Franz Kafka (1883–1924) is a classic author whose works are in the public domain.

Kafka's nightmare vision of a man waking up as a giant insect is a perfect metaphor for alienation, but its genius lies in the absolute naturalism with which family and society respond to monstrosity. The horror isn't gothic but bureaucratic—the slow realization that no one will question your dehumanization.

Josef K. wakes to find himself accused of a crime he doesn't understand, arrested by a system that offers no logic or escape, making his descent into bureaucratic nightmare feel disturbingly relevant to modern institutional absurdity.