“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind
of fear is fear of the unknown.”1 Therefore, it makes sense that if mortals cannot bear the
darkness, they [should not] not go there. If man dislikes “black night and yawning chasms,”2
then should he not even consider them? Shouldn’t man seek out the sunshine, instead? The
remedy is very simple: Avoid the darkness and seek the light. But, no. Mankind would never
submit to this. He will immediately turn to the darkness. Drawn by his own cords of fear and
longing, man will imagine that he is tired of the light and his small, familiar world.3 “No
amount of rationalization... or Freudian analysis” can overcome “the thrill of the chimney-corner
whisper or the lonely wood.”4 Why? Children will always be afraid of the dark and men will
always shudder at what they do not understand, yet everyone will continue to seek it.5 Perhaps it
is because society, particularly American society because of its history, believes the final horrors
are ghosts and demons, when truly it is the hidden aspects of its own soul.6 As reflected by its
literature, American society has always held a deep fascination with the supernatural. E
Supernatural In American Fiction And Soceity
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niche in the back of mortals’ minds. Stephen Crane writes The Red Badge of Courage as a
projects over the years, but has yielded nothing so far.16 Despite the lack of evidence, many
her mother. She is also another unnatural link to this story. It is of common belief that Mistress
From the Puritan era onward, American society has always held a deep fascination with
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PROFESSIONAL ESSAYS:
Ambrose Bierce's Life & Fiction
In his fiction, some set in mining communities or in regions like The use of the supernatural in these stories is part of a long American literary tradition (1577 
6 
)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Marquez's work squarely within this tradition of Latin-American fiction, the insistence is JosT's son Aureliano, and he seems to have supernatural powers, the (1599 6 )
Toni Morrison's BELOVED
The supernatural element recalls certain African folklore and then modified in the American context, and demarcation between history and fiction, folklore and (1643 7 )
Lasting Effects of Slavery Portrayed in "Beloved"
The supernatural element recalls certain African folklore and then modified in the American context, and demarcation between history and fiction, folklore and (1643 7 )
Young Adult Fiction Writer Natalie Babbitt
if it were not menaced by some supernatural creature. than is usual for young adult fiction and becomes Babbitt creates a portrait of an American success whose (2304 9 )
Native Son
Some prominent uses of the gothic in African American fiction of the early in the classic gothic, both European and American, the supernatural or "unnatural (10529 42 )
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