October Readings: The Platypus Reads Part CCCI

I'm in an American Short Stories unit with my students right now. As I looked at the list (Irving, Hawthorne, and Poe), I noticed that the chosen readings were all tales of the supernatural. For some reason, as early United States writers pondered what it meant to be "an American" their thoughts swiftly turned to folklore and the supernatural. Perhaps it was the influence of Romanticism and the Gothic craze that was sweeping Europe at the same time. At any rate, I thought I would compile my own list of favorite Gothic American Short Stories perfect for the Autumnal fireside.

Washington Irving:

Rip Van Winkle
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Nathaniel Hawthorne:

Young Goodman Brown
The Grey Champion

Edgar Allen Poe:

The Fall of the House of Usher
Ligeia

H.P. Lovecraft:

The Shunned House
The Dunwich Horror

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