Free Write
What scares you?
Literary Movement which began in 1764 with the publication of English author
Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story.
Discuss with your table what you believe to be the elements of a scary/Gothic
story. Make a list to share with the group. What components do horror stories
typically have?
Example: Murder
Elements of Horror Literature
Terror
Madness &
Insanity
Ghosts
Haunted Houses
Darkness
The Best Scary Story Origin You’ll Ever Hear
The year: 1818
The players: Lord Byron (British poet), Percy Shelley
(British poet), John Polidori (British writer), and Mary
Shelley (wife of Percy)
The contest: To see who could come up with the
scariest story
The winner?
Gothic Literature Timeline
A Spooky Century
Frankenstein
1817
Dracula
1897
The Tell-Tale Heart
1843
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1820
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1886
The Monkey’s Paw
1902
What is it about that Gothic Lit…?
“The hypothalamus in the brain signals to the
adrenal glands that it's time to produce
adrenaline and other stress hormones. The
adrenal glands produce adrenaline by
transforming the amino acid tyrosine into
dopamine. Oxygenation of dopamine yields
noradrenaline, which is then converted into
adrenaline. Adrenaline binds to receptors on
the heart, arteries, pancreas, liver, muscles and
fatty tissue. By binding to receptors on the heart
and arteries, adrenaline increases heart rate
and respiration, and by binding to receptors on
the pancreas, liver, muscles and fatty tissue, it
inhibits the production of insulin and stimulates
the synthesis of sugar and fat.”
What is it about that Gothic Lit…?
More commonly known as…
an ADRENALINE RUSH.
There is a chemical reaction that
happens in your brain when you
are exposed to fearful stimuli.
Edgar Allan Poe
1809 - 1847
“Where was the detective story before Poe breathed the
breath of life into it?” – Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of
Sherlock Holmes
“In 1841, before the word “detective” had entered the
English language, Poe published the first modern
detective story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” In this
tale, Poe established the prototype future mystery writers
would follow. First, there would be a seemingly
impossible crime, in this case a double murder occurring
inside a room still locked from the inside. Then the
detective character analyzes the clues in order to solve
the mystery. To explain to the audience just how
intelligent the detective is, the narrator is not the detective
but his slightly dim-witted side-kick.”
(www.poemuseum.org)
Edgar Allan Poe
1809 - 1847
Horror Short Stories
“Berenice”
“The Black Cat”
“The Fall of the House of Usher”
“The Masque of the Red Death”
“The Pit and the Pendulum”
“The Premature Burial”
Poe & Insanity
Question for you: What is
insanity?
From The Simpsons:
Lisa looks in awe as her rival classmate has created a diorama depicting “The
Tell-Tale Heart,” using a ticking metronome beneath the floorboard to
represent the victim’s beating heart.
Poe & Insanity
Question for you: What is insanity?
“Insanity: doing the same thing
over and over again and
expecting different results.”
-Albert Einstein
Poe & Insanity
Question for you: What is insanity?
Insanity is: “mental illness of such
a severe nature that a person
cannot distinguish fantasy from
reality, cannot conduct her/his
affairs due to psychosis, or is
subject to uncontrollable
impulsive behavior.”
Poe & Insanity
Question for you: What is insanity?
According to U.S. law, if a person commits murder but
is found legally insane, they are not responsible for
their actions and will be given psychiatric treatment in
lieu of jail.
Do you agree with this?
Poe & Insanity
We will be splitting into two teams: the PROSECUTION and
the DEFENSE.
The prosecution will set out to prove that the narrator of
“The Tell-Tale Heart” was not insane and is responsible for
his actions.
The defense will set out to prove that the narrator of “The
Tell-Tale Heart” was insane when he committed the
murder and is not responsible for his actions.