A taste for the strange
Three unsettling stories, from one room to a journey into the future.
Strange fiction can make an ordinary setting feel unfamiliar. These selections invite you to pay attention to the storyteller as much as to the events. The notes below avoid giving away the endings.
Begin in a single room
The Yellow Wallpaper is the shortest complete work in this selection. Notice what the narrator can control, what she is allowed to say, and how her description of the room changes. It contains confinement and psychological distress. Choose another book if those themes are not what you want from reading today.
Explore the bookFollow what people leave unsaid
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is worth reading even if you know its famous premise. Attend to doors, letters, reputations, and delayed explanations. Ask how the order of information affects your sympathy. The story includes violence and disturbing events.
Explore the bookTravel with a question
The Time Machine begins with an explanation offered to a group of listeners. Keep track of what the traveller observes and what he assumes those observations mean. Rather than asking only what happens next, ask how his ideas change when he encounters something unexpected.
Explore the bookA small next step
After a session, write two lines: what you know, and what you merely suspect. Return to those notes after finishing. Different readers will notice different things; these prompts are invitations, not an official interpretation.