THERE'S nothing like being wrapped up warm with a good book of ghost stories at Christmas while the wind howls outside and the rain rattles at the window. Folio books have come up with a beauty - a cloth and board-bound volume with its own slip case that just cries out to be read aloud to all the family while sitting in a deep chair in front of the fire.

The 20 tales gathered together here range from the familiar - Charles Dickens, Walter de la Mare and MR James - to stories even the most ardent fan probably won't have come across before.

Howling winds and winter snows, rambling old houses and isolated inns, characters whose apparently ordinary lives hide guilty secrets and murky pasts, even a sinister Punch and Judy show - all the classic ingredients are here. Wonderful, spooky, full-colour illustrations by Peter Stuart add the finishing touch. Glorious.

Christmas Ghost Stories is available from www.foliobooks.net or by calling 020 7400 4200

Updated: 16:37 Friday, December 09, 2005