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Lo horrible
"Lo horrible, esa vieja palabra, significa algo más que terrible. Un espantoso accidente como ése conmueve, trastorna, asusta: pero no enloquece. Para experimentar horror se necesita algo más que la emoción del alma y algo más que el espectáculo de una muerte espantosa, se necesita, bien un estremecimiento de misterio, bien una sensación de espanto anormal, fuera de lo natural. Un hombre que muere, aunque sea en las condiciones más dramáticas, no inspira horror; un campo de batalla no es horrible; la sangre no es horrible; los crímenes más viles son raramente horribles.
Miren, aquí tienen dos ejemplos personales que me han hecho comprender lo que se puede entender por Horror."
Miren, aquí tienen dos ejemplos personales que me han hecho comprender lo que se puede entender por Horror."
- GenresShort Stories
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About the author
Guy de Maupassant
7,565 books3,070 followersHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer. He is one of the fathers of the modern short story. A protege of Flaubert, Maupassant's short stories are characterized by their economy of style and their efficient effortless dénouement. He also wrote six short novels. A number of his stories often denote the futility of war and the innocent civilians who get crushed in it - many are set during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 28, 2025
Yeah, the examples of what is horrible are horrible lol
November 15, 2021
Guy de Maupassant defines that something being "horrible" is much more than something "terrible" in his story "The Horrible". Both examples he gives are war related and horrifying, the second example is truly unhuman.
"two men and three women drowned in the river before the eyes of the guests. General de G —— remarked: “Yes, these things are affecting, but they are not horrible. “Horrible, that well-known word, means much more than terrible. A frightful accident like this affects, upsets, terrifies; it does not horrify. In order that we should experience horror, something more is needed than emotion, something more than the spectacle of a dreadful death; there must be a shuddering sense of mystery, or a sensation of abnormal terror, more than natural. A man who dies, even under the most tragic circumstances, does not excite horror; a field of battle is not horrible; blood is not horrible; the vilest crimes are rarely horrible."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
The soldiers in extreme hardship had not their right minds and the revenge was too great.
The hunger and killing of men to satisfy hunger is something that haunts me. I would rather die than do such an evil thing.
“The earth was covered with snow. The night was falling. They had not eaten anything since the day before. They were fleeing rapidly, the Prussians not being far off. “All the Norman country, sombre, dotted with the shadows of the trees surrounding the farms, stretched out beneath a black, heavy, threatening sky."
“Nothing else could be heard in the wan twilight but the confused sound, undefined though rapid, of a marching throng, an endless tramping, mingled with the vague clink of tin bowls or swords. The men, bent, round- shouldered, dirty, in many cases even in rags, dragged themselves along, hurried through the snow, with a long, broken-backed stride. “The skin of their hands froze to the butt ends of their muskets, for it was freezing hard that night. I frequently saw a little soldier take off his shoes in order to walk barefoot, as his shoes hurt his weary feet; and at every step he left a track of blood. Then, after some time, he would sit down in a field for a few minutes’ rest, and he never got up again. Every man who sat down was a dead man. “Should we have left behind us those poor, exhausted soldiers, who fondly counted on being able to start afresh as soon as they had somewhat refreshed their stiffened legs? But scarcely had they ceased to move, and to make their almost frozen blood circulate in their veins, than an unconquerable torpor congealed them, nailed them to the ground, closed their eyes, and paralyzed in one second this overworked human mechanism. And they gradually sank down, their foreheads on their knees, without, however, falling over, for their loins and their limbs became as hard and immovable as wood, impossible to bend or to stand upright."
"I really no longer doubted that he was a spy. He seemed very aged and feeble. He kept looking at me from under his eyes with a humble, stupid, crafty air. “The men all round us exclaimed. “‘To the wall! To the wall!’ “I said to the gendarmes: “‘Will you be responsible for the prisoner?’"
