The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares
{{Short description|Book by Joyce Carol Oates}}
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| name = The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares
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| author = Joyce Carol Oates
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| publisher = Mysterious Press
| release_date = November 1, 2011
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| media_type = Print (hardback & e-book) and audiobook
| pages = 264 pp (first edition, hardback)
| isbn = 0802126022
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The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares is a collection of short stories and the title novella by Joyce Carol Oates. Published in 2011 by Mysterious Press, it contains several works that Oates worked on over a period of fifteen years.{{Cite web |last=Maran |first=Meredith |date=2011-11-27 |title=‘The Corn Maiden And Other Nightmares’ by Joyce Carol Oates |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2011/11/27/the-corn-maiden-and-other-nightmares-joyce-carol-oates/qkGS0eCTytGmiKORL3PUpN/story.html |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Boston Globe |language=en-US |archive-date=December 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202043230/http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2011/11/27/the-corn-maiden-and-other-nightmares-joyce-carol-oates/qkGS0eCTytGmiKORL3PUpN/story.html |url-status=live }}
Synopsis
The book contains the stories "The Corn Maiden", "Beersheba", "Nobody Knows My Name", "Fossil-Figures", "Death-Cup", "Helping Hands", and "A Hole in the Head". The story contents range from a group of teenage girls planning to sacrifice one of their classmates in "The Corn Maiden" to a widow interacting with an employee of a second-hand store in "Helping Hands". Many contain the theme of sibling rivalry.
Reception
Critical reception for The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares has been positive, with Kirkus Reviews calling the book "nightmarish".{{Cite web |date=2011-09-21 |title=The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares |url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joyce-carol-oates/corn-maiden/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=January 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110104133/http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joyce-carol-oates/corn-maiden/ |url-status=live }} Publishers Weekly praised the book, calling Oates "a master of psychological dread" but wrote that the audio book's narrator Christine Williams "lacks the emotional punch and range displayed" by the book's other narrator.{{Cite web |date=2011-09-12 |title=The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8021-2602-3 |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Publishers Weekly |archive-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524231543/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8021-2602-3 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2012-01-30 |title=The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares: Novellas and Stories of Unspeakable Dread by Joyce Carol Oates |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com:443/978-1-61174-601-3 |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Publishers Weekly}} The Star Tribune and Bookreporter both praised the book, with Bookreporter praising the book's palpable anxiety.{{Cite web |last=Egelman |first=Sarah Rachel |date=2011-11-10 |title=The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares |url=http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-corn-maiden-and-other-nightmares |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Bookreporter |archive-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210073921/http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-corn-maiden-and-other-nightmares |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares |url=https://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/134869918.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Star Tribune |language=en |archive-date=December 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205084021/http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/134869918.html }}
References
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{{Joyce Carol Oates}}
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Category:2011 short story collections
Category:American thriller novels