The Essential World of Darkness is an omnibus collection of five Classic World of Darkness novels, one for each of the five core World of Darkness game lines (Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion and Changeling: The Dreaming). The Vampire novel in this volume, Vampire Diary: The Embrace, is actually a reprint of a novel that was previously published as a standalone book in a nontraditional format.