a fall syllabus
a reading schedule, plus some other goodies, for closely reading this fall
Hi, friends,
Welcome to our first official foray into Book Club land! And it’s just in time for our little club…to get spooky!
As is unsurprising in the world of bookish folks, fall is my favorite season of all. It’s the time we sharpen our pencils, fill our backpacks with books, and drink warmer, spicier, cinnamon-tinged drinks.
It’s a season for reflection and then, as it builds each year, it’s also the season of profound hauntings—where our reflections sometimes cast an image we don’t recognize or that remind us of the ghosts we’ve tried to forget all summer long.
To me, fall is all about those changes and those encounters—and how we approach them.
It’s the season most welcoming to ghosts of all kinds: from our own inner demons to the comforting familiars of our past and the haunting memories and feelings we can try, but never quite, understand. It’s a season of the uncanny, when we find ourselves more at home than we were during the summer, but perhaps a bit un-homed by the changes we’ve undergone across the year.
The fall syllabus I’ve created for you below is designed to channel all these vibes and bring you 10 weeks of closely reading opportunities that circle around themes of haunts and home.
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A fall of haunting readings
Our fall syllabus provides a handpicked list of novels, stories, and even a few films that feel like a cool, overcast October day.
Everything here is designed to be a “go at your own pace” or “choose your own adventure” type of reading experience. This is a collection of texts I’d pick if I were teaching a literature class on “fall vibes.” Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and feel free to jump out and dive back in as your schedule permits.
Each week, I’ll post something about the assigned reading — a guide, a reflection, or maybe just a short list of related, recommended readings (think: academic articles, analytical articles, and the like) to put on your radar.
I hope this fall syllabus helps you embrace the arrival of autumn, meet a few new stories or authors, or simply inspires you to make your own fall syllabus.
The readings and authors I’ve selected for our fall syllabus reflect the themes I’ve mentioned above. From exploring vast changes (from the cultural and social to the interpersonal) to taking stock and hunkering down (from the protective to the rejuvenating) and welcoming—or forcefully resisting—the pull of the past, of demons, of ghosts…all of these readings feel like fall to me.
Now, nothing I’ve selected is outright horror. There are suspenseful moments, tense conversations, even moments of high emotion or surprising cruelty — but, at least in my reading, none of the selected texts require a content or trigger warning. However, we’re all uniquely tuned to our own body’s signals for anxiety and fear, so please research these readings at the level most comfortable for you, if you’re hesitant. We’re looking for the good dopamine of a great reading experience here, and not necessarily the cortisol spikes that come from jump scares.
(If truly horrifying recommendations are what you’re after, see here and here for some great titles!)
We’re kicking things off with a two-week read-a-long experience of one of my all-time favorite short, modernist novels. Then, we’ll spend the rest of the fall season following our own adventures.
Week 1: Monday, September 9 — Read-a-long
Read Part 1 of Passing by Nella Larsen with me this week. I’ll put out a guide at the end of the week.
Have Part 1 completed by September 16 if you want to stay on pace with me.
Start building your autumn playlist. If you like to listen to moody music while you read moody stories, you’re going to want it ready by week 3.
Here’s my “haunts” playlist, which I’ve compiled over a few years of autumn seasons.
Week 2: Monday, September 16 — Read-a-long
Read Parts 2 and 3 of Passing by Nella Larsen with me. I’ll put out a final guide. Have the novel completed by September 23, if you want to stay on pace with me.
When you’ve finished the novel, watch the truly excellent film adaptation, available in the US on Netflix (I am not sure of its availability outside of the US, but if you love the novel, the film is totally worth tracking down!).
Week 3: Monday, September 23 — Choose your own adventure in short stories
Enjoy a few spooky stories to get your fall season really going:
If you want something classically spooky and a little weird, read The Woman’s Ghost Story by Algernon Blackwood, a genius of the supernatural whom I read after learning about him from my friend Christine.
If you want something that feels like classic American literature (in the vein of Poe or Hawthorne), read The Damned Thing and/or Moxon’s Master by Ambrose Bierce. He’s a devastatingly understudied American writer who fought in the Civil War and then wrote incredible fictionalized accounts of trauma-worn people in a changed world.
If you’re feeling ambitious, pull out that collection of Henry James that I know you have somewhere, and read The Beast in the Jungle.
Or, if you have more time and want one of the best ghost story setups ever written: read James’s fantastically scary novella, The Turn of the Screw. The story opens ‘round the fire as the narrator hems and haws in a particularly Jamesian way, deliciously torn about whether or not to share the gruesome tale within a letter he holds in his hands…
If you’d rather watch a ghost story, try The Others, starring Nicole Kidman. It’s a wickedly fun (and very loose) adaptation of James’s Screw. And it has a classic ghostly twist at the end!
Week 4: Monday, September 30 — Choose your own adventure
Read The Eyes by Edith Wharton for a truly spectacular ghost story. (Pun intended!)
If you love that story, try another by Wharton: Pomegranate Seed or Kerfol.
You can listen to the former read aloud by an audiobook narrator on Substack, right here.
You can read the latter online, for free, right here.
For historical context and analysis, read this excellent New Yorker article about Wharton’s ghost stories.
For something totally different: watch (or rewatch) the impeccable fall film about two sister witches, Practical Magic, which is based on the novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman
Consider reading the novel, if you haven’t, sometime this fall. It’s worth your time!
Also, did you hear they’re working on Practical Magic 2?!
Week 5: Monday, October 7 — Read-a-long
It’s officially my favorite month of the year: October!!!
Read The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman for one of the truly creepiest, most incredible stories about madness ever written.
If you want to read with me, finish the story by the end of the week. I’ll be posting a guide on the story to help you deepen your close reading of this absolute classic.
This week, also make time for “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” which could not be a more perfect invitation to get into your autumnal feels and prepare for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin on Halloween night.
Week 6: Monday, October 14 — Choose your own adventure
Read Shirley Jackson with me over the next three weeks.
You can choose your own adventure:
I’m going to read them both simultaneously and share my thoughts as I go. I’m doing this as a bit of a challenge to myself to finally read, in parallel, two novels I love on their own.
I am not planning to assign specific chapters during these weeks, but I’ll share what I’m loving most—and closely read my favorite passages—as I go. If you decide to read along with me, we’ll use the comments and DMs each week to share our favorite parts and takeaways!
Week 7: Monday, October 21 — Choose your own adventure
Continue on in your reading(s) of Shirley Jackson this week.
If you’re looking for something to watch with all the Halloween vibes, try Over the Garden Wall, which I completely fell in love with when I watched it for the first time two years ago. It’s about two kids who get lost in a dark and strange forest, and have to puzzle their way out. It’s sweet, smart, and deeply funny.
Week 8: Monday, October 28
Finish your reading(s) of Shirley Jackson this week.
If you love these novels, consider diving deeply into Jackson’s catalogue of short stories and letters.
Week 9: Monday, November 4 — Choose your own adventure
This week, read Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
Consider pairing it with a watch of the fantastic film adaptation and/or the first season of Stranger Things, which is another story in which a little girl finds out she has some unexpected power and decides what to do with it.
If you’re looking for even more parallels, revisit Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Matilda. Both equally spooky and unnerving, in their own right.
Week 10: Monday, November 11 — Choose your own adventure
As we take a sharp turn out of “Halloween” vibes and toward the autumnal tugs of Thanksgiving and other gathering holidays, I’m torn between shifting my reading toward the cozy or staying in the realm of the still pretty damn creepy.
Why not have a little of both?
For this week, and the remainder of November, I recommend finishing off your “semester” of spooky readings with one of the following novels. Each of these, for me, heralds the colder, harsher winter months ahead:
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
After Leaving Mr. McKenzie by Jean Rhys
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Ready to read?
Tell me which books, stories, and/or and films you’ll be joining in with this fall, and which ones you’re most excited about!
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I'm definitely in the mood to read some autumn books! And when you mentioned my favorite cartoon Over the garden wall: I watch it several times a year (luckily, it's short), and sometimes I read the comics too. They have more stories. There's so much other interesting stuff, I'm going to dive deeper into it now! And I'll choose what to read with you!
I love Passing!!! My podcast cohost and I spent several episodes (and many hours) breaking it down. It’s such a good book! It’s a shame Larsen stopped writing after 2 books.