An Arabian Night-Mare: And Others (1848-1854)

"O'Brien's early death undoubtedly deprived us of some masterful tales of strangeness and terror." - H. P. Lovecraft

An Arabian Night-mare and Others (1848-1854) gathers O'Brien's earliest speculative fiction. The collection opens with the eerie poem "Forest Thoughts", a meditation on dark Gothic themes, and concludes with the story "A Peep Behind the Scenes", which explores the metaphorical theater of life. Between these bookends, readers will find poems, fragments, and stories that delve into liminal spaces, nightmares, wild fantasies, and the unsettling theme of mental deterioration. This collection showcases O'Brien's early fascination with the blurred boundaries between reality and imagination.

This is volume one of a three-volume set of Fitz-James O'Brien's fiction and poetry, the most comprehensive collection of his horror and supernatural writings to date. When taken together, the full set offers valuable introductions for readers of fantastical literature, featuring works never previously collected and some appearing for the first time outside their original publications.