Master storyteller Viktor Wynd is back with a gloriously grim collection of wickedly entertaining tales from around the world, guaranteed to tickle the darker side of the imagination. Viktor Wynd has always gravitated toward the weirder corners of folklore. On his extensive travels, he has amassed a trove of stories that refuse to play nice — filled with risqué twists, grotesque details, and endings that are surprisingly happy, though not always in the way one might expect. Having entertained audiences around the world with these tales, he has now written down some of his favorites in a book as beautifully produced as it is macabre.

The stories were collected in Wales, Ireland, Arabia, Germany, Norway, Papua New Guinea, and Borneo and include the adventures of a one-eyed troll; the feckless Paddy O’Dwyer; a changeling child; a girl who thinks she can outwit a witch; the doomed Sinbad the Traveler; shapeshifters; and a baby-eating pig. Each chapter begins with Wynd’s personal account of how he came to learn these stories. Arresting and intricate illustrations by Transylvanian artist Luciana Nedelea perfectly balance the charming and grotesque. The book also includes a guide to the art of learning and recounting fairy tales.

With silver foil accents and black-stenciled edges, this volume feels like a forbidden artifact plucked from a dusty cabinet of curiosities.