Eeeeek! Halloween Horrors, 2007 edition
This year, I'm providing links to some of my favorite stories about Things that Go Bump in the Night from the nineteenth- and early-twentieth centuries:
- E. F. Benson, "The Room in the Tower": vampires, nightmares, and magic portraits.
- Algernon Blackwood, "The Empty House" [PDF]: a man and his aunt go exploring.
- Henry James, The Turn of the Screw: is the governess insane, or are there ghosts hanging about?
- M. R. James, "'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'": or, why you should bring a Latin grammar on all your vacations (hint: conjugate).
- J. S. Le Fanu, "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street": it's not such a good idea to rent houses previously inhabited by hanging judges.
- ---, "Green Tea": and you thought tea was safer than coffee.
- Mrs. J. H. [Charlotte] Riddell, "The Open Door" [PDF]: the narrator is entertainingly jejeune.
- Sir Walter Scott, "Wandering Willie's Tale": famous inset narrative from Redgauntlet.
- R. L. Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: let those atavistic good times roll.
- Oscar Wilde, "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime": Wilde takes on fortune-tellers.
Wonderful! Thank you!
I love to read M. J. James at this time of year; and James Hynes' tributes to him in Publish and Perish. A new book you might enjoy is Baltimore: or the Soldier and the Vampire. it tips its hat a great many times to nineteenth-century horror writers while still being fresh.
Posted by:Wol | October 29, 2007 at 04:35 PM
Hello,
Given your liking of stories that give a little chill to the soul, I thought I'd send you a link to my film 'Underworld' a supernatural chiller which, it being Halloween, I have made available free at my site www.ironmountainmovies.com for a limited period up to midnight Thurs Nov 1st. Given that I am a self financed filmmaker with an advertising budget that wouldn't buy a Happy Meal, I am relying on word of mouth, and the quality of my films to get an audience. Hope you like it and if you do you will spread the word. Just go to www.ironmountainmovies.com and follow the Underworld link to view the film.
Many thanks,
Ronan Gallagher
Writer/Director
Underworld
www.ironmountainmovies.com
Powerful! A taut, well achieved psychological chiller... Irish Times
The sense of menace is riveting...Sunday Tribune
A tight, slick thriller, Underworld moves seamlessly from contemporary Americana-style action drama, to Argento-like supernatural thriller, pumped along by a pulsating soundtrack courtesy of Stephen McKeon and some very atmospheric visuals from camera-man Ronan Fox...Film West
Posted by:Ronan Gallagher | October 29, 2007 at 06:37 PM
If you haven't seen "The Innocents," the film (starring Deborah Kerr, directed by Jack Clayton) based on "The Turn of the Screw," I highly recommend it. The Benjamin Britten opera, too.
Posted by:rootlesscosmo | October 29, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Nice list. Here's one you probably won't have read, but it is beautiful, romantic, and, well, scary - the Japanese ghost story "Mimi Nashi Hoichi", as retold by Lafcadio Hearn:
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/kwaidanB.htm
One to tell the kids round the old fireside...
Posted by:AnthonyK | October 30, 2007 at 09:15 AM
You might like B.J. Harrison's The Classic Tales Podcast. Old short stories (many of them horror fiction), read aloud.
Posted by:Molly, NYC | October 30, 2007 at 10:50 AM