Annotated Bibliography- Short Stories and poetry
Dahl, R. (1959). The Landlady. New York, NY: The New Yorker.
Reading level: Grades 6-12.
Themes: Dark humor, Fear, Manipulation, Mothering, Secrecy.
Summary: In this short story, Dahl's macabre tale chronicles the final day of seventeen-year-old Billy Weaver, who is traveling from London to Bath for business. He arrives at 9 p.m. and is looking for lodging for the night before he has to report to work tomorrow. He stumbles upon a bed and breakfast that looks welcoming from the outside and more comfortable than a hotel. After weighing his options, he is drawn in by the notion of a bed and breakfast, rings to bell, and is immediately greeted by a middle aged woman. With a cheaper rate than The Bell and Dragon pub and boarding house, Billy is enticed to stay. Billy is welcomed by the peculiar woman, who has the room ready for unexpected guests. Billy is told to sign the guest book, but only notices two other names in the records, Christopher Mulholland and Gregory Temple. The names struck him as familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen them before. Billy is served tea, and questions the seemingly slightly off woman about the boys. The entries were years old, and Billy finds it odd that he remembers their names from the newspapers. After being served more tea and a ginger biscuit, Billy is informed the two boys never left the bed and breakfast. The woman tells more details about the boys, and speaks about their skin and appearance, comparing it to Billy's. Billy comes to find out the parrot and dog in the living room are both dead, stuffed animals. The woman's hobby is taxidermy. As Billy feels the bitter almond-tasting tea on his lips, he is informed he is only the third guest at the bed and breakfast.
Dahl, R. (1953). Lamb to the Slaughter. New York, NY: Harper's Magazine.
Reading level: Grades 6-12.
Themes: Dark humor, Manipulation, Revenge, Violence, Secrecy.
Summary: Mary Mahoney is waiting for her husband, Patrick, to come home from work. Mary, who is six months pregnant, makes a strong drink for her husband, and a weak one for her, when he arrives home. Mary watches glowingly as her husband settles into his post police work routine. Mary's husband rejects Mary's offerings of a cheese and cracker, pork, or lamb chop dinner. After finishing his second, strong drink of whiskey, he tells Mary horrifying news. He will make sure she has money and is looked after, but Mary is in shock. Marry, still in a state of shock, goes to make dinner, and grabs and frozen leg of lamb. She approaches her husband, swings the leg of lamb, strikes him in the back of the head, and kills him. Mary heads to butcher, and buys potatoes, peas, and cheesecake from the grocer, Sam. She returns home to the dead body of her husband, and calls the police. She tells the police through sobs that she thinks her husband is dead and for them to come quickly. Two policeman arrive, Noonan and O'Malley, and they confirm Patrick is dead. Doctors and detectives follow. Photos and fingerprints are taken, her story with the grocer is checked out, and the corpse is taken away. Two detectives and two policeman stay to comfort her, and it is confirmed Patrick died of a blow to the head, most likely by a large metal object. The policemen hope to find the weapon so they can arrest the man who murdered Patrick. The search in and around the house goes on, and policemen share whiskey and console Mary. Mary persuades the policemen to eat the lamb that has been cooking in the oven all this time. As the men finish up the lamb in the kitchen, they talk about Patrick's skull being smashed to pieces, and that the weapon should be found soon. One says he believes it's on the premises, and is right under their noses. From the other room, Mary listens and laughs, knowing she got away with the perfect crime.
Dahl, R. (1952). Skin. New York, NY: The New Yorker.
Reading level: Grades 6-12.
Themes: Dark humor, Greed, Survival, War.
