Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Frightful Fall Reads: Old-School Classics

In the weeks leading up to Halloween, I thought it would be fun to recommend some of my favorite scary stories to read, and why I find them creepy. Today features some old-school classics.




1. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)

  • Ghosts
  • Creepy children
  • Practically deserted large old house in the middle of nowhere
  • Unreliable narrator
  • Psychological uncertainty



2-3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818); Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)
  • Two of the creepiest, most iconic monsters in literary history
  • Murder and mayhem
  • Lots of lurking in the shadows
  • Psychological fear
  • Being stitched from the dead/rising from the dead
  • Preying on innocents


4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)
  • Supernatural forces
  • Twisted immortality with a price
  • Creepy inanimate object


5. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)
  • Murder and mayhem
  • A haunting you can't escape from-not even in your own home
  • The past never truly being behind you
  • Psychological torture


6. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
  • Mysterious, eerie setting
  • Isolated old house
  • Supernatural possibilities
  • Murder and mayhem
  • The potential of a long-reaching curse
  • Evil doings from the past
  • Possible monstrous creature
  • Overhanging threat of evil




4 comments:

  1. Looks like we had a similar idea..I have read and enjoyed all of these oldies Becca :)

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    Replies
    1. You are actually the one who inspired me to blog some fall reading posts of my own-I loved your five books to read for fall!

      Exactly, these books are so good! I'm going to try to post a different theme for creepy fall reads as much as I can this month.

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  2. I've been eyeing my copy of Dracula as of late! 'Tis the season, indeed!

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