Horror Stories reflect Childhood Memories. Discuss
Refer to the text for evidence.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Discussion Question 1
What is it about old houses that stirs the imagination?
Refer to the text for examples.
Refer to the text for examples.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Staircase
The Staircase
THEMES
Macabre (Horror/ Mystery/ Fear)
- The staircase
- The sister's
- The house
- How the sister's died
- That the people died a couple of days after they saw the staircases
Supernatural
- the girls in the house
- the house
- the fact that people who see the staircase die soon after
- the staircase itself
Mental Illness.
- the girl that walked in front of the car. She wore black and was plump like the sisters
History/ Memories
- the house burnt down
- When the house burnt down and the staircase was the last to burn. The sisters were seen walking up and down it with no expressions on their faces.
- Every person who sees the staircase, dies within a couple of days.
Houses- Old and Dark
- dark
- old
-creepy
- the staircase was always on fire.
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in the staircase
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
THEMES
Macabre (Horror/ Mystery/ Fear)
- The staircase
- The sister's
- The house
- How the sister's died
- That the people died a couple of days after they saw the staircases
Supernatural
- the girls in the house
- the house
- the fact that people who see the staircase die soon after
- the staircase itself
Mental Illness.
- the girl that walked in front of the car. She wore black and was plump like the sisters
History/ Memories
- the house burnt down
- When the house burnt down and the staircase was the last to burn. The sisters were seen walking up and down it with no expressions on their faces.
- Every person who sees the staircase, dies within a couple of days.
Houses- Old and Dark
- dark
- old
-creepy
- the staircase was always on fire.
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in the staircase
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
The Cat and the Crow
The Cat and the Crow
THEMES
Macabre (horror/mystery/scary)
- "entering his body and trying to steal his soul"
- "He could hardly return to his bed, filled with the fear of his brother and the guilt which hounded him with that most unsettling of thoughts- that Stefan's nagging accusations were true"
- "I'm back, David. Back to divide up our body once more. I want my turn" p 209
- "Though he could not deel no change with his fingers, he imagined it was opening like a zipper"
- The appearance of the black crow
- It wanting his life
- getting in his head and talking to him.
Houses- Old and Dark
- David's bedroom window, drawing an immediate and irresistable sense of dread over him
- David broke away from the window and stumbled through the room, tripping over clothes and books by his bed until he fell in the darkness.
- The crow would come to his window when the house was dark.
- He was trapped in his house it was the only safe place away from the crow.
History/ Memories
- "five months after this article appeared, Stefan had died" p206
- The magazine article with its faded pictures. Dr Gordon decided to make the incision close to Stefan's heart and leave the small flap of tissue joined to David's where it would eventually become part of his heart" p212-213
- memories of his dead brother.
Supernatural/ Mental Illness
- "the voice was now inside his very body. He was one with his brother once more" p219
- "The bosy rose from the bed, stepped to the cupboard" p215
-" predator and prey were only metre apart now" p216
- he heard voices, thinking they were coming from his dead brother
- the spirit of his brother entered his body and took his conscience.
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in the Cat and the Crow
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
THEMES
Macabre (horror/mystery/scary)
- "entering his body and trying to steal his soul"
- "He could hardly return to his bed, filled with the fear of his brother and the guilt which hounded him with that most unsettling of thoughts- that Stefan's nagging accusations were true"
- "I'm back, David. Back to divide up our body once more. I want my turn" p 209
- "Though he could not deel no change with his fingers, he imagined it was opening like a zipper"
- The appearance of the black crow
- It wanting his life
- getting in his head and talking to him.
Houses- Old and Dark
- David's bedroom window, drawing an immediate and irresistable sense of dread over him
- David broke away from the window and stumbled through the room, tripping over clothes and books by his bed until he fell in the darkness.
- The crow would come to his window when the house was dark.
- He was trapped in his house it was the only safe place away from the crow.
History/ Memories
- "five months after this article appeared, Stefan had died" p206
- The magazine article with its faded pictures. Dr Gordon decided to make the incision close to Stefan's heart and leave the small flap of tissue joined to David's where it would eventually become part of his heart" p212-213
- memories of his dead brother.
Supernatural/ Mental Illness
- "the voice was now inside his very body. He was one with his brother once more" p219
- "The bosy rose from the bed, stepped to the cupboard" p215
-" predator and prey were only metre apart now" p216
- he heard voices, thinking they were coming from his dead brother
- the spirit of his brother entered his body and took his conscience.
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in the Cat and the Crow
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
Beyond Night
History/ Memories
- Talks about his mother's past life before she dies
- In every room there is a past memory
'She would sit for hours by her bed bent over a Yiddish book that she glanced at from time to time"
- Found her handbags and looked back into her past.
