The Turn of the Screw, written by Henry James and published in 1898, is a classic Gothic ghost story. A young governess is hired to care for two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at Bly, a remote English country estate. Soon after her arrival, she begins to see apparitions of Peter Quint, a former valet, and Miss Jessel, the previous governess—both of whom are dead. Convinced the ghosts mean to corrupt the children, she struggles desperately to protect them. The novella's enduring power lies in its ambiguity: whether the spirits truly exist or are merely products of the governess's fevered imagination remains unresolved.
