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Sea Oak by George Saunders Short Story Analysis
“Sea Oak” is a satirical, supernatural short story by American author George Saunders. Read it in the December 20, 1998 edition of The New Yorker.
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The Apple Tree by Daphne du Maurier Short Story Analysis
“The Apple Tree” is a long short story by British author Daphne du Maurier, better known for “The Birds” and Rebecca. But who doesn’t like a Christmas ghost story? There’s not much ‘Christmassy’ about it if, by Christmassy, you think family, fun and celebration of Christ. Nope, this is a revenge tale. This is “Rip […]
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The Ways Of Ghosts (An Arrest) by Ambrose Bierce Short Story Analysis
“The Ways Of Ghosts”, also called “An Arrest”, is a very short ghost story by American writer Ambrose Bierce, first published in October 1905. Perfect for a 1905 Hallowe’en?
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Loneliness by Bruno Schulz Short Story Analysis
“Loneliness” is a (very) short story by Polish Jewish writer Bruno Schulz, translated into English by Celina Wieniewska and published in The New Yorker in 1977. Although the story appeared to English audiences in 1977, long after WW2, Bruno Schulz lived from 1892-1942. This story appeared in one of Bruno Schulz’s two short story collections, published 1937.
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Open House on Haunted Hill by John Wiswell Short Story Analysis
“Open House on Haunted Hill” is a Nebula Award winning short (ghost?) story by John Wiswell, published in 2020. I’ve recently immersed myself in ghost stories from the 18- and 1900s. But how does one go about writing a contemporary ghost story? Listen to this story read by Levar Burton on the Levar Burton Reads […]
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The Signal-man by Charles Dickens Short Story Analysis
“The Signal-man” (1866) is a ghost story by iconic English author Charles Dickens. If you’ve ever fantasised about leaving your open office or customer service job to work alone in a tiny box in the middle of nowhere, unbothered and free to get on with your straight-forward but very necessary job, this might be the […]
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The Tricksters by Margaret Mahy Young Adult Novel Study
The Tricksters is a young adult novel by New Zealand author Margaret Mahy, first published in 1986. Mahy wrote many stories for children, but The Tricksters seems to be one frequently talked about in scholarship circles, alongside The Changeover and The Haunting, which both won The Carnegie Medal. The Tricksters is a rare example of the new female mythic form,…
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A Glossary of Genie and Djinn Words
Abu Al-Jann Father of the Jann. Aforetime God said he created the djinn ‘aforetime’. Stories of the djinn predate the Quran. The concept of the djinn is ancient. Aladdin Disney’s Aladdin is a presentation of a stereotypical genie as we view them in the West. Aladd in is only loosely based on the folklore of […]
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The Widow’s Broom by Chris Van Allsburg Picturebook Analysis
“The Widow’s Broom” is a 1992 picture book by American author illustrator Chris Van Allsburg. Like many of Van Allsburg’s books, this one remains popular with teachers, partly because this is a storyteller who requires the reader to do a little work. Students can practise their inference skills in class. Like all good stories which […]
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Creepy Blue and Black Illustrations
Haunted Houseful is an Alfred Hitchcock collection of stories published in 1961. Fred Banbery (1913-1999) created these very nice illustrations. From what I can gather, the illustrations don’t match the stories especially well, but they would work very well as creative writing inspo. (For instance: Write Your Own Urban Legend.) OTHER ATMOSPHERIC USE OF BLUE […]
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In A Dark, Dark Room And Other Scary Stories
In A Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories written by Alvin Schwartz was first published in 1971 for emergent readers ready for scary… but not too scary. I recently looked closely at a modern picture book called Creepy Carrots, another excellent example of a ‘scary’ story perfectly pitched at 4-6 year olds. This collection […]
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Illustrating Ghosts
The day before the examination my father took me out for ice cream. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d done something together, just the two of us. He was always working, gone before the sun rose, sometimes not making it home at all, opting to sleep in the dorms at army headquarters. Like a […]
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Man-Size In Marble by Edith Nesbit Analysis
“Man-Size in Marble” (1893) is a gothic short story by Edith Nesbit. You can read it at Project Gutenberg, as part of Nesbit’s Grim Tales collection. This tale is her most widely anthologised short story. What must it be like to be ahead of one’s time? It’s happened to scientists over the years. The guy […]
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When Everyone Else Is A Ghost
You may not believe in ghosts to enjoy ghost stories. I don’t either. But once you understand how ghost stories work, you’ll understand how tools of persuasion are used in other realms. Studying the ghost story is a fun way to study the techniques of persuasion. Ghost stories have plenty of other functions, too. There […]
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Ghost Stories Are Not About Ghosts
What’s the point of ghost stories? A really good and scary ghost story focuses me. It pulls me from my ordinary, self-focused fears and connects me with something older and more mysterious. Claire Cronin at Rumpus The ghost story was designed for the short form. It emerged a long time ago, from folklore and oral […]
