Weird tales—a fantastic genre not very common in modern Russia. Far more popular in the West, where readers devour its masters’ stories—from Ambrose Bierce and Arthur Machen to Dean Koontz. Drawing from this tradition, Matvey Tropinin builds his own plots: the author’s artistic world is full of sly irony and, at first glance, recognizable—yet it hides bizarrely fantastic metamorphoses and truly terrifying clashes.