Tell us about your favorite
or a most terrifying, frightening, or eerie classic (novel, poem, short story)
you have ever read.
I don’t read a lot of horror or suspense. I’ve only read one horror story thus far for my quest, Frankenstein, but the creature is more pitiable than scary. Doc Frankenstein isn’t scary; he just needs to be slapped.
But I digress. I only remember two stories that really frightened me. They will likely not be on anyone else’s list.
101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. I was twelve and Cruella de Vil scared me to death. It's actually a pretty good book by the way, not just a Disney film.
But that’s just honorable mention. The real terror was Gollum from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, specifically The Hobbit. Gollum was not nearly so terrifying in The Lord of the Rings.
So why? Well for starters, I was 10. By this point in the tale, I was very fond of Bilbo and already pretty scared for him. He was lost, alone, in the dark, in a goblin cave. And then – this thing – with pale glowing eyes, creepy hissy voice, and the gollum sound – so yeah – I was terrified. I think part of the terror was the unknown. The only baddies I’d encountered thus far in Middle Earth were trolls, rock giants, and goblins. I knew there was a dragon lurking near the end of the tale, but all of these were sort of half-expected, and well defined.
And, I happened to be reading this portion, late at night, in the basement.
Imagine yourself – 10 years old, alone, in a quiet, dark, basement, projecting yourself into Bilbo’s adventure also alone in a quiet, dark, underground – and reading…
Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. I don’t know where he came from, nor who or what he was. He was Gollum – as dark as darkness, except for two big round pale eyes in his thin face.
There’s more of course, about how Gollum liked to throttle goblins and eat them, and how he spotted Bilbo before Bilbo spotted him, and snuck up on him. All quite terrifying.
I didn't get much sleep.
Gollum was what came to mind when I read the question too. I remember my dad doing his voice when reading it to me as a kid and just being terrified of what was going to happen.
ReplyDeleteWell...I thought I'd be the only one. I love that your dad did voices while reading it to you.
DeleteThe thing that scared me to death when I was 12 was reading Jane Eyre. The edition I was reading had fantastic black and white drawings and the scene where Rochester's wife is leaning over Jane while she sleeps totally freaked me out! Wow, I just found it on line! Here it is! http://www.victoriangothic.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/JaneEyre2.jpg
ReplyDeleteYes, to a 12 year old that would have been very scary even without the pic.
DeleteOh dear. When you describe it so, I can imagine your fright. Luckily you didn't have a pet cat to sneak up on you while reading those passages.
ReplyDeleteGollum is scary at any age!
ReplyDeleteI was also scared in Jane Eyre as a 12 yr old - but it was when the nasty aunt locked her in the red room where the uncle had died. I was petrified that Jane would lose her mind and at that point I wasn't sure if this story was going to be a ghost story or not. So my heart was racing along with Jane!
Gollum is scary at any age!
ReplyDeleteI was also scared in Jane Eyre as a 12 yr old - but it was when the nasty aunt locked her in the red room where the uncle had died. I was petrified that Jane would lose her mind and at that point I wasn't sure if this story was going to be a ghost story or not. So my heart was racing along with Jane!
I can easily see Jane Eyre being scary. I read it as an adult, plus I'd seen a movie version, so there was no suspense of the unknown.
Delete