“The Thing in the Cellar” (1932)

This very short story by David H. Keller (formally “M.D.” on ISFDB), published originally in Weird Tales, is almost primitively simple. It did not particularly work on me, but comments at one site where it’s reprinted agreed it was the scariest story they had ever read when they were kids (perhaps a version of my experience with George Hitchcock’s “An Invitation to the Hunt”). I love how simple the elements of this story are. The house and the house’s foundation do not fit—the foundation is much older and larger. The door in the kitchen to the cellar is also much older than the rest of the house and more appropriate for an exterior door, as if for protection. A young family lives there. The parents use the cellar and have never felt anything strange about it except the usual creepy stuff about dark cellars and cobwebs and such. Another nice detail is that there’s ancient junk down there that has never been cleaned out. Their son is terrified by it and has been ever since he was a baby. It’s taken as usual childhood fears but an unusually strong and intense case of them. The parents worry he is too morbid and seek professional help. The person they consult suggests forcing the issue by nailing the cellar door open and making the kid stay in the kitchen with the open door. Another professional they consult that same day is alarmed and says that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. So they hurry to the kitchen, but—well, you should read the story for yourself to see if you think the finish is as predictable as I do. Now yes sure there are problems here, such as the convenience of the second opinion leading to further discoveries. But the second opinion is still effective because it confirms our own uneasy sense that the kid is on to something and the first advice was bad. At the same time, absolutely no evidence beyond this boy’s overwhelming fear is ever offered. The parents hear and see nothing. The kid never describes what he’s afraid of. That’s so good—just don’t explain it at all. The story doesn’t particularly work on me. Perhaps I was too old when I read it. But I can see it has worked on others and I think I can see why. Kids are notorious for being carried away by their imaginations and in many ways this one never has a chance. The cruelty of the proposed treatment is good too. I can see why it could all pack a vicious punch.

Read story online.
Listen to story online.