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#OffMyShelf “Anthology/Essays”

I picked this up at a library sale a few years ago. I‘ve only read three novels by Oates, but am always curious about her work, due to her prodigious output. This was fine. A soft pick - short stories aren‘t really my thing. I need more. They were all suitably disturbing and unsettling. My favorites were “The Model” and “The Premonition”.

I‘m traveling through Tennessee right now but my Dad sent me this picture of the awesome package @MaleficentBookDragon sent! Thank you so much for your kindness! I can‘t wait to read Haunted and Relic 😍😍

This is a writer of the supernatural who reinvents the genre. Intuitive and exciting prose. If you love short stories, this is your gal. Oates produces a high art form of storytelling. Don't miss the story "Thanksgiving" I love short fiction and read one every week for my blog, featuring free short fiction by famous authors, contemporary and Classic at PaulaCappa.wordpress.com Reading Fiction Blog. #short stories #litsy #horror #readers

Having enjoyed Oats work before and seeing as I enjoy horror of all varieties I found this short story collection to be a let down. The way in which the stories are "haunted" is more academic and there really isn't a grotesque about it (although you can feel it trying really hard at times to come across as 19 century gothic).
It wasn't poorly written I was just let down from what I was expecting by the blurb and title.

1) I have discovered or reaffirmed that I dislike short stories 2) sometimes even the loveliest of covers has a bland book behind it

Fingers crossed! I have not had much luck with Joyce Carol Oates books in the past, I have almost liked a few of them. I will give her one more try. Maybe, I'll like her short stories better :)

Most of these short stories deal imagined terrors in the minds of women who seem to be mentally ill. Because the fears are unshared by any other characters in the stories, their impact is limited. #scaretober #FrightFall