Tales of the Fantastic by Nikolai Gogol: Strange Russian stories of demons, witches, and vampires, cossaks and crazy clerks. Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (1809–1852) is by far the most enigmatic, unexpected, contradictory, and mystical writer representing classic Russian literature.

His stories are unforgettably colored with Ukrainian romance and include uncanny dissections of the realities of St. Petersburg under Tsarist Russia. The ethnographic realities are described with almost scientific precision while incorporating those inexplicable, fantasy, elements that define his works as Magical Realism.

Some stories feature witches, sorcerers, ghouls, mermaids, and even demons alongside quite pragmatic and cheerful Ukrainian citizenry (Viy, The Night Before Christmas, May Night, or the Drowned Maiden, The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich, Taras Bulba). Others feature dull tsarist officials and crazy clerks with exaggerated and humorously complex personalities (The Overcoat, The Nose, Diary of a Madman, The Carriage).

You will be hard-pressed to find such a brilliant combination of fantastical stories, plots, and characters in another author. The true Russian soul is wide and incomprehensible.