The Spook's Curse
core novel 2005 The Wardstone Chronicles
Record
| First published | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.13 (33,432 ratings, collected 2026-10-31) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780370328270 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
John Gregory takes his apprentice Tom Ward to Priestown, the County's largest town, to deal with a threat that lies beneath it. In the catacombs under the town lives the Bane, an ancient creature that feeds on fear and has haunted the place for generations. Gregory has faced such things before, but he is growing older and the work is getting harder. Tom is still learning the craft and is unsure whether he is ready for what waits below. Alice, whom Gregory distrusts because of her witch family, is drawn into the danger as well. Together they must find a way into the dark places under the streets before the Bane's hold on the town tightens.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Wardstone Chronicles
- Series: The Wardstone Chronicles core; position 2 of 13 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Joseph Delaney
Notes
- From the series record (The Wardstone Chronicles): Thirteen novels following Tom Ward, apprentice to the County's spook, from 2004 to 2013.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Wardstone Chronicles: position 2 of 13: previous The Spook's Apprentice (2004) · next The Spook's Secret (2006)
- Internal chronology, within The Wardstone Chronicles: position 4 of 20: previous Brother Wulf (2020) · next Spook's: The Dark Army (2016)
Sources
← The Wardstone Chronicles dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.