“Dress of White Silk” by 02.02.12 Story 33/366 When posted Richard Matheson’s story “,” it reminded me of just how good his short stories are. I found “Dress of White Silk” in a collection called (Horror Stories by Richard Matheson). It has an introduction by saying nice things about Matheson and his influence on his own work and on horror in general. Frank rennicke gratis download. This story originally appeared in Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1951. It is a change of pace for Matheson but chilling nonetheless. Told from the point of view of a little girl whose mother is dead, it’s an experiment in voice and tone and point of view.
I don’t think it’s wholly successful, but it’s an interesting read. Ee you tomorrow!
A little girl's momma has recently died and Granma won't let her into the dead woman's room. Momma's pretty white dress is in her room, and the little girl tells her friend Mary Jane that she's not allowed in her dead momma's room. Last titanic expedition. But one day granma is sleeping, and Mary Jane dares her to go into the room.
But momma was. Different, and granma has a good reason for her little grandaughter to stay clear of the room. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1951. Reprinted in:. Vamps, ed.
Greenberg & Charles G. Waugh, DAW 1987. The Best Horror Stories From The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, 1988. The Best Horror Stories From The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Volume I, 1989. Richard Matheson: Collected Stories, Scream/Press, 1989. Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown, ed.
Marvin Kaye, Garden City, NY: Guild America, 1993. I Am Legend, 1995. Girls’ Night Out: Twenty-Nine Female Vampire Stories, 1997 Original title: Dress of White Silk Original languages: English Quotes: Genre: → → This work is a subwork of the following works: (1954) Collection Author: (1988) Anthology Authors:, (1989) Collection Author: (1989) Anthology Authors:, (1995) Collection Author: (1997) Anthology Authors:, (2002) Collection Author: No Editions Found.
Collected In: Grandma locked me in my room and wont let me out. Because its happened she says. I guess I was bad. This is my favourite Richard Matheson story. It is told from the point of view of a six year old locked up by her Grandma because she has been 'bad.'
Over the course of the story we find out exactly how bad she has been. Well, not exactly. That is we know by the end of the story something pretty terrible has happened to the narrator's best friend, Mary-Jane, but we aren't sure precisely what. More importantly, we are not quite sure who is to blame.
I've spoken a lot about ambiguity in this series, and here Matheson creates a whole ton of ambiguity simply by his choice of narrator - the little girl telling the story might know what has happened, but she can't fully express it, and certainly doesn't understand the full import of what has happened (in her eyes she has merely been bad). If the grandma had narrated this story it would be very different, because Grandma we feel would be able to tell us what 'it' is that had happened, and what happened to the girl's mother, and whether the mother really was beautiful (as the narrator contends) or slightly. Odd looking (as Mary Jane says).
There's a similar argument between the two girls concerning the titular white dress itself: And anyway its not a white dress its dirty and ugly she Mary Jane said If you Google this story you'll find plenty of anguished English Literature students saying things like 'What does this story mean???' Is it a ghost story? A vampire story? Is it, in fact, a naturalistic account of a girl who idolises her dead mother and pretends she is somehow still under her influence when she turns violent against her friend?
(It's perfectly possible to read this story as having no supernatural element at all - the grandma's cries of god help us its happened its happened simply meaning the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.) Is it a witch story? A child demonic possession story? All of these possible interpretations point to one thing: it's a strange story.
Customer programming software motorola. Next Week: Strange Stories #11. Not sure yet!
I love Matheson's stories and I have read Dress of White Silk many times, but it seems a bit ambiguous as to its meaning. I'm guessing this was done on purpose. I love how it's written and it has some quotes I like. But what does it mean to you? To me, I see it as a little girl inheriting her mother's (evil?) power. Her mother may have been a witch? The ending also seems to imply that whatever 'terrible bad' thing she did, she gained some manner of power from.
A Dress Of White Silk Richard Matheson Pdf To Excellence
Or, it could also mean the dress contains some leftover power of her mother's that possessed her while she held it. Btw, this story has been reprinted many times, but here are two newer editions that contain it. Funny, I just re-read this as part of my upcoming review of. Matheson says in his post-notes that he wrote it because 'Born of Man and Woman' had worked so well and he wanted to see if he could do the 'children's voice trick' again.SPOILERS. As to what's going on - well, it's ambiguous on purpose, not just for the pay-off but also to forestall questions that might arise if too many details are given. Obviously the 'little girl' is normal enough to have a friend that visits, so she's no obvious monster, but that the mother herself probably appeared somewhat monstrous at her death (buck teeth = fangs, funny hands = claws), her shroud is the 'dress of white silk' and donning it either causes the daughter to be possessed by the mother or perhaps come into her inheritance of monstrous desire and power (the story hints that it has happened before). I actually think it's pretty evocative as is, asking questions just pulls an effective but flimsy structure apart.
I read it and liked it OK. Reminded me a little of that short story where the monstrous-looking boy is kept locked in a basement.
Why does the grandmother allow a kid to come and play with the girl? Surely she knows something is not right because she screamed 'god help us its happened.' Stuff just flies over my head sometimes in short stories. I didn't pick up on the buck teeth (fangs) or hands (claws) as being something other than the little girl worshiping her mother and not wanting to hear anything but how beautiful SHE thought her mother was. No wonder it was so dark in the house. How'd I ever get my English degree? My take on the story: The ending gives it away for me: 'She doesn't have to even give me supper.
I'm not hungry anyway. The way Matherson emphasized that ending in his wording, tells me she ate Mary Jane. 'buck teeth funny hands' could be a werewolf or a vampire. It seems obvious to me that the mother turns into a monster, and the child has inherited her tendency. For me, the big question is the role of the white dress. Here's a line that I'm puzzling the meaning of, when the daughter pretends to be the mother going out against the grandmother's wish: 'And oh stop your sobbing mother they will not catch me I have my magic dress.'
I searched through the story, and I still can't figure out how the dress is going to stop her from being captured. If she goes out and turns into a monster to claim her victims, what is the role of the dress?.SPOILERS. It could be what you say, Shawn. Some clues that the dress has evil power: The beginning where the girl was locked in her room: 'Because its happened she says. I guess I was bad.
Only it was the dress.' Later in the scene, she talked about her grandma: 'And she says I should burn it up but I loved her so.
And she cries about the dress.' After Mary Jane insulted her mother: 'I think the dress moved in my arms.' 'I think I heard some one call dont let her say that! I couldnt hold to the dress. And I had it on me I cant remember. Because I was grown up strong.
But I was a little girl still I think I mean outside. I think I was terrible bad then.' My take on the dress: 1. The dress is a part of the mother, her monster, evil side. To destroy the dress is to destroy the mother. That's why the grandmother cannot destroy the dress.
Evil is passed on from the mother to the daughter, like the old concept, 'Sins of the father.' , particularly mentioned here and there in the Bible. I think the dress represents the evil that is within all of us and is also our inheritance. In the Matheson's story terms, the dress transforms the mother into a supernaturally strong evil monster, so that man would have a hard time destroying her. Thus, she cannot be caught. Since that evil is an addictive part of her, she needs to don it every night to go out and commit her destruction. Flag Abuse Flagging a post will send it to the Goodreads Customer Care team for review.
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