The Red Room

"The Red Room" by H. G. Wells is a horror short story written in the late 19th century. The narrative revolves around an unnamed protagonist who attends a vigil in a supposedly haunted room within a mysterious manor. The story explores themes of fear and the psychological impact of the unknown, particularly in settings that evoke superstition and dread. In the tale, the protagonist enters the Red Room with the intention of confronting its haunting reputation. Despite his bravado and rational mindset, he experiences terrifying occurrences as the darkness seemingly comes alive around him. Candles mysteriously extinguish, plunging him into deeper shadows, and he ultimately succumbs to overwhelming fear, resulting in a physical and psychological breakdown. When he awakens, he realizes that the true horror of the Red Room is not a ghost, but rather the paralyzing power of fear itself, which lingers in the room and affects all who enter it. This revelation underscores the story's central message about the nature of terror found within the human psyche. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Herbert George Wells was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, history, popular science, satire, biography, and autobiography. Wells' science fiction novels are so well regarded that he has been called the "father of science fiction".