Stefan Grabiński’s short stories in English
Stefan Grabiński ( born 1887, died 1936) is Poland’s most famous author of horror stories, often referred to as the ‘Polish E.A. Poe” or “Polish H.P. Lovecraft”. In the first decades of the twentieth century, he published several collections of fantasy stories and several novels, and also wrote plays and theoretical works. His best-known works include short stories such as Demon ruchu (“The Motion Demon”), Problemat Czelawy (“The Problem of Professor Czelawa”), Maszynista Grot (“Engine Driver Grot”), and Muzeum dusz czyśćcowych (“’The Museum of Purgatorial Spirits”). In addition to the work of Edgar Allan Poe, his work was heavily influenced by parapsychology and the thought of philosophers such as Henri Bergson and William James.
The collection, published by Valancourt Books, includes translations of a total of fourteen short stories by the Polish writer, such as Engramy Szatery (“Szatera’s Engrams”), W domu Sary (“At Sarah’s House”), Czerwona Magda (“Red Magda:”), and Pożarowisko (“Burning Ground”), among others. The volume was completed with a foreword by writer Brian Evenson.