A seminal essay on the development of horror as a genre, highly influential on later writers.

From the comfort of the hills of Kentucky traveled Celia and her husband Seth to the desolate prairies of Kansas, where cyclones, tornadoes, and endless wind were to greet them. Always, there was the wind cutting across the plains as the young couple builds their home while working the soil, while Seth awaits the wise men of the east to begin building the magic city where he has staked his territory on the plains. But sometimes life plays cruel tricks upon us. Sometimes our hopes are dashed by happenstance...

This warm, affectionate duet of essays by two of the early twentieth century's most popular writers is a bit dated but still entertaining.

Charlotte Temple, a cautionary tale for young women, follows the unfortunate adventures of the eponymous heroine as she is seduced by a dashing soldier, Montraville. Influenced by both her lover and an unruly teacher at her boarding school, she is persuaded to run away to America, where she is eventually abandoned by Montraville after he becomes bored, leaving her alone and pregnant. First published in England in 1791, it went on to become America's bestselling novel, only being ousted by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.