Dark Openings. Secret Affairs

A weary traveler seeks shelter from the storm in a house that suspiciously resembles the dollhouse she once had in her childhood. A tourist trip to Venice turns into a meeting with the unexplored and the eerie. A couple of newlyweds arrives in a coastal town where the bells constantly toll, the sea is unreachable, and a sense of impending doom hangs in the air. An ordinary Englishman enters St. Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent and receives the most sinister tour of his life, the consequences of which he will remember forever. All this and much more can be found in two classic collections by Robert Aickman, a true master of English prose, whose texts have influenced many generations of horror and fantasy writers. His influence can be seen in the prose of Adam Nevill and Neil Gaiman, John Langan and Peter Straub, Thomas Ligotti and Ramsey Campbell. Aickman's undeniable talent was recognized by horror classics such as Robert Bloch and Fritz Lieber. Aickman spawned an entire movement in supernatural literature, yet his unique style remains unmatched, and the special atmosphere of his works has not been reproduced by anyone.