The major theme of this story by Kim Edwards is fear. For the nineteen-year-old-protagonist working to save money for college, the principal fear is losing her mind like her father. Her life revolves around work, helping her overwrought mother with her home cake-decorating business, and hanging out with her mentally unstable boyfriend. When the boyfriend talks her into going skydiving, she faces an even greater fear: death. Her exhilaration over confronting this fear and making the jump help displace her other fears and turn her life around. Other themes include responsibility, loneliness, mental illness, substance abuse, shame, freedom. More…
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Carmilla
This 1872 novella by Sheridan Le Fanu was ground-breaking in several ways. It is not only one of the first examples of vampire fiction (pre-dating Bran Stoker’s Dracula by 25 years), but also the first to infer a lesbian element to vampiric attraction. This vampire seems to have a taste for blue blood. Peasant victims die quickly; two young aristocratic women enjoy her seductive company for longer. Could Carmilla have something else in mind for these two, such as spending eternity together? Themes: class differences, patriarchy, the supernatural, female sexuality, life and death. More…
The Sheriff’s Children
In this story by Charles W. Chesnutt, a highly respected sheriff with a strong sense of duty protects an alleged murderer from a vigilante mob. He later learns that the prisoner, a mixed race former slave, is his son by a slave woman he had once owned. Believing his son to be innocent, the sheriff faces a dilemma. Should he do his duty (keep him safe until his trial and almost certain hanging) or take responsibility for his welfare (let him ‘escape’)? Themes: race and racism, frontier justice, slavery, identity, regret, duty vs. responsibility. More…
Tuesday of the Other June
Bullying exists all over the world, and can surface in almost any situation where people gather (school, the playground, work, sport etc.) This story from Norma Fox Mazer addresses the difficult question of whether the best approach for the victim is passive acceptance, assertiveness (standing up for oneself), or fighting back. Here, a mother’s advice is to turn the other cheek, smile at the world, and the world’ll surely smile back, while her daughter dreams of kicking, punching, and biting her (the bully) like a dog. Themes: mother-daughter relationships, bullying, fear, the courage to say “Enough!” More…
Ringing the Changes
This story by Robert Aickman describes the frightening first night of a delayed honeymoon. The bride, much younger than the groom, wanted to spend their time in a remote coastal village neither had visited before. The moment they arrive, a church bell starts ringing continuously. It is out of tourist season, the streets are empty, the hotel staff act strangely, and there is a sickening, rotten smell in the air. Later, the bells of every church in the village begin ringing with urgency, heralding a macabre annual festival involving the walking dead. Themes: marriage, insecurity, isolation, class, fear, the supernatural. More…