The Assassins and Other Stories

These 19 vivid stories from Schwob (1867–1905) vary widely in tone and genre but are united by artful atmospheric detail and brief but poignant characterizations. Though the opener, “Poupa,” which consists of fragments of a never finished novel, gets the collection off to a rocky start, it quickly course corrects. “The Gold Hatpin,” a tale of a killer that mixes horror and eroticism, is the most effectively disconcerting of the stories. “The Execution,” based on the 1891 execution of court bailiff Michel Eyraud, is an artful, symbolist examination of the barbarity of capital punishment. In the powerful “Possessed by the Devil” a man repeatedly encounters a woman who he believes to be possessed by a demon. “The Maison Close” conjures an eerie encounter in an abandoned house. Though the tonal shifts of this disorganized collection—from horror to decadence to eroticism and more—can be jarring, each individual tale is clever and well-constructed. This haunting collection will appeal to readers familiar with Schwob and makes for a good introduction to his eclectic works. (July)