"her handbags were old, frayed and bloated with mysteries. Within them I was to recover, on this night of mourning, the maps of her heart, the essence of her obsession, the source of her pain; just as I had as a child, discovered the street of Vilna within her beloved photo album"
Horror/ Mystery. Macarbe
- The mothers fear for her family: " i could have done more to save them" she repeated again and again the same refrain.
The mothers child looks for answers to her mystery. They find the answers when they go through the handbags " I reached out for the frayed handbags and one by one for the first time , I examined their contents.
The horror is what happened to the mother "like a storim she would erupt and for hours she would weep"
Supernatural and mental illness
- The mother develops a mental illness after thinking about her family too much and begins to become obsessed with getting them out of Vilna
-"i could've done more" expresses her obsession with getting her family out of Vilna
-"she sat in the back room for hours reading a giddish book" because she is isolating herself because of her guilt.
Houses
"to the darker recesses of the house"
The house was dark and the old lady preferred to live in a dark bare house
The back room in her house was where she would sit and sleep all night "she sat in her back room for hours"
"And I often wondered, why did she prefer such a dark and bare room"
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in Beyond Night
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
- Talks about his mother's past life before she dies
- In every room there is a past memory
'She would sit for hours by her bed bent over a Yiddish book that she glanced at from time to time"
- Found her handbags and looked back into her past.
"her handbags were old, frayed and bloated with mysteries. Within them I was to recover, on this night of mourning, the maps of her heart, the essence of her obsession, the source of her pain; just as I had as a child, discovered the street of Vilna within her beloved photo album"
Horror/ Mystery. Macarbe
- The mothers fear for her family: " i could have done more to save them" she repeated again and again the same refrain.
The mothers child looks for answers to her mystery. They find the answers when they go through the handbags " I reached out for the frayed handbags and one by one for the first time , I examined their contents.
The horror is what happened to the mother "like a storim she would erupt and for hours she would weep"
Supernatural and mental illness
- The mother develops a mental illness after thinking about her family too much and begins to become obsessed with getting them out of Vilna
-"i could've done more" expresses her obsession with getting her family out of Vilna
-"she sat in the back room for hours reading a giddish book" because she is isolating herself because of her guilt.
Houses
"to the darker recesses of the house"
The house was dark and the old lady preferred to live in a dark bare house
The back room in her house was where she would sit and sleep all night "she sat in her back room for hours"
"And I often wondered, why did she prefer such a dark and bare room"
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in Beyond Night
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
The Dog at the Door
The Dog at the Door
THEMES: House- old/dark
-"Beyond the tangled shrubs the streetlamps cast a faint light, but the old house at the end of the cul-de-sac was always overhung with darkness"
-"Even in the day time the huge trees around it-camphor laurel and pittosporum- kept it dim and gloomy, hidden from the sun"
-"the kitchen door closed and the lights went out. He could imagine him walking down the passageway to her bedroom"
Supernatural/ Mental Illness
- The old woman seems to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)"The bedroom light went on. She'd be tucking her hot water bottle in side the bed. Then she checked all the doors again, even though she'd already checked them several times that evening- the Yale lock, the mortice, the bolts, all the windows. Then she'd check all the electric switches, unplug the television set, lift the phone to make sure it hadn't been cut off since it hadn't rang all day"
- The Man/ Stalker- " Instead of giving herself all those airs when she was a kid, playing the violin and spouting poetry, she should have been learning how to look after a place"
Macabre (Horror/ Mystery/ Fear)
- "He likes her fear, he liked to make her afraid"
- "When he heard her get out of bed he slipped back into the shadows. He knew what she would do: peer out through the window, whisper, who's there?, trying to keep the fear out of her voice, then would go back to bed waiting for him to ring again"
History/ Memories
- "She had been fearless as a girl. but old age and loneliness had undone all of that."
- "They always barked if they heard anyone outside. The memory made her chuckle"
- she was stalked for years
- "I'd better let Shadow out before father hears him."
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in The Dog at the Door
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
THEMES: House- old/dark
-"Beyond the tangled shrubs the streetlamps cast a faint light, but the old house at the end of the cul-de-sac was always overhung with darkness"
-"Even in the day time the huge trees around it-camphor laurel and pittosporum- kept it dim and gloomy, hidden from the sun"
-"the kitchen door closed and the lights went out. He could imagine him walking down the passageway to her bedroom"
Supernatural/ Mental Illness
- The old woman seems to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)"The bedroom light went on. She'd be tucking her hot water bottle in side the bed. Then she checked all the doors again, even though she'd already checked them several times that evening- the Yale lock, the mortice, the bolts, all the windows. Then she'd check all the electric switches, unplug the television set, lift the phone to make sure it hadn't been cut off since it hadn't rang all day"
- The Man/ Stalker- " Instead of giving herself all those airs when she was a kid, playing the violin and spouting poetry, she should have been learning how to look after a place"
Macabre (Horror/ Mystery/ Fear)
- "He likes her fear, he liked to make her afraid"
- "When he heard her get out of bed he slipped back into the shadows. He knew what she would do: peer out through the window, whisper, who's there?, trying to keep the fear out of her voice, then would go back to bed waiting for him to ring again"
History/ Memories
- "She had been fearless as a girl. but old age and loneliness had undone all of that."
- "They always barked if they heard anyone outside. The memory made her chuckle"
- she was stalked for years
- "I'd better let Shadow out before father hears him."
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think
in The Dog at the Door
Is there anything similar about this short story and other's within Dark House?
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Princess in the Tower
Notes on Princess in the Tower
THE PRINCESS IN THE TOWER- Jenny Pausacker
• Ginny is scared of the dark- “But I was never scared on nights when my father came to tell me a story”
• Very descriptive- draws story out
• Metaphors- “a tree whose leaves were small pointed flames” p26.
• Similes- “sailing across the sky like a cloud” p30
• Names of authors of books she reads all thriller/ horror
• “No I won’t.. not tonight” – confident her father will come back
• There is a hint that he is dead- ‘wondered whether my father would come back to continue my bedtime story” – in macabre there is a lot of questioning and hints to the real truth
• “… and it’s not as if I know anyone who’s buried there”- denial
• Mum doesn’t understand her
• Long winded sentences build suspense
• P37- Ginny description of her life other than nightmares and bedtimes stories is blunt and short- unimportant- boring
• Repetition p39- exaggerates
• Climax is right at the end- builds suspense
• No resolution she is still searching for her dad who died 2 and a ½ years ago.
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think?
in the Princess in the Tower
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
THE PRINCESS IN THE TOWER- Jenny Pausacker
• Ginny is scared of the dark- “But I was never scared on nights when my father came to tell me a story”
• Very descriptive- draws story out
• Metaphors- “a tree whose leaves were small pointed flames” p26.
• Similes- “sailing across the sky like a cloud” p30
• Names of authors of books she reads all thriller/ horror
• “No I won’t.. not tonight” – confident her father will come back
• There is a hint that he is dead- ‘wondered whether my father would come back to continue my bedtime story” – in macabre there is a lot of questioning and hints to the real truth
• “… and it’s not as if I know anyone who’s buried there”- denial
• Mum doesn’t understand her
• Long winded sentences build suspense
• P37- Ginny description of her life other than nightmares and bedtimes stories is blunt and short- unimportant- boring
• Repetition p39- exaggerates
• Climax is right at the end- builds suspense
• No resolution she is still searching for her dad who died 2 and a ½ years ago.
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think?
in the Princess in the Tower
what are the characters afraid of?
how is fear created in this short story?
how do the characters deal with fear?
WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS POSED?
Album
Supernatural/ Mental Illness
Andrew has dreams about a girl called kate. he can talk to her in these dreams, as well as her friends. Andrew sees Mr Meredith die in one of these dreams.
Andrew sounds like he has a mental illness because after everything that went bad in his dreams, after reading the album, he can't get to sleep and he thinks that people are out to get him.
Houses
'Mr Meredith lived in an old house, more of a cottage really"
"Solitary dark house"
They don't want Andrew to go to the house
"verandah of the dark house"
"left the front door open"
"There was only one door, with a window on each side"
"They were all open but it was dark inside"
"Climb over the window sill
"next time you shall see inside"
History/ Memories
"Memories of what Andrew's fatehr used to say to him "Andrew, my boy"
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think?
1 WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DARK HOUSE?
2. DID THE ALBUM HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH MR MEREDITHS DEATH?
3. WHAT DID THE ALBUM ACTUALLY DO?
4. WHAT DID MR MEREDITH TELL THE KIDS TO GET RID OF?
Andrew has dreams about a girl called kate. he can talk to her in these dreams, as well as her friends. Andrew sees Mr Meredith die in one of these dreams.
Andrew sounds like he has a mental illness because after everything that went bad in his dreams, after reading the album, he can't get to sleep and he thinks that people are out to get him.
Houses
'Mr Meredith lived in an old house, more of a cottage really"
"Solitary dark house"
They don't want Andrew to go to the house
"verandah of the dark house"
"left the front door open"
"There was only one door, with a window on each side"
"They were all open but it was dark inside"
"Climb over the window sill
"next time you shall see inside"
History/ Memories
"Memories of what Andrew's fatehr used to say to him "Andrew, my boy"
Please comment on this blog about the:
Plot
Character
Themes
Quotes
Meaning- what does the writer want you to think?
1 WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DARK HOUSE?
2. DID THE ALBUM HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH MR MEREDITHS DEATH?
3. WHAT DID THE ALBUM ACTUALLY DO?
4. WHAT DID MR MEREDITH TELL THE KIDS TO GET RID OF?
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