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The Red Room
"The Red Room" and several other stories.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
5 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
H.G. Wells
5,186 books11.2k followersHerbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...
http://www.online-literature.com/well...
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.
He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.
More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...
http://www.online-literature.com/well...
http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 7, 2015
Great set of stories! The descriptive writing is superb even when he's writing about something that doesn't exist you can easily imagine it does. Some of these stories were a little creepy for my liking and a few didn't hold my interest quite as much but the ones I loved made up for all those. Very enjoyable book.
September 26, 2015
Good stories, and well written. Some funny, some weird, some about hardly anything at all. All obviously old, though - the scary ones, for example, simply aren't scary today. They're all very short, mostly under 10 pages.
April 11, 2017
It's a pretty terrifying horror story that sadly ends too abruptly. There's enough left unsaid for the reader to draw their own conclusions, but will leave you glad that we no longer use candles at night.
March 7, 2025
Overall I liked this collection, although some of the stories at the start contained language that would be deemed racist today, but not at the time. The stories that stood out to me were: The Purple Pileus, a funny tale of a man transforming his life through use of fly agaric; The Sea Raiders with a monstrous Haploteuthis eating people; The Crystal Egg with an alien crystal designed to spy on earth falling into the wrong hands and Mr Skelmersdale in Fairyland where the titular character got into a romantic liaison with a Fairy queen.
November 26, 2020
Bilimkurgu fikirlerinin olduğu öyküleri sevdim.
October 15, 2018
Amazing psychological thriller with an unexpected ending
The story starts abruptly with the self-narrating protagonist conversing with an old man with a withered arm and the old lady who are unfriendly. Their names are not disclosed in this story. Apparently, the man wants to visit the ‘Red Room’ which is haunted and they warn him about the consequences. A third old man comes around and is startled to know his decision.
The man gets irritated from their disagreeable behavior and asks them to show the room. After getting the direction, he leaves them and passes through a long corridor to climb a spiral staircase. Then he lands halfway, opens the door covered with baize and goes through the dark corridor to reach the room at the end.
The man opens the room and locks it. The room is large and shadowy, surrounded by window bays, recesses, and dark alcoves. The fearful place reminds him of the past deaths that occurred in that room. A young duke got scared, ran out and fell down from stairs. In another story, a woman died when her husband tried frightening her.
The man fights these scary thoughts by lighting up the fire, placing candles in every corner and opening the window curtains. Even so, he gets frightened when the candles start to put out after midnight. He keeps lighting them frantically but they keep getting extinguished bringing back the haunting effect. Finally, the light from fire goes out and he rushes to find the door in the dark. He bumps into various things and falls down unconscious.
He comes around the next morning, to find himself in a bed and the three old people surrounding him. He realizes that ‘red room’ is haunted not by any ghost but the fear itself. It is the fear of being alone, in dark and soundless, dingy room at corner that had led to the deaths of people who stayed there earlier.
A totally unexpected ending but with great reasoning. I love the story and recommend you to read it.
The story starts abruptly with the self-narrating protagonist conversing with an old man with a withered arm and the old lady who are unfriendly. Their names are not disclosed in this story. Apparently, the man wants to visit the ‘Red Room’ which is haunted and they warn him about the consequences. A third old man comes around and is startled to know his decision.
The man gets irritated from their disagreeable behavior and asks them to show the room. After getting the direction, he leaves them and passes through a long corridor to climb a spiral staircase. Then he lands halfway, opens the door covered with baize and goes through the dark corridor to reach the room at the end.
The man opens the room and locks it. The room is large and shadowy, surrounded by window bays, recesses, and dark alcoves. The fearful place reminds him of the past deaths that occurred in that room. A young duke got scared, ran out and fell down from stairs. In another story, a woman died when her husband tried frightening her.
The man fights these scary thoughts by lighting up the fire, placing candles in every corner and opening the window curtains. Even so, he gets frightened when the candles start to put out after midnight. He keeps lighting them frantically but they keep getting extinguished bringing back the haunting effect. Finally, the light from fire goes out and he rushes to find the door in the dark. He bumps into various things and falls down unconscious.
He comes around the next morning, to find himself in a bed and the three old people surrounding him. He realizes that ‘red room’ is haunted not by any ghost but the fear itself. It is the fear of being alone, in dark and soundless, dingy room at corner that had led to the deaths of people who stayed there earlier.
A totally unexpected ending but with great reasoning. I love the story and recommend you to read it.
September 8, 2018
This was my first book of short stories and what better way to start than going straight in with HG Wells. As with all stories there were some I enjoyed and some not so much. There was also one which I got a little lost in ,and had to re-read! But we all like a challenge...right!
