Comments on: Identify story where ending leaves reader with creeping sense of horror.

Question: Identify story where ending leaves reader with creeping sense of horror.

maryrosecook — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:31:38 -0800

Heard about a (short?) story that ends with a certain word that causes the reader to experience a creeping sense of horror as the rest of the story fits into place. Any ideas what story it could be?

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:35:30 -0800

There's one I read in school where two leaders of warring tribes in Russia or Eastern Europe find themselves trapped under a log or somesuch and manage to work out their differences and the story ends with one of them saying "what's that sound" and the other one says "wolves."

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:39:47 -0800

Previously?

By: katie

katie — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:40:40 -0800

I think AJaffe is talking about "The Interlopers"

By: steveminutillo

steveminutillo — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:44:23 -0800

If it's a sci-fi story, then maybe you mean To Serve Man, by Damon Knight?

By: maryrosecook

maryrosecook — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:46:18 -0800

@infinitewindow I have read that story, and I know what you mean. It might be it. But I was thinking of something more along the lines of Angel Heart - something happens and a lot of other stuff falls into horrifying place.

By: muddgirl

muddgirl — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:46:37 -0800

I don't think it's the Chiang story mentioned in the other thread, but without more details it would be difficult to narrow down the options. I think most modern horror stories attempt to leave the reader with "a creeping sense of horror" after they finish.

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:47:17 -0800

That's it, Katie. Thanks!

By: harnharn

harnharn — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:10:44 -0800

Related, but probably not it, a story ending with this line: 'Then they were upon her.' It's called 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson and is available as a podcast from The New Yorker.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/podcasts/fiction

By: ilike

ilike — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:17:32 -0800

I think it is very likely you ask for The Lottery. The first time I read it I got that feeling exactly.

By: whitetigereyes

whitetigereyes — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:10:55 -0800

The Lottery doesn't end with a certain word though. I think it evokes the feeling but isn't the story the OP is talking about because you pretty much see the ending coming all along.

By: metaBugs

metaBugs — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:21:40 -0800

Not a short story, but the last few words of Iain M. Banks' "Walking on Glass" completely changes your view of everything that happened in the book.

By: NekulturnY

NekulturnY — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:00:16 -0800

Could it be Roald Dahl's 'The Landlady'? About a man who checks in to a B&B and feels a bit funny after drinking tea?

By: Flannery Culp

Flannery Culp — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:00:42 -0800

Michael Marshall Smith's "More Tomorrow" would fit your description. The full text used to be online, but I can't find it now.

By: trotter

trotter — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:15:17 -0800

It's probably not it, but I just thought of Joyce Carol Oates' Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

By: peep

peep — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:30:33 -0800

It's not "Soylent Green" is it?

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:56:06 -0800

Was it an invented word? If sliche rings a bell, it sounds like "Little Stones, Little Pistols, Little Clash" by Jacob Rubin.

By: Rabarberofficer

Rabarberofficer — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:58:26 -0800

It might be Raspberry Jam - a short-story by Angus Wilson (if memory serves me). The story is about a small boy who finds a dead bird in the woods and the ending words makes the events pretty scaring (in a nausious way).

Great reading-tips in the other answers!

By: MsMolly

MsMolly — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:10:02 -0800

How about Ian Banks The Wasp Factory? At the end of the story you find out something about Frank that changes the way you think about everything that happened before. (Don't read that wikipedia article if you don't want to spoil it.)

By: GooseOnTheLoose

GooseOnTheLoose — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:39:51 -0800

Every time I read "Mirror" by Sylvia Plath, those last two words, ordinarily something that wouldn't sound particularly affective, always give me the chills.

By: Sidhedevil

Sidhedevil — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:48:06 -0800

What came to my mind was Stephen King's story "Survivor Type."

By: mmoncur

mmoncur — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:08:23 -0800

Clarke's "The 9 Billion Names of God gives me this feeling in the last sentence, but I doubt it's what you're looking for.

By: peep

peep — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:38:52 -0800

Sidhedevil: What came to my mind was Stephen King's story "Survivor Type."

Actually, a bunch of King's short stories came to my mind, too. We really need more info from the poster. Where did you hear about this? How will you know if any of these answers are "correct"? Do you know if the story is a mass fiction or mainstream one, or something obscure?

By: speicus

speicus — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:01:59 -0800

David Foster Wallace's "On His Deathbed, Holding Your Hand, the Acclaimed New Young Off-Broadway Playwright's Father Begs a Boon" (from Brief Interviews with Hideous Men) is like this, though the word is not the last, just very close to the end, and you might miss the word entirely if you're not paying attention, and the exact meaning of the word is suspect even if you pick up on it. (That's DFW for you.)

By: divabat

divabat — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:13:06 -0800

A few stories from Twitlit Zone fit this.

By: ragtimepiano

ragtimepiano — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:35:44 -0800

How about Shirley Jackson's classic short story, "The Lottery"?

By: Mephisto

Mephisto — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:20:52 -0800

I can't believe no one has mentioned The Last Question, by Issac Asimov.

I still remember the chills this story gave me on first reading it over twenty years ago. In a strange way, it's one of the reasons I'm an atheist.

By: maryrosecook

maryrosecook — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:23:15 -0800

Wow, it seems like this thread has turned into one about great stories that leave you with the chills - that's fantastic.

Thanks very much for all the suggestions. Obviously, since I've never read the story in question, I can't judge which answer is correct.

@MsMolly and @metaBugs those are both great stories. You can't beat early Iain Banks.

By: Redhush

Redhush — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:07:45 -0800

the end of The Rats In The Walls. by H.P. Lovecraft gave me that impression but not from one word. last paragraph or so maybe

By: jschu

jschu — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:15:47 -0800

I can't believe no one has mentioned The Last Question, by Issac Asimov.
Oh, man, it's like the Asimov version of Ask Metafilter!

Settle-a-Bet-Filter: Will mankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfulness even after it had died of old age? [more inside] I've got five bucks riding on this! Hope me, askme!

By: dhruva

dhruva — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:57:08 -0800

The Man who liked Dickens by Evelyn Waugh is a classic in this genre.

By: barjo

barjo — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:52:10 -0800

I surprised no one has mentioned "The Two Bottles of Relish," by Lord Dunsany. The final word definitely reveals everything.