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Facilitate reading comprehension and sharpen literary analysis skills with this bundle of activities and assessments covering David H. Keller’s Halloween-appropriate short story “The Thing in the Cellar.” A plot-based quiz, close reading inference worksheet, vocabulary definitions handout, vocabulary application exercise, crossword puzzle, word search game, and answer keys are included. Materials are delivered in editable Word Document and printable PDF formats.

“The Thing in the Cellar” involves an abstract threat that terrifies a six-year-old, causing his parents seek professional advice on how to help him overcome his fear. The narrative’s slow-building sense of dread culminates in a grave and ironic outcome that makes it a compelling addition to a scary short story unit for high school, especially during the Halloween season. The narrative pairs especially well with other works of fiction dealing with the theme of fear, including “The Beast in the Cave” by H.P. Lovecraft and “The Premature Burial” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Students will practice and demonstrate the following essential ELA skills:

• Identifying literary devices such as ambiguity, sibilance, and situational irony.
• Making logical inferences about character fears, supernatural implications, and the author’s intent.
• Analyzing characterization by comparing and contrasting characters like Hawthorn, Johnson, and the Tuckers.
• Evaluating character motivation and parental roles, particularly Mr. Tucker’s response to Tommy’s fear.
• Exploring theme and authorial purpose, including how Keller develops the idea that “the unknown is often the scariest.”
• Interpreting irony and foreshadowing to explain how narrative expectations are subverted.
• Defending claims with textual evidence, strengthening critical analysis and argumentative writing.