For a story so old, this really does come across as a dreamlike surreal horror. It also sometimes feels like some sort of Christian allegory, especially when you take note of the titular character, a man named Goodman.
Goodman goes on a surreal journey through the woods as he learns that all the good upstanding men and women of his town seem to be secretly serving the devil. They are playing the part of good Christians in the open, but they are living in sin in reality. The interesting thing about this story is that Goodman is being seriously tempted to join in on this tradition.
As Goodman travels through the forest, he runs into a strange man who very likely is Satan or some sort of emissary for Satan. He also runs into people he has always known who are not acting the way they should. It is a surreal mess to be in, and the author does a good job introducing the reader to this strange landscape of imagery and people.
There is also a hag that shows up to bring everyone together. It's really quite surreal and horrific to see everyone you've known and love somehow involved with witches and demons as if it was entirely normal.
I don't want to say more than this. It is a good story that will give you a lot to think about, but it was really cool to see a story with such strange and magical imagery from that era. I do recommend it.
This blog was written on June 28, 2026.
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Interesting. I want to read it! The story seems to be about a man who gets a peek under the surface into the murky depths of the world.
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