W.W. Jacobs and his Monkey's Paw

One of those masters of horror that has not received all the recognition he should is W.W. Jacobs. Born in 1863 this Londoner was not really known for being a horror writer, however, it was a collection of short stories (The lady of the Barge, 1902) that made him popular and one in particular has endured the test of time better than the rest: The Monkey’s Paw. This is the tale that defines psychological horror more accurately than any other. It’s really easy to scare showing scenes of gore, using ominous dark figures or monsters of all sorts, but is it equally easy without any of those things? Jacobs was a master in doing so and his story is the best proof.

 It begins with the Whites and their only son, a young man.One day they receive the visit of one of Mr. White’s old friends, a military man who is in possession of a mysterious artifact. That thing is a monkey’s paw that has the incredible ability to grant three wishes to its owner. It can be used by three different people only and by the time the story begins we meet the second owner who is precisely the man visiting the Whites, Sergeant-Major Morris. After telling the story of the paw the sergeant tries to get rid of it but Mr. White rescues it thus becoming the new and last owner of the paw. When the sergeant leaves Mr. White makes his first wish: to receive money enough to pay the mortgage of his house. Nothing happens. The following day everyone has forgotten about the paw and the wish, but later on a stranger comes to the Whites’ home and tells him their son is dead. This man represents the company where their son worked and has also brought along a small sum as “compensation” for the sad demise that is exactly the amount of money Mr. White had asked to pay for the mortgage of his house. One night several days after burying her son, Mrs. White awakes and remembers the paw, wakes her husband up and forces him to seek the paw and wish again. Mr. White wishes their son returns to them. At first nothing happens but sometime later someone knocks at the door and to Mr. White’s horror his wife goes downstairs to welcome their son. But what is behind the door exactly? The young man had died torn apart by the same machines he operated at work and after all those days surely his body had corrupted and deteriorated even more.  The ending though somewhat anticlimactic is in fact perfect and it shows  that it’s not that what we can see but what we can’t see is by far more terrifying.