>See, here's the thing ... When some people think of New England
>regional literature, they think of Hawthorne, Melville, and Emily
>Dickinson. Others think of Poe, Lovecraft, and Stephen King.

Poe's from Baltimore. Hardly "New England"--in fact, Maryland was considered a Southern state at least until the Civil War.

As for me, I'm not big on "classical literature." If somebody asked me to name authors from New England, my first answer would be Gryphon.

And then maybe Jessica Fletcher. :)