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Everyday Horrors

Int · CLB 5–6

High Int · CLB 7–8

Exercises 7

Reading

90 min

Which is scarier: a ghost or a call from an unknown number? This lesson starts with a series of cartoons by artist Joanne Sarginson that show why real life can be scarier than Halloween, and students find a fear they share. A humorous text about five ordinary things horror movies have “ruined” (mirrors, a ringing phone, the peephole, children’s drawings and a silent house) gives students 11 vivid expressions for fear and nerves (give sb the creeps, send chills down your spine, break out in a cold sweat, jump out of your skin, be scared stiff, nerve-racking, dread and more). They picture the idioms literally, match them with their meanings and test each other from memory. Then they put them to work on real situations, from calling the bank to a surprise electricity bill, and finish with a round of “This or That?” dilemmas (“a spider in your bed or in your shoe?”) with follow-up questions to keep the conversation going. The lesson comes in two designs with identical content: one with a Halloween theme for the spooky season and a simple, neutral version for use any time of the year. Answer key included.

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