“The Turn of the Screw” as one of the best British horror novels

As I have proved in the previous posts many classic of the World Literature are British, but does it include the horror gendre? Well, in my mind, yes!

One example can be the iconic “Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley (1818), which has introduced the well-known,  grotesque creature. Some amazing modern British authors are James Herbert (“The Rats”) and Ramsey Campbell (“The Mummy”)… and of course we simply cannot forget the notorious "Dracula" by Irish writer Bram Stoker.

 Today, I’m going to tell you more about my favourite British horror novella “The Turn of the Screw”, published in 1898 by Henry James…

The book's action occurs in the country house – during the Christmas Eve. A group of people is sharing ghost stories. One man, named Douglas, decides to read a manuscript written by his now dead friend, a former governess. It tells us a mysterious story connected with her first job. The woman’s employer was the wealthy uncle of two orphans, Miles and Flora. The girl was living alone (well, excluding the service) in a large old mansion, while the boy was in a boarding school. The gentleman gave to the woman the full responsibility of children and the house… on one, strange condition – she was never, EVER to bother him. The woman was, at first, charmed by the mansion and the girls. Then, a few days after her arrival, she received a letter informing that the boy had been expelled from school and was going back home. She decided not to disturb the master about this fact, as Miles seemed very well-mannered and eager to learn. The governess tried her best to satisfy the children, but with the passage of time, she began to suspect that there was something wrong, evil about their behaviour. Meanwhile she started to see the figures of a young man and woman. Her obssesion only grew when they turned out to be the ghosts of the two employees, who had recently passed away under suspicious circumstances… What did they want? What was the cause of their deaths? Did Miles and Flora have something to do about it? And, of course, what happened to the governess? Read and find out :).

 At first, “The Turn of the Screw” might seem like a typical ghost story… but, belive me, it’s much more than that! What’s unique about the book, because of the manuscript’s first-person narrative, the reader can’t be really sure if the ghosts haunting the governess are real. They could be only a  part of her imagination, as nobody execept the woman seemed to notice them. Perhaps the great responsibilities were too overwhelming and caused her mental breakdown? Or maybe the mysterious ghosts were simply very careful?

If you don’t have enough time to read the whole novella, I recommend watching its adaptation, a black-and-white film “The Innocents”, made in 1961 year. It perfectly captures the book's mood and style… and it was also made in the UK.

+ Some images from the film, I hope they’ll encourage you to watch it :D