Weird Tales

Hoffman's "Weird Tales" is a brilliant collection of his best works, including the world-known stories like "Mademoiselle De Scuderi," "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King," and also one of the first horror stories in the romantic literature "The Sandman." Hoffman's protagonists are romantic and brave representatives of the epoch. He writes about artists, musicians, poets, and also noble people of trade. His characters live in the era when men fight on duels and women faint to stress their fragility. The range of his characters is stunning. It includes the lady detective Mademoiselle De Scuderi, a mysterious Sandman who steals the eyes of those who don't want to go to bed, and an opera singer Signor Formica. Each of the presented stories has a unique character and belongs to the most valuable pieces of the world's literature that never cease to be topical, intriguing, captivating, and inspiring. _x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_

E.T.A. Hoffmann, born Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann on January 24, 1776, in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), was a multifaceted artist known for his literary prowess as well as his contributions to music and the visual arts. Hoffmann's writing style intricately weaved together elements of the Gothic with the nascent genre of fantasy, often blurring the lines between reality and the supernatural. His use of alter egos and his interest in the duality of human nature featured prominently in his narratives, contributing to the nascent Romantic movement in German literature. Hoffmann's collection 'Weird Tales' (1819-1824), known as 'Die Serapionsbrüder' in German, exemplifies his fascination with the strange and the uncanny. These stories are marked by their exploration of the psychologically bizarre and their rich, atmospheric detail. Hoffmann's influence extended beyond literature; his stories inspired compositions by the likes of Offenbach and Delibes and have resonated with later writers such as Poe and Dostoevsky. Despite his death at the age of 46 on June 25, 1822, Hoffmann's legacy endures in his vividly imaginative works, which remain a cornerstone of dark romanticism in literature.