St. Petersburg: the City of the Living Dead in Russian Literature and Folk Beliefs

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to analyse the perception of St Petersburg from the Russian frame of mind. It also examines the literary activity which reflects an overview of the imperial capital seen as the apocalyptic city inhabited by lookalikes, ghosts and zombies. The aforementioned can be explained by the very history of the metropolis, founded by Czar Peter I who was considered the personification of Evil by most of his peers.