This is the author's third collection of short fiction, sixteen stories, including several of his best supernatural tales. "Walpole's two strongest stories in the genre are "Tarnhelm; or, The Death of My Uncle Robert," a strangely moving and poignant werewolf tale told from the point of view of a sensitive little boy; and "The Silver Mask," the story of a middle-aged woman's fatal obsession with a sinister and beautiful young man. "The Silver Mask" is in fact, a masterpiece, a classic example of how a tale can be truly terrifying, with no ghost and only the wispiest hint of the supernatural.