We wish you the very best for this years official All Hallows Read, beloved patrons and readers! May you sample all the candy you desire, may you be filled with treats and free of tricks. And, for those who would like a little spooky reading for your All Hallows Read, we are happy to present you with a classic and shiver-inducing story: “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs.
Jacobs was born in Wapping, London in 1863, the son of a wharf manager. He was well-educated, and eventually began work as a clerk in a post office savings bank. The work afforded him both a living and time to write, and by 1885, he had his first short story published. He married Agnes Eleanor Williams, a noted suffrage activist, in 1900. Though Jacobs is remembered as a writer of horror stories (“The Monkey’s Paw” being the story for which he is most well-remembered), his career was mostly as a writer of humorous stories, predominately about mariners and sea-faring. He was successful enough that he retired from the post office in 1899.
There are aspects of this story that are certainly dated, not the least of which is the “magical thing that comes from a faraway part of the Empire to destroy British people” trope. It’s a theme that pops up everywhere in Sherlock Holmes stories, it was the basis for Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone, it’s the main premise of Dracula…safe to say, it’s a well-worn theme that helped create the idea of the “other”–a figure that was frightening and dangerous and needed to be controlled. And we should recognize that. On the other hand, this story is still read, and still shared, because it is wonderfully constructed, finely wrought, and genuinely unsettling. It is a perfect embodiment of the old maxim “be careful what you wish for”, but without feeling pedantic or rehashed. Jacobs’ talents as a humorous shine through in places, as well, helping him create characters who are sympathetic and real, even down to their inability to play a good game of chess. And it’s that connection to these people, and this ability to relate to them, even when they make the most dire of mistakes, that makes this story such an effective–and affecting–one.
So, we hope you enjoy “The Monkey’s Paw”, and that your All Hallows’ Read, or Halloween, or Tuesday evening, is one that brings you great joy. And maybe a few shivers. Just click on the title below to access!
Hauntingly delightful !