Yolen deals with the horrific real wilding that has occurred in the park by defanging it in a fantastical way, turning it into a controlled, safe activity that allows teens to let off steam. In a New York of the future, teenagers flock to Central Park to go wilding, a form of entertainment in which they are temporarily transformed into various types of animals allowed to roam freely in the park. “Wilding” is another notable story with a zestful approach to danger. Indeed, in her foreword, Yolen lists the latter as a favorite to re-read, anointing Shelley the “Mother of Gothics.” The narrative unfolds as an intriguing tale within a tale, an homage to the tradition of Heart of Darkness, or perhaps more fittingly, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with its climax in a frozen wasteland and a deathbed confession via letter. Harris, combines the history of Robert Scott’s fatal 1912 Antarctic expedition with vampire lore to craft a creepy new whole. Her story “Requiem Antarctica,” for instance, a collaboration with Robert J. Her foreword and endnotes offer additional context for the work, creating a satisfying - if often unsettling - reading experience.Īlthough she draws from conventional roots, Yolen has a talent for mashing up traditions to create something entirely her own. Her menagerie of stories is distilled from a cauldron of fairytales, legends, and history, featuring everything from selkies to shapeshifters witches, weavers, and warriors and angels murderous to ravenous. This collection teems with Yolen’s weird, folkloric verve.

It is true to the real tradition of Andersen: mesmerizing, haunting, and often not for the faint of heart. Her work is not Andersen Americanized: sanitized, watered-down, Disney-fied. Yolen is often dubbed “the Hans Christian Andersen of America,” but that should not be misunderstood. From her first novel in 1969 to this phantasmagorical assortment of stories and poems spanning the 1970s to 2020, she has amassed an eye-popping bibliography of over 370 books. The Midnight Circus is the latest dark and trippy collection from award-winning author Jane Yolen.

The midnight circus book