Favorite Holloween Story/Tale?

[chuck]

My all time All Hallows Eve tale is Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"....A Headless Hessian Horseman what's not to like.....Excellent when narrated properly and a great Classic read.....BTW The Johnny Depp film "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Very enjoyable :eek:

[Kasthu]

My all time All Hallows Eve tale is Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"....A Headless Hessian Horseman what's not to like.....Excellent when narrated properly and a great Classic read.....BTW The Johnny Depp film "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Very enjoyable :eek:

Sad to say, I've never read it! Mine is The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill.

[chuck]

I just finished TWIB by Susan Hill.....Very impressive Ghost story and I heard they are considering doing a film on that her book....Creeped me out....

[SonjaMarie]

Does movies count? I love "The Others", "The Lady In White" and "The Sixth Sense". Really good ghost stories, but didn't scare me enough to give me nightmares which is a plus for me!

SM

[Ash]

Another big fan of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; loved the Disney animated film of it.

[chuck]

Love a good horror film....The 1963 "The Haunting"....Starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom and Richard.......Very creepy

[Nefret]

My all time All Hallows Eve tale is Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"....A Headless Hessian Horseman what's not to like.....Excellent when narrated properly and a great Classic read.....BTW The Johnny Depp film "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Very enjoyable :eek:

That was my favourite story as a kid. I used to read it ever year on Halloween. Now I watch the movie ever year instead.

[Vanessa]

Sad to say, I've never read it! Mine is The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill.

I just finished TWIB by Susan Hill.....Very impressive Ghost story and I heard they are considering doing a film on that her book....Creeped me out....

Yes, Woman in Black is my favourite, too. I've read The Man in the Picture and The Mist in the Mirror by the same author - I preferred TMITP to TMITM. I have Susan Hill's The Small Hand on my TBR pile - in fact, I'm thinking of reading it next. They don't take long to read!

[LoobyG]

I'll second (or third, fourth :p) that Woman in Black is my favourite ghost story, and Sleepy Hollow is one of my favourite films! Especially with the lovely Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane ;) I've never read Washington Irving's story however, I would very much like to :)

[Ludmilla]

I'm the odd man out, because I felt very meh about Susan Hill's The Woman in Black (elegantly written, but too much telling instead of showing in the form of a 1st person narrator for my tastes -- which is odd b/c normally I love 1st person narration).

I love Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House (on which the film The Haunting is based).

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is also an old favorite. Irving was one of those rare writers who could engage the senses and wrote with a painterly eye. I have always admired that about his prose.

An old forgotten writer of ghostly tales is F. Marian Crawford. A few of my favorites are The Dead Smile and The Screaming Skull.

[Madeleine]

I've never read Sleepy Hollow but love the Burton/Depp movie, it's so atmospheric and beautifully filmed, with a nice line in dark humour too. I saw the Disney version a few years ago and wasn't that impressed, Ichabod is certainly different to JD!

There was a TV version of "The Woman in Black" several years ago, but they're making a new big screen film of it now, with Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps.

[chuck]

Madeline ...I agree on the Burton/Depp film....Great imagery....Look forward to seeing Radcliffe "The Women in Black"....I prefer my Ghost stories to have Historic touch to them...Modern day Ghost stories don't work for me unless they bring out a Historic haunting/event aspect to the story....

[annis]

I still have a soft spot for Poe's wonderfully gothic Masque of the Red Death.

[cw gortner]

I agree, Poe's Masque of Red Death , and also, for sheer creepiness, his The Tell-tale Heart.
And while overly long at moments, I still think Anne Rice's The Witching Hour is a Gothic masterpiece.

[SonjaMarie]

When I was a huge crush on Gabriel Byrne, I listened to his reading of "Red Masque" many times.

SM

[Madeleine]

I agree, Poe's Masque of Red Death , and also, for sheer creepiness, his The Tell-tale Heart.
And while overly long at moments, I still think Anne Rice's The Witching Hour is a Gothic masterpiece.

