Great collection of gothic tales. The Masque of the Red Death by Poe, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Home by Shirley Jackson are favorites of mine and was a treat to reread. The collection introduced me to The Eyes by Edith Wharton. Highly recommend.

A creepy and enjoyable collection of the old scary classics such as Edgar Alan Poe, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain and many others. All in all this is a very solid book from some of the best writers in history.

*thank you to Netgalley, Laird Hunt and Pushkin Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


3 stars

The Masque of the Red Death', Edgar Allan Poe ⭐⭐⭐
'Young Goodman Brown', Nathaniel Hawthorne ⭐⭐⭐
'The Eyes', Edith Wharton ⭐⭐
'The Mask', Robert Chambers ⭐⭐⭐
'Home', Shirley Jackson ⭐⭐⭐
'A Ghost Story', Mark Twain ⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Spunk', Zora Neale Hurston ⭐⭐⭐
'The Yellow Wallpaper', Charlotte Perkins Gilman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
'An Itinerant House', Emma Frances Dawson ⭐⭐⭐


Ohh horror, how I love this genre. I've always been a horror fan so when I saw this I just had to read it. I can say that it wasn't as enjoyable as I'd hoped but it was still definitely a great read. The stories were well varied and went well together. I would recommend this. Plus, that cover a amazing.

This was such a fun collection of stories! It really gave me some spooky, halloween vibes! This would be a perfect book to revisit in the fall or for halloween!

A wonderful anthology of American Gothic that shows the range of the genre. There's a good mix of classics (The Masque of the Red Death; The Yellow Wallpaper), stories from well-known authors (Wharton, Zora Neale Hurston, Hawthorne) and some wild-cards. My favourites are Shirley Jackson's typical mix of scary everyday, and 'Spunk' written in lively patois by Zora Neale Hurston. Short story collections can sometimes be uneven or a bit samey - this one gets the mix spot-on.

Laird Hunt has collated a selection of dark short stories, some of which I was already familiar and for which he provides an introduction. The stories in this collection are as follows:

‘The Masque of the Red Death’, Edgar Allan Poe
‘Young Goodman Brown’, Nathaniel Hawthorne
‘The Eyes’, Edith Wharton
‘The Mask’, Robert Chambers
“Home”, Shirley Jackson
‘A Ghost Story’, Mark Twain
‘Spunk’, Zora Neale Hurston
‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
‘An Itinerant House’, Emma Frances Dawson

As you might expect with a short story collection, it proves to be the usual expected mixed bag, I loved some more than others. In Poe's tale, amidst a deadly plague, the Red Death, Prince Prospero throws a masquerade ball at which an unexpected guest turns up. Hawthorne's offering has Goodman Brown leave his wife, Faith, for a meeting that will colour his future. Wharton's contribution is set after a dinner and the ghostly storytelling of the haunting eyes. Chambers tells of the bonds of love, dreams and insanity between Boris, Genevieve and Alec, whilst Jackson relates the tale of Ethel Sloane not being put off by the fears and concerns the locals have of her travelling along a particular road. Twain's ghost story has a touch of humour, with a blanket being insistently tugged away, along with noises, stealthy footsteps, clanking and muttered sentences. Neale Hurston's speaks of a husband, Joe Kanty, his wife, Lena, blatantly going with another man in public, and Gilman writes of insanity, a marriage, and a horrid, disturbing and strange yellow wallpaper. Dawson finishes the collection with a story of a tragic house and disturbing the dead.

My favourites was the Shirley Jackson, Mark Twain and Zora Neale Hurston's stories. With autumn not too far way, this is a perfect collection that will appeal to those who enjoy the dark side of life, I think most readers will find some stories here that they will enjoy, and might even be driven to follow the authors other works! Many thanks to Pushkin Press for an ARC.

"A chilling collection of classic weird and supernatural tales from the dark heart of American literature."


