American Midnight is a gothic horror anthology featuring classic American short stories. This was a really great collection mixing well known authors with some that might not be as ‘popular,’ as well as a good mix of familiar stories with lesser known. As with most anthologies, it’s going to be a mixed bag of what you’ll like and what you won’t. That said, I, obviously and of course, loved The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe considering I’ve read his works countless times. The rest of the short stories were all new to me and there were a few I really enjoyed.
Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic religious horror that warns against the dangers of, gasp, thinking for yourself! The Mask by Robert Chambers was also super interesting. It had friendship angst, weird science, and love. Home by Shirley Jackson was a fun, but cookie cutter ghost story. A Ghost Story by Mark Twain was surprisingly cute but ultimately forgettable. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman was great! The horrors of postpartum and what women were subjected to when they showed the slightest bit of emotion that was uncomfortable for men. An Itinerant House by Emma Frances Dawson was okay but too long-winded for me to feel really compelled. The two that I didn’t care for where The Eyes by Edith Wharton which truly just bored me, and Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston which was difficult to read due to dialogue being written in accent.
I think for anyone wanting to stretch their wings into classic American literature but are unsure where to start, American Midnight curated by Laird Hunt is a great way to get a quick taste of authors.
