Celestial Timepiece

Joyce Carol Oates makes her first appearance (I believe!) in the monumental Library of America this Fall when the two-volume American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny, edited by Peter Straub, is published.

Volume one, “from Poe to the Pulps” covers Charles Brockden Brown to Charles Bloch; and volume two, “from the 1940s to now” includes the JCO story “Family,” first published in the December 1989 issue of Omni magazine, and reprinted in JCO’s own collection Heat and Other Stories. as well as the 3rd annual Years’s Best Fantasy & Horror where Ellen Datlow introduced the story this way:

Joyce Carol Oates, when inspired, is immediate in her response to requests for stories. I commissioned a short-short from her for Omni and a couple of weeks later I received it, as well as “Family,” which is certainly science fiction, definitely horrific, and has all the earmarks of an Oates gem. The basic plot is simple: An isolated family adapts to changing times. It’s only when one considers the nature of the changing outside world, and the bizarre nature of the family’s adaptations, that “Family” achieves its full effect.

JCO’s second contribution to the Library of America will be a volume on Shirley Jackson that she is editing.

Full contents:

Volume 1

• INTRODUCTION BY PETER STRAUB.
• CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN.  SOMNAMBULISM: A FRAGMENT (1805).
• WASHINGTON IRVING.   ADVENTURE OF THE GERMAN STUDENT IRVING (1824).
• EDGAR ALLAN POE.  BERENICE (1835).
• NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN (1835).
• HERMAN MELVILLE.  THE TARTARUS OF MAIDS (1855).
• FITZ-JAMES O’BRIEN.    WHAT WAS IT? (1859).
• BRET HARTE.   THE LEGEND OF MONTE DEL DIABLO (1863).
• HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD.    THE MOONSTONE MASS (1868).
• W. C. MORROW.    HIS UNCONQUERABLE ENEMY (1889).
• CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN. THE YELLOW WALLPAPER (1892).
• KATE CHOPIN. MA’AME PÉLAGIE (1893).
• JOHN KENDRICK BANGS. THURLOW’S CHRISTMAS STORY (1894).
• ROBERT W. CHAMBERS. THE REPAIRER OF REPUTATIONS (1895).
• RALPH ADAMS CRAM. THE DEAD VALLEY (1895).
• MADELEINE YALE WYNNE. THE LITTLE ROOM (1895).
• GERTRUDE ATHERTON. THE STRIDING PLACE (1896).
• SARAH ORNE JEWETT. IN DARK NEW ENGLAND DAYS (1896).
• EMMA FRANCIS DAWSON. AN ITINERANT HOUSE (1897).
• STEPHEN CRANE. THE BLACK DOG (1898).
• MARY WILKINS FREEMAN. LUELLA MILLER (1902).
• FRANK NORRIS. GRETTIR AT THORNHALL-STEAD (1903).
• LAFCADIO HEARN. YUKI-ONNA (1904).
• F. MARION CRAWFORD. FOR THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE (1905).
• AMBROSE BIERCE. THE MOONLIT ROAD (1907).
• EDWARD LUCAS WHITE. LUKUNDOO (1907).
• OLIVIA HOWARD DUNBAR. THE SHELL OF SENSE (1908).
• HENRY JAMES. THE JOLLY CORNER (1908).
• ALICE BROWN. GOLDEN BABY (1910).
• EDITH WHARTON. AFTERWARD (1910).
• JILLA CATHER. CONSEQUENCES (1915).
• ELLEN GLASGOW. THE SHADOWY THIRD (1916).
• JULIAN HAWTHORNE. THE ISLAND OF GHOSTS (1919).
• FRANCIS STEVENS [GERTRUDE BARROWS BENNETT]. UNSEEN, UNFEARED (1919).
• F. SCOTT FITZGERALD. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (1922).
• SEABURY QUINN. THE CURSE OF EVERARD MAUNDY (1927).
• STEPHEN VINCENT BENET. THE KING OF THE CATS (1929).
• DAVID H. KELLER. THE JELLY-FISH (1929).
• CONRAD AIKEN. MR. ARCULARIS (1931).
• ROBERT E. HOWARD. THE BLACK STONE (1931).
• HENRY S. WHITEHEAD. PASSING OF A GOD (1931).
• AUGUST DERLETH. THE PANELLED ROOM (1933).
• H.P. LOVECRAFT. THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP (1933).
• CLARK ASHTON SMITH. GENIUS LOCI (1933).
• ROBERT BLOCH. THE CLOAK (1939).

Volume 2

• INTRODUCTION BY PETER STRAUB.
• JOHN COLLIER. EVENING PRIMROSE (1940).
• FRITZ LEIBER. SMOKE GHOST (1941).
• TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. MYSTERIES OF THE JOY RIO (1941).
• JANE RICE. THE REFUGEE (1943).
• ANTHONY BOUCHER. MR. LUPESCU (1945).
• TRUMAN CAPOTE. MIRIAM (1945).
• JOHN CHEEVER. TORCH SONG (1947).
• JACK SNOW. MIDNIGHT (1947).
• JACK FINNEY. I’M SCARED (1948).
• SHIRLEY JACKSON. THE DAEMON LOVER (1949).
• PAUL BOWLES. THE CIRCULAR VALLEY (1950).
• RAY BRADBURY. THE APRIL WITCH (1952).
• JEROME BIXBY. IT’S A GOOD LIFE (1953).
• TRACE (1964). SPACE BY THE TAIL (1964).
• CHARLES BEAUMONT. BLACK COUNTRY (1954).
• VLADIMIR NABOKOV. THE VANE SISTERS (1959).
• DAVIS GRUBB. WHERE THE WOODBINE TWINETH (1964).
• DONALD WANDREI. NIGHTMARE (1965).
• HARLAN ELLISON. I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM (1967).
• RICHARD MATHESON. PREY (1969).
• T.E.D. KLEIN. EVENTS AT POROTH FARM (1972).
• ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER. HANKA (1974).
• FRED CHAPPELL. LINNEAUS FORGETS (1977).
• JOHN CROWLEY. NOVELTY (1983).
• JONATHAN CARROLL. MR. FIDDLEHEAD (1989).
• JOYCE CAROL OATES. FAMILY (1989).
• THOMAS LIGOTTI. THE LAST FEAST OF HARLEQUIN (1990).
• PETER STRAUB. A SHORT GUIDE TO THE CITY (1990).
• KARL EDWARD WAGNER. CEDAR LANE (1990).
• JEFF VANDERMEER. THE GENERAL WHO IS DEAD (1996).
• STEPHEN KING. THAT FEELING, YOU CAN ONLY SAY WHAT IT IS IN FRENCH (1998).
• KIT REED. THE MOTHERS OF SHARK ISLAND (1998).
• CAITLIN R. KIERNAN. THE LONG HALL ON THE TOP FLOOR (1999).
• GEORGE SAUNDERS. SEA OAK (2000).
• THOMAS TESSIER. NOCTURNE (2000).
• MICHAEL CHABON. THE GOD OF DARK LAUGHTER (2001).
• JOE HILL. POP ART (2001).
• POPPY Z. BRITE. PANSU (2003).
• STEVEN MILLHAUSER. DANGEROUS LAUGHTER (2003).
• M. RICKERT. THE CHAMBERED FRUIT (2003).
• BRIAN EVENSON. THE WAVERING KNIFE (2004).
• KELLY LINK. STONE ANIMALS (2004).
• TIM POWERS. PAT MOORE (2004).
• GENE WOLFE. THE LITTLE STRANGER (2004).
• BENJAMIN PERCY. DIAL TONE (2007).