The themes that thread through these nine accomplished stories are drawn from the great tradition of the twentieth-century weird tale, and they are suffused with a distinctly cosmopolitan, European feel. Mark Samuels writes about the fundamental fears of modern life, especially the effects of isolation and the dislocation that city dwellers can experience in their inhospitable, man-made environment. Vrolyck: I had been living in a cramped apartment out in the suburbs to the south of the city. The apartment overlooked a dingy street, invariably strewn with rubbish due to its preponderance of fast food outlets. Amongst these shabby establishments was a café which remained open for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.