This may sound silly but I believe you aren't a true fan of Hallowe'en unless you stay up really late, turn out all the nights except one, plop yourself down into an old chair right next to a window - preferably one straining to hold back a wailing wind, and read one of the most famous horror stories of all time.
What is it? Oh, do not ask, dear readers.....it is too frightening to mention by name. Everyone has heard it before, though, and now is the time to shudder over it again.
Just click on this link to read it...and pleasant dreams....heh, heh, heh....
Comments
Saki's The Open Window is a nice Halloween story -- when I read this as a child, I freaked out like Mr. Nuttel before I got to the end. The image of the hunters returning haunted my dreams for years. Now I think it's hilarious. For me, this story captures the fun and creative aspect of Halloween frights.
Ambrose Bierce's The Death of Halpin Fraser is not as well known as some of his other stories, but it's one of the grimmest, ghastliest things I've ever read, and may well be the first "zombie story," although the word "zombie" wasn't used in English at the time. It's the first story in his collection, Can Such Things Be?
Posted by: HP | October 30, 2006 1:57 PM
I absolutely love that story!
Were my youngest a bit older, I'd make them listen as I read it... Bside a fire, under candle-light. (insert evil laugh here)
Posted by: Geordon | October 31, 2006 12:44 AM