Closing time (Fragile things week 2) by Neil Gaiman

Watch out for spoilers below. This is more of a discussion about rather than a review of sort of post.

Yet another story within a story. Of course, that is a very traditional format for ghost stories, Turn of the Screw for example. I suppose it comes from the fact that that is what people used to do, sit around and tell the story, so in order to evoke that atmosphere it makes sense to begin a ghost story in that environment. And of course, even now a days, most of us have had a story telling session trying to scare one another with various “true” stories.

This story begins with the narrator remembering a club he used to belong to. And then the night he went there and took part in a story-telling session, although we don’t know if the main story happened to him, or if it happened to another of the men he was talking to.

I really liked this story. Maybe because I like things story-shaped :) and this one has a beginning, a middle, and some what of an ending. Although like all good ghost stories the end is not neat. A good ghost story should leave you wondering, and this one certainly does.

But another reason I liked this story is that it starts out quite light-hearted. And the story within a story has a similar feel to it. A boy out having a little adventure. And of course that makes the chilling aspect even more unsettling. And as usual in ghost stories not revealing the “monster” is always a good ploy. Nothing can compare to the unknown. And so when those three boys go into that house we are left to wonder and speculate, and the imagination can be a terrible thing.