Midwestern Gothic, as a style, means different things to different people. Those inclined to academic definitions will say that it is a dark genre, sometimes featuring the grotesque, that includes a strong sense of place, character, and culture that is typical of the Midwest. The people in the stories and poems and art are isolated, even standing among all their friends and family. There is a creeping dread. There is often loss, and a style of acceptance that is grimly Midwestern.
Other people might agree with that definition, and then add to it the element of the supernatural. Ghost stories, otherworldly interventions, and other such things are the natural outcropping of prairies haunted by the emotions of winter-trapped people. Often, it is not clear whether the supernatural event was real or imagined.
In these volumes, we include all of the above.
However, this first volume is intended to be an exemplar. There is not a whole lot of work in the public domain that perfectly fits all our requirements, and so, when we have selected from the public domain, we have sometimes chosen works that exemplify aspects of Midwestern Gothic without necessarily being Midwestern Gothic works. A good example of this is Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, a work which displays many of the finest characteristics of a good regional Gothic story, but it is set in 17th century New England. Nonetheless, his use of language--the language of this story was archaic even in the era in which it was written--and setting to evoke a sense of place is so strong that the story still serves as an excellent example. When we have selected a work that is not specifically an example of Midwestern Gothic, we will briefly describe why we chose it in the short notes at the bottom of the page.
Enjoy the works presented herein!
ECB
West Allis, WI
10 APR 2012
