The Motion Demon

Book excerpt: Macabre trains and maverick railwaymen inhabit the world of THE MOTION DEMON, a translation of the highly-original short story collection from the pen of Stefan Grabinski, first published in 1919. Sometimes called the "Polish Poe" or the "Polish Lovecraft," Grabinski is a unique voice in fantastique literature who crafted his own style and addressed themes that no other horror/fantasy writer at the time was exploring. Grabinski's work was largely ignored in his native country during his life, but in recent times there has been growing international interest in this writer, with notable voices, such as author China Mieville, proclaiming him a master of horror/fantasy. Translator Miroslaw Lipinski introduced the writings of Stefan Grabinski to English-speaking readership, first with translations in the small press, and then with the short story collections THE DARK DOMAIN (1993), THE MOTION DEMON (2005) and ON THE HILL OF ROSES (2012). Of Polish ancestry and British-birth, Lipinski resides in New York. He is currently working on a mammoth volume of Grabinski stories for Centipede Press' "Masters of the Weird Tale" series.