“And immediately they shot him. The soldiers fired at him, reloaded their guns, fired again with the desperate energy of brutes. They fought with each other to have a shot at him, filed off in front of the corpse, and kept on firing at him, as people at a funeral keep sprinkling holy water in front of a coffin. “But suddenly a cry arose of ‘The Prussians! the Prussians!’"
“And all along the horizon I heard the great noise of this panic-stricken army in full flight."
“And suddenly one of them exclaimed: “‘Good God, general, it is a woman!’ “I cannot describe to you the strange and poignant sensation of pain that moved my heart. I could not believe it, and I knelt down in the snow before this shapeless pulp of flesh to see for myself: it was a woman."
“Now, one day we encamped in the middle of the desert, and the Arabs declared that, as the spring was still some distance away, they would go with all their camels to look for water. “One man alone warned the colonel that he had been betrayed. Flatters did not believe this, and accompanied the convoy with the engineers, the doctors, and nearly all his officers. “They were massacred round the spring, and all the camels were captured."
“The captain of the Arab Intelligence Department at Ouargla, who had remained in the camp, took command of the survivors, spahis and sharpshooters, and they began to retreat, leaving behind them the baggage and provisions, for want of camels to carry them. “Then they started on their journey through this solitude without shade and boundless, beneath the devouring sun, which burned them from morning till night. “One tribe came to tender its submission and brought dates as a tribute. The dates were poisoned. Nearly all the Frenchmen died, and, among them, the last officer."
“The man toward whom the famished soldier drew near did not flee, but lay flat on the ground, and took aim at the one who was coming toward him. When he believed he was within gunshot, he fired. The other was not hit, and he continued then to advance, and levelling his gun, in turn, he killed his comrade."
“Then from all directions the others rushed to seek their share. And he who had killed the fallen man, cutting the corpse into pieces, distributed it. “And they once more placed themselves at fixed distances, these irreconcilable allies, preparing for the next murder which would bring them together. “For two days they lived on this human flesh which they divided between them. Then, becoming famished again, he who had killed the first man began killing afresh. And again, like a butcher, he cut up the corpse and offered it to his comrades, keeping only his own portion of it. “And so this retreat of cannibals continued. “The last Frenchman, Pobeguin, was massacred at the side of a well, the very night before the supplies arrived. “Do you understand now what I mean by the horrible?"
"two men and three women drowned in the river before the eyes of the guests. General de G —— remarked: “Yes, these things are affecting, but they are not horrible. “Horrible, that well-known word, means much more than terrible. A frightful accident like this affects, upsets, terrifies; it does not horrify. In order that we should experience horror, something more is needed than emotion, something more than the spectacle of a dreadful death; there must be a shuddering sense of mystery, or a sensation of abnormal terror, more than natural. A man who dies, even under the most tragic circumstances, does not excite horror; a field of battle is not horrible; blood is not horrible; the vilest crimes are rarely horrible."
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
The soldiers in extreme hardship had not their right minds and the revenge was too great.
The hunger and killing of men to satisfy hunger is something that haunts me. I would rather die than do such an evil thing.
“The earth was covered with snow. The night was falling. They had not eaten anything since the day before. They were fleeing rapidly, the Prussians not being far off. “All the Norman country, sombre, dotted with the shadows of the trees surrounding the farms, stretched out beneath a black, heavy, threatening sky."
“Nothing else could be heard in the wan twilight but the confused sound, undefined though rapid, of a marching throng, an endless tramping, mingled with the vague clink of tin bowls or swords. The men, bent, round- shouldered, dirty, in many cases even in rags, dragged themselves along, hurried through the snow, with a long, broken-backed stride. “The skin of their hands froze to the butt ends of their muskets, for it was freezing hard that night. I frequently saw a little soldier take off his shoes in order to walk barefoot, as his shoes hurt his weary feet; and at every step he left a track of blood. Then, after some time, he would sit down in a field for a few minutes’ rest, and he never got up again. Every man who sat down was a dead man. “Should we have left behind us those poor, exhausted soldiers, who fondly counted on being able to start afresh as soon as they had somewhat refreshed their stiffened legs? But scarcely had they ceased to move, and to make their almost frozen blood circulate in their veins, than an unconquerable torpor congealed them, nailed them to the ground, closed their eyes, and paralyzed in one second this overworked human mechanism. And they gradually sank down, their foreheads on their knees, without, however, falling over, for their loins and their limbs became as hard and immovable as wood, impossible to bend or to stand upright."
