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| The governess sees a man--Peter Quint?--on a high tower (Wikipedia) |
Note: The "unreliable narrator" is a fairly recent storytelling technique, coming into its own in the 19th century. This is an excellent example.
Get Ready: Have you ever sworn something strange was happening--but no one else would agree, or admit they saw anything unusual?
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| "It leapt towards him upon the instant..." (Wikipedia) |
Note: I have long considered this to be one of the scariest stories I know; it plays on the conventional idea of a ghost looking like a person under a sheet.
Get Ready: If you wanted to dress up as a ghost, how would you do it?
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| The cyclops tries to crush Odysseus's boat (Wikipedia) |
Note: Any good story pits the protagonist against a challenge. But Odysseus faced a whole list of them!
Get Ready: Thinking in terms of psychology, what "monsters" could you create to symbolize some of the challenges you face (or have faced) in your life?
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| Erik--the Phantom--shows his true face as though it were a mask (Wikipedia) |
Note: This "haunting" tale of love and madness seems to be perfect for the modern stage, but in fact started out as a French novel over 100 years ago.
Get Ready: How do you think physical deformity (or not) affects a person's mental or moral processes? Is it fair to say "ugly equals evil"? Or "beautiful equals good"?
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| "...across the farmlands..." (based on this photo at Wikimedia) |
Note: This devastating story by Ursula K. LeGuin asks the question: can the benefit of the many justify the abuse of the few (or even one)?
Get Ready: Look at the question in the "Note." How would you answer it?
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| Illustration by John Tenniel (Wikipedia) |
Note: This is by far Poe's most famous poem, and one of his most famous works in any genre. It is much reprinted--and much parodied.
Get Ready: How might grief over a lost loved one affect a person's imagination?
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| A four-man Indian rickshaw (Wikimedia) |
Note: This terrifying story comes from the same benign pen that gave us Mowgli and the "Just So stories." Be warned!
Get Ready: Isi t possible for a person's guilty imagination to cause him or her to see things, to the point of a mental breakdown?
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| Poster from the 1933 film version (Wikipedia) |
Note: H. G. Wells created a "creature" who is often grouped with Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Werewolf--not an easy thing to do! Dozens of films and TV shows have been derived from his idea.
Get Ready: With the advent of stealth technology, we have come closer and closer to achieving invisibility. Do you think this will ever become a reality, and be available to the common person?
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| Gelert by Charles Burton Barber (c.1894) (Wikipedia) |
Note: We are all suckers for a good story--true or not. Here's a whole category of them!
Get Ready: Have you ever heard one of those exciting but unlikely stories that always seems to happen to "a friend of a friend"?
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| "There arose in our pathway a shrouded human figure," illustration by A. D. McCormick 1898 (Wikipedia) |
Note: In his only novel, Edgar Allan Poe seems to get a little lost--like his protagonist--in trying to horrify the reader.
Get Ready: This novel, like many of its kind, is set against a background of unknown lands. Where could we set such a story today?
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| Dorian Gray and his painting in a 1945 film (Wikipedia) |
Note: Few novels explore the nexus of esthetics and morality--with a little magic thrown in--like Oscar Wilde's masterpiece.
Get Ready: Do you think our acts of kindness or cruelty have effects beyond the everyday? That is, do our choices affect a realm beyond this one?
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| Wild worshipers of Cthulhu (Wikipedia) |
Note: We continue with one of the most frightening stories I've ever read, about the "Great Old One," Cthulhu.
Get Ready: Do you find a story scarier if it seems to be a cold, objective account of events, or do you prefer those where the characters are acting emotionally to things as they happen?
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| Lovecraft's sketch of Cthulhu (Wikipedia) |
Note: Few stories have chilled me like this one, the work of H.P. Lovecraft.
Get Ready: What sorts of stories really scare you?
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| King Vikram grasps the Baital by the hair (Wikipedia) |
Note: Having heard what happened in the palace, let's see what happened to King Vikram (and his son) in the cemetery.
Get Ready: Do you know any riddles?
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| A modern statue of the legendary King Vikram (Vikramaditya) (Wikipedia) |
Note: The stories in this collection are set in a frame story and, as often happens, it is every bit as interesting as the tales themselves.
Get Ready: Have you ever received a gift and not discovered until later how valuable (or useful) it is?
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| The mujina, also called the noppera-bÅ (Wikipedia) |
Note: The Japanese have a rich folklore of supernatural beings and other creepy apparitions. This one is one of my favorites.
Get Ready: What's the creepiest story you know? (Creepy, not bloody!)
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| Fortunato and Montresor drink in the catacombs (Wikipedia) |
Note: Of Poe's many horrifying tales, this one has always stuck in my mind as the most frightening.
Get Ready: Have you ever been deeply insulted by someone? How did you deal with it?
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| The Crew ties the albatross around thee Ancient Mariner's neck (Wikipedia) |
Note: Coleridge's eerie story of an old man doomed to wander the earth telling his tale or "rime" has left a number of expressions scattered about in our language.
Get Ready: Do you believe in luck? Do you believe that some actions can change a person's luck?
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| Rabbi Loew and the Golem (Wikipedia) |
Note: Jewish folk stories tell us of creatures made of clay by holy men, just as God made Adam. But sometimes when people trifle with magic, things can go horribly wrong...
Get Ready: The Jews often were (and sometimes still are) persecuted by the cultures in which they live(d). How do you think this real problem contributed to stories about the creation of golems?
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| Van Helsing and Dracula (1931) (Wikipedia) |
Note: Vampires still sell, but the first "big hit"--and still scary today--is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. It was written in the form of diary entries, letters and other "real" documents, giving it a feeling of authenticity.
Get Ready: What sorts of books or stories do you find scary?
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