"In the popular imagination, goblins, elves and other tiny fairy creatures have always had a special place. They characterize and embody our desire for the marvelous, they offer a viaticum for freedom and fantasy that only dreams, fairy tales, myths can give unconditionally, without the need for mediation other than that offered by our storytelling skills. And if even today progress, technology and industrialization have weakened and perhaps completely clouded our contact with nature, man's innate ability and need to see beyond appearances still exists, and is always strong. . And precisely in this the magical realm of fairy beings comes to meet us, entering our minds in an almost natural way, atavistic one might say. […]

[…] With this anthology of classic stories, chosen from among the lesser known and unpublished ones, we bring the elves back to an adult dimension, restoring them the patina of mystery they have lost along the way; they are mostly disturbing stories, which draw from the oral tradition of folklore or which refer to the supernatural matrix that surrounded the figure in past times. And for this reason they are stories capable of giving a thrill even in magic. We therefore find dark goblins and bizarre, dangerous or simply spiteful goblins, including brownies, goblins and monks. They come back "to life" in 14 stories that draw on the rich heritage of the whole world, especially British, and also reveal in fiction the intricate relationship between cultural production, myths, and the beliefs of each people and country. At the center, however, there is always the follettiana of multiform creatures, funny or repellent, dark elves or light elves, whimsical or benevolent, out of time and space, but capable every time to make us penetrate with them into another dimension, where dreams and fantasy dominate unchallenged. So let's enter the enchanted kingdom of the elves, let's venture into those unknown places far from the chaos and crowds, where we can walk along paths along which the mysterious presences are felt, where an atmosphere hovers that the most sensitive can grasp and recognize as a signal or a warning of the hidden presence of these sprites, true genius loci of a world that is disappearing and that only the imagination can keep alive. "

(from the preface by Pietro Guarriello)