"Whether viewed as a subtle, self-conscious exploration of the haunted house of Victorian culture, filled with echoes of sexual and social unease, or simply as "the most hopelessly evil story we have ever read," The Turn of the Screw is probably the most famous of ghostly tales and certainly the most eerily equivocal."
Dana says: I
hate scary movies but love scary books. My idea of scary is probably
pretty tame compared to most peoples but I do enjoy the thrill of
feeling a bit scared in my bed at night when I am reading. I will still
never forget reading Steven King's "The Shining" while in high school
and being terrified while reading it in the middle of the day in my bedroom, needing to turn the light on! I still consider that to be the
scariest book I have ever read. Other books I have found scary, though
in different ways would be Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The
Turn of the Screw by Henry James hit a different note- it wasn't scary
as much as it was creepy and eerie. Anything with children and possible
possession is at least these things. Though a short book page-wise (120
pages) it was surprisingly not a quick read. This
was due to the writing style of James which was extremely dense and
detailed as he slowly and subtly built up the suspense and tension of
the story. In fact, I found his writing style to be unlike anyone else I have
ever read and I am inspired to read more from him. The story itself was
just okay but the way it was written and the ambiguity of certain things
in it are what I really enjoyed about the book.
