Is Harper Lee's ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ a horror novel?

Many readers have probably noticed all the out-of-town visitors and school children in downtown Monroeville this week due to the start of the popular “To Kill a Mockingbird” play on the square. This is a great time for Monroeville to put its best foot forward as we get the chance to make a good impression on these guests. It’s also a good time of year to talk about the novel and the movie, which are favorites far and wide.

For some time I’ve enjoyed defending the position that “TKAM” is a thinly-veiled horror novel. While it’s not over-the-top like your typical Stephen King horror tale, there is a lot between the covers of “TKAM” to shore up the idea that it’s a low-key horror novel.

For those who don’t think so, consider this. The story centers on the Finch family – Atticus, Jem and Scout – who live next door to the reclusive Radley family. A close reading of the novel shows that the Radley house is nothing more than the neighborhood haunted house, and it is occupied by the local boogeyman, “Boo” Radley. The book also rocks on until its ultimate climax on Halloween night 1935.

Among other things, the book is also filled with references to the supernatural and a wide variety of superstitions, including haints, incantations and secret signs. By way of example, in Chapter 4, Jem and Scout introduce Dill to the concept of “Hot Steams.” Hot Steams – or warm places that travelers pass through on the road – are said to be spirits of the dead who can’t go to heaven.

“What’s a Hot Steam?” asked Dill.

“Haven’t you ever walked along a lonesome road at night and passed by a hot place?” Jem asked Dill. “A Hot Steam’s somebody who can’t get to heaven, just wallows around on lonesome roads an’ if you walk through him, when you die you’ll be one too, an’ you’ll go around at night suckin’ people’s breath.”

Dill then asked, “How can you keep from passing through one?”

“You can’t,” said Jem. “Sometimes they stretch all the way across the road, but if you hafta go through one you say, ‘Angel-bright, life-in-death; get off the road, don’t suck my breath.’ That keeps ‘em from wrapping around you.”

Keep in mind that Jem, Scout and Dill are young children. With that said, I can’t help but wonder where Jem and Scout first heard about Hot Steams. It’s unlikely that they heard it from their rational attorney father, Atticus, but maybe they picked it up from Calpurnia or from some other child at school. The book offers no clues to this.

Hot Steams and the “Angel-bright” incantation also pop up in Harper Lee’s second novel, “Go Set a Watchman.” In that book, Scout, aka Jean Louise Finch, makes fun of the idea that she and her friends once believed in such irrational superstitions. Jean Louise is much older in this book, but seems to look back fondly on the days when her brother and Dill innocently believed in such things.

In the end, let me know if you’ve spotted any other references to superstitions or the supernatural in “TKAM” or “Go Set a Watchman.” No doubt there are other references that I have missed. I’m sure there is even more evidence between the pages of “TKAM” to shore up the thesis that the novel is a thinly-veiled horror novel.