The Monster of Grammont

Two young Englishmen, Ralph Wallace and Julian Conrad, are touring postwar France by car when the beauty of the countryside gives way to something far more unsettling. Near the Marne, Conrad recognizes Château Grammont, where he once recovered from war exhaustion as a guest of the hospitable Fallières family, and the journey turns from elegant travel narrative into a haunting return to a buried past. At the château, Wallace meets Yolande Fallières, whose charm, intelligence, and quiet sadness immediately intrigue him. But beneath the old-world courtesy lies fear: the family has endured German occupation, a mother's death, and years of escalating terror from a monk-like "Monster" seen in mirrors, halls, and gardens. Yolande confides that she and the servant Severin have witnessed the figure, and that a servant died near a gigantic footprint. When Wallace's car is mysteriously sabotaged to keep him from leaving, the mystery deepens into outright dread. As rumors, newspaper sensationalism, and private suspicions swirl, Conrad suspects a human conspiracy involving Niels or Heinrich, while Yolande insists the threat is real. Then darkness falls, the Monster appears, and the château erupts into panic, misdirection, and near-fatal confusion—an eerie blend of gothic suspense, wartime trauma, and hidden danger. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.