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Need something fun and engaging to do during the spooky season of October? Your students will love solving puzzles in this 360° Halloween escape room. This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues and riddles based on Halloween! They must escape the witches’ cabin before their souls are stolen by the evil coven. This game is a great way to get students to work collaboratively and practice problem-solving skills.

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions, the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


Included is a presentation on gothic literature–perfect for any teacher who is starting a short story unit on scary tales, such as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “Monkey’s Paw,” “The Black Cat,” “The Landlady,” and many more! This presentation includes a brief history of the horror genre and elements that encompass gothic literature. It also includes literary techniques used by authors to accomplish successful scary stories, such as irony, mood, foreshadowing, and imagery. Guided notes are included.


Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this creepy, 360° digital escape room. This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe in order to crack the master lock and escape the room. This game entails reading comprehension skills, finding textual evidence, and making inferences.

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


This reading guide for “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe includes an anticipation guide for students to complete before reading, comprehension/recall questions for during reading, and literary analysis, text-dependent questions for after reading.

Students will analyze:

  • point of view
  • unreliable narrator
  • mood
  • suspense
  • motives
  • author’s language

Answer key included.


Luella Miller is an unusual woman… anyone who helps her, becomes pale, lifeless, and dies. In this femme fatale story, “Luella Miller” (1902) by Mary Wilkins Freeman, readers get a mysterious, sinister vampire story, without any explicit information about vampires.

Included in this literary analysis of the gothic, feminist short story, you will get:

  • the full text of Luella Miller by Mary Wilkins Freeman (first published in the December 1902 issue of Everybody’s Magazine and again in Wilkins’ collection The Wind in the Rose-bush and Other Stories of the Supernatural.)
  • before reading discussion questions
  • academic vocabulary graphic organizer and answers
  • reading comprehension questions and literary analysis with answer keys
  • after reading chronological order timeline and answer key
  • after reading summarizing strategy

Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this 360° digital escape room. This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in order to crack the master lock and escape the room. This game entails reading comprehension skills, finding textual evidence, and making inferences!

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


Great story for women’s history month or for studying mental health awareness!

This product includes an activating strategy that focuses on mental health disorders. Students will then be introduced to a brief background on mental health and be prompted to discuss healthy coping mechanisms and treatments. This will serve as a pre-reading activity for the gothic, feminist short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Students will read the story which is available for free online.

Next, students will then answer the literary analysis questions which focus on short story devices such as: setting, foreshadowing, mood, theme, point of view, and irony.

Lastly, students will be asked to write two summaries of the story: one objective and one subjective.

Answer key included.


Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this 360° digital escape room. This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W. W. Jacobs in order to crack the master lock and escape the room. This game entails reading comprehension skills, finding textual evidence, and making inferences!

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


The lesson plans in this product are all about the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. Included in this resource is:

  • Activating strategy (word sort)
  • Journal Prompt
  • Notes on Short Story Terms: Plot, Conflict, Mood, Setting, Theme
  • Recall questions
  • Close Reading Text Analysis Questions
  • Plot Diagram and Theme Analysis
  • Learning Menu: Final project options for students
  • Answer Keys

Have your class read the eerie short story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl using this resource. This download includes an anticipation strategy, academic vocabulary, background on the author, setting, analysis questions, two creative writing assignments, and an answer key. This story is great if your class is studying horror stories or if you want students to read something scary for Halloween. The analysis questions cover important literary elements such as irony, point of view, suspense, foreshadowing, and theme.


“The Hand” is a gothic short story written by Guy de Maupassant (1883) perfect for a gothic literature or short story unit. Included in this product is an anticipation guide, the full text short story, a vocabulary graphic organizer, 20 close reading/ reading comprehension questions, a short story elements graphic organizer, a creative writing learning menu with 2 options for after reading, and answer keys. This story is great for studying an embedded narrative text structure and unique point of view. Other literary elements covered in this story are: allusion, foreshadowing, suspense, dialogue, gothic motifs, theme, plot, conflict, characters, setting, mood, and tone.


Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this ominous, 360° digital escape room. This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe in order to crack the master lock and escape the room. This game entails reading comprehension skills, finding textual evidence, and making inferences.

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).

Have fun and enjoy!


One of Edgar Allan Poe’s most popular sinister tales is The Cask of Amontillado. In this literary short story analysis, students will define academic vocabulary from the story, participate in an anticipation activity, be given a brief background on Carnival of Venice, answer reading comprehension questions, write a quick summary, and play a fun “would you rather” game based on details of the story. Answer keys are included! This story is perfect for learning the three types of irony: situational, verbal, and dramatic as well as character motivations, theme, dialogue, suspense, and mood.


The short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving with Reading Comprehension Questions & Creative Writing Project is perfect for reading gothic, romantic literature! Who hasn’t heard of the mysterious legend of the headless horseman? This spooky tale is known to many, but read and understood by few. Read Irving’s original tale and have your students analyze the text with these close reading, literary analysis questions.

