Beware the Curious

The series "Mysterious Tales" is a collection of works of short prose written in the 19th - early 20th century. Stories that immerse readers in a world where the ordinary coexists with the supernatural, where the fates of heroes are determined by fearsome otherworldly forces, and where the boundary between life and death turns out to be hazy, have long enjoyed popularity. Filled with a gloomy atmosphere, dramatic plots about family curses, mysteries of ancient portraits, deals with the devil, restless souls, ghosts, etc. became especially popular during the Romantic era. But even later, readers' interest in them did not wane: even in the era of philosophical skepticism, the flourishing of science and the triumph of technology, Gothic literature remains in demand, and the mysterious, inexplicable, miraculous continues to attract and enchant. The collection includes mystical stories by British and American writers, including such masters of prose as Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Henry James, Vernon Lee, Montague Rhodes James, and Edward Frederick Benson.