Posts Tagged ‘horror’
M. John Harrison said it beautifully in his strange and underappreciated first novel, The Committed Men: they had altogether left the maps he had known. This simple statement encapsulates the halting, terrible moment whereupon the speaker recognizes he is no longer in familiar territory. He has crossed the line, as it were, into the Weird Places. And there ain't no going back.
Imagine an abandoned building — let's say a ruined apartment. Somewhere in that building is a stairwell that leads to the basement. Wander through that lightless place until you see an old rusty grate in the floor, and pry it open. Go down the ladder until you find yourself in a small sub-basement full of old rotting boxes and broken tools, and find a little closet at the far end. There's a busted water heater stuck in the corner, but around the side of it you can find just enough room to squeeze in. Don't mind the little puddle of grime on the floor: it's been there longer than you have. Congratulations, you've just found a Shadowy Corner. They're special places, imbued with ancient secrets and a mystical je ne sais quoi, and they scare the hell out of me.
