A Night at an Inn

by Lord Dunsany, William-Alan Landes (Editor)

Those clever ones are the beggars to make a muddle. Their plans are clever enough, but they don't work, and then they make a mess of things much worse than you or me.

Genres: Horror, Drama, Short Stories

15 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1916

About the author

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, eighteenth baron of Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work in fantasy published under the name Lord Dunsany. More than eighty books of his work were published, and his oeuvre includes hundreds of short stories, as well as successful plays, novels and essays. Born to one of the oldest titles in the Irish peerage, he lived much of his life at perhaps Ireland's longest-inhabited home, Dunsany Castle near Tara, received an honourary doctorate from Trinity College, and died in Dublin.

Reviews

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 2 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This one-act play is very similar to Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone. Three Hindu priests chase the thieves of a ruby, extracted from the eye of an idol. The ending is shocking, typical of Dunsany.

ESPAÑOL: Esta obra teatral en un acto se parece mucho a la novela de Wilkie Collins La piedra lunar. Tres sacerdotes hindúes persiguen a los ladrones de un rubí, extraído del ojo de un ídolo. El final es abracadabrante, típico de Dunsany.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born in London, heir to an old Irish peerage, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, FRSL FRGS (1878-1957) was commonly known as Lord Dunsany. An Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist, he published more than 90 books during his lifetime. His output consisted of hundreds of short stories, plays, novels, and essays. He gained a name in the 1910s as a great writer in the English-speaking world. Best known today are the 1924 fantasy novel, The King of Elfland's Daughter, and his first book, The Gods of Pegana (1905), which depicts a fictional pantheon. I recently read (May 2024) eight of his stories, reprinted in Lin Carter's Simrana Cycle. Many critics feel Dunsany's early work laid the grounds for the fantasy genre.

I just found an unexpected version of Lord Dunsany's work. One of his works, a play written in 1916, serves as the basis of Season One, Episode Eight (or Seven if you count the first episode of the season as episode Zero--some do) of the TV series Suspense, a 30-minute show titled "A Night at the Inn." The TV episode first aired April 26, 1949 and starred none other than Boris Karloff. It can easily be found on YouTube. The episode viewed by itself is not exceptional. But if viewed after reading the play, it is much more enjoyable. Seeing the show likewise makes reading Dunsany's play more fun as well. They complement one another beautifully!

The TV episode is a reasonably faithful rendition of Lord Dunsany's 1916 play, A Night at an Inn. The play as written is available at Gutenberg.org, but I liked reading the play most from the original 1916 book of it provided at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/anightata.... Both are free of course.

Reading the play is fast and easy, 20 minutes tops since it's a one-act. The virtue of having read the play first is that if one misses a word from the TV episode--the sound quality is not great--one knows basically what was said at the point of that missing word.

It truly is wonderful to see a Lord Dunsany play enacted faithfully like this!

[Erik LeDrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most delightful, sharp, punch-y pieces of drama I’ve ever read. Unapologetic for its characters and their actions, remorseless to the last. And a wildly unexpected conclusion that is perfectly suited to these rogues.

WARNING: characters use some disturbing racial language that hasn’t aged well, to say the least. Reader beware.

[Cole Beyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story has an excellent radio adaptation, episode forty of the Columbia Workshop. A great classic chiller with a group of theives getting their comeuppance at the hands of an ancient idol.

[Nada mohammed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another read for college :)
I liked toffy’s character.
The story was okay I kinda enjoyed it.

[B. Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some things you just cannot foresee. . .

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escuché el libro en descarga cultura.unam, el diálogo permanece casi igual aunque los insultos raciales cambian enormemente si está en inglés (original) o español. Esta hecho para ser escuchado más que para ser leído, tomo 20 minutos. Una clásica historia donde los malos del cuento y terminan cometiendo actos de barbarie y reciben su castigo. Es una historia muy sencilla de entender, lo importante es como los actores narran a los personajes

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A one-act play about some sailors and their ill-gotten loot, who hole up in an inn and try to cheat fate. Light entertainment, but I'd love to see it produced. Maybe a short film.

[Mateo R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

* Lugares: Irlanda.
* Figuras fantásticas: Deidad no específica, escultura viviente.