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His Hideous Heart
468 pages
A macabre and modern resurrection of classic gothic dread, filtered through a chorus of contemporary voices.
What it feels like
Reading this anthology feels like stepping into a familiar, shadowy corridor only to find the doors lead to entirely new nightmares. The pace is brisk, driven by the shifting momentum of thirteen distinct voices taking turns at the helm of classic dread. The mood is steeped in the macabre, wrapping the reader in an eerie, unsettling atmosphere that honors its nineteenth-century roots while pulsing with modern young adult sensibilities. Because it is a collection, the prose style shifts from story to story, yet remains united by a shared reverence for gothic suspense and psychological tension. It is a perfect fit for readers who delight in atmospheric horror, offering a fresh, dark lens through which to experience timeless tales of madness, revenge, and sorrow.
- Mood
- macabre
- eerie
- suspenseful
- atmospheric
- Tone
- unsettling
- dark
- reverent
- modern
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- modernizing the macabre · legacy of classic horror · reimagined fears
- The writing
- A diverse chorus of distinct young adult voices, each bringing their own contemporary flair to classic gothic structures.
- The arc
- A shifting journey through varied shades of dread, moving from familiar classic chills to fresh, modern unease.
- Who it's for
- Young adult readers who crave atmospheric horror and fans of classic literature looking for fresh, unsettling twists on familiar tales.
Content notes
- horror elements
- murder
- death
About the book
Thirteen of YA’s most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allan Poe’s most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation.
Edgar Allan Poe may be a hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young adult fiction. Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.
Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining “Metzengerstein”), Rin Chupeco (“The Murders in the Rue Morge”), Lamar Giles (“The Oval Portrait”), Tessa Gratton (“Annabel Lee”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“The Cask of Amontillado”), Stephanie Kuehn (“The Tell-Tale Heart”), Emily Lloyd-Jones (“The Purloined Letter”), Hillary Monahan (“The Masque of the Red Death”), Marieke Nijkamp (“Hop-Frog”), Caleb Roehrig (“The Pit and the Pendulum”), and Fran Wilde (“The Fall of the House of Usher”).
Description from Open Library.
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