But I couldn't resist the Oz reference.

Heh. Good. That's what I hoped.

I have nothing to say really, but the 2222 lured me in and I couldn't stop myself.

I like books. Books are good.

Hello, y'all, I need to pick your lovely booky brains. One of my assignments this semester is to come up with a unit plan (for a high school English class) and I have decided to do "The Supernatural in Literature." I have several possibles as far as short stories and poems, but I was hoping you all could bring up some brilliant ones I have not read, or that slipped through the skeins in the tiny seine net that is my brain.

What I have so far:

"The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (it's short enough, even though it's a novel)
"The Eve of St. Agnes" by Keats
"Christabel" by Coleridge
A short story by Stephen King -- probably an early on, from Night Shift
"Goblin Market" by Christina Rossetti
selections from Shakespeare, for illustration, i.e. Hamlet's father's ghost, and the witches from Macbeth

I'm working from memory, so I think there's one or two other's I've forgotten.

I'm also thinking I need a YA novel or short story in there, because I want to encourage my kids to read, and sometimes reading a YA novel is less intimidating than "lit'ra'tooor" . Any suggestions here would be great.

I'm also thinking about a movie tie-in: I've thought of "The Others" since it's such a classic ghost story, but I'm drawing a blank otherwise.

Also, what other TV shows have supernatural tie-ins (show that teens are familiar with) -- Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Sabrina I got -- anything else?

Thanks so much for anything you can toss me. This is for an assignment, but I know I'll end up teaching this unit one day.

Erin, you missed a perfect Jackson for students: "We Have Always Lived in the Castle." Merricat is a teenager, and a damned twisted one at that. Although, thinking about it, not superntural; just scary as all fuck.

Also? Don't forget Sheridan le Fanu. Can you get away with something as lesbian-lovely as "Carmilla"?

edit also, does the TV have to be current? because, well, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, The Night Stalker, Dark Shadows...

I love this unit idea!

Beloved is sometimes taught to AP seniors and would be a great addition to your list (though very very challenging for the average student).

For YA books:
Skellig by David Almond is a critically acclaimed YA book in that genre, and I've heard that Sang Spell by Phyllis Naylor is also good. I haven't read Rewind by William Sleator, but it might work too.

ETA: Invaluable book if you plan to teach HS English is Books for You: An Annotated Booklist for Senior High.

It has YA and slightly higher reading level grouped by genre with a great annotation for each. I use it all the time when I'm looking for a YA title to complement some of the more challenging texts in our curriculum.

You could easily pull in stuff by Neil Gaiman.

Ooh, those are great. Sounds like a class I'd take in a heartbeat.

I'm also thinking I need a YA novel or short story in there

I recommend Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire. It's a whole series, but the first book stands alone, for the most part. Except for the whole cliffhanger ending deal. But it's incredibly interesting, and the only place I've seen vampire mythology explained via Hindu mythology.

Isn't Wuthering Heights supposed to have ghosts or something?

I love supernatural stuff, yet I'm drawing a blank on good books for a class. I don't know that E.W. Hildick's Ghost Squad books are what you're looking for.

Deb, I wanted to do WHALATC, cause I love it! And I prolly will in a class, for all the reasons you mention.

Oooh, Carmilla! That's a great thought. I can get away with it in this assignment, that's for sure. Not sure about high school -- depends on where I end up, I guess.

KristenT, I haven't read any of the those: I'll see if the local lib has 'em and order 'em up for this weekend.

(This summer I want to pick your brain, as I have a independent study this fall in which I am going to develop a website for kick-ass English HS teachers -- kind of a resource pages for those who want to push the envelope, be creative, and also something along the lines of the Sexy Librarians websites out there. Even though I've never created a website before. I figure I have lots of recourse to people who know what they hell they're doing. But....that's summer!)

I love supernatural stuff, yet I'm drawing a blank on good books for a class

(psssst - I write ghost stories.....)

This summer I want to pick your brain, as I have a independent study this fall in which I am going to develop a website for kick-ass English HS teachers -- kind of a resource pages for those who want to push the envelope, be creative, and also something along the lines of the Sexy Librarians websites out there. Even though I've never created a website before. I figure I have lots of recourse to people who know what they hell they're doing. But....that's summer!

I'd be happy to have my brain picked! You should ask Kat, too. Are there other Buffista English teachers around?

Also - I hear there are some fantastic ghost stories by this Grabien woman out West somewhere.