Aaron Bennett
10-5-‘00
Multiform Bibliography
This bibliography has been assembled in order to better facilitate the teaching of a unit on horror fiction in a High School English class.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. One of the all time classics of horror literature. This text is nice as I could tie it into many films/art/other novels.
Wollenstoneraft-Shelly, Mary. The Modern Prometheus. 1817. Another classic horror novel. I could use this one to delve into what we think of as a monster. Is Dr. Frankenstein the real monster or is his creation?
Lovecraft, H.P.. “Shadow Out of Time”. This is one of Lovecraft’s best short stories. He is great at bringing science and the analytical mind into the horror genre. This would be good for the students who like science and cannot relate to too much mystical magic and un provable events.
Poe, Edgar Allen. “Tell-Tale heart”, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. 1838. Poe is the king of horror. His stories are nice because they are short and still thought provoking. This one shows the inner workings of madness, this provides the students with a better perspective on the story and others.
Irving, Washington. “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. A great short story that is easily accessible. I could bring it in for Halloween and then let the students watch the cartoon movie. That could bring up the differences in the media of expression.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. I could use this short story to showcase the problems that can come from mass rule. This could lead to discussions on traditions and the evils following the crowd.
King, Stephen. The Shining A family is trapped in a haunted resort during the Winter. I could use this as a more modern text if I thought that the students could not relate to the older texts.
Victor, Hugo. The Hunch-back of Notre Dame. 1831. This could bring up the treatment of those different than ourselves. What determines if a person is a monster? Is it outward appearance or inward?
“The Vampyre” John Polidori This is a great short story that introduced the world to the vampire as we know it today. I could have the students read this before Dracula, or before watching a Dracula movie.
Jacobs, W.W. “Monkey's Paw”. The monkey’s paw will grant you wishes, just be careful what you ask for. This is a nice short story that could introduce the genre. This would be a nice way to introduce the use of magic and fantasy in horror fiction. http://www.litrix.com/monkypaw/monky001.htm
Stephenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. 1886. Dr Jekyll discovers a potion to release his evil side (Mr. Hyde). This is a great novel to show the monster within us all. It can also be used to show the evil of science without morality.
King, Stephen. Danse Macabre 1978. The true life history of the Manson family. Charles Manson created a cult that explored drug use and free sex; it culminated in the “Sharon Tate” murders and subsequent trial. This could help kids realize the atrocities in real life. We could explore how fiction and fact affect each other.
Porter, Ray. “The Historical Dracula: Vlad III Tepes (1431-1476)”. April 30 1992. I could use this to show how writers take a historical character and change it into a fictional one. http://www.nat.vu.nl/~radu/vlad.html
Lovecraft, H.P. Supernatural Horror in Literature. This is a great resource. It chronicles the genre from its beginnings to the 30’s. The bible of horror literature. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5582/shil_lnk.html
Jones, Stephan; Kim Newman. Horror 100 Best Books. In these days of lists, you cannot escape the 100 best of horror. It is a great book where famous authors critique other authors works. Students can find out what others thought of the books they are reading.
“A List of Classic Fantastic Fiction”. http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/5582/authors.html This is a comprehensive list of fantastic fiction until 1960. There are links for kids to follow to find out more about a text, or to find the online text. This would be great for book reports where students pick a book in the genre.
Fairclough, Andy. “Andy Fairclough’s All Time Top 100 Horror Novels. Aug. 1999. http://members.aol.com/andyfair/novels.html This is a great place to find out about more modern texts. Books are ranked and many are critiqued. This would also help students pick a book for a report.
VanDoren Stern, Philip. “Opinions of Edgar Allen Poe”, Portable Poe. Penguin Books. 1977. New York, NY. This is an excellent window into what Poe’s views were on what the genre should be and attempt to do. Poe invented the short story as we know it today, and reinvented the horror genre. What better place to learn about it than from his own words.
Nilsson, Christoffer. “The Poe Decoder”. March 5, 2000. Essays on Poe’s works by qualified authors. This would be a great resource for students writing papers or just to get a better grasp on the works. http://www.poedecoder.com/
Bloch, Robert. “Poe & Lovecraft” Ambrosia. No. 2 (Aug.1973). The author of Psycho compares the two masters of the genre. A great resource for a comparison paper or to gain insight into why they are so highly regarded. http://www.creative.net/~alang/lit/horror/bloch.sht
Lesesne, Teri S. “Forming Connections and Awakening Visions: Using Short Story Collections in the Classroom”. 2000. This is a great resource for teachers who want to use short stories in the classroom. It gives many good ideas and links. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/spring94/Lesesne.html
Murnau, F.W.. “Nosferatu”. 1922. The first and one of the best adaptations of Dracula. A great tool to see how interpretations and medium shape a work.
Ford-Coppola, Francis. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” 1992. Probably the most accurate representation of the novel. This would be great to show after the students had read the book. It is recent and well done so the students are more apt to be interested.
Hooper, Tobe. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. 1974. Vortex Inc. One of the first and best slasher type horror films. This could be used to show the “blood and guts” approach to horror.
Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street movies Show the emergence of the 80’s slasher type horror movies. This might be for a fun day that could get them interested in the genre and talking/analyzing it.
Hitchock, Alfred. “Psycho”. 1960. This is a good movie to show the difference between horror and suspense. No violence is actually depicted, but it is still horror. A young man does everything he can to please his mother, even if she is mummified in the basement. I could have the students read part or the whole of Robert Bloch’s novel as well.
