The Modern Folio’s first Promptober started off strong with The Tell-Tale Heart and The Monkey’s Paw. Together, they introduced us to a range of ideas, from fear, obsession, and guilt to suspense, foreshadowing, and the use of the unknown to build tension. They also set the spooky mood for the month and gave us plenty of inspiration to carry into our own writing. For Part Three, we’re turning to H. G. Wells, an English writer who helped shape the science fiction genre alongside writers such as Jules Verne. Although Wells is best known for works of science fiction and futuristic fiction, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man, he also explored horror and the supernatural. Today, we’re reading one of his shorter works, The Red Room.
In The Tell-Tale Heart, fear is largely intangible, existing within the narrator’s mind and growing through his own obsession and paranoia. The Monkey’s Paw, on the other hand, gives fear a tangible form through the supernatural object at the center of the story and the consequences surrounding it. Today, we will be reading The Red Room, which brings these ideas together in an interesting way. Its narrator enters expecting to encounter something tangible, believing that only a ghost or other physical presence could truly frighten him. Instead, his belief in what might be waiting for him feeds his imagination until the fear itself becomes the most tangible thing in the room.
Read The Red Room and think about how Wells makes the reader experience fear alongside the narrator.
How much of the horror comes from what the narrator experiences, and how much comes from what he expects to experience?
The narrator describes the caretakers as old, creepy, and grotesque. How does this description shape your expectations about what kind of horror you are about to encounter? Did it lead you to suspect that the caretakers themselves might be connected to whatever is haunting the Red Room?
How does the narrator’s perception of the caretakers change by the end of the story, and what does that change reveal about his understanding of fear?
The Red Room demonstrates that a writer doesn’t always need to give fear a face. Wells creates the expectation that something tangible is waiting inside the room, but ultimately shows us how darkness, uncertainty, and imagination can be frightening enough on their own. This is a great reminder of how much power we give our readers when we leave something unexplained. We don’t always have to show our readers what they should be afraid of. We just have to give their imaginations enough room to create it for themselves.
With this concept still fresh in your mind, let’s see where it takes you. For days 8 through 10 of Promptober, write a short story, poem, reflection, collection of thoughts, scene, or anything else the following words inspire:
October 8th – old
October 9th – room
October 10th – candle
Interpret them literally or let them take you somewhere unexpected. And if you decide to share what you write, I’d love to see it! Share your work on Facebook or Instagram and tag @paigeturnerblogs. You can also use #paigeturnerblogs and #themodernfolio so we can find your work and follow along with Promptober.
To the unseen and the unexpected!
Paige Turner
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