Introduction
A strange, pale women standing by the side of the road in the middle of the night. The feeling of eyes on boring into your back. You turn, but no one is there.
There is something about spooky stories that captures our imagination in a way few other genres can. That is, in part, because everyone has fears. My fears may be different from yours, but they still lurk in that particular place in your brain and make the heairs at the back of your neck prickle. Good writers utilize those cultural, primordial, and individual fears to craft stories that give us the heeby-jeebies after we have turned off the lights and settled into our beds.
Task
You will be working on your own to investigate elements of spooky stories. What are common themes in scary stories? What makes a monster? How can you manipulate the setting to cause goosebumps to rise on the arms of your reader? You will, ultimately, be writing your own short, spooky story for Spooktacular. The information contained on these webpages will help you to weave an eerie web of the unearthly, mysterious, weird, and sinister.
Process
Activity 1: Click on the link below. In your own words,write the definitions for each of the terms on your sheets.
Mood-
Theme -
Characterization -
Conflict -
Climax -
Setting -
Tension -
Activity 2: Look at the two pictures below. Describe the setting of each one in three sentences, then compare them. Which one is spookier? Why? Scroll down and look at the next set of images. Now which is the spookier? Why? How did the setting affect your idea of spooky?
Activity 3: Click on the link below look at THEMES. Read them Then, click on the second link and read the short stories. Identify the theme for each. Remember: these are not all/the only themes used in spooky stories, though they are some of the most common.
1. Revenge
2. What goes around comes around
3. "Curiosity killed the cat"
4. Be careful what you wish for
5. Don't dismiss warnings
Activity 4: Answer the following question: What makes someone/something monsterous?
Watch the first clip. Do you think many people would define the creature as a monster? Why or why not? Cite two pieces of evidence from the clip.
Watch the second clip and answer the same questions.
Watch the third clip and do the same.
What is the difference between the third clip and the first two?
Activity 5:
Watch the two clips below. Answer the following:
Why is each clip spooky (3 pieces of evidence)?
What is the setting (2 pieces of evidence)?
Is there a conflict? If so, what? (2 pieces of evidence)
THe birds, Alfred Hitchcock.
Evaluation
You will be graded on how thoroughly you completed your webquest. The final product will be the short story that you write for Spooktacular.