The Most Horrible Story by John Jakes
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"The Most Horrible Story" by John W. Jakes is a short horror fiction piece written in the early 1950s. The narrative revolves around a protagonist named James Thompson, who is lured into a mysterious Horror Book Club, promising readers an unparalleled tale of horror. The story cleverly exploits themes of obsession and the nature of horror itself. As Thompson becomes a member of the club, he finds himself in a chilling reading
room where he is presented with a book bound in human skin. Curiosity leads him to read the titular story, which is shockingly brief, yet profoundly unsettling: "You're dead." His experience rapidly transforms from intrigue to despair as he discovers the inescapable nature of the book’s horror. Each rereading intensifies his psychological torment, trapping him in a cycle of horror and madness, ultimately leaving him in a horrifying existential crisis as he alternates between screaming and reading. The story serves as a haunting commentary on the effects of consuming horror and the thin line between fascination and fear. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Jakes, John, 1932-2023 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Terry, W. E. (Willis E.), 1921-1992 |
| Title | The Most Horrible Story |
| Series Title | Produced from Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy January 1952. |
| Credits | Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 88.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Horror tales |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 65727 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-65727-1 |
| Release Date | Jun 29, 2021 |
| Last Update | Oct 18, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 546 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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