Spine-chilling tales from around the world have been compiled into a graphic novel paying tribute to the urban legend.

Steven Stone, who originally hails from Australia, but now lives in Croydon has published his first book, using a wide variety of animation styles to tell myths and ghost stories he has researched from every corner of the globe.

The 28-year, who works as a civil servant at Westminster, has used a number of different artist to create a diverse range of stories, each depicted in a different style.

He says: “I wanted to explore the stories using animation appropriate to the culture the story originated from.

“I’ve always had a fascination with the idea of urban legends. It goes back to when I was a child and read that if you dial 666 at midnight death knocks on your door. Stories like that have a power that makes them last.”

Stone, who took five years to complete the work, has added his own twist to the classic tales and picked a range to include ancient stories and more contemporary stories.

He says: “By their very nature they are traditionally horror stories, but in some you’ll also find quite a lot of humour too.”

The author is hoping he can use Urban Legends as a springboard for more writing work, and has lined up producing a couple of comic biographies of popstars Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams, to be published later this year.

He says: “The industry is one where there are a few big comic publishing houses who won’t look at you until you have published your own work.

"Hopefully this will open doors for me to take it further.”

Urban Legends is available both online and in book stores.