This is an all-new deluxe edition of an out-of-print gem, containing in-universe short story 'The Ash-Born Boy' and a never-before-seen introduction from V.E. Schwab. 'The Near Witch' is only an old story told to frighten children. If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. There are no strangers in the town of Near. These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion.