5 Spooktacular Ways to Teach Suspense in Your High School English Curriculum

Hey there, fellow secondary English teachers! It’s that time of year again when the leaves turn golden, the air gets crisp, and the spooky vibes start creeping in. October is a fantastic month to infuse some eerie excitement into your curriculum and get your students engaged in learning.

In this blog post, we’re going to explore a handful of creative and thrilling ideas that will make your English class unforgettable this October. From Gothic literature to suspenseful writing activities and the origins of Halloween, we’ve got it all covered.

Just a heads up, I have this fantastic unit that incorporates almost all of these ideas into one comprehensive 4-week analysis of how to build suspense in writing! Lets take a look at what your classroom could look like right now!

1. Dive into the World of Gothic Literature

Start by introducing your students to the captivating world of Gothic literature. Works like “The Erl-King” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” are perfect choices. Discuss the dark and mysterious themes, eerie settings, and complex characters that define this genre. Encourage your students to analyze how the authors use suspense and symbolism to create a spine-tingling atmosphere.

Gothic literature is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death, and decay, as well as supernatural elements such as ghosts, monsters, and demonic entities.

It often explores themes of madness, guilt, and transgression, and features gloomy settings such as castles, graveyards, and haunted houses. It also often features strong and mysterious characters, including the Byronic hero, who is typically brooding and dark.

The Erl-King by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s ‘The Erl-King’ is a deliciously creepy blend of dread and beauty, a hallmark of Gothic literature. The poem tells a chilling tale of a father and his child traveling through a dark and eerie forest, haunted by the mythical Erl-King.

The child, fearful and aware of the Erl-King’s presence, tries to alert his father, who dismisses his fears as mere imagination and tricks of the light.

As the poem unfolds, the Erl-King’s advances become increasingly sinister. At first, he offers the boy everything a child would want if he just comes with him. The boy does not accept his offers willingly. It culminates in a tragic ending that leaves the reader with a sense of lingering dread.

I HIGHLY recommend using this recording from Nocturnal Transmissions as it really ratchets up the chill and suspense!

Using this text in your classroom can also lend itself to some fantastic literary analysis on setting as there is so much rich language used to put yourself in the scene and feel the terror that the boy feels. It is also great for discussing dramatic irony since the reader can see what the father cannot.

Guide your students through the haunting world of “The Erlking” with my comprehensive poetry analysis activity. With it you can immerse yourself in the eerie and mysterious ambiance of Dark Romantic and Gothic literature as you delve deep into Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s famous ballad.

This resource helps you incorporate “The Erlking” by including:

• a visually engaging Mythology Presentation shedding light on the backstory of The Erlking
• Navigate challenging vocabulary effortlessly with a list of words and phrases
• thought-provoking analysis questions accompany the poem
• 5 different writing prompts

The Fall of the House of Usher

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe is a haunting tale that follows the narrator as he visits his childhood friend, Roderick Usher, in his decaying family home. The story unfolds with an atmosphere of gloom and dread, reflecting the deteriorating mental and physical health of Roderick and his twin sister, Madeline.

As the plot progresses, it is revealed that the Usher family is plagued by a hereditary curse, culminating in a terrifying conclusion that leaves the reader questioning the boundaries between reality and the supernatural.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” is a fantastic text for students to analyze in October because it immerses them in an atmosphere of gothic horror and eerie suspense, perfectly matching the spooky vibes of the season.

I first love to show this animated short film version of the story. It gives students an engaging overview of the story before we dig into the language. I find this is especially helpful for my ELL students who are already struggling with the language.

Edgar Allan Poe’s use of descriptive language and symbolism creates an unsettling and chilling ambiance, making it an excellent choice for honing literary analysis skills.

The story’s exploration of themes like decay, madness, and the blurred line between reality and the supernatural can spark thought-provoking discussions, making it an ideal pick for engaging classroom conversations during the month of October.

Help your students to dive in deep to the imagery, characterization, diction, and mood with these close read handouts!

Within these close reads, students also have the opportunity to show their understanding a little deeper by adding in illustrations and add textual evidence in the form of annotations.

As you can see, I pulled small passages and my students first dig into the language that Poe uses. This way they are learning new words, deepening their understanding of the language, and then taking it a step further by transforming it into a visual.

By using the animated video followed by close reads and creative interpretations, I am especially supporting all my ELL and SPED learners. However, you can also couple this with reading the text in its entirety for more gifted students! That’s what is great about this approach.

2. Suspenseful Writing Activities

Practicing suspenseful or Gothic-style writing this month can be both fun and beneficial for students because it taps into the excitement and mystique of the Halloween season, making the learning experience more engaging and enjoyable. It also encourages students to experiment with vivid descriptions, mood-setting techniques, and the art of creating suspense,

This cannot only enhance their creative writing skills but can also fosters a deeper appreciation for the literary devices used in classic works of Gothic literature.

These exercises provide a platform for students to express their creativity and imagination, allowing them to explore their own unique writing voices in a thrilling and memorable way.

