EXTENDED LEARNING
Activities
- Have students write a critical review of one of King's short stories. Discuss how the author builds the suspense and introduces the horror. Examine how he deals with evil, captures the readers' attention, and utilizes elements of surprise. Submit your review to the school literary journal or newspaper.
- Read about the lives of other horror or suspense writers. Compare their fears to the fears King writes about in his own words.
- Read what King says about writing. Read other authors' comments on writing. What similarities and differences do you find?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Suggested Titles
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Signet Classic, 1960. Afterword by Arthur Zeiger.
Bronte, Emily. Wuthering Heights. New York: Signet Classic, 1957. Introduction by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer.
Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White. New York: Signet Classic, 1985. Introduction by Frederick R. Karl.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. New York: Signet Classic, 1983. Introduction by Albert I Guerard.
Conrad, Joseph. Tales of Unrest. New York: Penguin Classic, 1991.
Cuddon, J. A., ed. The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories. New York: Penguin, 1984.
Cuddon, J. A., ed. The Penguin Book of Horror Stories. New York: Penguin, 1984.
Dickens, Charles. Selected Short Fiction. New York: Penguin Classic, 1976. Introduction by Deborah A. Thomas.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Penguin, 1981.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. New York: Signet Classic, 1987. Introduction by Frederick Busch.
Hardy, Thomas. The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales. New York: Penguin Classic, 1979. Introduction by Susan Hill.
Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. New York: Signet Classic, 1980. Afterword by A. Alvarez.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Selected Tales and Sketches. New York: Penguin Classic, 1987. Introduction by Michael J. Colacurcio.
Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House. New York: Penguin, 1984.
Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. New York: Penguin, 1984.
James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Novels. New York: Signet Classic, 1995. Introduction by Perry Meisel.
Kakfa, Franz. The Transformation ("Metamorphosis") and Other Stories. New York: Penguin Classic, 1992. Edited and Translated by Malcolm Pasley.
Kaye, Marvin, ed. The Penguin Book of Witches and Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old and New. New York: Penguin, 1991.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Portable Poe. New York: Penguin, 1977. Edited by Philip Van Doren Stern.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Penguin Classic, 1976. Introduction by Harold Beaver.
Ryan, Alan, ed. The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Signet Classic, 1963. Afterword by Harold Bloom.
Skal, David J. The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. New York: Penguin, 1994.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Signet Classic, 1987. Introduction by Vladimir Nabokov.
Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Signet Classic, 1965. Introduction by Leonard Wolf.
Wells, H. G. Selected Short Stories. New York: Penguin Classic, 1979.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray and Selected Stories. New York: Signet Classic, 1962. Foreword by Gary Schmidgall.
Winter, Douglas E. Stephen King: The Art of Darkness. New York: Signet, 1986.
Woolrich, Cornell. Rear Window and Other Stories. New York: Penguin, 1994.
Woolrich, Cornell. Waltz Into Darkness. New York: Penguin, 1995.
The Works of Stephen King
Novels
Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, Cujo, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Christine, Pet Sematary, Cycle of the Werewolf, It, The Talisman (with Peter Straub), Eyes of the Dragon, Misery, The Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, The Dark Half, Needful Things, Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne, Insomnia, Rose Madder, The Green Mile
As Richard Bachman
Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man, Thinner
Collections
Night Shift, Different Seasons, Skeleton Crew, The Bachman Books, Four Past Midnight, Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Nonfiction
Danse Macabre
About the Guide Author
M. Jerry Weiss received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina and M.A. and Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. Recently retired from Jersey City State College, where he was Distinguished Service Professor of Communications, he is the recipient of the International Reading Association's Arbuthnot Award, which is given to an outstanding professor of young adult and children's literature. Dr. Weiss has also been honored by the National Council of Teachers of English, and is the author of several books and articles in the field of reading.
About the Guide Editors
Currently Professor and Chairperson of Education at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Arthea (Charlie) J. S. Reed has taught for over 20 years on both the high school and college level. She received her A.B. (Bethany College) and her M.S. (Southern Connecticut State University) in English and her Ph.D. (Florida State University) in Teacher Education. In addition to teaching, Charlie was The ALAN Review (NCTE) editor from 1984 to 1990 and served as Co-Director of the Mountain Area Writing Project (a part of the National Writing Project) from 1982 to 1988. She is also the author of Reaching Adolescents: The Young Adult Book and the School (Merrill, 1993), Comics to Classics: A Guide to Books for Teens and Preteens (Penguin, 1994), In the Classroom: An Introduction to Education (Dushkin/Brown & Benchmark, 1995), A Guide to Observation and Participation in the Classroom (Dushkin/Brown & Benchmark, 1995), and Presenting Harry Mazer (Twayne/Macmillan, 1996).
W. Geiger (Guy) Ellis, Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia, Department of Language Education, received his A.B. and M.Ed. Degrees from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and his Ed.D. from the University of Virginia. For most of his career, Guy has been active in teaching adolescent literature, having introduced the first courses on the subject at both the University of Virginia and the University of Georgia. He developed and edited The ALAN Review from 1978 to 1984, changing its focus from a newsletter to a referred journal. His research has had heavy emphasis on the content of literature instruction.
Page numbers reference Penguin Putnam books.
From the anthologies
Night Shift, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and Skeleton Crew