I was really excited to sign up for these classic horror tales--from Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson, Nathaniel Hawthorne to Zora Neale Hurston and more. Though I appreciate the value of these stories' place in history, I must say that only a few of these really connected to me. My favorites are 'Home' by Shirley Jackson and 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (previously read from another collection). Runners up: 'Spunk' by Zora Neale Hurston and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe.

I failed to fully engage with the rest, perhaps they are too archaic, and a lot was lost in translation. Still, I would recommend this for anyone looking for short, atmospheric reads that you can binge on any day, or night.


Big thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a solid collection of American short stories and a great starting point if you're just getting into classic horror or even just classic literature in general. I enjoyed the mix of stories and found it to be a well paced and balanced collection. A great book to have on your bedside table to dip in and out of when the mood suits. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review.

I had actually already read a lot of these stories, but a fantastic selection and I love the cover. I can totally see the appeal of purchasing this as a hardback and dipping into it every now and then. Absolutely iconic authors and great stories for curling up with a cup of tea on a cosy wintry night and creeping yourself out!

I like this collection because I like classic authors from history but sometimes reading whole books from history can be daunting. The short stories are just right. I also think it's interesting to see what was considered horror in their times.

This is an absolute joy to read and with so many classic short stories found within its pages, this is a definite treasure trove. The short stories included stories from esteemed authors as Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain and a host of others, each one is a fantastic winner on what the best of horror shorts are.

The stories are basically all ghostly or hauntings though Poe’s short is slightly out of this realm. I am a big fan of Shirley Jackson and thought I have read everything she has written but I found Home in this collection which is a must for all Jackson fans and fans of ghostly visitations. Charlotte Perkin’s The Yellow Wallpaper is one of those classic novels that one hears about but seldom reads and it does live up to its reputation.

Overall, this is an excellent collection and one that I would not mind having as a hard copy on my shelf. Each and every story is pure gold and the different styles definitely complement each other. If one would like to really explore the masters who are at the top of their gain, this is a good place to start. Fantastic read all around.

The love we have for macabre stories is never ending. The enjoyment we get when reading stories like the ones in American Midnight will always be never ending. As humans we tend to like them, but deep down in our small black heart and soul we enjoy them so much more. These tales are a great work of art that we seem to have forgotten along the way. I highly recommend these fantastic stories just like I would recommend anything also written by all the authors in this great book.

I cannot wait to stock this during Halloween and Christmas. A great collection of stories and an ideal gift for horror fans.

This collection of dark tales were written by some of America's literary giants, Poe, Hawthorne, Wharton. It is a good book to read if you want to put a chill down your spine but nothing that will keep you awake all night. I loved two of the stories...Home by Shirley Jackson and Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

I love the idea of this book, and love that it combines so many great short stories for me to enjoy in one place.
I found though, like with many anthologies it was a bit hit and miss whether I enjoyed the stories. It also isn't something I can sit and read in one sitting, because of the nature of an anthology, and that's not something I love.
I don't think this is a criticism of the book, its just personal preference that anthologies just aren't my favourite.

Thank you NetGallery and Pushkin Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love horror, dark stories –either on films or books, once I hear “ghost story” I am signed up.

Therefore, American Midnight: Tales of the Dark, immediately drew my attention, not only because of the title but also for the authors that were selected for this anthology. I had heard some of the names –Poe, Hawthorne, Wharton, Jackson– but some others were entirely new, so I thought this was an excellent opportunity to revisit some known stories and discover new ones.

Though I enjoyed the book, I felt that 50% of it was great, while the other 50% was so, so.
Unfortunately, there were a couple of short stories that I did not enjoy and were even difficult to go through, as I did not find them creepy or scary at all. One could argue that as a modern reader, stories written on the 19th century might not have the same effect in someone that has seen quite gruesome content in the horror genre, mainly on film. However, the thing is, some of the stories included in this collection were dark indeed and outstanding to me, and were written in the same period.

For this, my enjoyment was torn in half, as part of this selection was great while the other was ok and not memorable.