Immersive Gothic Writing Activity

Only have a day to spend? This immersive writing activity is always a big hit! I have created a loose outline of a Gothic story rich with visuals to freeze on the board while playing music and sound effects linked in each slide. Each slide has just enough of a prompt to help guide the students while it still being THEIR story. I loved what one teacher said about this activity,

“This was so much fun. Once I got the windows open for the sound effects and the screen going simultaneously, it worked great! I felt like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. Haha! This lesson was very unique and the kids were engaged because it was so different. Thank you!”

Sherrie O.

Full disclosure I have in the past had 2 or 3 kids who were highly sensitive and it creeped them out too much so they went elsewhere to work on something else. However, they are extremely few and far between.

Creepy Found Poetry

Found poetry is a fantastic way for students to be creative, but takes away the pressure of having to “be creative”. This is because you provide the text and then they pull out and manipulate key phrases and words to make their creation.

First, look at the text you are working with. Highlight, circle, or underline words/phrases that stand out to you on your first read through.

Then, play around with arranging them in a poetic form.

This is especially fun if you take a few pages from a horror book (like The Haunting of Hill House) as they are already packed with those suspenseful words and phrases for students to run wild with.

3 FREE Writing Activities

Short on time, but still want to have a little fun teaching suspenseful writing strategies? Check out these 3 FREE writing activities!

One activity is a guided prompt that uses a targeted scene from the movie Jaws and how the suspense is built in a single scene involving the story of a scar!

Another involves students finding a book to write the first sentence as the start to their story. I like to make this even more interesting by pulling lots of beloved children’s books.

All of these writing activities are also included in this mini unit, so this free download is a fantastic way to preview all that you can be doing with your high school students with the full unit!

3. Unearth the Origins of Halloween

Halloween, as we know it today, has deep roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Take your students on a historical journey to explore the origins of this spooky holiday.

Discuss the traditions, beliefs, and customs associated with Samhain and how they have evolved into modern Halloween celebrations. This can be a fascinating cross-cultural study, delving into the Celtic, Roman, and Christian influences on this holiday. They can learn things such as:

• the original tradition was to carve turnups and other guards to put candles in and keep evil spirits away
• originally, people would dress up so that evil spirits would be confused and unable to find the person they were truly looking for

On top of these fun facts, if you use  this fun activity on Celtic Halloween (Samhain), students will also learn of some other fun things that the Irish immigrants brought with them to America- tales from the old country! In it, they also get to learn about two Celtic creatures- The Dullahan and Banshees.

The Dullahan is a headless horseman creature that inspired the Legend of Sleepy Hollow’s own headless horseman! Students are often familiar in some way with banshees, but what they may not know is that the original legends actually saw them as more of a helpful warning and each prominent family had their own banshee.

4. Creepy Mythology

Every culture has its share of spine-chilling myths and legends. Introduce your students to some of these hair-raising tales from around the world. From the vengeful spirit of the Japanese Yurei to the shape-shifting skinwalkers of Navajo mythology, there are plenty of captivating stories to explore. Encourage students to compare and contrast these myths, identifying common themes of fear and the unknown.

This FREE product offers 5 creepy myths from around the world! You could use them for a fun, creepy warmup the five days leading to Halloween or use them as a choiceboard for students to explore for a day.

5. Suspense Unit

If you have the time and want to dive in deep to teaching the art of suspense with your students, this mini unit is the way to go!

With it, I teach the skills used to build suspense. First, we start with learning some fantastic vocabulary that is sure to set all the hairs on anyone up! Words like: ominous, eerie, and lurching.

We also take a look at the psychological reasons that we like to be scared and different ways this is done in movies and haunted houses with this article from Psychology Today.

I incorporate the podcast Limetown as the anchor text for this mini unit. If you are not familiar with this podcast, I highly suggest you check it out immediately!

“Ten years ago, over three hundred men, women and children disappeared from a small town in Tennessee, never to be heard from again. American Public Radio reporter Lia Haddock asks the question once more, “What happened to the people of Limetown?”

Two Up Productions

The kids get very invested in this storyline and figuring out what happen to the people of Limetown. It also provides a rich discussion on how the creators have sucked us in with their mastery of suspense.

After this, students also analyze The Fall of the House of Usher with close readings and have the opportunity to explore creepy tales from around the world.

This mini unit is also jam packed with all kinds of creepy writing activities like haunted Found Poetry, guided prompts, and much more.

It takes about 3-4 weeks to complete everything included. Another teacher had this to say about the unit,

“We started a short story unit in class a week ago, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Then I saw this unit and changed up what I was doing to an all horror/scary short story unit. The kids were so excited about the changes and are really getting into the material. We have just started with these materials, but there are so many different activities included. I can’t wait!!”

Concluding Thoughts

By incorporating these fun and spooky curriculum ideas, you’ll not only engage your students but also foster a love for literature and storytelling. This October, let your classroom become a hub of ghostly tales, suspenseful writing, and cultural exploration. Happy teaching, and may your October be filled with thrilling adventures in English class!