Virtual Fools

The recession has hit hard, there is no denying it. Though some aspects of this Halloween season might be more lean this year–bite-sized Milky Way bits instead of fun-sized bars, for example–a general air of poverty should not prevent one from enjoying the season. There are several essentials for this time of year: pumpkin ales (and pumpkin pie), nutmeg and cinnamon spiked beverages of all sorts, cheesy tapes with wolf howls and ghoul growls on loop. And horror stories, both print and projected.

I can’t help with free consumables, but I can point you to some resources for enjoying foundational horror literature FOR FREE. Think of this as a mini-guide to your Halloween media.

Edgar Allan Poe: A man inseparable from the season. His melancholia was to be the shivery delight of millions. Check out a selection of his stories, care of the Poe Museum in Richmond, VA. Includes “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

Albrecht Durer, Melencolia I, 1514

Speaking of melancholia, why not read bits of Robert Burton’s brilliant assemblage of 1654, The Anatomy of Melancholy (includes thoughts dark and dreary) .

Three Giants of the Gothic: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) is a key work of unsettling Gothic spaces. Walpole was so committed to the idea that he built his own “Gothic Revival” house. Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1764) should be spoon-fed as a suitable substitute for those who are Twilight crazed. A foundational romance, it blends forbidden love and terror to strong effect. Matthew Gregory Lewis left us The Monk (1796), where the Gothic impulse met up with black magic, The Devil, and all that jazz.

Two Gods of the Gruesome: If you have not read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (get the 1818 version) since school, you owe it to yourself to give it another shot. Worth every bit of adulation that it has garnered. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) remains epistolary brilliance. Of course, Stoker’s The Lair of the White Worm (1911) is equally interesting, if un-PC and a bit strange. Ken Russell made an amazing film of it–better than the book!–and writer John Kenneth Muir recently wrote a piece about said film for my book.

Vampires!: While on the subject, Dr. John Polidori, friend to Lord Byron, wrote The Vampyre in 1819. Fans will want to check out Melinda K. Hayes and her excellent resource Vampiri Europeana, an extensive bibliography of representations of the bloodsuckers. Want films? Try watching Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride (1970), Vampire’s Night Orgy (1970), Vampire’s Kiss (1988, starring Nick Cage!!), and The Vampire Bat (1933) for free!!

Other Kings of the Scary Short: H.P. Lovecraft has legions of devoted fans–check out his approach to horror via Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927, though changed a bit in the 1930s). M.R. James, generally unsung in the United States, has some powerful supernatural tales, especially in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904).

If you can spare a dime…: On the cheap and in your mailbox in a matter of days are Stephen King’s Danse Macabre (1987), a wonderful, personalized guide to his horror views and influences. Jenny Uglow’s The Vintage Book of Ghosts (1997) is one of the best anthologies on apparitions that I know. For the little ones, try the works of John Bellairs–an absolutely formative author of my youth–now mostly available for the cost of postage.

Read (and watch) yourself silly before the big day.