Nigel Kneale (1922-2006) was a legendary figure in British popular culture, well known as the creator of Professor Bernard Quatermass, who appeared in several Hammer Horror and BBC productions, and for his film scripts (The Abominable Snowman, The Witches, Five Million Years to Earth) and his television work (Beasts). He has been described as "one of the most important writers of the 20th century" and "having invented popular TV".

In 1949, Kneale published his only volume of short fiction, Tomato Cain and Other Stories, which won the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award and was published in the United States in 1950 with three stories that did not appear in the British edition: the oft-anthologized haunted house story "The Patter of Tiny Feet" and two others, "Mrs. Mancini" and "Essence of Strawberry". This Kindle edition collects these three stories, two of them reprinted for the first time ever here. Together, these three stories provide an introduction to the work of a key figure in 20th century British weird and horror fiction.