Video: "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James

The Great American Novel Series

National Association of Scholars

“No, no—there are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear. I don’t know what I don’t see—what I don’t fear!”

The Turn of the Screw is one of the foundational works of modern horror. What makes The Turn of the Screw a great American novel? How has the novella informed or been informed by the horror genre? In what ways is it distinctive from traditional gothic horror? Who influenced James's writings, and who did his writings influence?

This webinar features Michael Anesko, Professor of English and American Studies at Penn State University, a member of the editorial board of the Henry James Review, and a past President of the Henry James Society; Daniel Mark Fogel, Professor of English, former President of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, founding editor of the Henry James Review, and former executive director of the Henry James Society; and John Carlos Rowe, University of Southern California Associates Chair in Humanities and Professor English, American Studies, and Ethnicity and Comparative Literature, and Vice President of the Henry James Society. You can find links to their books by clicking here.


Photo by Collier's Weekly, illustration by Eric Pape - Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, Public Domain

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