Every nation has its own way of expressing awe and fear of death and the unknown. The stories in this book vividly capture this fear and awe, taking us on a journey from the impoverished neighborhoods of Mexico to the Slavic villages of the 18th century, from the Great Plains of North America to the markets of Africa, from the damp castles of England to the dry deserts of Arabia and the steppes of China.

Written by the most famous authors or by the anonymous folk creator, they all share the common element of the supernatural horror that lies behind its varied masks.

CONTENTS

• The Athenian and the Ghost, Pliny the Younger (ancient Rome)
• The Market of the Dead, folk tale (South Africa, Dahomey)
• The Man Who Brought His Wife Back from the Land of Spirits, tale of the Winnebago tribe (North America, Nebraska)
• The Painted Skin, Pu Songling (China)
• The Story of the Second King-Zitian, story from One Thousand and One Nights (Arabia)
• The Curse of Fire and Shadows, William Butler Yeats (Ireland)
• The Dry Man and His Wife, folk tale (Mexico)
• The Vampire, Aristotelis Valaoritis (Greece)
• The Family of the Werewolf, Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy (Eastern Europe)
• The Canterville Ghost, Oscar Wilde (England)