Colonial Horrors

September 15, 2017

The literature of the uncanny and weird, despite periodic critical disregard, is deeply rooted in American history and culture. Popular novelists such as Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, and Peter Straub are on record citing the influence of the pioneers of American supernatural fiction. Editor Davis, who was the line editor for Colonial Gothic, Rogue Games's conspiracy-horror game set in early America, has gathered 17 selections, published between 1684 and 1927 and featuring authors (from both the colonial era and later) of widely disparate visions--among them Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Henry James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, and even Cotton Mather, supporter of the 1692 Salem witch trials. Unsurprisingly, much short fiction and novels of the colonial period bear indelible traces of Puritanism. What distinguishes this anthology from others is the historical contextualization given to each tale. European settlers, confronted by vast forests and indigeneous peoples, viewed anything remotely unknown or "spiritual" as pagan--hence evil. This mind-set and its demonization of wild nature resulted in horrors, both historical and literary. VERDICT For lovers of American literature and horror fiction fans, this important anthology reveals how the religious beliefs, historical events, and folktales of the colonial period influenced the writerly imaginations that led to the evolution of the modern horror genre.--William Grabowski, McMechen, WV

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2017
Full of witch trials, unfamiliar woods, and threatening natives, the American colonial period seems the perfect point for the creation of American horror. Davis pulls together a well-curated collection of creepy, spooky, and downright weird pieces by a core group of American authors. The standards are there: Edgar Allan Poe (his lesser-known A Tale of the Ragged Mountains ), Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, H.P. Lovecraft, and Henry James. Davis also includes children's author and illustrator Howard Pyle's The Salem Wolf, which places a werewolf attack at the height of the witch panic, and a chapter from John Neal's Rachel Dyer, which imagines just how that witch panic came to be. Maybe the most interesting pieces are newspaper articles detailing events that would become local folklore, including the New Jersey Devil ( In the Pines ) and the source of the Blair Witch phenomenon ( An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch ). As the nights grow cooler and the shadows longer, stoke the fire and curl up with this excellent example of true American horror.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)