The Curse of Rathlaw

The Curse of Rathlaw by Peter Saxon. mass_market edition. ISBN: 9780451731524.

"Peter Saxon" was a house name used by publishers for a line of horror novels, including the cult-classic series, The Guardians. This novel is one of six Guardians books, and the actual author of this one is reported to be Martin Thomas. The series consists of two unnumbered novels, "Through the Dark Curtain," (A) and this one (B). Later, Berkley released four numbered novels: 1) The Killing Bone, 2) Dark Ways to Death, 3) The Haunting of Alan Mais, and 4) The Vampires of Vinistere. The books center around a team dedicated to fighting supernatural evil - and the evil is truly supernatural. The Guardians are headquartered in "swinging London with its miniskirts, sports cars, exhaust fumes and discotheques." The building they occupy, however, is tucked back along some quaint (but still dark) alley called "Start Passage." It is haunted, often deceptive, and frighteningly mysterious even to some of the Guardians themselves. This book was published by Lancer (later renamed Magnum Prestige) in 1968, and was reprinted at least twice through the mid-70s with the same wonderful Jeff Jones cover art.