This product includes:

  • anticipation guide and activating strategy to activate prior knowledge
  • vocabulary graphic organizers and answers
  • reading questions and answers
  • after reading/ discussion questions and answers
  • school comparison Venn diagram and answers
  • group or independent project: WRITE YOUR OWN LEGEND (creative writing)
  • rubric for legend essay/ narrative writing prompt

Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this spooky and suspenseful 360° digital escape room. Students must escape the headless horseman from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving!

This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “”The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving in order to crack the master lock and escape the scene. This game requires reading comprehension skills; students must find textual evidence to solve the puzzles. Watch the video preview to get a closer look at the clues and the room.

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


The Body Snatcher is a Gothic Mystery Short Story by Robert Louis Stevenson. If you’ve never read this tale before, I highly recommend it! This gothic story is told in an embedded narrative and is inspired by the true crimes of William Hare and William Burke in 1828.

The Hare and Burke murders were a series of 16 killings committed in Edinburgh, Scotland where the men would dig up corpses and sell the bodies to Doctor Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures.

Included in this short story analysis:

  • Full text of the story “The Body Snatcher” by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Academic Vocabulary graphic organizer and answer key
  • Powerpoint presentation which includes:
    • biography and popular works of Robert Louis Stevenson
    • historical context of body snatching in the 19th century and the resurrection men
    • the Anatomy Act of 1832 explained
    • historical context of the Burke are Hare murders (also known as the West Port murders)
  • During reading comprehension questions and answer key
  • after reading discussion questions
  • analyzing theme graphic organizer and answer key

Have your students read the creepy, gothic short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe and supplement your lesson with these pre-reading, during reading, and after reading activities!

First have your students look at a series of superstitions and decide if they are superstitious themselves.

Secondly, this story is RICH with academic vocabulary. Have your students choose 10 words from a list of 25 words to learn and define.

Next, your students will read the short story “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe and answer 25 questions that require literary analysis and the use of textual evidence.

Have your students dive further into the short story with a quote analysis activity and direct students to breakdown the significance of important quotes from the story.

To summarize this lesson, have your students write an objective summary of the text; lastly, they will choose one of three fun, creative writing options from a learning menu.

Literary elements covered in this lesson include foreshadowing, suspense, irony, point of view, character motives, and theme.


“The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft is a Gothic Short Story perfect for any short story unit! It is a creepy, grotesque tale which encompasses an unreliable, lonely narrator; it pairs wonderfully with any of Edgar Allan Poe’s infamous tales or Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.

In this product you will receive:

-a before reading anticipation guide

-academic vocabulary with answers

-reading comprehension questions and answer keys. Questions focus on setting, mood, suspense, foreshadowing, point of view, and descriptive details from the story

-after reading paired text activity. Students will be provided an excerpt from Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Students will then write a constructed response comparing the experiences of the monster to that of the narrator from Lovecraft’s “The Outsider”

-creative writing activity: the lovable monster!


This resource includes a copy of the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe and 26 close reading questions. The analysis includes an in-depth look at academic vocabulary, poetic devices, and literary elements in the poem. (An answer key is also provided.)

Poetic and Literary Devices Covered in this Activity:

  • allusion
  • alliteration
  • symbolism
  • rhyme scheme
  • repetition
  • mood
  • tone
  • imagery
  • gothic literature
  • theme

Your students are going to love The Raven Digital Escape Room! Students will read and analyze the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.

They will solve 6 puzzles in this 360° ominous, dark, room,—of course with a spooky raven perched inside. Check out the video preview to get a sneak peek of the room!

This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. This game requires reading comprehension strategies, knowledge of poetic devices, and critical thinking skills.

Included in this purchase are: teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer guides, the full text of the poem, and a reflection sheet (optional).


Students will read and analyze the script of Lucille Fletcher’s radio play: The Hitchhiker (also spelled The Hitch-Hiker). Have them listen to the drama on the Orson Welles Show to understand the impact that music and sound effects have on a play.

Students will love to compare the audio version of The Hitchhiker to the episode of The Twilight Zone Rod Serling adapted for television. (The gender swap of the main character makes for a great discussion.)

In this dreadful, ominous tale, students will be guessing what this hitchhiker really wants… or is he even real?!

Included in this lesson plan:

  • Background information on Lucille Fletcher
  • History of radio dramas and radio plays
  • Academic vocabulary
  • review of literary devices: foreshadowing, suspense, flashback, dialogue, and mood
  • Before reading journal prompt
  • Literary analysis questions of the script
  • Media analysis questions to compare the film vs audio
  • Reflection journal question for after reading
  • Answer keys

Student objectives:

Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film).

Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.


