The book of essay-short stories by Vladislav Otroshenko “The Secret History of Creations” explores the mysterious and mystical circumstances that accompanied the birth of great works of world philosophy and literature, as well as strange phenomena in the life and work of their creators - poets, writers, philosophers of different eras. The characters of the book - Ovid, Catullus, Tyutchev, Pushkin, Khodasevich, Gogol, Platonov, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and others - appear before the reader at such moments of their existence that defy rational explanation. The genre of the book is a kind of essayistic prose. That is why the author calls his works essay-novels - each of them contains a sharp plot that develops according to the laws of artistic storytelling, while remaining within the framework of factual accuracy. The publisher and the author thank the artist Leonid Tishkov, who kindly provided the opportunity to use his painting “Secret Signs” in the cover design.