The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw, a novella written by Henry James in 1898, is perhaps one of the most widely read ghost stories in classrooms across the country. The story’s ambiguity and characters’ unreliability also mark the book as a work of impressionism, an important literary movement that’s often left out of the children’s literary “canon.”

While best-known for The Turn of the Screw, James wrote many ghost stories during his illustrious career. “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes” and “The Ghostly Rental” are two of those short stories that young readers will enjoy reading, featuring relatively accessible plots and writing.