The Turn of the Screw

Horror as a genre has always managed to captivate the audience with its spooky chills and heart-stopping moments. The same notion has been observed in movies and books. Though readers would not want to be scared and see this as a potentially disturbing session of reading, they cannot seem to peel their eyes off the pages as they keep themselves reading late into the night. Over the years, there have been many great horror novels which have managed to carve for themselves a piece of greatness in literature folklore. Novels by Bram Stoker, Stephen King and many others have been revered by readers all over the world and have been listed as best-sellers. But there are many other novels which have enjoyed comparatively less degrees of success but are nevertheless very enjoyable. One of these novels is ‘The Turn of the Screw’ by Henry James. This novella by James was published in the early part of 1898 and has been touted as a masterpiece in its right. It has enjoyed scattered success because people have been kinder towards its direct contemporary Dracula by Bram Stoker which came out in 1897. In the beginning pages of the book, James describes the innocence of a child in the following words, “When I then and there took him to my heart for was something that I have never found to the same degree in any child – his indescribable little air of knowing nothing in the world but love.” This is the description given of one of the two orphaned children entrusted to a governess, a boy and a girl. This is narrated by the governess from a point in the future. She initially travels to the charming old house when hired by an absentee uncle to take care of the children but soon realizes that all is not right in the house. She sees two ghostly apparitions who seem to be the children’s previous governess and her lover, both of whom are dead. The worst thing she learns is that the children seem to be in league with the spirits. Diabolical things start to happen and the governess takes it upon herself to free the house of them. But will she be able to do it? James builds up the suspense with the air of a master and is adept at handling the horror sequences. There have been pieces of art which have been inspired by James’ book and the 2001 film ‘The Others’ is one among many. There are many people who might not be big fans of the horror genre but this book is worth a read by even the most afraid of persons because it is a master-piece in storytelling and creates an unpatrolled benchmark in atmospheric dread. You can find the book by clicking on the following link.