Teeming with dark humour, supernatural elements, and hard-to-believe situations, Nikolai Gogol's "Collected Stories" is a highest form of short story fiction. With stories like "The Mantle", "The Nose", and "The Viy", the author's attention focuses upon the satirical and nonsensical. Obsessions and schizophrenia run free in the stories, answering the social pressures and crisis of identity. Another important element is the praise of Russian folk tales and the supernatural, making the collection the perfect read while sitting in a dim-lighted room at midnight.