The Uncanny Guest (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

E.T.A. Hoffmann

Summary

This early work by E. T. A. Hoffmann was originally published in 1819. Born in Königsberg, East Prussia in 1776, Hoffmann's family were all jurists, and during his youth he was initially encouraged to pursue a career in law.  However, in his late teens Hoffman became increasingly interested in literature and philosophy, and spent much of his time reading German classicists and attending lectures by, amongst others, Immanuel Kant. Hoffman went on to produce a great range of both literary and musical works. Probably Hoffman's most well-known story, produced in 1816, is 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King', due to the fact that – some seventy-six years later - it inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker. In the same vein, his story 'The Sandman' provided both the inspiration for Léo Delibes's ballet Coppélia, and the basis for a highly influential essay by Sigmund Freud, called 'The Uncanny'. (Indeed, Freud referred to Hoffman as the "unrivalled master of the uncanny in literature.") Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions.

Available since: 10/20/2015.

Other books that might interest you

Carmilla

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

‘Carmilla’ is an 1872 Gothic novella by the Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years, it is also one of the earliest works of vampire fiction. The story is narrated as part of the casebook of Dr Hesselius, an occult detective. Set in Styria in the then-Austrian Empire, a young girl, Laura, narrates the blood-curdling tale of the vampire Carmilla or Mircalla, the Countess Karnstein. Carmilla has often been adapted to film, opera and other media, and has inspired the author Anne Rice.

Show book

Still Falling

J.R. Erickson

A stand-alone paranormal mystery inspired by a sinister true story... 
On a desolate peninsula, Skelling Hall has stood for more than a century. 
When Iris Walsh flees to the Upper Peninsula in northern Michigan, she’s grappling with some deeply disturbing truths. She seeks solace at her grandmother’s home and, for a time, she finds it. 
But on a frigid winter night, Iris glimpses a man fleeing through the forest from a dark entity, and she crashes her car. 
Iris is swept into a mystery that began nearly a century ago when two little boys walked into the forest on the Skelling Peninsula and were never seen again. 
Don’t miss this chilling paranormal tale...

Show book

Lucifer by Moonlight - A Modern...

Patrice Chaplin

According to ancient scripture, Lucifer was cast out of heaven as a result of his disobedience, gaining freedom for mankind in the process. In Spain, local legends tell that the fallen archangel appeared in an earthly body, thousands of years ago. As the Child of Light, he was rocked on a mysterious stone cradle by a woman from the East.
Seeking to uncover secrets held for centuries, Patrice Chaplin's research into her book The Stone Cradle evolved naturally into Lucifer by Moonlight. From the material she discovered, the rebellious archangel surfaced into the modern day – treading his way down dark streets, forever trying to make sense of his destiny. In London, he is seen as a man of exquisite taste and blinding charisma, habitually breaking hearts. Alternatively, as Lucie Fur he is a high class hooker, walking the streets of Kentish Town whilst trying to avoid his old enemy, the Elysium Fox from Thebes.
Chaplin – celebrated novelist and memoirist – takes us to the timeless Stone Cradle, where the old red-headed trickster, absorbing beams from the moon to feed his brilliance, lies waiting for his obligatory earthly reappearance. But could things turn out differently this time? Might his veneration of children and unexpected care for others change his fate? As Lucifer returns to the Stone Cradle with his dying friend, the morning light reveals the glories of Venus, the place for which he yearns. Will there be atonement – or even redemption – for the tired archangel's past misdeeds?
Illustrated with colour pictures by Melissa Scott-Miller, this imaginative new work is a thought-provoking fable for our time.

Show book

Traxxx

Mace Styx

Enjoy this short story by Mace Styxx.
Perhaps some heavy sheet of twisted metal, the engine or outer frame of his vehicle. He scoured his memory, trying to recall what he had been doing immediately before he had awoken, the account came back blank. Like the times he had drunken himself into a blackout, he had clearly lost time, where the memory should be there was nothing, just a blank void, a gap in the recording.
Maybe, he considered, he had decided, against his better judgment, to drive home after a heavy drinking bout. That would account for the lost time and he admitted begrudgingly, for the accident he supposed himself to have caused. Okay, he thought, the past could wait. The first thing was to work out what was going on right now and to do something about it. The thing was not to kick and flail but to assess the situation, to work out what he could and could not move and get some idea of what his situation actually was.
“Okay” he spoke to himself aloud. “Calm down and try to move your feet.”
Firing instructions at himself in this fashion did seem to settle him slightly and he was able to steady himself enough to actually carry it out. To his surprise and relief, his feet moved easily from side to side. There was no question that he was able to move them but also that they were unable to help because everything from the lower shin up was fastened in place. That meant he wasn’t paralyzed, but rather, pinned.
“Okay, now try to raise your head,” he again announced out loud and again was able, in response to his own command, to complete the action, though almost instantly he wished he hadn’t. For within seconds of his head elevating itself from the ground, he was able to take in everything, his situation, his surroundings and the true horror of his predicament. He was not pinned, but tied.

Show book

The Farmhouse on Cemetery Hill...

Cynthia Herbert-Bruschi Adams

A young couple buys an historic New England home with plans to restore it to its original time and beauty. But they have scarcely moved in when strange and frightening things begin to happen. From a child's gravestone in the backyard, to a horrific history discovered about previous owners, there is little time for them to enjoy this home. And when tragedy strikes workmen they have hired, they begin a determined hunt to unearth what is really happening to them all. The listener is immediately drawn into this charged and ominous tale and will long for more at its conclusion.

Show book

Humpty Dumpty

Willow Rose

This story is not for the faint at heart. They thought it would be easy. Four boys from a nearby boarding school were drinking heavily and planned on harassing a family - just for the fun of it. But they hadn't prepared themselves for the terror of what they would meet inside of the house in shape of a little girl, with a very extraordinary gift. Humpty Dumpty is a horror novella from Willow Rose, author of the international best-selling horror-series starring the Danish reporter Rebekka Franck. No one is more addictive than Willow Rose.

Show book