Wax

On the outskirts of the small English town of Riverpool stands a waxwork museum, where several people have died under mysterious circumstances. Sonia Thompson, a young journalist, is determined to get to the bottom of the strange happenings at the waxworks. So she resolves to spend a night there alone. Surrounded by gruesome wax figures of madmen and murderers in the evil chamber where someone has already met his death, Sonia suddenly feels terror grip her. For slowly, ever so slowly, the horrible wax figures seem to be coming to life . . . One of the most popular crime novelists of the 1930s and ’40s, Ethel Lina White (1876-1944) is best known as the author of the books that inspired the films The Spiral Staircase and The Lady Vanishes. This new edition of Wax (1935), a brilliant mixture of horror and mystery, is the first in decades and reproduces the original jacket art. CONTEMPORARY REVIEWS “A really notable achievement in the macabre.” – Time and Tide “White has mastered the difficult art of writing a mystery-horror tale.” – New York Times “Gave me the best thrill I have had for some time . . . moments of authentic gooseflesh.” – Compton Mackenzie