You obviously never read... (a 2 sentence horror story) by 3dcheapskate
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Description
"Her son Herbert, who had died in the horrific accident, was alive again and knocking at her door!
Jenny White's third wish had also come true."
(26 words - obviously inspired by the W. W. Jacobs short story "The Monkey's Paw")
Third and last of my three entries for the 2021 Writers Halloween Contest: 2 Sentence Horror Stories, this was entry #25
Comments (4)
I'm very ashamed, but I didn't read it and I didn't even know it (my ashamed face) However, your work seems to me to be a very effective and suggestive synthesis.
One should never be ashamed of not having heard of a certain book, painting, etc. But in this case I think it's essential to have read the short story in order to grasp the true horror...
It was her third wish !
Luckily the short story's freely available to read online - Project Gutenberg have "The Lady of the Barge by W. W. Jacobs", a collection of his short stories including The Monkey's Paw here - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12133
I read this, and many others by WWJ, a long time ago ... The stories are all well worth reading.
It was many decades past for me too and looking through a list of titles very few ring of them ring any bells - so it may be time to reacquaint myself.
I've read it so long ago but it will stick with you. My dad always used to warn me "Be careful what you wish for." After reading it, I understood why.
I've just read it again from that Gutenberg link and I was quite surprised - it's not as I remember it. The only bits that seemed familiar were the humourous first wish, the horror at how that first wish comes true, the desperate second wish attempting to undo that horror, and the third wish that forestalls the utterly unspeakable horror of the second wish coming true. And I guess that that's part of the genius of the story - it's the creeping gooseflesh and prickling hairs on the back of the neck that remain long after the mere words of the tale have been forgotten.
It is important to learn new things everyday if possible.
Monkey's Paw excerpt: "Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnam Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly."
Very wise and inscrutable... more the latter I think !