The stories I enjoyed the most were:
- The Eyes by Edith Wharton. This story was superb –it is a ghost story, but it also explores our own personal ghosts. The build-up is extraordinary: one night, a group of friends is on a gathering and, after dinner, they recount their own ghost stories. The host of this gathering, an older man who never talks much, reveals that in his youth he was haunted twice, by a pair of angry eyes, when he decided on two things that could have changed his life and the life of others. It is up for the reader to decide if this apparition was indeed a ghost… or guilt.

- The Mask Robert Chambers. I had never heard of this author and I think this is the story I enjoyed the most, though it is not scary in the strict sense of the word. However, I found it beautifully written and I was transported to its setting –Paris, potentially end of the 19th century. Three close friends, two men and a women, artists, living in Europe without conventions and exploring art and life. I could literally hear Debussy playing on a warm afternoon, surrounded by sculptures and paintings, and experiencing the pain of an unrequited love. The loss, the dead, the loneliness… and then the uncertainty of finding love once more, but unsure of its form. And that can be indeed, one of the scariest parts.

This story was extraordinary and made me interested in Chambers’ works.

- Home by Shirley Jackson. I felt this one was the most traditional ‘ghost’ story of all the ones included in the book. A couple arrives in a new town, and is working on having their house ready. The woman, Ethel, is in charge of all the repairs needed and she tries to be chatty with locals. One rainy day, people warn her about not taking a certain road, and naturally, she ignores them, takes that road and sees a woman and a child standing, on the pouring rain. She offers to take them home. The woman tells Ethel her house… is where she currently lives. When she gets there, and she looks back, the passengers are gone…This was really scary! I guess this is one of the urban legends –in Mexico, the US or anywhere in the world- that though we hear time after time, does not stop giving the chills. Jackson’s narrative is direct and therefore, results in a great impact for the reader.

- The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I had been wanting to read this story for ages, and this collection gave me this opportunity. The plot might be familiar –a young woman is suffering from depression, but in the 19th century, this was simply labeled as female hysteria. Her husband decided the best cure is isolation, and he takes her to a lonely house, for the summer, where she spends her days alone. There, she is starts developing an obsession with the old, rotten, colorless wallpaper of her bedroom, where she begins seeing figures and making up stories. As many have put it, the story explores a woman’s descend into madness –which implies fighting one’s own ghosts –but that ending. Though it obviously it is a consequence of mental health issues, it was also extremely scary… that fainting and that creeping.

The stories that were ok for me were The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe; the Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne; and, A Ghost Story, Mark Twain. And I know, these are one of the greatest names of U.S. and English literature, and I feel a bit guilty for not liking them but, honestly, their stories just did not work for me. This might be a very unpopular opinion but Poe is not my favorite, and has never been. But I get it –I think his work will be part of any collection of scary or ghost stories around the world. However, the stories selected form Hawthorne and Twain were just… a bit boring to me. I think there is an irony on both and one can read between the lines but I did not find the plots creepy or interesting enough.

And finally, the stories that I definitely disliked were Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston and An Itinerant House by Emma Frances Dawson. I have no idea what ‘Spunk’ was about and could not understand half of it (I am not a native English speaker, but this was written with a bit of slang? So it was hard for me to follow through). However, there was nothing interesting on the plot for me –a love revenge maybe and an awful death caused by supernatural forces? As said, maybe it was just the fact that the style was difficult for me to go through, but I did not get it. In the case of Emma Frances Dawson, she is another author I’d never heard of, but the story was a bit… boring? The premise was good –it explores curses, the energy places maintain and the negative vibes that affect people, all things I believe can happen. But the execution was just all over the place –more than a ghost story it felt like an essay on art, opera, literature, the importance of artists, and sort of showing the author’s knowledge on all of the above and I found myself bored. This was the story that for me was the most difficult to push through and, unfortunately, it is the last one from the collection.

