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llamadolly's review
American Gothic Tales (William Abrahams) by Joyce Carol Oates (1996)
lauren708's review
4.0
Really enjoyable new-to-me stories, especially towards the end. (The collection is in chronological order.) A lot of the earlier stories I had read and college.
perfectly_reasonable's review
3.0
As with all anthologies I have read, some stories were very good, some just mediocre, and there were a few that were quite bad. My biggest complaint is that in quite a few stories the focus was placed more on form and distinct writing style than content. They were just too incomprehensible throughout or too open-ended and I was mostly confused or bored. Some stories were lacking the thing that I like about gothic stories the most,i.e., the disquietude and weirdness they evoke. To be fair, some stories in this anthology really captured that mood, even if I didn't understand what actually happened. Also, this anthology sometimes read like a compilation of stories about somewhat weird things happening to sometimes weird people. Sometimes it worked, but in some cases I struggled to find anything 'gothic' in them. In fact, there were a few stories that were clearly sci-fi, e.g., Bradbury's "The Veldt" (though this one I liked).
My favorites were: "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams" by Sylvia Plath, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Afterward" by Edith Wharton, "The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Lovely House" by Shirley Jackson, "Freniere" by Anne Rice and "Replacements" by Lisa Tuttle.
My favorites were: "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams" by Sylvia Plath, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Afterward" by Edith Wharton, "The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Lovely House" by Shirley Jackson, "Freniere" by Anne Rice and "Replacements" by Lisa Tuttle.
maccychee's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
dahabow's review
4.0
Disclaimer: I've only read 1 short story from this collection, however I can't find a GR page for it so this will have to do.
The Anatomy Of Desire was a strange read. Its cyclical in its execution and while its a short story, I was drawn in the characters and the strange setting of war and hospital, coupled with the protagonists need to be possessed. I can't say more for fear of spoilers but while it was a bizarre read, it made an impression. I'm now going to add the rest of the collection to my tbr list because if its even midly as good as this short story, then it's worth it.
The Anatomy Of Desire was a strange read. Its cyclical in its execution and while its a short story, I was drawn in the characters and the strange setting of war and hospital, coupled with the protagonists need to be possessed. I can't say more for fear of spoilers but while it was a bizarre read, it made an impression. I'm now going to add the rest of the collection to my tbr list because if its even midly as good as this short story, then it's worth it.
kwmcm25's review
5.0
read this in high school and i loved it so much i still have it. i should bring it back out for halloween!
charlottesometimes's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
hollyfromthebigsky's review
3.0
so I'm not sure how to shelve this. I read about half of this collection, and quite enjoyed it. I plan to pick it up and finish it next Halloween. So is that read, or unread?