"I really no longer doubted that he was a spy. He seemed very aged and feeble. He kept looking at me from under his eyes with a humble, stupid, crafty air. “The men all round us exclaimed. “‘To the wall! To the wall!’ “I said to the gendarmes: “‘Will you be responsible for the prisoner?’"
“And immediately they shot him. The soldiers fired at him, reloaded their guns, fired again with the desperate energy of brutes. They fought with each other to have a shot at him, filed off in front of the corpse, and kept on firing at him, as people at a funeral keep sprinkling holy water in front of a coffin. “But suddenly a cry arose of ‘The Prussians! the Prussians!’"
“And all along the horizon I heard the great noise of this panic-stricken army in full flight."
“And suddenly one of them exclaimed: “‘Good God, general, it is a woman!’ “I cannot describe to you the strange and poignant sensation of pain that moved my heart. I could not believe it, and I knelt down in the snow before this shapeless pulp of flesh to see for myself: it was a woman."
“Now, one day we encamped in the middle of the desert, and the Arabs declared that, as the spring was still some distance away, they would go with all their camels to look for water. “One man alone warned the colonel that he had been betrayed. Flatters did not believe this, and accompanied the convoy with the engineers, the doctors, and nearly all his officers. “They were massacred round the spring, and all the camels were captured."
“The captain of the Arab Intelligence Department at Ouargla, who had remained in the camp, took command of the survivors, spahis and sharpshooters, and they began to retreat, leaving behind them the baggage and provisions, for want of camels to carry them. “Then they started on their journey through this solitude without shade and boundless, beneath the devouring sun, which burned them from morning till night. “One tribe came to tender its submission and brought dates as a tribute. The dates were poisoned. Nearly all the Frenchmen died, and, among them, the last officer."
“The man toward whom the famished soldier drew near did not flee, but lay flat on the ground, and took aim at the one who was coming toward him. When he believed he was within gunshot, he fired. The other was not hit, and he continued then to advance, and levelling his gun, in turn, he killed his comrade."
“Then from all directions the others rushed to seek their share. And he who had killed the fallen man, cutting the corpse into pieces, distributed it. “And they once more placed themselves at fixed distances, these irreconcilable allies, preparing for the next murder which would bring them together. “For two days they lived on this human flesh which they divided between them. Then, becoming famished again, he who had killed the first man began killing afresh. And again, like a butcher, he cut up the corpse and offered it to his comrades, keeping only his own portion of it. “And so this retreat of cannibals continued. “The last Frenchman, Pobeguin, was massacred at the side of a well, the very night before the supplies arrived. “Do you understand now what I mean by the horrible?"
August 26, 2023
3.5⭐
AKA: The Horror, The Horrible Event, L’horrible
At the end of a dinner party the guests comment on a local tragedy of the previous day, when a group of people had drowned in the river right in front of them. The General de G. agrees that the accident affects, upsets, terrifies; it does not horrify but then proceeds to give the guests an example of what he calls a really horrible event that he witnessed during the recent Franco-Prussian War. And then he tops that one with an even more atrocious incident that he participated in during his active career in Africa.
AKA: The Horror, The Horrible Event, L’horrible
At the end of a dinner party the guests comment on a local tragedy of the previous day, when a group of people had drowned in the river right in front of them. The General de G. agrees that the accident affects, upsets, terrifies; it does not horrify but then proceeds to give the guests an example of what he calls a really horrible event that he witnessed during the recent Franco-Prussian War. And then he tops that one with an even more atrocious incident that he participated in during his active career in Africa.
May 4, 2025
☠️☠️☠️☠️
June 18, 2021
Indeed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews