Henry James's exquisite 1898 ghostly masterpiece was performed throughout the elegant Campbell House Museum. Built in 1822, each room comes to life as the actors weave through all three levels of the house in this psychological thriller.John Lauener
Given that his latest chiller is The Damned, 288 pages of heart-racing horror, we asked Canadian fright master Andrew Pyper to gives us the three books that scare the bejeebers out of him the most. Read them, if you dare.
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James
The story of a (possibly) unstable governess and the (possibly) diabolical boy and girl she is charged to protect from (possibly) undead threats is a masterpiece of undecidability. Never mind slogging through Mr. James's 1904 novel The Golden Bowl: this is The Master's finest ghost story and perhaps the English world's most influential work of psychological horror.
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
Henry James is both honoured and updated in this deeply unsettling tale of character-driven frights. That the horror of Hill House remains almost wholly unseen and unnamed marks the novel as a triumph of internalized dread.
Come Closer, by Sara Gran
Brisk, witty and genuinely frightening, Ms. Gran's first-person account of a woman's incremental madness and/or projected fantasies and/or demonic possession shows how the Jamesian tradition is alive and well more than a century after Screw.
Andrew Pyper takes part in a panel discussion on the North American horror story, for the International Festival of Authors (To Nov. 1). Oct. 25, 2 p.m., $18. Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay W., ifoa.org or 416-973-4000.
Brad Wheeler