Summary:And old man named Drioli walks through a city street in the winter on a freezing day. In a store front, he notices a picture gallery. There is a painting with a plaque that reads, "Shaim Soutine, 1894-1943." Memories pour through Drioli's mind of the painter: how he knew the boy, his studio, how they had drunken parties and quarrels, how the boy painted a marvelous picture of Drioli's wife. Drioli recalled one night while the boy was painting his wife. Drioli, a remarkably rich man at the time, plans a celebration with wine for his wife and the boy. He describes the boy as the most unhappy, gloomy person. A drunk Drioli hatches a plan, and convinces the boy to draw a tattoo on his back. Drioli's wife Josie is the model for the tattoo. The boy paints a startling, yet impressive, picture on Drioli's back. The story flashes back to present day Drioli, thinking back to the first war and how the boy was gone after that, how the second war came, his business being gone after the Germans arrived, his wife being killed, then him going back to Paris. Drioli enters the gallery, only to be told to leave by a man in a black suit. While he is being led out, he flees and yells to the gallery goers that he has a work done by the artist. He reveals his back to the awed crowd, and the man in the suit offers 200,000 francs for the tattoo. The man owns the Hotel Bristol in Cannes, and offers Drioli a room for life at the hotel, and a life of luxury, as long as he walked around the beach and grounds of the hotel in swim trunks so guests could see the Soutine original on his back. As the dealer rushes to purchase the painting, offers of surgically removing the skin arise, as well as dinner to entice Drioli to give the buyer what he wants. They leave the gallery, and weeks later the picture by Soutine appears for sale in Buenos Aires. There is no Cannes hotel named Bristol, and the fate of the old man is unknown, leaving the reader to wonder.
Eliot, T.S. (1925). The Hallow Men. England. Retrieved on October 22, 2018 from https://www.bookstr.com/
Reading level: Grades 6-12.
Themes: Religion, Survival, War, Death.
Summary: Eliot takes readers through the realms of death. Through three perspectives, readers sees souls passing through death's dream, twilight, and other kingdoms. Crossing Hell and seeking redemption from God, as well as the hollow men stuffed with straw, are other aspects of the poem. It ends with the lines, "This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but with a whimper" (97-98).
Irving, W. (1820). The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. New York, NY: Van Winkle. Retrieved on October 22, 2018 from https://www.gutenberg.
Reading level: Grades 6-12.
Themes: Survival, Love, Dark humor, Security/Safety, Road Not Taken, Nature.
Summary: In 1790, Connecticut schoolteacher Ichabod Crane arrives in Sleepy Hollow, a quaint, tranquil village near Tarrytown, New York in the Hudson River Valley. The glen is known for its history of ghost stories and hauntings including the story of a Hessian soldier who had his head blown off in the war. Ichabod Crane, goofy and awkward in stature, takes a liking to Katrina, the daughter of farmer Baltus Van Tassel. Ichabod competes for Katrina's hand with Brom Bones. Because of Crane's superstitious and gullible ways, Brom plays pranks on Ichabod. Crane imagines life with Katrina and her father's wealth. At an autumn harvest party, Ichabod hopes to propose to Katrina. Despite the merriment of the party, and the telling of ghosts stories including the "Headless Horseman" tale, Ichabod leaves empty-handed. His horse ride home is through the countryside of Sleepy Hollow and he passes places mentioned in some of the ghost stories. After passing a tree supposedly haunted by at British soldier, Ichabod comes across a silhouette of another rider in the darkness. When it becomes clear the rider has no head on his shoulders, Ichabod races to the bridge by the Old Dutch Burying Ground where the Hessian soldier cannot cross according to the legend. Hoping to secure safety, the horseman flings his head at Ichabod, it hits him and he falls off his horse as the horseman rides past. The next morning when Ichabod doesn't show up at the schoolhouse, the town searches for him. An investigation only turns up a shattered pumpkin by the brook near the bridge. No body was discovered. Katrina ends up marrying Brom, townspeople assume Ichabod was carried off by the galloping Hessian although some say Ichabod was still alive and left town due to fear or failure. The country wives believe he was whisked away through supernatural means, and that the now abandoned schoolhouse is haunted by Ichabod's ghost.
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