Horror in Literature, Day 1

“THE OLDEST and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. These facts few psychologists will dispute, and their admitted truth must establish for all time the genuineness and dignity of the weirdly horrible tale as a literary form."

-H.P. Lovecraft, taken from  his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature"


Most of you have an idea of what makes a horror story horrifying. In your small groups, develop ONE list that contains characteristics or common  patterns among horror stories you've encountered.

Mini-lesson: Strategies for figuring out challenging words.

1. Replace the word in question with another word that fits the context (think of a possible synonym)
2. Read a little before the tough word, and then a couple lines after. This will give you a clearer sense of what the author is saying, perhaps to the point where you can guess what the unknown word means.
3. Study the parts of the word. Perhaps you recognize a root or prefix. Or think of words you do know that have the same root words. For example, you may not know what the word benefactor means, but you do know that the word benefit means something that is good or supportive. Therefore, you can deduce that a benefactor may be a person who supports someone or something.
4. Word charge: given the context, does the word sound like a positive word or a negative word?
5. If all else fails, look it up, either in a dictionary (which I have plenty of) or type it into Google.

Then what? Try to use that new word in conversation, even if it's just to be funny! That's the only way we build vocabulary--to actually use the words we learn!

Expert in role: Psychologists  

"Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale: Why are we reading a fairy tale if we are studying horror stories? I'll let you, the well-respected psychologists, answer that question.


1. Using your list that you composed at the beginning of class, take note of any moment from the story that relates to one of your items.

2. Then, as psychologists, write several reasons for why humans (or more specifically, children) have a deep interest in this story. Think about it: how could there not be a deep fascination, considering that it was orally told for possibly hundreds of years before being recorded in 1812, and that it is still told today! This is a 500 year old story that most people are familiar with. Impressive, right? So why are people so interested in a story about two innocent children encountering a cannibalistic witch in the woods?

HW: Finish "Hansel and Gretel" (click here) Complete #2 in your journals. This will be checked tomorrow.