Trivia Quiz: Frights And Terror From Literature
For many, October means colorful autumn leaves, golden pumpkins, hot apple cider and the coming of Samhain (Halloween)! With this holiday’s aspects of death and otherworldly things, it is an apt time for a trivia quiz about things that make our spines tingle. And for this specific quiz, the questions are derived from the wonderfully spooky world of Horror Literature.
If you would like to take the trivia quiz, the rules are simple: get out paper and pen or pencil. Number your paper 1-16, and then proceed to the Questions segment of this page. Read each individual question, and then choose an answer from among the possible four provided for each. Mark your selected answer on the paper and proceed to next question. Answers are found below the Questions segment.
Scoring: The first 15 correctly answered questions are worth 10 points each. The correctly answered BONUS QUESTION (#16) is worth 50 points - making for a possible 200 points final score.
Have fun with the quiz and good luck!
Trivia Questions
1. Who was the early twentieth century author that created the dark fictional deity known as Cthulhu?
a. H.P. Lovecraft
b. C.S. Lewis
c. J.R.R. Tolkien
d. H.R. Pufnstuf
2. What author created the character of the urbane and intellectually gifted cannibal, Hannibal Lecter?
a. Clive Barker
b. Thomas Harris
c. James Patterson
d. Wolfgang Puck
3. In ancient Kabbalic texts, as well as new editions of the Christian Bible, a creature known as the Alukah is described as thriving on the giving of others. Some modern scholars theorize the Alukah was actually what?
a. an angry ghost
b. a vampire
c. a demon
d. a hypochondriac
4. In the canon, "The Book of Tobit", a woman named Sarah is troubled by the demon Asmodeus. In what manner did the demon plague Sarah?
a. he killed seven of her husbands on their wedding night
b. he ate her newborn babe
c. he possessed her
d. he habitually popped in for visits when she was serving dinner
5. In Homer’s Odyssey, what type of savage creature is Poseidon’s son, Polyphemus?
a. a minotaur
b. a three-headed dog
c. a cyclops
d. a hipster
6. In Goethe’s famous play, Faust, the title character is a scientist that turns to magic to gain full knowledge of the workings of the universe. In doing so he conjures up the demon, Mephistopheles. In what form does Mephistopheles first make his appearance?
a. a seductive woman
b. a handsome Italian gentleman
c. a gentle-looking elderly woman
d. a poodle
7. Dr. John William Polidori, an author and personal physician to Lord Byron, is credited with inventing the modern fantasy vampire. What is the title of Polidori’s popular book that gave rise to the romantic connotations of vampires?
a. The Vampyre
b. Nosferatu
c. The Unliving
d. Fanny Hill
8. Jack Ketchum’s horrifying and very disturbing novel, “The Girl Next Door” was the fictionalized account of atrocities committed on a young girl. What other famed author wrote the 3,000 word introduction for the 1998 hardbound edition of “The Girl Next Door”?
a. Stephen King
b. Chuck Palahniuk
c. Michael Crichton
d. John Grisham
9, In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the central character is confronted by whose ghost?
a. Malcolm
b. Banquo
c. Duncan
d. Casper
10. Who was the author of “Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus”?
a. Mary Shelley
b. Louisa May Alcott
c. Jane Austen
d. Charles Krauthammer
11. The psychological horror short, "Miriam", is about an elderly woman who encounters a belligerent young girl with the same name. Who was the author of Miriam?
a. Tanith Lee
b. Stephen Crane
c. Truman Capote
d. Erma Bombeck
12. In 1978, Horror master Richard Matheson, wrote a novel about death, soul mates and eternal love, which in 1998 was turned into a film starring Robin Williams. What was the name of this novel?
a. A Stir of Echoes
b. Bid Time Return
c. What Dreams May Come
d. Popeye the Sailor Man: the True Story
13. Edgar Allan Poe’s creepy gothic poem, Ulalume, is set where?
a. a battlefield in ancient Greece
b. the misty mid-region of Weir
c. a cemetery in medieval Paris
d. a girdle and hosiery shop in Gielinor
14. Who wrote the chilling classic ghost story, “The Turn of the Screw”?
a. Shirley Jackson
b. Aldous Huxley
c. Henry James
d. Douglas Adams
15. Stephen King’s “Needful Things” was set in what fictional town?
a. Castle Rock
b. Derry
c. Jerusalem’s Lot
d. Smurf Village
16. *Bonus Question* Which of the following children’s books has been banned at one time or another after critics alleged the content was too frightful for young readers?
a. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
b. Watership Down
c. Alice In Wonderland
d. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
e. The Diary of Anne Frank
f. All of the above
Answers found below the photo!
Answers
1. a. H.P. Lovecraft
2. b. Thomas Harris
3. b. a vampire
4. a. he killed seven of her husbands on their wedding night
5. c. a cyclops
6. d. a poodle
7. a. The Vampyre
8. a. Stephen King
9. b. Banquo
10. a. Mary Shelley
11. c. Truman Capote
12. c. What Dreams May Come
13. b. the misty mid-region of Weir
14. c. Henry James
15. a. Castle Rock
16.*Bonus Q* f. All of the above
This Hub ©October 5, 2014 by Beth Perry
