“The demons of the past are stirring in the unworldly old aristocrats of Prague Castle, and the old men are shocked by their own misspent, depraved youth. But the ancestors arise in the degenerate grandsons, giving them immense powers and whipping up the deeds of long-decayed violent figures among the Prague proletariat once more. ... In this novel, the unreal life of an unknown world entirely dominates over the events of the allegedly real world. The occult is triumphant, and reality is ultimately destroyed and blotted out.”