“The Door” (1973)

This story by UK horror writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes is reasonably effective, but it’s not hard to see an argument for it being faintly ridiculous. It’s a haunted house type of story, except it’s just one door that is haunted. William Seaton, a writer, found it in a specialty shop and reworked his study to make it the door for his writing supplies cupboard. It is antique and ornate, from an estate recently liquidated. The door is out of place there, much too majestic for a cupboard and entirely too massive, but Seaton likes to look at it while he writes. Well, one night—he likes to write at night—he finds himself gazing at the door and letting his thoughts drift, but these thoughts soon become vivid and intense. He imagines himself in the grand room for which the door once served as portal. It’s the beginning of an obsession. Soon he is chasing this experience and he is eating and writing less. His wife Rosemary thinks it has something to do with the door. They talk about the door a lot and research its history. There’s a certain confusion about his dreamy experiences. We’re not always sure where he is during these interludes or what is going on exactly. I sometimes had the nagging feeling Chetwynd-Hayes did not know himself. Toward the end of the story Seaton finds a journal in the room beyond the door and reads it. “An Experiment in Darkness,” the fragment is titled. And while it is also doing some of the tedious work of exposition it is quite effective at setting a desperate supernatural mood. I call the exposition tedious because the story is often at pains to rationalize itself, which can undercut the horrors even as it clarifies. So this story has explanations and also a happy ending. I was a little disappointed with myself for being disappointed about a happy ending. After all, is an unhappy ending any less mechanical? And what am I looking for in horror anyway—miserablism? Perhaps. I appreciate the various terrors here, which are often well done. As a portal that might lead anywhere, doors (and windows too) are a good element to focus on. Finding something ruthless on the other side is good stuff too. But overcoming them in time for a hearty breakfast? Maybe not so much.

In case the library is closed due to pandemic, which is over.