Stefan Grabinski’s The Dark Domain, an anthology of stories first published in Poland between 1918 and 1922, is an uncommonly chilling collection, often with unrelenting ferocity. These stories are beautifully descriptive, exhibiting a unique energy, with frequent anthropomorphic undertones imbuing life everywhere — into snowstorms, trains, houses, fires, city streets, and more... an underlying theme of powerful and mysterious life forces at work throughout the material world, with trains are a particular favorite of Grabinski in this regard. And the theme of dueling forces within an individual pops up more than once. These are some of the most intense, eerily dark, and otherworldly stories you’re likely to encounter in the realm of weird fiction.

Fumes - Ozarski, a traveler lost and stranded in a snowstorm finds unusual hospitality in a secluded cabin.
The Motion Demon - Szygon routinely finds himself on strange train excursions, not knowing where he came from, where he’s going, or why all this is happening.
The Area - A dormant writer, whom the public assumes has simply run out of ideas, has instead been working on an enhanced form of expression. A relentlessly intense classic!
A Tale of the Gravedigger - Chilling story of the mysterious disappearance of gravedigger Giovanni Tossati and the strange disturbances at the cemetery.
Szamota’s Mistress - Pages from a discovered diary tell the bizarre tale of Szamota’s lusty relationship with Jadwiga, who has recently returned from an overseas trip.
The Wandering Train - A rogue train, not on any register or schedule, appears mysteriously on the nation’s railways.
Strabismus - This is one of Grabinski’s renowned stories, but I found it only minimally intriguing and highly predictable.
Vengeance of the Elementals - Czarnocki, the fire chief of Rakszawa, has a dark obsession with fire, studying fire statistics and plotting fire locations on maps. His studies conclude that fire is actually “a spiteful, destructive essence that had to be reckoned with.” One of Grabinski’s hallmarks: elemental forces are always at work...
In the Compartment - Godziemba, a train fanatic with a usually quiet and phlegmatic disposition, finds that whilst riding on the railway he is imbued with energy and power, transforming him into a dynamic, strong-willed person. This is a riveting tale charged with surprisingly bold eroticism.
Saturnin Sektor - Opposing forces wrestle over the nature and very existence of time itself. One of the weaker stories in the anthology.
The Glance - A powerful story of grief, an ominous premonition, and overwhelming fear. ( )

Chilling collection of eleven supernatural stories with psycho-philosophical underpinnings. It's hard to believe they were written nearly 100 years ago! Usually these collections are uneven in quality, but I liked every one in this group. Some of my favorites:

"The Area": a writer who wants to write fantasy which will become reality. A gothic, wherein figures a mysterious villa and its peculiarities.
"Tale of the gravedigger": a straightforward spooky story
"Wandering Train": a train which appears intermittently, at different places.
"Strabismus": a horrible repulsive man after death invades the body of the protagonist.
"Vengeance of the elementals": A fire chief, obsessed with fire, turns arsonist.
"Saturnin Sektor": old watchmaker and nature of Time

Translation from the Polish very smooth, conveying eerie atmosphere. Descriptions were especially well done. The author has often been compared to Poe or Lovecraft, but he writes in his own distinct voice.

Highly recommended. ( )

Now and then I find a book that defines my reading raison d'être, and this is one of them. It is beyond a doubt one of the best books I've read in 2016, and I feel fortunate indeed in having discovered Stefan Grabinski, who seems to be another long-forgotten, neglected author whose work really merits an emergence from obscurity.

There are eleven stories in this book, along with an introduction by the editor & translator Miroslaw Lipinski as well as an afterword by Madeleine Johnson. In a word, it is excellent; there is not one bad story in this entire book. In Grabinski, I've found another writer whose work is just plain genius.

Perhaps the best way to describe what's in this book is by quoting Brian Stableford, who in his News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews notes that Grabinski's

"... characters are prone to haunting themselves, unwittingly dislodging fragments of themselves that become independently incarnate." (79-80)

While that's not exactly the case in every story here, it's still an observation that absolutely hits the nail on the head.

While I latched on to Grabinski purely by accident, from now on any new translations of his work are going to find a permanent home on my shelves. He's that good. Anyone who is serious about dark fiction, literary horror and keen insight into human nature and the darkness of the human mind should not miss this book. Again, I wonder how many other books by authors like this are out there, just waiting for me to find them.

more at my reading journal if anyone's at all interested. ( )

I was introduced to Stefan Grabinski's work only a few months ago. The Dark Domain is the first anthology of this Polish horror writer's stories I've read. It will not be the last.
Grabinski is referred to as the Polish Poe. His writing is evocative of the same period as Poe’s; he writes horror stories. I think that's where the similarity ends. Grabinsky has his own view on the world, and his own horrors to bring to life in the pages of his stories.
In the Dark Domain we find madness, haunting, schizophrenia, witches, demons and evil from within and beyond. I really enjoyed these stories and recommend them to anyone interested in a period scare. ( )

http://scooterchronicles.com/2006/04/10/the-dark-domain-by-stefan-grabinski/ ( )