Bold and haunting, The Doll-Master and Other Tales is a collection of six psychologically daring stories from Joyce Carol Oates. In the title story, a boy becomes obsessed with his cousin's doll after she tragically passes away, and as he grows older, he begins to collect "found dolls" from surrounding neighborhoods. But just what kind of dolls are they? In "Gun Accident," a teenage girl is delighted to house-sit for her favorite teacher, until an intruder forces his way inside the old Colonial--changing more than one life forever. The Doll-Master closes with a taut bibliomystery, about the owner of a middling chain of mystery bookstores whose plan to take over a rare bookshop in scenic New Hampshire derails into a game of verbal cat-and-mouse that threatens to have real-life consequences. Throughout the collection, Oates evokes "the fascination of the abomination" that is at the core of the most profound, the most unsettling, and the most memorable of dark mystery fiction.
- ISBN13 9780802126719
- Publish Date 13 June 2017 (first published 3 May 2016)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Black Cat
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 336
- Language English