Maurice Level (1875-1926), was a French writer of fiction and drama who specialized in short stories of the macabre which were sometimes staged by le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol, the repertory company in the Pigalle district devoted to melodramatic productions. Level’s short stories are strong on obsession and violence. Their surprise endings are reminiscent of the stories of Guy de Maupassant, and their gratuitous acts and mindless brutality, may be seen as precursors of thriller fiction and slasher films.