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The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares
Author Joyce Carol Oates
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Mysterious Press
Publication date
November 1, 2011
Media typePrint (hardback & e-book) and audiobook
Pages264 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN 0802126022 (first edition, hardback)

The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares is a collection of short stories and the title novella by Joyce Carol Oates. Published in 2011 by Mysterious Press, it contains several works that Oates worked on over a period of fifteen years. [1]

Synopsis

The book contains the stories "The Corn Maiden", "Beersheba", "Nobody Knows My Name", "Fossil-Figures", "Death-Cup", "Helping Hands", and " A Hole in the Head". The story contents range from a group of teenage girls planning to sacrifice one of their classmates in "The Corn Maiden" to a widow interacting with an employee of a second-hand store in "Helping Hands". Many contain the theme of sibling rivalry.

Reception

Critical reception for The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares has been positive, with Kirkus Reviews calling the book "nightmarish". [2] Publishers Weekly praised the book, calling Oates "a master of psychological dread" but wrote that the audio book's narrator Christine Williams "lacks the emotional punch and range displayed" by the book's other narrator. [3] [4] The Star Tribune and Bookreporter both praised the book, with Bookreporter praising the book's palpable anxiety. [5] [6]

References