As Halloween approaches, many of its celebrators are in the mood for horror films, haunted mazes, and particularly scary stories. There are countless ghost stories to be found, especially in certain internet communities, but nothing quite equals the golden oldies of spooky literature. Here are some classics to get you started on chilling your spine:
1. “The May-Pole of Merry Mount” by Nathanial Hawthorne, 1837
The opening scene of this classic short story shows the reader a group of people wearing costumes and masks (like most Americans on Halloween), not to mention the wild party they’re having. They are mostly dressed as wild animals, and there is a bear dressed as a human. This story is full of such binaries, which are often jarring. Hawthorne’s imagery is extremely unsettlingHe writes, “These were Gothic monsters, though perhaps of Grecian ancestry. On the shoulders of a comely youth uprose the head and branching antlers of a stag; a second, human in all other points, had the grim visage of a wolf; a third, still with the trunk and limbs of a mortal man, showed the beard and horns of a venerable he-goat.” There is also Puritanical suppression and violence against the people of Merry Mount. Though this makes the Puritans look like the force of evil, the unnatural forced mania of the merrymakers, as well as their destruction of the natural world they claim to worship, is an eerie contradiction.2. “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1846
Poe is famous for many aspects of his life and writing, including his fondness for employing Gothic themes. These include large old houses or castles, the supernatural, and murder, all of which are romanticized for the ultimate dramatic terror experience for readers. This particular story is especially spooky, not only because the main character (Montresor) commits an odious crime against a friend (Fortunato, ironically), but because of the fact that the narrator is unreliable. The reader does not know how sane he is or exactly what his motives are. The result of the characters’ long trip into the decaying catacombs beneath Montresor’s castle is startling, mysterious, and horrifically contrasted against the carnival taking place above ground.
One chilling quote shows the mercilessness of the narrator: “A succession of loud and shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form, seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated, I trembled. … I reapproached the wall; I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did this, and the clamourer grew still.” That sounds like a jolly good time.
3.“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892
Though Gilman does not employ the supernatural in this story, it still never fails to send a chill up the spine. Another unreliable narrator, the main character is an imprisoned woman whose diary entries compose the entire story. The reader observes her tragic descent into madness at the hands of her husband (who means well) and an infamous, cruel doctor while she is being treated for postpartum nervousness and hysteria, both outdated sexist terms for possible mental illness (such as anxiety or depression) in women.
The narrator sees people and shapes in the chaotic, ugly pattern of the titular yellow wallpaper of her bedroom, and much of this imagery contributes to the horror of the story, such as in the following quote: “This paper looks to me as if it KNEW what a vicious influence it had! There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down.” Another contributor is the fact that it is based on real-world issues, such as sexism and mistreating mental illness. Such things are much scarier than ghosts.
4. “Jerusalem’s Lot” by Stephen King, 1978
This unsettling short story is somewhat reminiscent of Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" in being epistolary and various other points of style, but of course it has the King originality that no one else can match. It features a scary old house, mystery, superstition, an abandoned town, the occult, the undead, rats, a giant murderous worm, and (the worst of all) inbreeding.
King writes, “The far wall swung back, and from that darkness a face leered—a face with eyes as ebon as the Styx itself. Its mouth yawned in a toothless, agonized grin; one yellow, rotted hand stretched itself out to us. It made a hideous, mewling sound and took a shambling step forward.” King combines these spooky specters and others expertly under the nose of a skeptical narrator, creating dramatic irony. The reader knows the danger the main character is in long before he does, and the reader is helpless against the implication that it will start all over again with someone else in the last sentences of the story.
5. “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, 1915
Widely known as the best fiction story of the twentieth century, this creepy crawly tale (technically a novella) is truly one of a kind. It features a giant insect, the feeling of hopelessness, absolutely no control, intense sorrow, and the unexplained. The opening line is one of the most celebrated -- and controversial in its translation from German to English -- lines in fiction: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”
One of the most striking parts of the story, other than Gregor’s rather terrifying transformation, is his calm acceptance of his situation; his only fear is its negative effects on his career as a traveling salesman and its indecorum. Many of us can relate to similar unbalanced priorities. Poor Gregor also has to face alienation from his family, decay of mind and body, and vicious attacks against his wellbeing based on misunderstandings and an inability to communicate. This story is not only frightening but is also very stressful.
Expertly written pieces of literature, even those that do not actually fall into the realm of ghost stories, can frighten the pants off of even the bravest readers. Gore and thrills are not the only scary tropes that can be employed in horror. These stories get into the reader’s head and destroy their emotions. They certainly don’t make it easier to fall asleep at night, for one fears finding themselves walled in in a catacomb or waking up as a giant bug. Let the nightmares begin. Happy Halloween!
