Today’s read is a short story where the horror lies very much in the unknown. You can read ‘The Hall Bedroom’ here. Somewhat ironically, the little rabbit hole I fell into for today’s story was deeply mundane. In writing this blog, I feel a little like the protagonist at the beginning of his story, telling the inexplicable that ‘I will have no such nonsense.’ Instead of my brain spinning off into contemplation of the limits of our knowledge of time and space and the possibilities of the world beyond our perception… I was mostly interested in the history of hall bedrooms. I feel terribly prosaic. In case you too were eager to find out more, boarding houses, such as that set up by the landlady of this story, were common in the 19th century. They typically offered a private room and board (including food and some services – which would depend on the house and the price). Although purpose built lodging houses became more common as the 20th century rolled in, our story seems to feature a converted house with, admittedly, a long history of being used as a boarding house. Typically, landladies would make the best use of the space they had in such dwellings by partioning off larger rooms to increase the number of boarders. Another common technique was the partitioning off of hallway rooms which were often enough dark and without access to outside lighting. The hallway room in this story appears to be an end of hallway room (possibly a partitioned off end of hallway). These rooms, especially on higher floors, were usually the cheapest room in the house and the renter’s taking of the room suggests a lot about his current financial position.
The story is full of mysteries but, again, with my terribly prosaic mind, I’m less interested in the mysteries of fifth dimensions, and time and space folding up to allow for strangely partial access (one sense at a time!) to a world beyond. The other room, the small narrow room that runs the length of the hall bedroom, is the part that most interests me. It was presumably part of the renovations or refitting which turned the residential house into a boarding house, potentially meaning that the creation of the hall bedroom itself was a cover for the creation of the inner room or that this room pre-exists the hall bedroom which was built around it. Either way, the ‘queer’ old gentleman who owns the house potentially has something to add to the inquiry. There are plenty of other questions left unanswered – where did the other victims (for want of a more accurate word) go? What’s the picture got to do with anything? Why did he disappear on the last night – a case of inevitability or a failure of his usual ward (a lit match)? This is the type of story that’s written to make you wonder, to question the very construction of the world. I’m afraid that my mind concentrates on the more minor details. I’ve never found the cosmic horrors of unseeable colours (there are so many colours we can’t see), inexplicable geometry (plenty of geometry is beyond my purview), or dimensional folds (cool?) particularly fear-inducing or, indeed, interesting. I apologise for my terrible lack of imagination and proper horror feeling.The real is more horrifying to me. However, I enjoy the little details of this story, its mundane mysteries, and its creation of another space accessible only by one sense at a time. There is something unsettling about that sort of limited and, as the story suggests by our protagonist’s constant feeling of being about to faint, dangerous sensory access.
I hope you enjoyed the story as much as, or hopefully more than, me! One thing I love about horror is that it’s not universal, each of us brings new eyes, new fears, new thoughts to each piece. Maybe you can help me find a bit more wonder or maybe you experienced similar emotions! Do let me know.
Romancing the Gothic 