Have your students read the foreboding, gothic short story “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe with this Close Reading and Analysis activity! This product includes the short story, side by side with questions to annotate/analyze the literature as well as define academic vocabulary.

Included in this literary analysis:

  • before reading activity on color meanings
  • before reading journal activity
  • full text “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe
  • vocabulary terms to define
  • reading comprehension questions
  • after reading analysis questions, with a focus on allegory and symbolism
  • objective summary prompt
  • answer keys

Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this creepy, dark, and suspenseful 360° digital escape room. Students must escape the black chamber before the Red Death can get them!

This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe in order to crack the master lock and escape the room. This game entails reading comprehension skills, finding textual evidence, and making inferences. Watch the video preview to get a closer look!

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


This product is for Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and consists of reading comprehension questions and a gothic literature analysis graphic organizer.

1) To activate students’ prior knowledge on gothic literature, students will participate in a carousel brainstorming activity.

2) Students will define academic vocabulary for the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

3) Students will read the full story “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe and complete the reading comprehension questions.

4) Students will analyze the literature after reading. Using textual evidence, students will fill out a graphic organizer identifying and explaining gothic motifs and elements in “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

5) Answer keys provided.


Your students are going to love deciphering and solving puzzles in this creepy and suspenseful 360° digital escape room. Students must escape the house of Usher before the whole mansion collapses on them!

This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. Students will solve a series of clues based on the story “The Fall of the House of Usher”by Edgar Allan Poe in order to crack the master lock and escape the room. This game requires reading comprehension skills; students must find textual evidence to solve the puzzles. Watch the video preview to get a closer look at the clues and the room.

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, and a reflection sheet (optional).


In this Reading Comprehension Guide & Literary Analysis of the short story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, students will participate in before, during, and after reading activities.

Included in this short story lesson plan:

  • Before Reading Word Sort
  • Academic Vocabulary Powerpoint and Graphic Organizer
  • During Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers
  • After Reading Cooperative Learning Literary Analysis Questions and Answers
  • Analysis of the Biblical verses Alluded in the story Lamb to the Slaughter
  • Creative Writing Options

Skills studied and covered in this lesson:

  • Point of View
  • Theme
  • Allusion
  • Symbolism
  • Dramatic Irony
  • Situational Irony
  • Suspense
  • Characterization
  • Inferences
  • Conflict
  • Dialogue

In this Paired Texts Bundle — You will receive a literary analysis for each individual story: The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In addition, you will receive an essay prompt and rubric for a text-dependent analysis essay and graphic organizer to compare and contrast both pieces of literature.

The paired texts analysis focuses on many literary elements (similarities and differences) including: point of view, text structure, theme, characters, conflict, and symbols.

Each individual analysis comes with pre-reading activities and reading comprehension questions with answer keys.

Student Objectives:

  • Analyze how two texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics
  • Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
  • Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences and conclusions based on and related to an author’s implicit and explicit assumptions and beliefs.
  • Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • Students will analyze important literary devices including: plot, conflicts, themes, characters, point of view, text structure, mood, tone, and symbolism.

In this Reading Paired Texts Bundle — You will receive a literary analysis for each individual story: The Hand by Guy De Maupassant and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. In addition, you will receive an essay prompt and rubric for a text-dependent analysis essay and graphic organizer to compare and contrast both pieces of literature.

The paired texts analysis focuses on many literary elements (similarities and differences) including: point of view, text structure, theme, characters, conflict, and symbols.

Each individual analysis comes with pre-reading activities and reading comprehension questions with answer keys.

Student Objectives:

  • Analyze how two texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics
  • Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
  • Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences and conclusions based on and related to an author’s implicit and explicit assumptions and beliefs.
  • Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • Students will analyze important literary devices including: plot, conflicts, themes, characters, point of view, text structure, mood, tone, and symbolism.

Reading Paired Texts: Text-Dependent Analysis and Response To Literature Essay for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and The Hand by Guy De Maupassant.

If you are looking for a pair of awesome texts with similar themes, topics, and literary elements (from the same time period), this product features a compare and contrast activity for “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving and “The Hand” by Guy De Maupassant.
Both stories are gothic in nature and are free online because they were written in the 1800s. Irving’s story is also an example of American romanticism and satire, but both feature strong themes of imagination vs reality, storytelling, and the supernatural. Comparing these two stories is great practice for writing a TDA.

Included in this purchase is:

  • a graphic organizer that outlines how students will compare multiple literary elements of the two short stories.
  • the response to literature (RTL) essay or text-dependent analysis (TDA) prompt for students and a rubric with point values based on Common Core Standards
  • an answer guide to the literary analyses of both texts

Student Objectives:

  • Analyze how two texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics
  • Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
  • Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences and conclusions based on and related to an author’s implicit and explicit assumptions and beliefs.
  • Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
  • Students will analyze important literary devices including: plot, conflicts, themes, characters, point of view, text structure, mood, tone, and symbolism.