Leonid Andreev is one of the most prominent writers of the Silver Age. In his youth, he suffered from poverty and even starvation. And everything that happens to writers is reflected in their work, one way or another. Andreev is like Lovecraft. Only without Cthulhu. Horrible characters are successfully replaced by... Who would you think? Yes, by people themselves, who can be more terrifying than any monsters.

This collection includes works in which a person finds themselves hostage to a situation, to fate. The vice tightens, forcing the heroes to suffer from hatred, anger, and helplessness. Life and death hang in the balance, reason weakens, and terrible, unsightly things arise from the depths of consciousness. Darkness thickens - and will either engulf a person or give them access to a new level of awareness. But will the human mind cope with this 'renewal'? This book is recommended for anyone interested in personality psychology and empathizing with the characters.

The book includes the stories 'Silence,' 'No Forgiveness,' 'Darkness,' 'Thought,' 'Ghosts,' 'Rules of Goodness,' and 'Suitcases,' as well as the novellas 'The Life of Vasily Fiveisky' and 'The Tale of the Seven Who Were Hanged.'