Histoires et contes fantastiques, here translated by Brian ­Stableford as A Malediction, was the first volume of prose of Erckmann-Chatrian, the pseudonym of mile Erckmann (1822-1899) and Alexandre Chatrian (1826-1890), who wrote in ­collaboration.

Ranging from the Romantic melodrama of the title novelette, which has never before appeared in English, to the horrific fantastic of "Red Wine and White Wine," the current collection features imaginative seeds that germinated in much of ­Erckmann-Chatrian's later work, and a certain awkwardness due to inexperience is more than compensated by raw enthusiasm and an unashamed boldness.