Tell-tale Heart by Poe
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Anonymous
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DD is 12 and hates most books except she loves the horror genre. She really enjoyed Outsiders by SE Hinton. Her fave show is Stranger Things. Not into Potter at all.
She couldn't quite understand Usher - it's a lot of words in beginning - but seeking suggestions of other books that she may enjoy in this genre? Lovecraft might be interesting but it can't be too verbose. I know both have short stories but wondering which are most in the vein of Tell Tale Heart aka short, colorful, not overly verbose? She said she really likes the colorful language of TT Heart. Thanks for any suggestions of MS level books. |
Anonymous
| She could read more Poe- Cask of Amontillado is sometimes read in English classes for this age group. |
Anonymous
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Bride of High Hill by Nghi Vo is a fantasy novella with a Gothic atmosphere. She might want to read another novella in the series first (like Empress of Salt and Fortune) but she doesn’t have to and those don’t have quite the same tone.
(She might also like Siren by Vo but that’s fairly different— a retelling of the story of Anna May Wong with a spooky fantasy twist). What Moves the Dead is sort of a modern retelling of Usher. This reddit thread has some good suggestions— https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/s/IK6EYKu7oR |
Anonymous
It’s short and can be read repeatedly over the years. Good suggestion |
Anonymous
Highly recommend Masque of the Red Death as well. I read that for school at some point during 8th-10th grade. As a bonus, reading it made this Alexandra Petri column one of the funniest bits of humor writing I've run across. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/09/hey-trump-fans-president-is-back-youre-invited-attend-an-exclusive-masque/ |
Anonymous
I love horror books, but my taste is much more pedestrian  But when i was her age I LOVED The Fear Street novels.
I also read a lot of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. |
Anonymous
| I really liked EAP, Shirley Jackson and Stephen King at that age. There was so little YA back then, and I loved to read, and my mom and I both loved this genre, so I suspect I read those books earlier than would be typical today. |
Anonymous
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I was also a Poe fan at that age! There's plenty more Poe to read, although the quality drops off pretty fast from the classics. But I'd definitely see if she likes Pit and Pendulum, The Black Cat, and Descent into the Maelstrom, in addition to the others mentioned here.
I read Dracula in English class in middle school and loved it. I was a bit older when I read Rebecca, but I liked it in the same way I liked Poe. Also maybe think about Shirley Jackson's short stories; I think they'd be accessible and they're very good. Lovecraft can definitely be verbose, but I think his early stuff is pretty accessible. She could look at picking up a collection and just reading the shorter stories? If she can read The Tell Tale Heart, I think she can manage some of those. Another idea is to think about audiobooks to whet her appetite? This is a popular genre for podcasts (Tony Walker's Classic Ghost Stories is my personal favorite). The stories are good to read aloud, and it could help her access something that would be a little harder for her to read. |
Anonymous
| Some of Guy de Maupassant's short stories might appeal to her. If you look online, there are recommendations for younger readers. |
Anonymous
Thank you everyone! I'd love to tap into her love of Tale Tell Heart to promote an interest in reading. I was pleasantly surprised by her loving it as much as she does because she hates reading everything in school  Will try some of these suggestions for sure!
My favorite writer is Isak Dinesen so I really do not help on the horror genre front LOL |
Anonymous
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Masque of the Red Death for sure.
Maybe Shirley Jackson, Haunting of Hill House? |
Anonymous
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Ah, you all are listing a greater portion of what the reading curriculum was at my school in 8th grade. I loved some of these stories.
Haven't thought about Guy de Maupassant'in ages. I should dig them up for my kids. they are about that age. |
Anonymous
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PP - Would love Maupassant titles applicable for7/8th grades if you would be so kind Thank you!
She reads prob at 8th/9th grade level - she's a Wordle champ and very verbal. She doesn't do social media as much as watch movies like crazy so storytelling for over math for example is what comes naturally for her thus my interest in promoting reading! LOL |
Anonymous
| Rebecca is a good suggestion for a classic and the T Kingfisher books are a good suggestion for more recent (the Twisted Ones is more horror but she also also some that are more like dark fairy tales like Nettle and Bone) |
Anonymous
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The Woman in White
The Moonstone No Name Armadale |