Midnight in New England: Tales of the Strange and Mysterious

by Scott Thomas

Evoking the times and styles of Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, this collection of original stories is set in 18th and 19th century New England--when restless spirits seemed to roam more freely. Not quite horror, not quite mystery, these dark yet spellbindingly eloquent tales hover on the edge, threatening at every page to plunge the characters into madness.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892727322
• ISBN13: 9780892727322
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Down East Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

"...a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore"

You won't want to read these stories at midnight, or on nights when the wind makes the trees creak and moan. What a spooky little collection! These eighteen stories are full of mystery and nightmare. Several of the tales involve the return of the dead, to right a wrong or for nefarious purposes of their own. In "The Franklin Stove," for instance, a young girl is witness to the harsh revenge of her Aunt Hattie's dead sister. "The old woman shudders. 'Ohhh, my bones feel like icicles.'" Be careful what you wish for, Aunt Hattie! Other stories tell of madness ("Pistols And Rain" and "Joseph Warren's Invention") or inhuman evil ("A Million Dying Leaves" and "The Collector In the Mill.") Each has its own dark twist. The final story left the most vivid impression on me: "The Second Parsonage." A New England schoolteacher in the early 19th century cultivates the art of keeping secrets, and discovers the most mysterious and earth-shattering secret of all. What does he find in the ledgers stacked floor to ceiling in the abandoned parsonage? Would you be able to keep such a secret? Scott Thomas writes in a style that's both spare and poetic, true in tone to the 18th and 19th centuries. The tales vary in length from about 350 words to 20+ pages and each is well-paced for its length. The New England weather and landscape are integral to the stories, though the descriptive passages enhance and don't overwhelm. Several of the stories are told in the first person and each narrator has a distinct voice and personality, as do all the characters. The subject line of this review invokes a Grand Master of the dark short story. Scott Thomas offers us his own "quaint and curious volume," and I recommend it to anyone in the mood for the quiet creepiness of a good scary book. Linda Bulger, 2008

Delightfully Chilling...

This is the first book that I have read by author Scott Thomas. And I must say that even though this book comes from a small publisher, it is definitely deserving of wider distribution and publication. I am an avid fan of ghost stories, and without a doubt "Midnight in New England" is one of the most hauntingly beautiful books I've had the pleasure of reading. I had chills the entire time. I felt as if Thomas was an old soul living in a time where he does not belong, he himself, haunting the present as he is haunted by the past. I look very forward to reading more of Scott's stuff. If you are reading this review, definitely give this book a try, you won't be sorry.