Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Which 1977 horror novel by Stephen King tells the tale of Jack Torrance, a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic, who becomes the winter caretaker of an isolated hotel, where a supernatural force threatens his family? It begins with a line I can't quote, but is followed fast by the more family-friendly phrase, "Ullman stood five-five, and when he moved, it was with the prissy speed that seems to be the exclusive domain of all small plump men."
2. Which 1954 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Richard Matheson tells the story of Robert Neville, the last human survivor of a global pandemic that turns people into vampire-like creatures, and begins with the haunting line: "On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back"?
3. Which 1890 novel by Oscar Wilde tells the story of a young man who trades his soul for eternal youth and beauty, while a grotesque reminder of his age and true self remains hidden away? It begins with a harmless enough sentence: "The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn."
4. What 1897 Gothic novel by Bram Stoker with the following first lines introduces us to a notorious Transylvanian gentleman with a frightening penchant for an iron-rich diet? It begins with the following lines:
"Jonathan Harker's Journal
3 May. Bistritz.--Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late."
5. Which 1971 psychological horror novel by Thomas Tryon tells an unsettling story of twin brothers whose idyllic small-town life in 1930s Connecticut is shattered by dark secrets and tragic events? It begins with the following lines:
"How old do you think Miss DeGroot really is? Sixty, if she's a day, wouldn't you say? She's been around here as long as I can remember-quite a stretch, if you calculate it-and I know she goes back a good many years before that. Which should give you an idea of how old that spot on the ceiling must be, because she says it's been there as long as she can remember, Miss DeGroot."
6. What 1962 dark fantasy novel by Ray Bradbury tells the tale of two boys who encounter a sinister traveling carnival that preys on the fears and desires of the townspeople and begins with the lines, "The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm. He came along the street of Green Town, Illinois, in the late cloudy October day, sneaking glances over his shoulder. Somewhere not so far back, vast lightnings stomped the earth. Somewhere, a storm like a great beast with terrible teeth could not be denied"?
7. What Gothic horror novel published by Shirley Jackson in 1959 is widely regarded as one of the best ghost stories ever written, following a group of strangers brought together to investigate a mysterious house? Its beautiful first line is, "No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream."
8. Which 1954 psychological horror novel by William March tells the chilling story of Rhoda Penmark, an eight-year-old girl whose charm masks a sinister nature? It begins with the lengthy but ominous opening line below:
"Later that summer, when Mrs. Penmark looked back and remembered, when she was caught up in despair so deep that she knew there was no way out, no solution whatever for the circumstances that encompassed her, it seemed to her that June seventh, the day of the Fern Grammar School picnic, was the day of her last happiness, for never since then had she known contentment or felt peace."
9. Which 1979 novel by Peter Straub tells the chilling tale of four elderly friends in Milburn, New York, who share a dark secret that unleashes a supernatural terror? It begins with perhaps my favorite first lines of any horror novel:
"What was the worst thing you've ever done?
I won't tell you that, but I'll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me ... the most dreadful thing ..."
10. Which 1936 science-fiction horror novella by H.P. Lovecraft recounts a disastrous Antarctic expedition by Miskatonic University researchers, who uncover ancient ruins and horrifying secrets beyond a mountain range higher than the Himalayas?
It's first line is, "I am forced into speech because men of science have refused to follow my advice without knowing why."
Source: Author
JJHorner
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
looney_tunes before going online.
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