Fear

Oleg Postnov is a subtle stylist and brilliant mystifier, a "typical Russian Borges", as defined by Lev Danilkin. The novel "Fear" inherits the best traditions of Russian gothic literature from Karamzin, Gogol, Pogorelski, and Bulgakov.

A Russian immigrant, who wanders into a used bookstore in America, becomes the owner of several handwritten notebooks. In them is the story of a life and a love on the edge of obsession. The Ukrainian village, where the hero is sent as a child for vacation, is a semi-mystical space full of wonders and superstitions. Here is a meeting with a mara, a wedding of a village witch, and strange ritual ceremonies. This is a book about the trial of fear, which sometimes proves to be stronger and wins, about a personal nightmare that is incredibly difficult to escape from, if it is even possible.