There is one thing these stories from different genres have in common: What seems normal in our lives suddenly and viciously turns out to be strange and frightening. The tales told here delight in breaking our brittle sense of logic and rationality. Our everyday sanity to which we desperately cling is under attack. But we need this basic common sense to establish our conviction that things are always more or less what they seem.Some stories: The knight of our dreams – not the night of our ...

The year is 1865. It has turned autumn in the Alps.Deep in the gigantic cave system of the Totes Gebirge (=the Dead Mountains), an unscrupulous inventor secretly develops a terrible weapon. A powerful wizard supports him in this. The machine is to convert magical energy into military destructive power and thus to surpass everything in defence technology that has so far existed. The mythical Fey are hunted down to serve as live arcane fuel. Their life force and ener...

The year: 1887.The place: Cambridge, England.Elinor, an emancipated young woman for her time, wishes to study at Girton College, the first 'ladies' college' at Cambridge University. However, a gruesome encounter with a gigantic snake monster – invisible to other people – gives her access to a completely different institute: Royston College, a mages' lodge disguised as part of the university, with many rules and even more secrets.Elino...

1865: Three intrepid ladies team up with uncanny ancient mountain spirits. Their loved ones are lost inside a mountain in a gigantic cave system in the Alps. To free them they seek supernatural help which is as strange as it is frightening.In the caves, a ruthless inventor is secretly developing a terrible weapon. The mythical Fey are to be processed as ammunition.Charlotte rescued one of the Fey from captivity and is led through the dark tunnels by an eeri...

1867 in the Kingdom of Bavaria (under King Ludwig II: The dark Bavarian Forest holds an old mystery, a curse that brought disaster long ago. Fleeing from the Brotherhood of Light, a secret order that hunts down everything that they consider suspicious, – be it wizards, witches or the Fey – Konstanze, the governess, and Clarissa, her pupil, are drawn into a series of uncanny and murderous events.In her attempt to free her abducted pupil, Konstanze penetrates deeper and deeper into th...

Munich, 1867: After the remarriage of her father, Miss Catrin Lybratte finds herself oppressed by an icy stepmother and an eerie governess. A seemingly nice young man appears to be willing to help with her plight. But perhaps her stepmother and governess see a danger she cannot perceive? Who are they?And who are those women who meet clandestinely and fear the inquisitors of the Brotherhood of Light? Why is a rapacious giant spider searching for prey in the streets a...