English prose writer of Irish origin Bram Stoker (1847–1912) gained worldwide fame as the Author of the novel “Dracula” (1897), in which, combining folklore and literary stories about vampires with the figure of the bloody Wallachian ruler of the 15th century, he created a new, in every sense of the word, immortal hero. However, on the pages of this volume the reader will meet not only a neo-mythological writer, whose vampire count has entered the pantheon of eternal images of world literature and culture, but also a completely different Stoker: a mystic who talks about the secret magical rituals of Ancient Egypt and the secrets of embalming, about tomb robberies and the journeys of the soul after death; ironic Author of funny and mischievous sketches on theatrical themes; an experimental fiction writer who is no stranger to a variety of genre traditions and stylistic tones – from melodrama to tragicomedy, from outright grotesque to open horror, from “black humor” to parable.