E. T. A. Hoffman – författare

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816) is a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann. A leading writer of the German Romantic period, Hoffmann inspired generations of artists with his thrilling blend of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tale. In 1892, Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky turned Alexandre Dumas’ adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King into The Nutcracker, which remains one of the most popular ballets of all time.

On Christmas Eve, Fritz and Marie anxiously await the presentation of gifts. Initially awed by the clockwork castle made by their godfather Drosselmeyer, a famous inventor, they soon turn their attentions to a nutcracker. When Fritz accidentally breaks their new toy, Marie carefully bandages its jaw back into place. That night, while the whole house sleeps, Marie is awoken by the chiming of the grandfather clock. Terrified, she watches as a battle is waged between a horde of mice—led by a seven-headed king—and the toys, suddenly brought to life, led by the noble nutcracker. The next morning, she attempts to inform her parents of what she has seen, but they refuse to believe her. All remains quiet for the next several days, but when Drosselmeyer returns with the mended nutcracker, he tells her a story of the vengeful Mouse Queen.

This edition of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is a classic of German literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

Here, in the heart of Europe, the vaunted myriad talents of authors are everywhere. The land borders may change and people have new rulers thrust upon them but in terms of literature the tumult turns both energy and ideas into literary fuel.

Many of us are cautious around dogs. However friendly they seem their energy and open panting jaws seem to summon some primitive instinct within us to be aware.

Once we advance to wolves those fears become rather more persuasive. Their wild and seemingly vicious, determined natures can induce panic in even the most foolhardy of us. Nature admires winners.

From there it is but a short step to the supernatural evil of Werewolves. Now fear is definitely the thing we feel pulsing through our veins summoning a flight response. But no matter what our hopes are werewolves, whether real or in the imaginations of this cast of chilling unrepentant authors, stroke knowing chords of terror into every sentence, as the pages turn our uneasiness begins to escalate. Terror begins to track our every step.

With such literary craftsmen as Saki, Hugh Walpole, Ambrose Bierce, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle and others, that feeling happens time and time again.

Mark of the Beast by Rudyard Kipling

A Pastoral Horror by Arthur Conan Doyle

Gabriel-Ernest by Saki

The Eyes of the Panther by Ambrose Bierce

Tarnhelm or The Death of My Uncle Robert by Hugh Walpole

The She-Wolf by Saki

Vampirismus or Aurelia by E T A Hoffman

The Thing in the Forest by Bernard Capes

A Story of a Weir-Wolf by Catherine Crowe

The Lame Priest by Susan Morrow writing as S Carleton

Aylmer Vance & The Vampire by Alice and Claude Askew

Indisputably the most famous Vampire story is Dracula. But how did we get to that point?

In this volume we present a roll-call of classic authors including Robert Louis Stevenson, M R James, E F Benson, John William Polidori, Uriah Derrick D’Arcy and many others who short story by short story establish the building blocks of this horrific yet thrilling genre. Here all manner of characters and narratives weave together to bring a unique yet intricate account of the beginnings of this most troubling of literary genres.

Where there is good there is Evil. Whether you buy into that or not it makes for excellent literature. Authors have always explored the subject with abandon, able to unleash dark fears from the page without summoning them into reality or hearing them in withering hegemonic tones from the pulpit at our local church.

Our fear of the Devil, whatever his temptations and rewards, is amplified by the thought of eternal damnation in his hell house service.

In this volume our authors are all from Europe and see the Devil in ways that we recognise and yet are culturally distinct to the European mainland.