Dont Go to Sleep in the Dark (1972) was the first gathering of Celia Fremlins short fiction, a form in which she had published prolifically - for the likes of She, Playmen, and Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine - while building her reputation as a novelist of psychological suspense.

Female characters predominate in these tales, as does the doom-filled atmosphere that was Fremlins metier. She explores her familiar theme of strained mother-child relations, but she also delves into the supernatural realm as well as the psychological. As ever, her capacities for making the everyday unnerving and keeping the reader guessing are richly in evidence.

Here are thirteen harrowing tales by the indisputable mistress of horror. Chattanooga Times

An outstanding collection...all are well-written and all are possible and none should be read when alone in a dark house. Savannah Morning News

About the Author

Celia Fremlin (1914-2009) was born in Kent. Her first published novel of suspense was The Hours Before Dawn (1958), which went on to win the Mystery Writers of Americas Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1960. Over the next thirty-five years Fremlin published a further eighteen titles.

Britains equivalent to Patricia Highsmith, Celia Fremlin wrote psychological thrillers that changed the landscape of crime fiction for ever: her novels are domestic, subtle, penetrating - and quite horribly chilling. Andrew Taylor, Celia Fremlin (1914-2009) was born in Kent and educated at Berkhamsted School for Girls and Somerville College, Oxford, where she read classics and philosophy. During the Second World War she worked for the Mass Observation project, an experience that resulted in her first published book, War Factory (1943, available in Faber Finds), which recorded the experiences and attitudes of women war workers in a radar equipment factory outside Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Her first published novel of suspense was The Hours Before Dawn (1958), which went on to win the Mystery Writers of Americas Edgar Allan Poe award for best crime novel in 1960. Over the next 35 years Fremlin published a further eighteen titles, including three collections of stories. Faber Finds is proud to be reissuing Celia Fremlins complete oeuvre in paperback and ebook.
Britains equivalent to Patricia Highsmith, Celia Fremlin wrote psychological thrillers that changed the landscape of crime fiction for ever: her novels are domestic, subtle, penetrating - and quite horribly chilling. Andrew Taylor
Celia Fremlin is an astonishing writer, who explores that nightmare country where brain, mind and self battle to establish the truth. She illuminates her dark world with acute perception and great wit. Natasha Cooper