Book excerpt: Dread of the unknown fills us with both unease and curiosity. We laugh, nervously, at tales of haunted houses and phantoms, yet something looms. There is a shadow behind life that creeps through its walls and knocks, and we know it is a fear of the unknown that makes each heart beat faster. Life is uncanny. We are equally attracted to and repulsed by what scares us. The unknown will persist thanks to literature, and that is where the ghosts will always live. This collection presents twenty-nine eerie narratives drenched in an otherworldly fog. Ghosts stalk these pages, and the ominous specter of Death peers out with an amused grin. Separated into two parts, this collection contains both ghastly stories of death and bizarre tales of the unknown. These tales were all chosen for their uncanny aesthetics and their compelling narratives. Marvel at the literary and haunting expertise of classic writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, and more.