Tag Archives: horror

Review of “The Listener” by Algernon Blackwood: Halloween Countdown

For October 17 Plot: In a series of diary entries, the unnamed narrator tells the reader how he took new rooms in a less-then-affluent part of town. The lodgings lack “modern conveniences,” presumably running water and electricity. He’s a writer with several irons in the fire, and—whaddya know—he’s poor. Not that he had to be.Continue reading “Review of “The Listener” by Algernon Blackwood: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Horla” by Guy de Maupassant: Halloween Countdown

For October 15 Plot:The story is presented in a series of journal entries. Things start happily. The narrator appears wealthy enough to have servants and something of an estate. He contemplates the invisible though our are senses too poor to perceive it: “we can see neither the inhabitants of a star nor of a dropContinue reading “Review of “The Horla” by Guy de Maupassant: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen: Halloween Countdown

For October 14 Plot: Dr. Raymond wants to show his friend Clarke his new method of seeing “beyond the veil.” The physical world as we know it is an illusion, but with a little bit of brain surgery, one can see reality, or as he claims the ancients referred to it, “seeing the god Pan.”Continue reading “Review of “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Gorgon” by Clark Ashton Smith: Halloween Countdown

For October 13 Plot: Traveling after the death of the only woman he loved, the grieving main character in this short tale comes across an odd character in the crowded streets of London. The old man reminds him of Charon, ferrying souls to the Underworld. The modern-day Charon locks eyes with him. “I can seeContinue reading “Review of “The Gorgon” by Clark Ashton Smith: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe: Halloween Countdown

For October 12 Plot: The unnamed narrator arrives at the home of a childhood friend, Roderick Usher, after receiving a letter requesting that he come and cheer the friend up. Usher is not well and appears anxious and depressed. The narrator’s first glance of the house is dispiriting. It is old and covered with mossContinue reading “Review of “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Face” by E. F. Benson: Halloween Countdown

For October 11 Plot:Hester Ward is a happily married mother of two small children. Still young, she’s good-looking (and aware of it), healthy, and prosperous. Yet after a dream like those she had when she was younger, she senses catastrophe approaching. She sees no point in telling her husband, Dick, about anything so silly. TheyContinue reading “Review of “The Face” by E. F. Benson: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Feast at the Abbey” by Robert Bloch: Halloween Countdown

For October 7 Plot: Traveling through a forest to meet his brother, the narrator is caught in a storm and takes refuge in a monastery he happens across. A short, rotund abbot admits him and summons two servants (whom he refers to with the unfortunate term “blackamoors”) dressed in “great baggy trousers of red velvetContinue reading “Review of “The Feast at the Abbey” by Robert Bloch: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft: Halloween Countdown

For October 6 Plot:While going through the effects of his late uncle, George Gammell Angell, professor emeritus of languages at Brown University, Francis Wayland Thurston discovers a small bas-relief depicting a creature, an amalgam of “an octopus, a dragon, and a human.” He further describes it: “A pulpy tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scalyContinue reading “Review of “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Burned House” by Vincent O’Sullivan: Halloween Countdown

For October 5 Plot: Aboard a ship crossing the Atlantic, the narrator hears other passengers discuss being (maybe) over the spot where the Lusitania went down, which leads to a discussion of death by drowning and a discussion of ghosts, which in turn leads to laughter. One passenger, a man from Fall River (MA?), doesContinue reading “Review of “The Burned House” by Vincent O’Sullivan: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner: Halloween Countdown

For October 1: Plot:Old Masson became the caretaker of one of Salem’s oldest and most neglected cemeteries after the former caretaker inexplicably disappeared. Generations ago, abnormally large rats migrated up to the burial ground from the wharves. Masson decided they had to go, but the usual measures failed. Every so often, the gravediggers uncover theirContinue reading “Review of “The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner: Halloween Countdown”