While this blog generally sticks to discussion of mysteries, I want to broaden it just a bit today, less than a week away from Halloween, to talk about some frightfully good ghost stories.
At this time of year, we often see "top ten" lists of horror and ghost stories. Frankly, I rarely find myself agreeing with them, preferring (as I do) classic ghost stories to much of today's very graphic horror output. That's not the case this year with a list of "the top ten ghost stories of all time," as chosen by the readers of SFX Magazine. (And a hat tip to J. Kingston Pierce at The Rap Sheet for pointing it out to me.)
Looking at this list of ten - part of a list of the top fifty, which is available only to readers of the magazine - I am amazed at how many of them I know and really really like. There are a couple of M. R. James stories, and he is still my favorite author of classic ghost stories. There's Dickens. And Poe. The list includes movies, such as "The Shining," which is another great fright story.
But my heart is won over by their number one choice - "The Haunting." They like it both as the original book, Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House," and for the marvelous movie made in 1963 by director Robert Wise.
"The Haunting," to use the abbreviated title used in the movie, is exactly what I think a truly frightening book and/or movie needs: you never really see anything. The horror is in your own imagination. It is as true of the movie as it is of the novel; it has been decades since I saw the Robert Wise film, which starred Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn, but I still remember vividly some of the magnificently-acted scenes. The Shirley Jackson book is beautifully written, the characters memorable, and Hill House itself - "not sane," as the story says, "and whatever walked there, walked alone" - is truly terrifying.
Anyway. Read over the SFX list of frights and see what you think - do you agree with the rankings? What would you have included in the top ten - and what woud you have omitted?
I'm completely with you, Les, regarding The Haunting of Hill House. I read this book as a teenager and was totally intrigued. I wanted to be a parapsychologist and hunt ghosts, long before the current real-TV (is it really real??) series hit the air. Anyway, The Haunting of Hill House is one of my all-time favorite books and the Julie Harris / Claire Bloom movie is one of my favorites, too. Just can't beat either of them.
Posted by: Joan Kyler | October 26, 2012 at 07:56 AM
Joan, I still get chills remembering Julie Harris sitting up in an otherwise empty bed and saying, quietly, "Then whose hand was I holding?" Brr. (It's been years, but I'm pretty sure I have that right...)
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 26, 2012 at 12:19 PM
I saw the movie ages and ages ago but remember little but Julie Harris' painted toenails as the camera shows her bare feet going up the stairs. It seemed bizarre to me that a woman like Julie Harris' character would have such deeply dark painted toe nails. Obviously this movie is not for me. :)
I mean, I must have been frightened. But all I remember is the toenails.
I should probably see it again.
Haven't read the book either. But then I was never very fond of reading ghost stories.
This was an interesting list. I've only read one of them.
Is there any hope for me, Les?
Posted by: Yvette | October 26, 2012 at 08:15 PM
Oh by all means, Yvette. For my other visitors, if you haven't seen Yvette's list of 10 great Halloween movies, go to http://yvettecandraw.blogspot.com/2012/10/chas.html and take a look - it's a terrific list, even if it DOESN'T have "The Haunting." I don't remember the toenails, but then it's a black-and-white movie (and a very effective one). And, yes, you should read the book - and/or watch the movie again!
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 26, 2012 at 08:52 PM
Good list. Maybe it could have done with some Le Fanu, but I guess it was geared more toward ones that had been made into movies.
Posted by: Bill | October 27, 2012 at 06:45 PM
Good point about Le Fanu, Bill, who certainly belongs on such a list. Ditto Lord Dunsany!
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 28, 2012 at 12:33 PM
My. Blatt-I can't believe I didn't find you until Peter Eisinger sent me an email today. This is a wonderful blog and I will link to it immediately. If you ever care to contribute a review to my Friday's Forgotten Books, I would be so pleased.
I even see Yvette on here right now. Oh, my. How nice this is.
Posted by: Patti Abbott | October 28, 2012 at 12:55 PM
Thank you so much! I have meant to get in touch about Friday's Forgotten Books, which I think is an astoundingly good idea, and a very enjoyable one at that. (For other visitors who aren't familiar with the feature, here's a sample: http://pattinase.blogspot.com/2012/10/fridays-forgotten-books-october-26-2012.html) I'll be in touch about contributing to the feature. And I have added a link to my blogroll on the right.
Posted by: Les Blatt | October 28, 2012 at 03:58 PM