The Little Demon

The Little Demon by Fyodor Sologub is a dark psychological novel about the inner life of Peredonov, a petty school inspector whose descent into paranoia and madness reflects the spiritual decay of Tsarist Russia. Blending symbolism, satire, and gothic horror, Sologub constructs a nightmarish world of suspicion, delusion, and moral corruption. The novel is considered one of the first modernist works in Russian literature, exploring the grotesque and absurd aspects of human psychology with chilling precision.