The End of the Party by Graham Greene
My rating: 5/5 cats
this is a shiveringly good short story, and i am so grateful to wendy darling for the indirect recommendation.
the twin brothers (eeeek!!) in this story are so closely entwined that they have that heightened twin-telepathy we all know is true. they are so deeply connected: the world is their new womb. but only one of them is scared of the dark. and the story is basically the one twin trying to get out of having to go to this party where there is going to be hide-and-seek in the dark, to no avail, and the party, and the result.
did you know that i am also scared of the dark? well, i am. and so the idea of going to a party and playing hide-and-seek in the dark is very shuddery to me. and then add twins on top of it? you can see that for me, this would be the scariest story ever.
and it’s great – greene does an excellent build here. i have only read heart of the matter before, and it was nothing like this. more writers should try their hand at horror, because who knows who has an actual knack for it? i wouldn’t have suspected it of graham greene…
and it ends on such an
moment.
the idea of facing your fears is unhealthy. it is better to avoid them at all costs. much better.
seriously – any of you people try to force me into playing hide-and-seek in the dark, i’m taking you down with me. and if you are twins, you better watch out twice.