Oh yes, The Witching Hour is excellent, it's a huge book but she holds the story together well, for the most part, and I found it very creepy in parts - Oncle Julien:eek:

[EC2]

Stephen King's The Shining. I still read it every couple of years because as a ghost story it is superb (not talking about the film, just the book). One of the few where I have almost been scared to turn the pages. What a classic.

Another one and a rarity is Gorden Honeycomb's Dragon Under the Hill. It's about a little boy who becomes possessed by some ancient forces from an uncovered Viking grave - seriously scary.

Films. Sleepy Hollow. The Others. The Sixth Sense. And for great fun and I can watch it again and again, Hocus Pocus. Bette Midler is superb as Winifred Sanderson and some of the one liners are a hoot.

[annis]

Hear, hear for Dragon Under the Hill- it's one I read when I was about 12 and it was so compellingly creepy that I never forgot the title! It's the story of the disastrous events which befall a family when their young son, Erik, accidentally disturbs the ancient burial place of a Viking warrior. I think I probably talked about it elsewhere - I have a vivid memory of lying huddled in bed one night with this book, scared out of my wits, and a thunderstorm raging outside. It really felt as if Thor and the old Norse gods might be only a lightning flash away. It deserves a reprint!

[EC2]

Hear, hear for Dragon Under the Hill- it's one I read when I was about 12 and it was so compellingly creepy that I never forgot the title! It's the story of the disastrous events which befall a family when their young son, Erik, accidentally disturbs the ancient burial place of a Viking warrior. I think I probably talked about it elsewhere - I have a vivid memory of lying huddled in bed one night with this book, scared out of my wits, and a thunderstorm raging outside. It really felt as if Thor and the old Norse gods might be only a lightning flash away. It deserves a reprint!

Oh Annis it really does! I think I was in my teens when I read it from the library - several times. It's one I ought to get a copy of on the 2nd hand market. Even now I remember the brooding figure of the one-eyed man and I was almost scared to turn around myself. So atmospheric. You just knew something awful was going to happen. I think I originally picked it up because I recognised Gordon Honeycomb as a TV newsreader and I was curious, but boy he could write!

[annis]

I don't know of anyone who's read this book who doesn't remember it vividly. It was one of my first purchases when I discovered the online secondhand book market.

[cw gortner]

Stephen King's The Shining. I still read it every couple of years because as a ghost story it is superb (not talking about the film, just the book). One of the few where I have almost been scared to turn the pages. What a classic.

Another one and a rarity is Gorden Honeycomb's Dragon Under the Hill. It's about a little boy who becomes possessed by some ancient forces from an uncovered Viking grave - seriously scary.


Oh, yes. I forgot about The Shining; it's truly horrifying. I read it one summer on vacation in Spain, and I recall being scared $#!xless while alone in the room. I was near a beach, on a hot July night, nowhere near a snow-bound hotel in Colorado and I was too freaked out to go to the bathroom (that dead woman in the bathroom . . . oy!):eek:

Did you ever read Gordon Honeycomb's Neither The Sea nor The Sand, about a man who dies but comes back out of love for his wife, only he's a corpse? It was unnerving; I remember it made a tremendous impression on me.

[EC2]

Oh, yes. I forgot about The Shining; it's truly horrifying. I read it one summer on vacation in Spain, and I recall being scared $#!xless while alone in the room. I was near a beach, on a hot July night, nowhere near a snow-bound hotel in Colorado and I was too freaked out to go to the bathroom (that dead woman in the bathroom . . . oy!):eek:

Yes, that's the scene where I nearly couldn't turn the page. The build up of tension is masterful.


Did you ever read Gordon Honeycomb's Neither The Sea nor The Sand, about a man who dies but comes back out of love for his wife, only he's a corpse? It was unnerving; I remember it made a tremendous impression on me.

I didn't, but I will certainly look out for it now you have mentioned it - thanks!

[chuck]

Love "Dragon Under the Hill"..."Neither the Sand or the Sea" reminds of the "Monkey's Paw"....very creepy.....BTW I saw a British film/TV based on Honeycomb's DUTH....I think it was Called Odin's Eye....Of course I can't find anywhere today.....