Alvaro do Carvalhal

Born in Padrela, in northern Portugal, in 1844, Álvaro do Carvalhal studied in Braga before going on to study law at the University of Coimbra. His life was very short: he died in Coimbra in 1868, at the age of 24, while still a student.

Even with such a brief career, he became known for unusual stories filled with the fantastic, the macabre, and sharp irony. His best-known work is the posthumously published Contos, often noted as a rare and important example of fantastic literature in 19th-century Portugal.

He had begun writing young, and sources also note his early drama O Castigo da Vingança from 1862. Modern readers often remember him for the strange intensity of stories like Os Canibais, and for the way his fiction brought horror and dark humor into Portuguese literature with memorable flair.