Here in the northern hemisphere, the nights are getting longer, and the weather becomes colder. As October draws to a close, the unofficial holiday, Halloween (October 31) approaches. Around this time of year, people often like to read or watch scary or ghostly things.
Last month, the Library began its display of Horror Film Classics for the “Spooky Season”. But what about reading?
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) is a classic mid-20th century writer whose works often touched on the uncanny. Her The Haunting of Hillhouse is available in print in the Library’s collection (PS3519.A392 H3 1959) and in electronic format as public domain in Canada and Hong Kong from The Faded Page. It was also made into a film, called The Haunting (PN1997.A12 T865 2009 disc 1).
The opening paragraph is justly famous for being an almost perfect opening for a ghost story.
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions
of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to
dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding
darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for
eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors
were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against
the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
Want something short? Here are some scary short story collections.
Stephen King’s Night Shift (PS3561.I483 N54 1978) in the Library’s collection is a collection of short stories where something normal, like drinking a beer, or working a late shift in a factory has terrifying results.
Edgar Alan Poe (1809-1849)’s Fall of the House of Usher, can also be found in the Library’s collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s work (PS2602 .G35 1986). Or, read it in this collection of his works from Project Gutenberg, alongside The Masque of the Red Death and The Pit and the Pendulum.
Want more? Try searching PowerSearch for ghost stories or horror stories and find a wealth of books and stories to spook you!
Head (Research and Learning Support)
Victoria Caplan
lbcaplan@ust.hk
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