Count Karlstein, or The Ride of the Demon Huntsman, was Philip Pullman's first novel for children, published by Chatto and Windus in 1982.

It is a wonderful gothic melodrama which he first wrote as a play for school-children when he was an English teacher.

No one in the village of Karlstein dares to leave their home on All Souls Eve - the night Zamiel, the Demon Huntsman comes to claim his prey. But the evil Count Karlstein has struck a terrible bargin with Zamiel, and so the lives of his young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte,are in danger.

Their only hope lies with Hildi, a castle maidservant, and her fearless brother, Peter.

Can they save the girls from their dreadful fate? Only one thing is certain - the Demon Huntsman will not return to his dark wood unsatisfied!