In the late '70s children's publisher Usborne, produced a new line of books aimed at young readers. Entitled 'World of the Unknown' it comprised of three large format paperbacks, with glossy covers and lavish colour illustrations throughout. One was All About Monsters, the next All About Ghosts and the third and final volume All About UFOs. All three volumes were collected together in a large hardback edition which hit the shelves under the title of Mysteries of the Unknown.
Introducing kids to strange creatures such as the Lambton Worm, the Hopkinsville goblin and Gef the talking mongoose, and transporting them to weird locales such as Loch Ness, Borley Rectory and the Nazca Lines, these books are fondly remembered by several generations of children. Packed full of details and wonderful illustrations, these tomes were high octane fuel for the imagination and now can command frighteningly high prices secondhand... Something that make me very glad I still got my much cherished though slightly battered edition of Mysteries of the Unknown. Indeed I still enjoy flipping through this tome whose words and pictures still trill me to this very day.
These books made a huge impression of many kinds back in the day and are still very fondly remembered. Indeed posting the covers or images from their pages online always brings a huge response. And many folks over the years have lamented the fact that subsequent generations have not had the same intoxicating mixture of wonder and fear in their childhoods since the books went out of print! However there are plans afoot to bring them back!
These books made a huge impression of many kinds back in the day and are still very fondly remembered. Indeed posting the covers or images from their pages online always brings a huge response. And many folks over the years have lamented the fact that subsequent generations have not had the same intoxicating mixture of wonder and fear in their childhoods since the books went out of print! However there are plans afoot to bring them back!
Anna Howorth who actually works for Usborne as director of global marketing and branding wants to get the range back into print, and so has started a petition asking Usborne to reprint the most scarifying title in the range, World of the Unknown: All About Ghosts. And here's the petition to sign!
Bring back Usborne's The World of the Unknown: Ghosts
If you want to know more about the books, a few years ago, as part of my adventures in audio, I decided to go through the books and reminisce about their marvels and read aloud some samples of their magic. And as Usborne collected all three volumes together into one bumper package, it is only right and proper that I now do the same..MICROBOBS 05 - ALL ABOUT GHOSTS
Time travelling once more on the black batwings of nostalgia, Mr Jim Moon enthusiastically rambles about World of the Unknown: All About Monsters published by Usborne back in 1978. Swearing, over-excitement and a feast of monsterdom results!
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Completing the trilogy of World of the Unknown books, Mr Jim Moon, in a predictably over-excitable fashion, voyages back to the 1970s to take a look at All About UFOs (Usborne 1977)
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - MICROGORIA 11 - All About UFOS
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