Did you know that Russell Kirk’s best-selling book was not The Conservative Mind but Old House of Fear? This 1961 novel, a classic in the genre of the “ghostly tale,” established Kirk as one of the masters of twentieth century gothic horror praised by Ray Bradbury and Stephen King.

The setting is the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland, replete with chilling rain and dense fog. The story follows Hugh Logan, an attorney attempting to purchase Carnglass, the ancestral island and castle of his employer, only to find himself swept up in a tale of intrigue, love, and fear.