The article is devoted to the consideration of the prose of Hajimurat Akkaev, the study of one of the problems of the poetics of his work, explicated in the aesthetic categories of the comic and tragic. The works are built on the synthesis of heterogeneous genre elements, primarily dating back to folklore forms. The problematic of the work consists in the need to introduce the Akkaev’s works into scientific circulation, as well as in the consideration of the categories of the tragic and comic in the prose of the Balkar writer. The goal is to analyze the collection of stories "Red Rock", to identify stable genre-forming features (size, structure, artistic techniques, language and theme of the works). As a result, the stylistic and compositional features of the texts and their motive structure are determined: small volume, conciseness of the narrative, concentration of attention on one event, a limited number of characters, artistic techniques - pointe, absurd dialogue, use of colloquialisms, vulgarisms. The influence of drama is seen in the overall tragic tension of the stories "Kyzyl Kaya" ("Red Rock"), "Kanly Tang" ("Bloody Morning"), "Dert" ("Revenge"). The tragedy is built on an insoluble conflict that leads to the death of the hero, and sometimes other characters. The "laughter element" in the stories is realized through the creation of a whole complex of comic images and situations. The dominant forms of the comic are humor, irony – determining the intonation, the general emotional mood in the text space.