St. Andrew’s Night
- The Strigoi of Valea Seacă
- The Wolf That Spoke
- The Moroi in the Well
Tales of Transylvania · Volume I of 3 14+
Winter
From St. Andrew’s to Sân-Toader · When the Lamp Goes Out
Ana comes up to Gura Hotarului, a village beneath Piatra Mută, to sell her grandmother’s house and take the old woman to a care home in Cluj. Three days, four at most. But on the first night, on the eve of St. Andrew’s Day, her grandmother Floarea, ninety-three years old, puts out the lamp and begins to tell.
PDF in English · 242 pages · full edition + phone version · instant delivery by email
12tales
4parts, by the feast days
12tales from the old folk
242pages
16engravings: one for every tale, plus four plates
2files: full + phone
Volume I · Winter
“The tales from the old folk are not told in the light. In the light, the wrong ears hear them.”
Ana’s first winter in Gura Hotarului, from the night of the strigoi to Sân-Toader’s horses. Grandma Floarea puts out the lamp and tells, one by one, of the strigoi who came back to his wife, the wolf that spoke and the carolers without shadows. And in the morning, on Ana’s windowsill, someone has counted the poppy seeds.
Besides the twelve tales, the volume has a prologue and four interludes, in which Ana tells what is happening in Gura Hotarului and in her grandmother’s house, plus the map of the village and the family tree of the Straja women.
For adults and teenagers (14+). Horror tales from folklore, told with restraint: these are not bedtime stories for young children.
Contents
Four nights, twelve tales
St. Ignatius’s Day and Christmas Eve
- The Carolers Without Shadows
- The Night the Cattle Speak
- The Mask
Epiphany
- The Mirror and the Fated One
- The Man Who Stole the Holy Water
- The Ice on the Tăuț
Sân-Toader
- Sân-Toader’s Horses
- The Girls Who Spun After Sundown
- The Horseshoe
Look inside
What the pages look like
Real pages from the book. Tap a page to see it large.
Free, no email needed
The first 20 pages
The cover, the map of Gura Hotarului, the family tree of the Straja women, the contents, the whole Prologue (Ana arrives at her grandmother’s and the lamp goes out for the first time) and the opening of the tale “The Strigoi of Valea Seacă”.
What you get
Two files, one book
The full editionA 242-page PDF with the engravings, the map and the ornaments at print quality (about 30 MB). For tablet, computer or printer.
The phone versionThe same text with lighter engravings (about 5 MB). Quick to download and always with you.
With your dedicationThe book opens with a dedication page: the name of the person receiving it, your message and your signature, in handwriting.
Tales of Transylvania · Volume I: Winter · PDF
€5.90one-off payment · instant delivery by email · no subscription
All three volumes: €13.90 instead of €17.70. Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn: the whole story.
Buy the set →The series
The other volumes
Questions
A few things to know
What is this volume about?
Ana’s first winter in Gura Hotarului, from the night of the strigoi to Sân-Toader’s horses. Grandma Floarea puts out the lamp and tells, one by one, of the strigoi who came back to his wife, the wolf that spoke and the carolers without shadows. And in the morning, on Ana’s windowsill, someone has counted the poppy seeds.
What age is it for?
For adults and teenagers (14 and up), not bedtime stories for young children. These are horror tales from folklore, told with restraint: strigoi and moroi, the dead who come back, grief and fear, now and then the death of a person or an animal, told without detail. There are no explicit scenes; the dread comes from the silence, from the old customs and from what is left unsaid.
Can I read just this volume?
Yes: it is the first volume, and the story begins here. Each tale can be read on its own, but the story of Ana and her grandmother continues in Spring and in Summer and Autumn.
What format is it in?
A 242-page PDF in English, with the engravings, the map and the ornaments of the edition. You get two files: the full edition (about 30 MB, for tablet, computer or printing) and a light version for phones (about 5 MB). The links arrive by email right after payment and stay in My library.
Can I buy all three volumes at once?
Yes: the complete set costs €13.90 instead of €17.70. You will find it on the series page.
Can I give it as a gift, with a dedication?
Yes. When you buy it, you write the name of the person receiving it, a message and your signature: they appear handwritten on the dedication page at the start of the book. Tick ‘It is a gift’, add their email and, if you like, a day: the book is sent by itself that morning.
Is it a translation?
Yes: the complete English translation of the Romanian original, with the same engravings, map and ornaments. It is also available in Romanian and Spanish.
What if the file will not open?
Write to books@arkabooks.org and we will send you a good copy straight away or refund you.
“The tales from the old folk are not told in the light. In the light, the wrong ears hear them.”
Tales of Transylvania · Volume I