âThe Entailâ (1885) is a âweird taleâ written by the German Romantic author E. T. A. Hoffmann, most famous for his novella âThe Nutcracker and the Mouse Kingâ (1816) which inspired Tchaikovskyâs opera âThe Nutcrackerâ.
This classic short horror story tells of a castle haunted by the ghost of a murderer. It is perfect for fans of horror and fantasy fiction and the authors H. P. Lovecraft and Neil Gaiman.
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known as E. T. A. Hoffmann, was a German Romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror. He was also a composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist.
Hoffmann's stories inspired several famous operatic composers, including Richard Wagner, Jacques Offenbach and LĂŠo Delibes. He is also the author of the novella âThe Nutcracker and the Mouse Kingâ, on which Tchaikovskyâs famous ballet, âThe Nutcrackerâ is based. The story also inspired the film âThe Nutcracker and the Four Realmsâ (2018), starring Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren.