Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist, a dark romantic, and short story writer. Twice-Told Tales is a volume of rearranged myths in which Hawthorne uses unexpected points of view to deftly twist the themes of classic folktales. These ironic tales introduce complex, emotional topics within a familiar context. The volume contains "The Haunted Mind", "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", "The Vision of the Fountain" and other tales. .