Stefan Bachmann

Seventeen-year-old Anouk has finally caught the break she’s been looking for—she's been selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace buried a hundred feet below the suburbs of Paris. Built in the 1780's to hide an aristocratic family and a mad duke during the French Revolution, the palace has lain hidden and forgotten ever since. Anouk, along with several other gifted teenagers, will be the first to set foot in it in over two centuries. Or so she thought. But nothing is as it seems, and the teens soon find themselves embroiled in a game far more sinister, and dangerous, than they could possibly have imagined. An evil spanning centuries is waiting for them in the depths. . .

A collection of thirty-six eerie, mysterious, intriguing, and very short short stories presented by the cabinet’s esteemed curators, otherwise known as acclaimed authors Stefan Bachmann, Katherine Catmull, Claire LeGrand, and Emma Trevayne. Perfect for fans of Alvin Schwartz and anyone who relishes a good creepy read-alone or read-aloud story. Features an introduction and commentary by the curators, and illustrations and decorations throughout.

When a scarecrow climbs over the garden wall, delivering twelve-year-old orphan Zita Brydgeborn a letter saying she has inherited a distant castle, she jumps at the chance of adventure. But little does she know that she is about to be thrust into a centuries-old battle between good and evil. Blackbird Castle was once home to a powerful dynasty of witches, all of them now dead under mysterious circumstances. Zita is the last of her line. And Zita, unfortunately, doesn’t know the first thing about being a witch. As she begins her lessons in charms and spells with her guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, Zita makes new allies—a crow, a talking marble head, two castle servants just her age named Bram and Minnifer, and the silent ghost of a green-eyed girl. But who is friend and who is foe? Zita must race to untangle her past and find the magic to save the home she’s always hoped for. Because whatever claimed the souls of her family is now after her.

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged. In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings--Peculiars--and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them. One day a mysterious lady in a plum-colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Bartholomew watches her through his window. Who is she? What does she want? And when Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away, in a whirling ring of feathers, the boy who lives across the alley--Bartholomew forgets the rules and gets himself noticed. First he's noticed by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr. Lickerish . . . and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong. Part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part steampunk adventure, The Peculiar is Stefan Bachmann's riveting, inventive, and unforgettable debut novel.

"Oh, the Sly King, the Sly King, in his towers of ash and wind."  Pikey Thomas doesn’t know how or why he can see the changeling girl. But there she is. Not in the cold, muddy London neighborhood where Pikey lives. Instead, she’s walking through the trees and snow of the enchanted Old Country or, later, racing through an opulent hall. She’s pale and small, and she has branches growing out of her head. Her name is Henrietta Kettle. Pikey’s vision, it turns out, is worth something. Worth something to Hettie’s brother—a brave adventurer named Bartholomew Kettle. Worth something to the nobleman who protects him. And Pikey is not above bartering—Pikey will do almost anything to escape his past; he’ll do almost anything for a life worth living. The faeries—save for a mysterious sylph and a mischievous cobble faery or two— have been chased out of London. They’ve all gone north. The army is heading north, too. So Pikey and Bartholomew follow, collecting information, piecing together clues, searching for the doorway that will lead them to Hettie.  The Whatnot is the enthralling, surprising, and unforgettable companion to Stefan Bachmann’s internationally bestselling debut novel The Peculiar.

One thousand years ago, the Elduari conquered the country of Varen in a brutal war. Now, every few generations they subject their one-time enemies to a terrible tradition: bloodthirsty monsters are unleashed across the land, attacking indiscriminately, keeping the population in a perpetual dark age. For Argo, fear of another Release is something he has always lived with. When his friend is killed by a monster during a routine patrol, Argo suspects that another Release is coming, and sooner than everyone thinks. But in a country built on fear, getting answers is dangerous. Elduari spies are hiding behind the most familiar faces, and any hint of disobedience could lead to the death of thousands. As whispers of dissent circulate, rebellion grows in the villages. Argo's beloved sister Simna leaves town without warning. Masked figures stalk the alleys at night, offering dangerous gifts. When tragedy strikes a second time, Argo and his new ally, Ana—a mysterious monster hunter in disguise—set off on a dangerous journey to stop the next Release. But what if it’s already too late? From Stefan Bachmann, the internationally renowned author of The Peculiar and Cinders & Sparrows, Release the Wolves is an atmospheric, suspenseful, and haunting novel about friendship, trust, power, and the monsters all around us.

Una novela fascinante, donde lo gótico y lo fantástico se cruzan en misteriosos asesinatos y un universo creativo singular, con personajes inolvidables. “No te hagas notar y nadie te colgará.” En los barrios bajos de Bath, en el gueto de los duendes, Bartolomeo y su hermana Queta, vivían bajo esa terrible regla. Como son sustitutos, distintos, ni los duendes ni los hombres quieren saber nada con ellos. Un día una hermosa dama de morado asomó por el Callejón del Viejo Cuervo y Bartolomeo vio cómo se llevaba a su vecino, un distinto como él. Entonces olvidó las reglas y se dejó notar. Primero, por la dama de morado, luego por una criatura llamada Saltimbán, manipulada por un duende malvado y poderoso y, más tarde, por Arturo Jelliby, alguien que -por otras razones- también trata de pasar inadvertido.

A spellbinding tour, filled with stories and photographs, of some of the world’s most fascinating architectural mysteries. This wondrous guide for the curious and the intrepid takes readers on a lushly photographed and lyrically written tour of eighteen of the world’s most captivating architectural mysteries. Delve into both the secretive places themselves and the eccentric and obsessive minds that created them. Visit a chamber of skulls high in the Swiss Alps, a Japanese temple full of traps, a Parisian apartment locked and untouched since World War II, a Prohibition-era speakeasy in Washington, DC, and a spooky “initiation” well in Portugal built by a secret society. How far down can you climb before losing your nerve?