Though some of the stories did not work, fortunately there were a couple of them that I will definitely keep checking out when fall approaches and enjoy revisiting on a chilly October night.

“A chilling collection of classic weird and supernatural tales from the dark heart of American literature.”

As soon as I saw the description for American Midnight: Tales of the Dark, I knew I had to read it. This collection of short stories is edited by Laird Hunt, and contains eerie stories all by American authors. Some were classic titles I instantly recognized, and others were new to me, but all of them gave me chills and kept me up at night.

Finding the energy to focus on reading has been difficult lately (thanks, COVID), and I typically only have the energy to read 20 pages or so before my attention starts to drift. At first I thought, “Wow, I’m never going to be able to finish a book at this rate!” But then I remembered that short stories exist, and reading became enjoyable again.

I’ve always been a fan of horror stories, so this collection was an automatic must-read for me.

American Midnight contains the following:

“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe
“Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The Eyes” by Edith Wharton
“The Mask” by Robert W. Chambers
“Home” by Shirley Jackson
“A Ghost Story” by Mark Twain
“Spunk” by Zora Neale Hurston
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“An Itinerant House” by Emma Frances Dawson
I appreciated the diversity in authors, and enjoyed the mix of sub-genres. Throughout the book we see ghosts, witches, haunted houses, plagues, and more. It was a great mix, and some stories definitely stood out to me more than others.

The most chilling for me was Edith Wharton’s “The Eyes.” I’d never read this story before, and think it’s fine if I never read it again. After finishing it, I fought the urge to check the end of my bed for paranormal apparitions, but was torn between wanting to make sure nothing was there, and the sheer horror of what I would feel if something did appear.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” was also exceptional. I’ve read this story before—once in high school, and again for an undergrad class—but it had been almost eight years since I’d last read it. Reading it again as an almost 30 year old woman was a totally different experience, and I found myself relating to the narrator in a whole new way.

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed “A Ghost Story” by Mark Twain. Usually, I am utterly terrified of ghost stories, but this one made me sad. By the end of it, all I wanted to do was give the ghost a hug. It showed me that not all ghosts are necessarily scary or evil, and you shouldn’t always be afraid of them.

There were a couple stories that I didn’t particularly enjoy, but overall, this collection was fantastic. The forward was also wonderful to read, wherein the editor shared his own personal ghostly encounter.

If you’re a fan of spooky stories, short stories, or American literature, you’ll want to add this collection to your list.

Thank you to the publisher (Pushkin Press) for an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. American Midnight: Tales of the Dark will be available on August 25, 2020 (in Canada), and can be pre-ordered or purchased wherever books are sold.

American Midnight is a collection of well and lesser known spooky stories by an impressive array of American authors to include Poe's Masque of the Red Death, Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, Wharton's The Eyes, The Mask by Robert Chambers, Home by Shirley Jackson and many others. None of which happen to be my personal favorites but might come under the heading of "Spooky Stories for $100, Alex." American Midnight includes an introduction by the collector of the tales, Laird Hunt and which may well be the high point of the entire book.

I loved all of the classic stories included in this anthology! There were several I had never read before, like The Yellow Wallpaper and I really enjoyed! Definitely a creepy and well put together collection of stories!

“Ye had still hoped that virtue were not all a dream. Now ye are undeceived. Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness.” Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne was by far my favorite story. The main character sets off at night, leaving his young wife, to run a mysterious, nefarious errand. He meets what seems to be the devil on his way through the woods and they come across several “upstanding” citizens of the town who all seem to be going to the same dark meeting. Fun to read, with a dark foreboding setting.
American Midnight by Pushkin Press is a collection of dark short tales written by classic American authors. A few are the giants in the literary world, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Shirley Jackson, and Mark Twain.
It is a good collection giving a basis for modern tales to build on, but overall I was underwhelmed and was lost during a few of the stories.
Thank you to Pushkin Press, Hanover Publishers Services, and NetGalley for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.