by S.T. Joshi
First published 2007
This anthology brings together twenty-four supernatural tales that trace the evolution of American horror fiction from Washington Irving's 1824 "The Adventure of the German Student" to Caitlín R. Kiernan's 2000 "In the Water Works." The collection showcases the nation's finest practitioners of the macabre, from Edgar Allan Poe's crumbling House of Usher to H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horrors in "The Call of Cthulhu." Shirley Jackson delivers psychological terror in "A Visit," while Ray Bradbury explores loneliness and longing in "The Fog Horn." Stephen King contributes "Night Surf," and Joyce Carol Oates adds her distinctive voice with "Demon." The stories move through spectral encounters, demonic bargains, and phantasmagoric visions that reveal the dark undercurrents of the American imagination. Each tale demonstrates how supernatural fiction has grown in popularity and sophistication since Poe's era, creating a tradition that continues to flourish in contemporary literature.
Genres: anthologies, american-fiction, 20th-century, american, horror, supernatural, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: dark, psychological, supernatural
Period: 1824, 2000
478 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics