1971. A middle-aged man, wracked with grief, walks along the beach at Whitstable in Kent. A boy walks approaches him and, taking him for the famous vampire-hunter Doctor Van Helsing from the Hammer movies, asks for his help. Because he believes his stepfather really is a vampire... In Whitstable - which deftly mixes fact with fiction—the actor, devastated after the recent death of his wife and soul mate Helen, is an inconsolable recluse. In that vulnerable state he is forced to face an evil far more real and terrifying than any of the make-believe monsters he tackled on the big screen. And here he is not a crusader or expert with crucifixes to hand—merely a man. A man who in some ways craves death himself, but cannot ignore the pleas of an innocent child...

One evening in 1906 a chubby little boy of seven, son of a London greengrocer, is taken by his father to visit the local police station. There he suddenly finds himself, inexplicably, locked up for a crime he hasn’t committed – or has he? Blinking into sunlight, traumatized by his overnight stay, he is told by his father the next morning: “Now you know what happens to naughty little boys!” But the incident is the catalyst for a series of events that will scar, and create, the world’s leading Master of Terror in the century to come… \* The boy is Alfred Hitchcock. The story is the gripping and evocative new novella by Stephen Volk, writer of the highly-acclaimed novella Whitstable – which featured Peter Cushing as its central character and was published in 2013 (also by Spectral Press) to coincide with the centenary of the great actor’s death. Leytonstone – like Whitstable – elevates fact (in this case an anecdote the famous director told repeatedly throughout his life) into resonant and poignant fiction, lifting the veil on not only the innocent and troubled young “Fred” but his emotionally needy mother and a father constantly struggling to do the right thing. But what none of them knows is that, after that fateful night and its consequences, their lives will be changed forever… \* As a screenwriter used to creating fear and terror for such directors as William Friedkin and Ken Russell, Stephen Volk has long been fascinated by both Hitchcock’s films and Hitchcock the man. “I wanted to explore what makes a person want to frighten others for a living,” he says. “But I’m all too aware that Hitch was a mass of contradictions, and any absolute ‘truth’ is an elusive beast, as notable recent films have proven. This is my Hitchcock – a scared little boy.” Whitstable and Leytonstone are parts one and two of Volk’s putative series of thematically related but separate fictions, to be called The Dark Masters Trilogy. PRAISE FOR STEPHEN VOLK: “One of the most provocative and unsettling of contemporary writers” Andy Hedgecock (Asst Fiction Editor, Interzone) “A master craftsman” Dark Musings PRAISE FOR “WHITSTABLE”: “A chilling cat-and-mouse tale… Whitstable is a triumph… as fitting a tribute to the man as could be imagined” Starburst “Not only a gripping story but a vivid vignette about one of Britain’s best loved actors” Hellnotes “I loved Whitstable! It’s a beautiful love letter to a man, a genre, and an era that means so much to those of us of a certain age” – Mick Garris, producer, Masters of Horror

Whitstable - 1971. Peter Cushing, grief-stricken over the loss of his wife and soul-mate, is walking along a beach near his home. A little boy approaches him, taking him to be the famous vampire-hunter Van Helsing from the Hammer films, begs for his expert help... Leytonstone - 1906. Young Alfred Hitchcock is taken by his father to visit the local police station. There he suddenly finds himself, inexplicably, locked up for a crime he knows nothing about - the catalyst for a series of events that will scar, and create, the world's leading Master of Terror... Netherwood - 1947. Best-selling black magic novelist Dennis Wheatley finds himself summoned mysteriously to the aid of Aleister Crowley - mystic, reprobate, The Great Beast 666, and dubbed by the press ‘The Wickedest Man in the World’ - to help combat a force of genuine evil...