READING ROOM: SPOOK WORD OF THE WEEK -

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Word of the Week: Halloween Special

This page is the cavernous vault where the vocabulary meets the uncanny, the unsettling, and the downright creepy.

We are compiling a growing list of terms that may tingle the spine and help expand your eerie vocabulary. Just as every haunted house has its ghostly whispers, and every crypt in Ulfrheim has its restless spirits, so every tale of terror needs its fair share of spooky verbiage.

As any horror writer worth their crucifix and holy water will tell you, these words are not just letters haphazardly strung together; they are incantations, each with an etymology, a word history, as rich (and often as unsettling) as the subjects they describe.

Proceed with caution, for you are about to delve into the dark arts of the English language. Read on if you dare!

ELDRITCH

Weird and sinister or ghostly; inspiring fear and dread. As in: The eldritch atmosphere of the abandoned mansion made even the bravest of souls quiver.

MACABRE

Disturbing and horrifying because of involvement with, or a depiction of, death and injury. As in: Her room was decorated in a delightfully macabre fashion, complete with cobwebs and skeletons.