Night Pieces

One of the most important gothic collections of the 19th century: “Night Studies” cemented Hoffmann’s reputation as a master of dark romanticism and influenced the development of European horror and mysticism literature.

In his famous collection “Night Studies,” which Heine said, “The devil can write nothing more devilish,” Hoffmann included eight mysterious stories that will plunge the reader into a sinister and dangerous world.

Where the fairy Sandman—whom his mother used to scare little Nathaniel, who refused to fall asleep—suddenly shows up at his home…

A black villain makes miraculous elixirs from the blood and hearts of murdered infants…

In a mansion on the main street, instead of a beautiful girl lives a half-mad old woman who enchants the hero using spells of magnetism…

And in an ancient family castle, a mysterious story unfolds with a ghost and a villainous murder…

Hoffmann’s tales are an arena where light and darkness, reason and madness, reality and fantasies struggle against each other.

Night Studies. Selected Novellas