This short story is part of Hoffmann's Tales of Hoffmann work. I think Hoffmann is an excellent teller of scary stories, certainly better than Lovecraft. Obviously I am reading him in translation rather than the original German so I can't comment on his finer point of language, but the translation I am reading is beautifully written. Best of all it's a genuinely creepy horror story, the Sandman comes and steals eyes from hapless children, is he real or a fantasy?
The best part about the story is its cutting insights into society. The beautiful but dead automaton Olympia does well in female social circles, only the young university students recognise her as a thing rather than a person. Ouch.
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