Reading a book is like meeting someone for the first time. When we start we do not know the characters and overtime we get to know them, like them, dislike them and maybe even love them. With short stories it felt like the characters were more passing acquaintance rather than friends...enemies and so forth. You simply don't get to know them so well.
I enjoyed reading the stories and I'm looking forward to my next short stores challenge. Bring on Sherlock Holmes!
Reading a book is like meeting someone for the first time. When we start we do not know the characters and overtime we get to know them, like them, dislike them and maybe even love them. With short stories it felt like the characters were more passing acquaintance rather than friends...enemies and so forth. You simply don't get to know them so well.
I enjoyed reading the stories and I'm looking forward to my next short stores challenge. Bring on Sherlock Holmes!
August 18, 2024
HG Wells said a short story "may be horrible or pathetic or funny or beautiful or profoundly illuminating" and that they should take between 15 to 50 minutes to read.
As a lover of short stories, I particularly like these statements. And I also particularly like this collection of stories.
There are stories about man eating plants, fairyland and magical apples but they all somehow seem totally grounded in reality and a lot cover topics totally relevant today.
They seem new and fresh despite being written mostly in the 1890s.
5 stars.
As a lover of short stories, I particularly like these statements. And I also particularly like this collection of stories.
There are stories about man eating plants, fairyland and magical apples but they all somehow seem totally grounded in reality and a lot cover topics totally relevant today.
They seem new and fresh despite being written mostly in the 1890s.
5 stars.
July 31, 2019
Published in 1998, 'The Red Room and other stories is a collection of 21 short stories originally published over the years 1894-1906. The type of tale varies, with some fantasy, some supernatural and some with a wickedly humorous twist, as well as a couple that are quite frankly boring. Altogether, and enjoyable mixture.
July 25, 2019
Many short stories by H. G. Wills, the best one for me is the one for which they've given the title of this collection, some of the stories were actually nice, a couple were funny actually, while the top one remains the Red Room as it is true, one's greatest fear is fear withing itself. I loved it
May 30, 2017
I had to read this for school and i did like it
September 23, 2017
4.5 I loved this
June 16, 2019
Great short stories, once again marvellous work of the imagination by H G Wells. Really enjoyed the book 👏👍
August 14, 2020
The Red Room: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Red Room is a short horror story. I taught this to some of my KS3 students whilst studying Gothic.
The story follows a man who does not believe in ghosts. He attempts to stay in a supposed ‘haunted’ room in a castle. The story ends with the man not being certain whether the room is haunted or if individuals scare themselves into thinking it is.
I enjoyed this read mainly because it was shorter than usual texts I read. I found the narrator frustrating and didn’t take to him as a character. It is very over the top but I enjoyed the ambiguity of the ending.
The Red Room is a short horror story. I taught this to some of my KS3 students whilst studying Gothic.
The story follows a man who does not believe in ghosts. He attempts to stay in a supposed ‘haunted’ room in a castle. The story ends with the man not being certain whether the room is haunted or if individuals scare themselves into thinking it is.
I enjoyed this read mainly because it was shorter than usual texts I read. I found the narrator frustrating and didn’t take to him as a character. It is very over the top but I enjoyed the ambiguity of the ending.
November 1, 2009
It was probably scary in its time. In fact a remake could be tenser, as it takes a lot longer to change a light bulb than to re-light a candle.
I’m not sure if it would be PC these days to constantly refer to someone as the man with the withered arm. All in all an enjoyable Halloween listen that leaves you wondering more about the under story than the actual story – why have they lived there all that time, why is his arm withered, how did they all come to be together etc.
I’m not sure if it would be PC these days to constantly refer to someone as the man with the withered arm. All in all an enjoyable Halloween listen that leaves you wondering more about the under story than the actual story – why have they lived there all that time, why is his arm withered, how did they all come to be together etc.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2016
Wells'i iyi ki bu romanıyla bitirmiyorum. Bu kadar fanı olduğum birinin böyle uykusuzluk çektiğiniz anlarda adeta ilaç olabilecek bir kitap yazması... Gerçekten bilimkurgu altyapılı romanlarına ne kadar tapıyorsam bundan da o kadar hoşlanmadım diyebilirim. Neyseki Ayda ilk İnsanlar adlı romanı ile bitireceğim H.G. Wells'i ve umarım bundan daha iyi olacak; hep iyi olarak hatırlıyacağım onu.
June 10, 2013
like most Wells works this inspired and ignited my imagination and his descriptive prose was wonderful.
August 24, 2014
Some cool short stories. All were enjoyable. Amazing how authors come up with so many different ideas.
December 3, 2012
One of my first paranormal stories.
July 14, 2015
Brilliant build
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews