a whimsical tale with a twist from John Wyndham to Rider Haggard style adventure stories set in far distant lands. Featured mythology has a fair sprinkling of British/Celtic with appearances from Etruscan, Babylonian and Aztec as well as the more familiar Greek and Egyptian myths. There’s a handy summary at the back of the book of the various belief systems.
Editor Katy Soar has an excellent nose for a good story, there’s variety and lots of lesser known authors are featured, rather than the usual suspects.
The stories themselves range from a whimsical tale with a twist from John Wyndham to Rider Haggard style adventure stories set in far distant lands. Featured mythology has a fair sprinkling of British/Celtic with appearances from Etruscan, Babylonian and Aztec as well as the more familiar Greek and Egyptian myths. There’s a handy summary at the back of the book of the various belief systems.
July 29, 2025
Another excellent set of short stories under the banner of British Library of the Weird. Return of the Ancients was very very good. I had never come across any of the stories within its covers. Stand out stories for me were, The Owl by F.A.M. Webster, Pussy by Flavia Richardson, More Spinned Against by John Wyndham, and The Face in the Wind by Carl Jacobi. But all stories were very good. 10/10.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews