The Turn of the Screw
By Henry James
()
About this ebook
“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!”
In this classic gothic horror ghost story, we follow a young governess and her deep psychological anguish. It begins when she agrees to care for two orphans living in a remote estate, and her sudden conviction that the grounds are haunted.
Henry James used the horror genre to imbue the everyday with the uncanny and the unknown. A true measure of his success can be found in the debates still raging today: on topics of the characters' sanity, the concept of truth in fiction, and the extent to which James manipulates the reader.
Written with such exquisite ambiguity, this book will call into question everything you know - but, in The Turn of the Screw, not knowing the truth might be a blessing.
The Legend Classics series:
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Importance of Being Earnest
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Metamorphosis
The Railway Children
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Frankenstein
Wuthering Heights
Three Men in a Boat
The Time Machine
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables
The Jungle Book
The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories
Dracula
A Study in Scarlet
Leaves of Grass
The Secret Garden
The War of the Worlds
A Christmas Carol
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Heart of Darkness
The Scarlet Letter
This Side of Paradise
Oliver Twist
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Treasure Island
The Turn of the Screw
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Emma
The Trial
A Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
Grimm Fairy Tales
The Awakening
Mrs Dalloway
Gulliver’s Travels
The Castle of Otranto
Silas Marner
Hard Times
Henry James
Henry James (1843–1916) was an American writer, highly regarded as one of the key proponents of literary realism, as well as for his contributions to literary criticism. His writing centres on the clash and overlap between Europe and America, and The Portrait of a Lady is regarded as his most notable work.
Read more from Henry James
The Gothic Novel Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Henry James: The Complete Novellas and Tales (Centaur Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roderick Hudson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turn of the Screw Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Europeans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Daily Henry James: A Year of Quotes from the Work of the Master Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bostonians Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Oxford Book of American Essays Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Golden Bowl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Beast in the Jungle Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Badass Prepper's Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Prepare Yourself for the Worst Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wings of the Dove Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Harvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe American Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gothic Classics: 60+ Books in One Volume Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Feminist Masterpieces you have to read before you die (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Short Stories and Novellas of Henry James Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe American Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest American Short Stories: 50+ Classics of American Literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Turn of the Screw
Related ebooks
The Turn of the Screw (Legend Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw & Shadows Against the Dark: Collected Tales of Horror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw: A Chilling Ghost Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turn of the Screw and The Aspern Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw and Other Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Essential Henry James Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw: The Original 1898 Unabridged and Complete Edition (A Henry James Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Two Magics: The Turn of the Screw, Covering End Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw (Illustrated) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Turn of the Screw & More Ghost Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Collection of Classic Ghost Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw and Owen Wingrave Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Turn of the Screw (movie tie-in "The Turning "): An Eerie Tale of Haunting Suspense - Journey into the Unknown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw (movie tie-in "The Turning ") Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw (Diversion Classics) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Turn of the Screw (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Tales of Henry James (Volume 10 of 12) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGiro di vite Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Turn of the Screw by Henry James (Illustrated) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Top 10 Short Stories - Horror - The Women Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStories by American Authors, Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery at Underwood House: An Angela Marchmont mystery, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Victorian Ghost Story - Volume 3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMiracle Gold (Vol. 3 of 3) A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Strange Disappearance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Veils, Book 3: The Veils Trilogy, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cliff House: An Almost True Crime Story, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTapestries and other short stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Classics For You
Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Count of Monte Cristo (abridged) (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master & Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sense and Sensibility (Centaur Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things They Carried Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rebecca Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mythos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Women (Seasons Edition -- Winter) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn French! Apprends l'Anglais! THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY: In French and English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jungle: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm: A Fairy Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wuthering Heights (with an Introduction by Mary Augusta Ward) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Master and Margarita Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Turn of the Screw
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
HENRY JAMES
The Turn of the Screw
IllustrationLegend Press Ltd, 51 Gower Street, London, WC1E 6HJ
[email protected] |www.legendpress.co.uk
Print ISBN 978-1-78955-9-583
Ebook ISBN 978-1-78955-9-590
Set in Times. Printing managed by Jellyfish Solutions Ltd.
Cover design by Anna Morrison |www.annamorrison.com
All characters, other than those clearly in the public domain, and place names, other than those well-established such as towns and cities, are fictitious and any resemblance is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Henry James is best known for writing The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, and The Wings of the Dove. His later works were increasingly experimental, and were often described as literature’s equivalent to an impressionist painting. His novella The Turn of the Screw is one of the most analysed ghost stories in the English language. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912 and 1916.
Contents
THE TURN OF THE SCREW
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIV
THE TURN OF THE SCREW
The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happened to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child. The case, I may mention, was that of an apparition in just such an old house as had gathered us for the occasion—an appearance, of a dreadful kind, to a little boy sleeping in the room with his mother and waking her up in the terror of it; waking her not to dissipate his dread and soothe him to sleep again, but to encounter also, herself, before she had succeeded in doing so, the same sight that had shaken him. It was this observation that drew from Douglas—not immediately, but later in the evening—a reply that had the interesting consequence to which I call attention. Someone else told a story not particularly effective, which I saw he was not following. This I took for a sign that he had himself something to produce and that we should only have to wait. We waited in fact till two nights later; but that same evening, before we scattered, he brought out what was in his mind.
"I quite agree—in regard to Griffin’s ghost, or whatever it was—that its appearing first to the little boy, at so tender an age, adds a particular touch. But it’s not the first occurrence of its charming kind that I know to have involved a child. If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to two children—?"
We say, of course,
somebody exclaimed, that they give two turns! Also that we want to hear about them.
I can see Douglas there before the fire, to which he had got up to present his back, looking down at his interlocutor with his hands in his pockets. Nobody but me, till now, has ever heard. It’s quite too horrible.
This, naturally, was declared by several voices to give the thing the utmost price, and our friend, with quiet art, prepared his triumph by turning his eyes over the rest of us and going on: It’s beyond everything. Nothing at all that I know touches it.
For sheer terror?
I remember asking.
He seemed to say it was not so simple as that; to be really at a loss how to qualify it. He passed his hand over his eyes, made a little wincing grimace. For dreadful—dreadfulness!
Oh, how delicious!
cried one of the women.
He took no notice of her; he looked at me, but as if, instead of me, he saw what he spoke of. For general uncanny ugliness and horror and pain.
Well then,
I said, just sit right down and begin.
He turned round to the fire, gave a kick to a log, watched it an instant. Then as he faced us again: I can’t begin. I shall have to send to town.
There was a unanimous groan at this, and much reproach; after which, in his preoccupied way, he explained. The story’s written. It’s in a locked drawer—it has not been out for years. I could write to my man and enclose the key; he could send down the packet as he finds it.
It was to me in particular that he appeared to propound this—appeared almost to appeal for aid not to hesitate. He had broken a thickness of ice, the formation of many a winter; had had his reasons for a long silence. The others resented postponement, but it was just his scruples that charmed me. I adjured him to write by the first post and to agree with us for an early hearing; then I asked him if the experience in question had been his own. To this his answer was prompt. Oh, thank God, no!
And is the record yours? You took the thing down?
"Nothing but the impression. I took that here—he tapped his heart.
I’ve never lost it."
Then your manuscript—?
Is in old, faded ink, and in the most beautiful hand.
He hung fire again. A woman’s. She has been dead these twenty years. She sent me the pages in question before she died.
They were all listening now, and of course there was somebody to be arch, or at any rate to draw the inference. But if he put the inference by without a smile it was also without irritation. She was a most charming person, but she was ten years older than I. She was my sister’s governess,
he quietly said. She was the most agreeable woman I’ve ever known in her position; she would have been worthy of any whatever. It was long ago, and this episode was long before. I was at Trinity, and I found her at home on my coming down the second summer. I was much there that year—it was a beautiful one; and we had, in her off-hours, some strolls and talks in the garden—talks in which she struck me as awfully clever and nice. Oh yes; don’t grin: I liked her extremely and am glad to this day to think she liked me, too. If she hadn’t she wouldn’t have told me. She had never told anyone. It wasn’t simply that she said so, but that I knew she hadn’t. I was sure; I could see. You’ll easily judge why when you hear.
Because the thing had been such a scare?
He continued to fix me. You’ll easily judge,
he repeated: "you will."
I fixed him, too. I see. She was in love.
He laughed for the first time. "You are acute. Yes, she was in love. That is, she had been. That came out—she couldn’t tell her story without its coming out. I saw it, and she saw I saw it; but neither of us spoke of it. I remember the time and the place—the corner of the lawn, the shade of the great beeches and the long, hot summer afternoon. It wasn’t a scene for a shudder; but oh—!" He quitted the fire and dropped back into his chair.
You’ll receive the packet Thursday morning?
I inquired.
Probably not till the second post.
Well then; after dinner—
You’ll all meet me here?
He looked us round again. Isn’t anybody going?
It was almost the tone of hope.
Everybody will stay!
"I will—and
I will! cried the ladies whose departure had been fixed. Mrs. Griffin, however, expressed the need for a little more light.
Who was it she was in love with?"
The story will tell,
I took upon myself to reply.
Oh, I can’t wait for the story!
"The story won’t tell, said Douglas;
not in any literal, vulgar way."
More’s the pity, then. That’s the only way I ever understand.
"Won’t you tell, Douglas?" somebody else inquired.
He sprang to his feet again. Yes—tomorrow. Now I must go to bed. Good night.
And quickly catching up a candlestick, he left us slightly bewildered. From our end of the great brown hall we heard his step on the stair; whereupon Mrs. Griffin spoke. "Well, if I don’t know who she was in love with, I know who he was."
She was ten years older,
said her husband.
"Raison de plus—at that age! But it’s rather nice, his long reticence."
Forty years!
Griffin put in.
With this outbreak at last.
The outbreak,
I returned, will make a tremendous occasion of Thursday night;
and everyone so agreed with me that, in the light of it, we lost all attention for everything else. The last story, however incomplete and like the mere opening of a serial, had been told; we handshook and candlestuck,
as somebody said, and went to bed.
I knew the next day that a letter containing the key had, by the first post, gone off to his London apartments; but in spite of—or perhaps just on account of—the eventual diffusion of this knowledge we quite let him alone till after dinner, till such an hour of the evening, in fact, as might best accord with the kind of emotion on which our hopes were fixed. Then he became as communicative as we could desire and indeed gave us his best reason for being so. We had it from him again before the fire in the hall, as we had had our mild wonders of the previous night. It appeared that the narrative he had promised to read us really required for a proper intelligence a few words of prologue. Let me say here distinctly, to have done with it, that this narrative, from an exact transcript of my own made much later, is what I shall presently give. Poor Douglas, before his death—when it was in sight—committed to me the manuscript that reached him on the third of these days and that, on the same spot, with immense effect, he began to read to our hushed little circle on the night of the fourth. The departing ladies who had said they would stay didn’t, of course, thank heaven, stay: they departed, in consequence of arrangements made, in a rage of curiosity, as they professed, produced by the touches with which he had already worked us up. But that only made his little final auditory more compact and select, kept it, round the hearth, subject to a common thrill.
The first of these touches conveyed that the written statement took up the tale at a point after it had, in a manner, begun. The fact to be in possession of was therefore that his old friend, the youngest of several daughters of a poor country parson, had, at the age of twenty, on taking service for the first time in the schoolroom, come up to London, in trepidation, to answer in person an advertisement that had already placed her in brief correspondence with the advertiser. This person proved, on her presenting herself, for judgment, at a house in Harley Street, that impressed her as vast and imposing—this prospective patron proved a gentleman, a bachelor in the prime of life, such a figure as had never risen, save in a dream or an old novel, before a fluttered, anxious girl out of a Hampshire vicarage. One could easily fix his type; it never, happily, dies out. He was handsome and bold and pleasant, off-hand and gay and kind. He struck her, inevitably, as gallant and splendid, but what took her most of all and gave her the courage she afterward showed was that he put the whole thing to her as a kind of favor, an obligation he should gratefully incur. She conceived him as rich, but as fearfully extravagant—saw him all in a glow of high fashion, of good looks, of expensive habits, of charming ways with women. He had for his own town residence a big house filled with the spoils of travel and the trophies of the chase; but it was to his country home, an old family