Ghosts, Ghouls and the Supernatural

1) Before Viewing these trailers

• What's the meaning of Ghoul/ supernatural?

• What are your expectations of horror stories? Consider typical plots, characters, dress, dialogue and settings. What emotions do such stories arouse in you?

• In pairs, comment about the particularities as regards typical situations, characters, body language, appearance, speech and settings.

2) Now, watch the videos.

• Compare and contrast them.

• What happened in each video?

      

   

                                     

                                    

Steps to narrate a Terror Story

1) Have you thought about which are the common elements in a Horror story?????

* Here there are some useful tips you can consider whenever you write a narrative of this style.

• Get an idea. Try to think of the things that you wouldn't want coming out at you from those shadows and then begin to think of what might happen if they did. For example: "Oh my god! I would NOT want a small woman with a hideous half cut off face,tangled dark hair, and a long black dress coming out at me with a meat cleaver to make me just like her! That would be horrible!" could be something you'd be thinking about.

• Take care of the details. They're important for the development of the story as well as for the general effect which is, catch the reader's or listener's attention. What good are your setting, main characters, minor characters, and biggest plot events. 

• Plan it out. You can write down notes so you can plan what your story would be like.

• Think of an exciting first sentence. Nothing is better than to start a story with an exciting, unexpected sentence then keep the detail and excitement going. This will catch the readers eye and encourage them to keep reading. 

• Keep track of your characters. Don't miss them in the middle of the story. Try to end up the story with all the characters involved.

• End with a bang. A very scary bang. Try not to make the ending happy. It is horror, after all.

Take a look!!

1) Read this scary story from http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/scary-stories/

                                             Bloody Mary

excerpted from Spooky Pennsylvania

retold by S.E. Schlosser

She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.

Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.

Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.

The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter.

The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.

As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.

From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

2) Reading Comprehension

-Who was the evil creature?
- What was the conflict?
- Can you summarize the end.
- Do you believe in this kind of stories? Do you think they are true?

3) Language

-What kind of words does the writer choose when creating this kind of story?
-Consider Verbs, adjectives, feelings, etc.
-Make a list of them.

Film Review

1) Read this review.
-What characteristics does a film review have?
- Is it the same as narrating a complete story?

2) Read this model and match the paragraph to the topics.
 A) Recommendation
 B) General comments
 C) Main points of the plot
 D) Background information

2) *Does the writer give a detailed account of the story or a brief summary?

    * Is this a positive or negative review? What phrases does the writer use to recommend or not recommend the film?

    * Does the writer reveal the end of the story?

    * Has the writer used  passive voice/ adjectives/etc?

3) Choose the best option.

a) The film Gladiator had a CAST/SCRIPT  of thousands.
b) Mel Gibson plays one of the main CHARACTERS/ACTORS in the film.
c) Elizabeth is an outstanding film BASED ON/ SET IN the life of Queen Elizabeth I.
d) Many famous actors and musicians attended the film's SPECIAL EFFECTS/PREMIERE.
e) Most of the film was rather boring but it did have an interesting TWIST/SCRIPT at the end.
f)The Harry Potter books are so well-WRITTEN/ ACTED that even my husband enjoys reading them.   
g) Robert De Niro got very good reviews for his ROLE/ PLOT in the film Ragging Bull.


4)Here theres some tips to write a review.

 5) Choose one the three videos from the first post activity.
- Then, try to make a film review about it.
- Consider all the important information (general plot, main characters, your recommendation, etc.)

News & creepy articles

"The Truth is out there"

1) Complete this story using  the appropriate form of the verbs in brackets.

It was a wild, stormy night in December. The road a)...........(be) empty, and there were no streetlamps. She b).........(drive)for only a few minutes, when she c)..........(notice) a car following her, flashing its headlights. She d).........(drive) faster. She e)........(attack) once before on a lonely read at night. However, the car behind f)......(be) still close. In a panic, she g)........(reach) her house as the car h).........(try) to overtake her. In the driver's seat there was a shadowy figure, waving his hands around wildly. She i)...........(stop) the car, j)........(jump) out and k).......(run) to the front door. The man in the other car l)..........(leap) out and shouted "Wait! I m)..........(try) to warn you! When you stopped on the motorway, someone n).........(get) in the back of your car." The woman o)..........(look) round and p).........(see) a dark figure running away down the road.