Reading List: Haunted Houses

September 16, 2016November 22, 2016The Narratologist

halloween-haunted-house-pictures-fine

I have set three ground rules for this list:

a. The horror is either supernatural or its precise nature is left open to interpretation – nothing clearly caused by people and their madness alone. This rules out works like A Rose for Emily, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Great Expectations, and The Yellow Wallpaper.

b. The story has to take place in an actual house; no Castle of Otranto or The Shining.

c. The house is the main setting of the story and/or the horror in question is tied to the house in some way.

Reading List: Labyrinths in Literature

March 6, 2016March 6, 2016The Narratologist

Original picture.

There is something about mazes and labyrinths that fascinates me – the sense of mystery while you’re solving a carefully constructed puzzle, the darkness enveloping you more and more as you wander its paths… And I am not alone in this. Many authors have used labyrinths as the setting for their stories, and some have taken it even one step further, creating abstract labyrinths that only exist in the mind.

Are you ready to get lost?

Follow me.