December ScaredyKit: Classics

It's the end of the year for 2020 and our goal is to read a classic. What is a classic? Here's a definition; 1. judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind. "a classic novel". So if you think it is a classic, it's a classic.

Here's some suggestions.
Dracula by Bram Stoke, published 1897
The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe Read his Complete Works, which includes all-time classic short stories like “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” as well as famous poems like “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.” If you want to skip “The Masque of the Red Death” right now though, we understand.
The Shunned House by H.P.Lovecraft
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The King in Yellow was first published in 1895, but Robert W. Chambers’ collection of supernatural short stories is just as terrifying today as it was then. And while it’s a fantastic example of early horror fiction, it also includes elements of mythology, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, and romance.
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Radcliffe

If your reading the 1001 Books You Must read Before you die, this link will take you to a GR list of horror from Boxell's book. https://www.goodreads.com/group/bookshelf/970-boxall-s-1001-books-you-must-read-.... How many have you read already? I have 9 I haven't read and currently I am reading Melmoth the Wanderer which was published in 1820 for the Bingo Dog.

I am planning on reading Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It's really a short story, but December is busy so short is good.

>2 DeltaQueen50: a good story, too.

I have been saving The Uninvited for this month. I like ghost stories around Christmas!

I'm leaning toward The Scarlet Plague by Jack London. Not sure it really fits horror, but someone tagged it that way. Also not sure if it's actually scary or not.

I read Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin which qualifies as a classic gothic/horror. It is considered a transition literary piece. Charles Maturin was an ordained Protestant Irish minister.

I'm planning to read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four but I may have been a tad ambitious in my plan and as I've read that one more than once already, it might get cut.

I am reading nothing but Christmas books this month. Keeping that in mind, I have never read the classic ghost story, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I will be reading it this month.

I may read Uncle Silas this month, maybe!

>9 Kristelh: A Victorian page-turner. I stayed up half the night reading it.

January is posted:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/327208

COMPLETED The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

My review:

Experimental brain surgery unleashes unspeakable, indescribable evil on the world.

Trouble is it's so unspeakable and indescribable I have no idea what it is except that the sight of it reduces people to gibbering idiots or makes them commit suicide. I recognise the story as a classic but it doesn't do anything for me, sorry.

I have completed my read of Carmilla by J. Sheridan Lefanu and although I had a very bad translation, this is an intriguing vampire story that still sends chills today.

I read The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle.

An old-fashioned ghost story originally published in 1942, The Uninvited for me was not particularly scary, but rather strangely charming. It was quite talky--no surprise that the narrator is a playwright--and I could easily imagine the spirited, oh-so-British young people at the center of the story. The setting of an abandoned house on a cliff overlooking the sea with its maze of rooms and windswept garden comes alive wonderfully through Macardle's prose. I have not seen the movie, but it's obvious how well this book would translate to film.

I finished Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. A classic mystery, gothic tale of the closed room variety. I enjoyed it but it was more mystery thriller than horror. Originally published 1864. The narration is in first person by the young girl Maud. I listened to an audible production with a male reader. Just seemed wrong to have a female protagonist with a obvious male voice.

I read Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. Hard-boiled style isn't my preference but this classic from 1929 was entertaining and fulfilled the title promise of a bloody red harvest.

The Scarlet Plague / Jack London
3 stars

It’s 2070-something. “Granser” is telling his three grandsons about the “Scarlet Plague” that happened in 2012 or 2013. It was a disease that killed (ridiculously fast once it hit – within minutes or hours – no time to get help) a very large proportion of the 8 billion people on Earth at the time. Granser was one of the few who lived through it. Civilization is trying to rebuild itself, but the focus of the story is on the plague and aftermath as Granser saw it.

It’s a short story, so doesn’t take long to read. I was impressed with the guesstimate of 8 billion people on Earth in 2012 – not too far off. I never did figure out why the man cried so easily, though, at taunting from the boys. Overall, it’s an ok story.

I very much enjoyed The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle, just finished this evening.