A masquerade ball cut short by a mysterious plague; a strange nocturnal ritual in the woods; a black bobcat howling in the night: these ten tales are some of the most strange and unsettling in all of American literature, filled with unforgettable imagery and simmering with tension. From Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson, Nathaniel Hawthorne to Zora Neale Hurston, the authors of these classics of supernatural suspense have inspired generations of writers to explore the dark heart of the land of the free.
The stories in this collection have been selected and introduced by Laird Hunt, an author of seven acclaimed novels which explore the shadowy corners of American history.
This was a brilliantly chilling little collection, some of which I was familiar with some new to me, all wrapped up in a gorgeous little book worth having on any collectors shelf.
From Poe to Twain there is something here for any lover of literature, shame faced I realised this was my first foray into the words of Shirley Jackson – my favourite was the compelling little narrative that made up Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” – but every story here had it’s merits and a way of haunting your thinking.
Laird Hunt has put together a pitch perfect, eclectic and absorbing set of darkly delicious tales, making me seek out his own novels- I would highly recommend this ghostly ethereal selection, perfect for those winter nights huddled under duvets, where to paraphrase Edith Wharton you have been put in the mood for ghosts…
A great book.
You can purchase Tales of the Dark (Pushkin) Here.
Happy Reading!
