The Door in the Wall

 

H. G. Wells, "The Door in the Wall" in The Door in the Wall and Other Stories (1911).


Raised on Thomas Ligotti’s brand of horror has taught the eye to spot the miserable paradoxes of being this thing we call human. H. G. Wells’ "The Door in the Wall" is, in part, a study on the paradoxes associated with desire. In the story, Wallace, like a Lovecraftian character, is both drawn to and repulsed by the weird, in this case, an enchanted garden behind a green door discovered as a child. Now 40, Wallace has had this strongest of desires his whole life to find and re-visit the garden, but, at the same time, when confronted with the opportunity, he chooses the mundane over the fantastic time-and-time again. The paradox that begins to take shape: what he most desires is not really what he desires most! Desire is a strange thing. By their very definition, we want our desires satisfied, but at the same time, we would not desire a life with all of our desires satisfied. And again, we find another Ligotti-like abominable characteristic at the root of our natures. 

Comments

Post a Comment

What did you think about this story?

Popular posts from this blog

Children of the Night

Image
Stephen Graham Jones, "Children of the Night" in  Screams From the Dark , ed. Ellen Datlow (Tor Publishing Group: 2022). This is a story involving the literal collision of subculturesă…ˇbigfoot hunters, truckers, and monsters.  Tol's theories and speculations about monsters are wonderfully absurd, but the truth is stranger and even more ridiculous. When monster kinds cooperate with one another, we don't have a chance against them.
Read more

You Have What I Need

Image
  Ian Rogers, "You Have What I Need" in Screams From the Dark , ed. Ellen Datlow (Tor Publishing Group: 2022). The hospital is a strange place. Apart from a war zone, you are unlikely to be physically closer to horror than when sitting in the ER waiting room of a hospital. There is nasty shit going on all around you—from blood, viscera, and death to injustice, psychological trauma, and financial ruin. It is a place where strange things happen, a place where both lives are saved and tragedies occur.  But people (and monsters, disease, and contagion) show up at the hospital thinking they are going there because it has what they need . It can feel like the last hope; the hospital can fix it. Most of the time, what you think will happen differs from what really happens. It is a place that often frustrates expectations and sometimes delivers pleasant surprises.  “You Have What I Need” takes up this weirdness of the hospital from the perspective of those who work there, those who v
Read more

The Smell of Waiting

Image
Kaaron Warren, "The Smell of Waiting" in  Screams From the Dark , ed. Ellen Datlow (Tor Publishing Group: 2022). This story has a different take on returning the dead to life. Life isn't something to be restored, but rather, death is a thing or a presence that can be taken away. Of course, once you've taken it away, you've got to store it somewhere! What did you think about the role that Andrea played in the process as opposed to the role that the dog played in the process?
Read more