3 Scary Stories

---

Martedì sarà Halloween, festività che affonda le sue radici nella celtica Irlanda, ma che ormai ha conquistato (quasi) tutto il mondo. Che accettiate o no il dilagare di streghette, zombie e vampiri, la sera del 31 Ottobre potete approfittare del diffuso clima horror per dedicarvi alla lettura, ovviamente in lingua originale. Vi consigliamo tre storie da brivido per migliorare il vostro Inglese!

 

Le letture sono adatte per livelli da B1 in su.

 

  

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Scritto da Washington Irving nel 1820, questo racconto è talmente popolare da essere stato oggetto di adattamenti cinematografici sin dal 1908. Praticamente da quando è stato inventato il cinema! Il film più famoso è quello del 1999 diretto da Tim Burton, con Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci e Christopher Walken.

 

Ichabod comes to Sleepy Hollow from Connecticut to be the schoolmaster of the village. Sleepy Hollow is a small, very quiet town said to be under some kind of enchantment. Its residents all seem to move a little slower, daydream a little more, and be more prone to believe in the supernatural.

 

Sleepy Hollow’s most famous supernatural phenomenon is the ghost of the Headless Horseman, said to be a Hessian soldier who lost his head to a cannon ball during the Revolutionary War. The Horseman is seen most often riding by the church, where local historians say he was buried. He is believed to be always in search of his head.

 

One day, Ichabod sees a large, dark figure looming nearby. It does not respond to his call, but as he passes by, it starts to move and joins him on the path riding a large, dark horse. Ichabod is greatly disturbed and he notices that the rider has no head on his shoulders; the head seems to be sitting on the saddle in front of the man. Ichabod tries to get his decrepit horse to run home as fast as it can, but he is not a skilled rider and the horse resists. 

 

[Read the full story: http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Irving/Sleepy/Irving_Sleepy.pdf ] 

 

The Landlady.

Sapevate che il celebre scrittore per ragazzi Roald Dahl ha scritto anche racconti dell’orrore? Forse lo conoscevate per la Fabbrica di Cioccolato (in lingua originale Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)!

 

Billy Weaver, a 17-year-old boy, travels to Bath for business. Along the way he catches sight of a bed and breakfast and is strangely charmed by the sign outside the door, so he decides to put up there for the night. He is greeted by a middle-aged, cheerful and talkative landlady, who insists upon sitting and conversing with the young man, serving him tea.

 

[Read the story: https://ia801305.us.archive.org/6/items/THELANDLADYByRoaldDahl/THE%20LANDLADY%20by%20Roald%20Dahl.pdf ]

 

The Tree.

Concludiamo con il maestro dell'horror: H. P. Lovecraft. Ha scritto pagine e pagine di incubi di inchiostro che ancora oggi sono di ispirazione per chi ama questo genere. Il racconto che vi proponiamo è stato scritto nel 1920 e fa parte del suo periodo “macabro”. Appunto.

 

The story recounts a myth from centuries ago, recalling the famous sculptors Kalos and Musides, whose works were praised throughout the known world. One day, the Tyrant of Syracuse invited Kalos and Musides to compete in the creation of "a wonder of nations and a goal of travelers". While working on their sculptures, Kalos fell ill, much to the dismay of Musides. The sculptor proposed to erect an elaborate marble tomb for his friend, while Kalos asked only for the planting of olive twigs near his head.

 

[Read the story: https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/tr.aspx]

 

 

Conosci tutte le parole in grassetto?