 | This articleconsists almost entirely of aplot summary. Please helpimprove the article by providing morereal-world context.(June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Red Room" short story – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| "The Red Room" | |
|---|---|
| Short story byH. G. Wells | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Genre | Gothic fiction |
| Publication | |
"The Red Room" is a shortGothic story written byH. G. Wells in 1894. It was first published in the March 1896 edition ofThe Idler magazine.
A main character chooses to spend the night in an allegedlyhaunted room, coloured bright red in Lorraine Castle. He intends to disprove the legends surrounding it. Despite vague warnings from the three infirm custodians who reside in the castle, thenarrator ascends to "the Red Room" to begin his night's vigil.
Initially confident, the narrator becomes increasingly uneasy in the room. He attempts to conquer his fear by lighting candles, but keeping the candles lit in the draughty room becomes an ongoing battle. Each time a candle is snuffed out, the narrator's fear and paranoia increases. He begins to imagine that the drafts are guided by a malevolent intelligence. As the narrator's fear intensifies, he stumbles onto a large piece of furniture (possibly the bed), and ricochets off the walls in a blind panic, hitting his head and eventually falling unconscious. The caretakers, who find him in the morning, feel vindicated when the narrator agrees that the room is haunted. They are eager to hear a description of theghost, but he surprises them by explaining that there is no ghost residing in the room. The room is haunted by fear itself.
Freddie Jones narrated the story in 1980 as part of the BBCSpine Chillers series.
The story is illustrated byBarry Moser as part of the 1998 children's book,Great Ghost Stories, complete with an afterword byPeter Glassman.[1]
The book currently holds a rating of 3.44 out of 5 onGoodreads with 15% of a total 1,613 ratings being 5 stars.[2]
The Red Room public domain audiobook atLibriVox | This article about ahorrorshort story (or stories) published in the 1890s is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |