Mahnke pens myth series for Wildfire

Wildfire has bought three titles in a new illustrated series by Lore podcast producer Aaron Mahnke exploring the historical provenance of the "myths, mysteries and frightening folklore that fill our stories and nightmares to this day".

Publishing director Alex Clarke bought UK and Commonwealth rights to three books in the World of Lore series by Mahnke from Esmond Harmsworth at Aevitas. 

The first volume, Monstrous Creatures, will publish on 24th October as a "lead" hardback and e-book this year, followed by Wicked Mortals and Dreadful Places next year, in spring and autumn respectively.

Myths explored include the changelings of Ireland, the vampires of New England and the Cornish Owlman. Delving into the origins of these stories, Wildfire said the books will show that sometimes the truth is even stranger than fiction.

Clarke said: "We are thrilled to be publishing the World of Lore series by Aaron Mahnke, having long been huge fans of the Lore podcast. Aaron is such a natural and charismatic story teller, and so it’s tremendously exciting to see this wealth of weird and wonderful tales from folklore coming to life on the page, and in such beautifully illustrated and produced books."

The publication of the first book will coincide with an Amazon Video adaptation of the Lore podcasts by the producers of "The Walking Dead".

Mahnke is the writer, host and producer of Lore, which won the iTunes "Best of 2015" and "Best of 2016" awards and averages over 5m listeners a month. He is also the author of a number of self-published supernatural thrillers.

He said: "What an honour it is to be able to bring these stories to life on the printed page, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to help me do that. Alex Clarke and his team are passionate, talented makers of beautiful books, which places my World of Lore series in very good hands."