“The Same Dog” (1974)

Here’s another nervy good one from Robert Aickman, operating much like a fairy tale at altitude. He introduces us to Hilary—a boy, but his name often confuses others. He’s the third son in a broader extended family that has only boys. Already coming at us with the small, absurd, unsettling details. Hilary’s brothers are both older than him by double-digit years. Their mother is dead. Hilary has no memory of her. He is sent to the boarding school everyone in his family goes to, and there, as a young boy, he meets Mary, who becomes his closest friend. She is the first female in his life. It seems likely to be a lasting union, even so early. They take longs walks in the woods, share imaginary stories, and make detailed maps of imaginary places, such as Fairyland and the bordering Giantland. On one day’s walk, deep in the woods, they find a very high wall. A dog that can’t be seen makes strange noises: “... barking—if, indeed, one could call it a bark. It was more like a steady growling roar, with a clatter mixed up in it, almost certainly of gnashing teeth.” This is frightening, but they take turns being frightened and reassuring. They follow the wall to a gate, where they see the dog, a strange yellow beast, and also the house, which appears abandoned. After they return from the adventure, Hilary takes sick the next day and is bedridden for two months. When he recovers, he is told that Mary is dead. No further word is ever learned about Hilary’s sickness or how Mary died. No one seems willing to tell Hilary how she died. It’s a shocking development, for the reader too. The story then jumps ahead 20 years, to when Hilary as a young man has occasion to visit the school again, visiting a friend who lives in the region. The area has been developed considerably, with many new homes. It’s hard to tell whether they can even find the strange house. Hilary tells his friend the story meanwhile. Then they find it. It has been fixed up and is occupied now. The title has already given away what they find, but there is more—Aickman’s usual ration of unsettling more. It’s arguable Aickman was the best short story writer of horror or fantasy in the second half of the 20th century. More evidence here.

Robert Aickman, Cold Hand in Mine
Listen to story online.