Edgar Huntly; or Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker

Edgar Huntly or Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker (1787) by Charles Brockden Brown is considered one of the first American Gothic novels.The castles and crypts of the European Gothic literary tradition is replaced by the mountains and valleys of the hostile American wilderness including the tense relationship between Americans and Indians on the frontier. In some ways a detective story the novel is complex in its examination of gender relations religious and ethnic clashes and the complicated psychology of its titular character. This nightmarish tale is a reminder of how unexpected circumstances can bring out the worst in someone.