Book Club: Halloween 2026
On 20th October, our school's English language book club held a special event to mark Halloween. Instead of picking a full novel to discuss this time, the plan was made to focus on a short story and to discuss our thoughts on the horror genre.
The story selected by our book club mentors, Blanka Klobučar and Tim Gallagher, was Lost Hearts by M.R. James, considered to be a master of the traditional ghost story.
As well as having time to read the story, members of the group were given some background material linked to the author and some other pieces about the popularity of horror when it comes to both books and films.
A lively discussion took place through the afternoon, involving ideas such as whether or not we like the feeling of being scared, favourite sub-genres of horror, and occasions when pieces of creative work left us feeling genuinely frightened or unnerved. With students talking about their preference for books involving monstrous creatures or psychological horror, and then giving us tales of the stories which scared them at different points in their lives, there was plenty to enjoy and get involved with.
After a chance to talk about the short story, it was time to hear some recommendations as to suitable books to read during the long, dark evenings ahead of us. While students had many of their own ideas, the group's mentors had put together a small display of novels available from our school library. With a week of holiday ahead of us, many students took the chance to pick up something to enjoy in their time away from the classroom.
This meeting put us all in the right frame of mind for enjoying Halloween and the change of season. We very much look forward to similar cultural events through the school year.