Deep within us is the dread of dying of moving on from life to another state of being. We assume it comes about through accident, perhaps even murder or disease that can be sudden or can take years to pull us into oblivion. But perhaps trumping all of these is the fear of being buried alive. The sheer terror of being totally trapped, unable to summon help and escape, fills one and all with a deeply unique terror.

In this volume such icons as Edgar Allan Poe, Ambrose Bierce and Honoré de Balzac take us on a journey that will do our helpless fear of this no good at all.