Hitchock, Alfred. “The Birds” 1960. This is another great suspense thriller about birds who attack people. This could be used to show the horror from man versus nature.
Wiene, Robert. “Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari). 1919. The first film version of the vampire. It might be interesting to see the progression of the myth through the medium. I might show or read an Anne Rice novel after this to show the changes the myth has gone through. Info at: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/9078/cindex.htm
Julian, Rupert. “Phantom of the Oprah”. 1925. The version starring Lon Chaney. A man sells his soul in order to sing. As a result he becomes a monster. Is it because of the outward or inner change? This is an excellent version that remains close to the original novel by Gaston Leroux.
Sterling, Rod. Twilight Zone Episodes. 1959-1965. Stories of the strange and unusual, mostly with a supernatural twist. Site to buy the videos: http://www.classic-tv.com/tvstore/videos.html#twilightzone
de Goya, Francisco. The “Black Paintings”. Paintings Goya did in the later part of his life. They illustrate some famous dark or horrifying events and works of literature. http://www.artchive.com/goya.html
Darker Image. Free goth themed images for use on the net. These images might be nice a nice addition to a class website. http://members.aol.com/graaargh/darkerimage.html
Monolith Graphics. Goth posters that could be used to decorate the classroom to get the students in the mood for the unit. There are lots of gargoyles, vampires, etc. This site also has a great calendar that I might put up in my classroom. http://www.monolithgraphics.com/
Goblin Design. This is a website that has many paintings from classic and modern horror or fantasy artists. The art is mainly Germanic in origin or influence. It is arranged by artist for easy accessibility. These would be great for posters in the classroom. Many paintings illustrate texts we would read, or are interesting in their own right. http://www.goblindesign.com/tome/gallery_past.htm
Gorey, Edward. “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”. This is a kind of funny look at little kids who died in humorous ways told in classic cartoon styling. It can show that you can laugh at fiction, even if the topic would be horrible in real life. It is also just a fun piece to bring in and the students will like it.
Barker, Clive. http://www.Clivebarker.com/html/visions/gallery/gall.html Clive Barker’s official website. Clive Barker is one of the modern kings of horror. He provides many illustrations for his own work. That provides more insight into the author’s mind and might be good if the students read any of his works.
A chronological map of famous pieces in horror literature. I could put little pics next to really important ones to make the presentation look a little more lively. This is something that would give the students a better view of the background to the genre. Made from p. 249 of Horror 100 Best Books.
Dürer, Albrecht. “The Knight, Death, and the Devil”. Art Inst. of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection. This is a great gothic painting. Randall Jarrell (1914-1965) wrote a poem of the same name about this painting. I could have students read that and look at the painting, then have them write their own poetry about a different painting. http://www.geocities.com/~eweil/durerus/den/w3.html
Holbien, Hans. "Les simulachres & historiees faces de la mort". 1538. Holbien did many woodcuts of macabre plague scenes and other such topics. This would be a great slide show to show classic gothic illustrations. Some examples may be found at: http://www.image.pe.ca/woodcut/holbien.html
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Theme song (Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette"). This can be used to show how we associate songs with feelings because of past experiences. The song itself is not scary, but people associate it with the series so it invokes feelings. Series website (with download): http://www.primenet.com/~mwc/tvhitch.html
Twilight Zone Theme song. This can be used in much the same way as the Hitchcock song. This one is more of an intro into the show. Midi download: http://www.classic-tv.com/shows/twilightzone.html
Williams, John. “Jaws” theme. The Burbank Studios. Recording Engineer- John Neal. This song invokes fear. We can talk in class about how certain notes, meter, etc, can make you feel a certain way. This could work well with a section on poetry as those same issues are present.
The Doors. “People are Strange”, Strange Days. 1967. This song shows the mood that can be set from the key (All minor keys), the instruments, and other factors. It is a dark song about a dark topic. This might also be a good time to discuss drug use in art.
Orff, Carl. Carmina Burana. This is a medieval set of songs. I would probably play “O Fortuna” as it sounds more ominous. I could take the students on a field trip to hear it or bring a CD. I picked Orff’s version because it is readily available in any music store and is the most popular. Check: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/orff-cb/carbur9.html#rec1 for reviews of performances/CDs.
Prokofiev, Sergei. “Peter and the Wolf”. Every instrument represents a different character in this song. I could bring in the Disney cartoon movie that goes along with it to make it more real in the minds of the students. It can show how a story may be told using a different medium than they are used to.
Lloyd Webber, Andrew. “Phantom of the Opera” soundtrack. This is another great mood setter. These songs tell the story nicely. I could use this with the film or novel. The CD is available at any record store.
Cooper, Alice. “He's Back” (The Man Behind The Mask). From Constrictor. 1986. This is a great horror song from one of the Friday the 13th movies. It tells the story and sets a dark, menacing mood.
McMann, Gerard. “Cry Little Sister”. 1987. Lost Boys soundtrack. This is a cool mood setting song. It is a sad dirge with 80’s styling. I might show the clip from “The Lost Boys” with the song in it as the cinematography adds to the song. Lyrics at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/5443/cry.html
The Haunting Hour “Case of the Lonesome Corpse”. 1990. NBC. (1991 Metacom Inc.) This is a radio broadcast in the Golden Age Radio series. Tapes can be obtained from Metacom Inc./5353Nathan Lane/Plymouth, MN 55442. This would be an interesting medium for the students to hear. They can hear how a story is presented using only one of the senses (hearing).
