American Gothic Tales

Rating:
Summary: High literary quality and diversity of content
Review: No doubt because one of America's finest writers of literary fiction edited it, American Gothic Tales contains stories that not only frighten and disturb in their content, but delight in their style as well. Although some of the writers represented here are associated with the gothic/horror genre (Poe, Bierce, Anne Rice, Stephen King, to name a few), many others are celebrated mainstream writers. Of the oldies but goodies, I enjoyed re-reading (after an interim of thirty years or so) Poe's "The Black Cat," a story much more subtle than my younger self appreciated. Several of the stories suggest meanings that go far beyond mere horror. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lovely House," for example, deal with the confining roles of women. In the first story, a woman who would write and enjoy stimulating company is relegated by her husband to a "nursery" where her every desire is belittled and dismissed. In the second--ostensibly a ghost story--the upkeep required of a fabulous but vampiric house keeps its family prisoners of never-ending housework. Lisa Tuttle's "Replacements" uses an ugly, hairless, helpless, mewling alien creature, rescued and doted on by women, as a droll analogy to a newborn replacing a husband in the life of his wife. Breece D'J Pancake's "Time and Again," told in the voice of a serial killer, provides horror aplenty, but--often missing in this genre--character, motivation, and a pervading sense of tragedy and loss. Bruce McAllister's "The Girl Who Loved Animals" presents a near-future,environmentally-devastated dystopia where a mentally retarded young woman consents to carry in her uterus a gorilla child. In this not-so-alien world of drug addiction and elective surgery run amok, the bonds between mother and child remain intact and poignant. In spite of its searing vision of the future, "The Girl Who Loved Animals" must be an anomaly in the gothic/horror genre--a story with a happy ending.

Rating:
Summary: Intense momentum building literature
Review: Only knowing a few of the writers (Anne Rice, Poe, Stephen King), I was delightfully shocked at how these writers went about writing these gothic/horror tales. I've always been use to the bloody gore movies where Jason or Freddy appear out of nowhere to mangle their next victim, but the stories in American Gothic Tales used few gruesome details, though they still brought the heart wrenching feeling in my chest. In Poe's "The Black Cat," having only two violent acts summed up by two sentences through out the story I was surprised to find those acts indebted in my mind. I alsoenjoyed Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" seeing a woman transform into a psychotic figment of her own imagination. All of the writers in this book have out of the ordinary imaginations that have not failed to surprise me. Edith Whartun provides a ghostly tale of a man coming into the story as a spirit to try and take revenge over some wrongdoing. American Gothic Tales appeals to a wide range of readers, from "The Veldt" and "The Girl Who Loved Animals" being fairly mild stories to "The Black Cat" and "The Reach" being slightly horrific.

Rating:
Summary: This collection of gothic literature is awesome.
Review: The book, American Gothic Tales, by Joyce Carol Oates, compiles classics from Charles Brocken Brown (1798) and continues with works that cover up to 1994 by Nicholson Baker. The purpose of this collection of American Litery Tales of horror and suspense is to provide an historic overview of "gothicism" in our literature. Oates has brought together more than forty of the best examples of Gothic literature. His book contains not only the obvious from Edgar Allen Poe, but classics such as Washington Irving's, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This book was a great book on information for a Popular Culture English course. The stories were not only interesting, but the oddness of the stories kept your interest and drew you into reading it until the end. I would recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Insane Stories
Review: This is an odd collection of stories. Most of the stories are of insane people. If it was otherwise, I guess that they would not be 'gothic'. I was rather impressed with the Steven King story,and "The Glass Cat". Some were a bit beyond me. E. B. White's "The Door" was a weird story that while making some sense, in the end was confusing.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining and suspensful genre of literature
Review: With authors such as Poe, King, Bradbury and many other well known authors we can be nothing less than pleased with this genre. Joyce Carol Oates chose many wonderful short stories to combine together to make up American Gothic Tales. In rereading Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt" I found there to be more insight to the story than I remember before; such as the childrens names and the computer taking the role of humans. In "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Lovely House" we see the effects of the confining roles put on women. We see how it changed their lives and who they were. In John Cheever's "The Enormous Radio" a woman learns about her neighbors through her radio. Later she finds that she is just like them and is left with a not so happily ever after. With stories set in the past and up to the future the book has a varity of stories. In Bruce McAllister's "The Gril Who Loved Animals" we are introduced to a picture of the future. We see a young woman who is carrying a gorilla baby, and that the new fad is to be of both genders. To complete the gothic tales genre you must have your usual serial killer and blood and guts. In Breece D'J Pancake's "Time and Again" we hear a story told by the serial killer himself. Although the man has no motivation to kill, except to keep his pigs fed, he has killed many people who were passing through the town. Now in his older age he has lost the will and energy to kill anyone else. He comes back home to his pigs and wonders what to do with his life now; continue on or offer himself to the pigs. With some happy endings, others sad and some leaving you to wonder you get a wide range of gothic tales that leaves you satisfied with investing in a wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece after masterpiece
Review: Without ever sitting down to read horror prior to American Gothic Tales, I was not sure what to expect. What a treat for this literary treasure to be an experience. Almost without an exception, each author from this ensemble has a new fan. So disturbing is that, in many of these stories, the horrific events are not exactly off-the-wall. John Cheever's "The Enormous Radio" plays on how easy it is to look down on other people's lives, in an attempt to feel more content with your own. Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat" and Breece D'J Pancake's "Time and Again," are both told through the eyes of madmen. In the first story, an alcoholic narrator with a rapidly changing temperament continues to travel down the road of insanity. In the second, the thoughts of a serial killer alone should provide an uneasy feeling. Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt" portrays just how far children will go to revolt against parental decisions. Edith Wharton's "Afterward" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lovely House," are two thought intriguing ghost stories. In Wharton's brilliant pages, you will not know what you have seen until "afterward." Similarly, that same issue is conjured up in "The Lovely House." Also, however, there is an underlying theme of pride in material objects, and how that alters the mind when taken to excess. Lisa Tuttle's "Replacements" shows a women's instinct to nurture replace all other aspects of her life; even if the replacement is a mewling alien creature resembling an ugly, hairless, wingless bat. Horror and more horror, along with sheer brilliance, is all American Gothic Tails contains.