Shadow on the Curtain

The series "Mysterious Tales" is a collection of short prose works written in the 19th — first half of the 20th century. Stories that introduce readers to a world where the ordinary coexists with the supernatural, where the fates of the heroes are determined by fear-inspiring otherworldly forces, and where the very boundary between life and death turns out to be tenuous, have long enjoyed popularity. With a gloomy color palette, 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 times of philosophical skepticism, the rise of science, and the triumph of technology, gothic literature remains in demand, while the mysterious, the unexplained, and the miraculous continue to attract and fascinate.
The collection includes mystical stories by English, Irish, Canadian, and American writers, including Grant Allen, Charlotte Riddell, Sabine Baring-Gould, Henry van Dyke, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and others.