In Honor of Halloween . . .

 My semi-annual (as in when I remember to or when I have time) list of Top Ten Horror Stories You Should Read.

10. "The Quiet Boy" by Nick Antosca. Give this a read for free, you won't forget it. I came across this when I saw the trailer for Antlers, the upcoming Guillermo del Toro horror film. This is a modern update on the 'Wendigo" legend, and it's scary as hell. Great read.

9. "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs. This story was one I didn't read until Mr. Sorenson's English class, but for Halloween in fifth or sixth grade, Mr. Mueller showed us an old British film version of it (if anyone went to JA Hughes Elementary in RLF, it was on that big gray movie projector contraption that was on wheels. Man, the joy I felt whenever that came into the room. Good times!). The ending of this shocked me. As I sat in the classroom wondering what had just happened, I couldn't get one question out of my mind: "What was behind that door, pounding so furiously to get in?"

8. "Crouch End" by Stephen King. I just re-listened to this tale from the Great Stories podcast. One thing I admire about King at his best - and this is something he shares with another horror icon, Ray Bradbury, is his uncanny ability to take a seemingly normal event (in this case a couple searching for a friend's home in London) into a total supernatural event. The thing that is groaning behind the bush, the description of the creature under the bridge, the way the faces are in the tentacles . . . such amazing description and unease. This, of course, is a tribute to the amazing H.P. Lovecraft. Give this a listen. You won't regret it.

7. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This is a classic I read with my CC 1 class every year. They invariably miss out on so much on the initial read (which they do on their own), but then we listen to it and stop to analyze it a second time in class, and then the true horror of the story appears in full force. We even act out the final journal entry, and students never forget it. 

I tried reading this when I was younger, but just couldn't get into it. Then I had a conversation with two fellow English teachers while waiting for lunch when we were all in the MNHS MN history grant project. I asked them what was one story they couldn't teach without. Loiell Dyrud answered with "Hills Like White Elephants." I returned with "Young Goodman Brown." And Larry Barton offered, "The Yellow Wallpaper." So if it was that important to Larry, I had to read the damned thing. And it turns out, it's scary as hell. Once you let it all sink in.

6. "The Werewolf" by Tannith Lee. I've begun teaching this one in my Science Fiction II class at the ALC. In it, a young couple is walking in a rural park. The man takes note of the lack of animals and birds. Then he begins noticing random bones strewn across the park. Then they notice the huge gothic mansion that overlooks the park. It is then that he realizes a monster stalks the park at night. The rest of the story is his quest to rid the park of the werewolf. The story is subtle but excellent.

5. "N." by Stephen King. This is an ode to the incredible H.P. Lovecraft - whose work didn't make the cut of my top 13, but he'd have a lot in the top 50 for sure. This is "cosmic horror" at its finest. New to cosmic horror? Well, what that really postulates is that the are creatures (Lovecraft calls them the "elder gods") who are either banished to another dimension or reality who are always trying to find their way back in to our dimension to rule over us and wreak havoc. 

In King's story a poor accountant comes in to see a psychiatrist about his OCD. It's wearing on him and he is breaking down mentally. As their sessions continue, the doctor realizes the man's OCD is tied to a place, "Ackerman's Field" and some very strange stones there. Unfortunately, the man commits suicide. Worse than that, the doctor is compelled to visit "Ackerhman's Field" and see the stones himself . . . and what they keep at bay. Only now that the doctor has seen them, the thing that the stones keep at bay knows it can get back in, if the doctor doesn't hold up his end of the new bargain. Holding that up is the same thing that resulted in his patient's OCD and ultimate suicide. 

The mounting terror in this story is amazing. I also like to listen to this one once a year too.

4. A new entry on the list that I read last year during distance learning: "The Folding Man" by Joe R. Landsdale. This - like so many of Lansdale's works, starts off normal enough: three friends coming home from a Halloween party who happen upon several nuns in a big black car. Unfortunately, one of the friends tries to play a prank upon them, and it doesn't go well. Then it gets worse. Really worse. And when "The Folding Man" makes his appearance, well, that's when the fun starts. You won't forget this one!

3. "The Skin Trade" by George RR Martin. This is maybe the greatest werewolf story ever. Well, it's bit longer than a story. It's more like a novella, but regardless it's bloody and disgusting and just plain awesome. It's the story of a private detective, Randi Wade, and her friend, a collection agent, Willie Flamboux, who just so happens to be a werewolf. When Wade was just a child, her father, a police officer, was murdered - well, partially devoured too - in the line of duty by a large animal. An animal that took every shot from his police issued revolved too and kept on attacking him. What kind of animal could that possible be? Well, you know that.

Years and years later, Flamboux's lover is found murdered. Worse actually. She has been skinned alive. And her skin is still missing. Flamboux hires his good friend Wade to get to the bottom of it. 

Along the way, Wade discovers that Flamboux is a werewolf, why his lover has been skinned alive - and why other werewolves are being murdered and have their skins missing, and who really murdered her father.

It's a wild ride and one I like to retake at least once a year (usually in October when I'm mowing the lawn or raking leaves).

2. "Pig Blood Blues" by Clive Barker. This one is in Barker's iconic collection of horror stories, The Books of Blood. Here is a link to an analysis of it. In short, a ex-police officer takes a job as a teacher at is  a boys reformatory school. He becomes close with a student who claims the most outlandish things - the spirit of a dead boy has possessed a giant sow on the school grounds. As crazy as that sounds, that is just the tip of the ice berg in this classic. What I recall most vividly is the build up of tension and dread and the sheer atmosphere of unease that Barker weaves throughout his tale. And the ending . . . Well, that's the best part!

1. "The Pattern" by Ramsey Campbell. This is from Campbell's amazing collection Dark Companions. I also found it in one of my very favorite horror anthologies: My Favorite Horror Story. It is the pinnacle of what makes a great horror story. It has a slow (but not too slow) build. What makes the slow build so incredible is the impending sense of doom and tragedy. When it finally hits, well, I've read the ending about 100 times now, and I'm still trying to figure it all out.

"The Pattern" is about an English couple (she is a painter and he is a writer) who rent a small rural cottage for the summer in the country. Only they randomly begin to hear a scream echo throughout the forest. The husband, intrigued, begins to research the area - and its dark, Druid history - only to realize that the area where they are staying has a tragic history of brutal deaths. When he finally connects all the dots, he realizes the echo of a scream isn't random. It forms a pattern (hence the title). When he rushes home to ensure that his wife is safe, he realizes the scream he has been hearing is his own. I'll leave it at that. It's amazing!