I wonder what it was like to read The Shining before Stanley Kubrick’s movie came out. Back when Wendy was still a fresh, flaxen-haired beauty (not Olive Oyl from Popeye) and Jack Torrance could be anyone other than JACK. King notoriously hates Kubrick’s movie with vociferous spite that lives on even after the director’s death. […]
ghost story
Review: Grave’s End – An Unembellished Truth
Despite owning a bookshelf filled with true ghost stories, this was my first encounter with Grave’s End by Elaine Mercado. It was a delightful surprise to read an honest, straightforward, clear-eyed account of living in a real haunted house. This book was a refreshing “palate cleanser” after the overcrowded, cloying mess from last week. The opening […]
Review: Nightmare House
Nightmare House was a pleasant surprise. Pleasurable, one might even say charming, because it’s an old-fashioned gothic ghost story filled with many elements I know and love—family secrets, hidden rooms, eerie apparitions, and hints of occult influence—all delivered in a smooth, accessible narrative. Surprising because this is the first novel in The Haunted reading list […]
Review: Ghost Story – A Tale of Two Readings
The movie version of Ghost Story (1981) made a pleasantly chilling impact on my psyche when I was a pre-teen. I’m not sure of the exact year, but I discovered the movie via HBO on a heat-soaked summer evening during a sleepover with my best friend. We were looking for a scary movie, but not […]
Review: The Haunting of Hill House – A Fresh Look at an Old Friend
This is the haunted house story I thought I knew. Four strangers converge on a notorious and isolated estate in order to witness, investigate, and analyze purported supernatural phenomena. The house itself, built at odd angles and witness to generations of tragedy, is a brooding and enigmatic fifth character. Strange occurrences happen. Things go bump […]