"Joyce Carol Oates has written what may be the world's finest postmodern Gothic novel: E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime set in Dracula's castle. It's dense, challenging, problematic, horrifying, funny, prolix and full of crazy people. You should read it." -- Stephen King, New York Times Book Review

Princeton, New Jersey at the turn of the 20th century: a tranquil place to raise a family, a genteel town for genteel souls. But something dark and dangerous lurks at the edges of the town, corrupting and infecting its residents. Vampires and ghosts haunt the dreams of the innocent. A powerful curse besets the elite families of Princeton -- their daughters begin disappearing. A young bride on the verge of the altar is seduced and abducted by a dangerously compelling man -- a shape-shifting, vaguely European prince who might just be the devil, and who spreads his curse upon a richly deserving community of white Anglo-Saxon privilege. And in the Pine Barrens that border the town, a lush and terrifying underworld opens up.

When the bride's brother sets out against all odds to find her, his path will cross those of Princeton's most formidable people, from Grover Cleveland, fresh out of his second term in the White House and retired to town for a quieter life, to soon-to-be commander in chief Woodrow Wilson, president of the University, and a complex individual obsessed to the point of madness with his need to retain power; from the young Socialist idealist Upton Sinclair, to his charismatic comrade Jack London, and the most famous writer of the era, Samuel Clemens/ Mark Twain -- all plagued by "accursed" visions.

Narrated with Oates's unmistakable psychological insight, The Accursed combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling supernatural elements to stunning effect.

• We started tracking this book on January 27, 2013.
• This book was $12.74 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 195 times in the past 4,098 days.
• The current price of this book is $22.99 last checked one day ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past 90 days is $18.99.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past six months is $14.99.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $12.99.
• The lowest price to date was $0.99 last reached on April 13, 2015.
• This book has been $0.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $22.99 last reached on February 11, 2024.
• This book has been $22.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• This book is currently at its highest price since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionPsychological

• Publication Date: March 5, 2013
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 1,057 Pages
• File Size: 4,285 KB