“The spider is the unknown fear of the world, which has turned into a wriggling nightmare moving with poisonous jaws...” Spiders have long inspired horror and disgust in people, and in modern times they have become honored guests on movie screens and the pages of science fiction and horror literature. The unique anthology "Arachne" contains works about spiders covering a period of 170 years; many of them have been translated into Russian for the first time. The publication is provided with detailed comments.