ENG: Anthology of Ukrainian Gothic Prose, Vol. 2

The second volume of *Anthology of Ukrainian Gothic Prose* marks a transition from folk demonology to intellectual horror and psychological thrillers. While the first volume relied on external elements (red shawls and witches) to instill fear, the second plunges readers into the darkness of the human mind.
Here are the main themes explored in this volume:
1. From “scary stories” to the psychological abyssAt the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Ukrainian literature was undergoing a period of modernism. This was reflected in Gothic literature as well. The main source of horror is no longer the devil in the forest, but a person’s inner demons:
Madness: Characters often lose touch with reality, unable to distinguish where dreams end and reality begins.
Doubles: A popular theme of the time, where a character encounters their own self or senses the presence of a “stranger” within their soul.
Existential fear: A premonition of death, the inevitability of fate, and the meaninglessness of existence. 2. Gothic Literature by the Great ClassicsThis volume shatters the schoolroom stereotype that our classics wrote only about the harsh fate of peasants. Editor Yuriy Vynnychuk has compiled works in which they emerge as masters of the mystical:
Ivan Franko: His Gothic writing often carries social or philosophical undertones, where evil is not merely a myth but the destructive force of human passions.
Mykhailo Kotsyubynsky: A master of impressionistic horror. His descriptions of nature or human states are so dense and unsettling that they create the effect of being fully present in a nightmare.
Olha Kobylianska: Brings the “mountainous” flavor of Bukovina to Gothic literature. Her works are saturated with magic, love spells, and the fateful power of women over men (and vice versa).
Agatangel Krymsky: Adds elements of Orientalism (Eastern mysticism), which was very popular during the Decadent era.
3. Change of Scenery: The City and the InteriorIn the second volume, Gothic “enters” the interior. Now it is not just the wild steppe, but also:
Cramped city apartments: Where strange sounds can be heard behind the walls, and mirrors reflect what should not be there.
Hospitals and psychiatric institutions: A symbol of human helplessness in the face of science and one’s own mind.
Cemeteries and crypts: But no longer as a setting for folk tales, but as a space for melancholic reflections on decline and death. 4. The Philosophy of the “Fin de Siècle”The second volume is steeped in the spirit of decadence. It is literature of weariness, refinement, and anxiety. Authors experiment with states of semi-consciousness, hallucinations, and spiritualism. It was the intelligentsia’s reaction to the rapid changes in the world—the feeling that the old order was crumbling, and that something unknown and frightening lay ahead.