The Monkey's Paw and Other Tales

by W.W. Jacobs

Book Overview

Released in a second edition in October 2022, this updated anthology of W. W. Jacobs' best macabre tales is replete with informed annotations, expository commentary, and chilling illustrations that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0897334418
• ISBN13: 9780897334419
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

"The Monkey's Paw" Terrorizes Even at 106 Years Old

"The Monkey's Paw" was written by a humorist who enjoyed writing about adventures on the high seas. Yet W.W. Jacobs is best remembered for giving the world one of the most terrifying short stories in literature. The story is a chilling morality play about the dangers of tempting fate. The lesson is simple: Be careful what you wish for. The story, written in 1902, opens on a cold, damp night in an English village on the edge of a moor. A strong wind is buffeting the house, but within the closed quarters a family of three (father, mother, and grown son) huddle near the parlor fire. Father and son play chess while the woman knits. The father, Mr. White, is a noisy, emotional man. He is the odd man out in the family. Mrs. White is a devoted and doting mother to her son, Herbert. Mother and son have a humorous rapport and often gently tease Mr. White. One of the most effective devices in the story is the use of the setting. The house and the outlying country become an integral part of the story, especially in setting the dark tone. Here's how Mr. White describes his home: "'That's the worst of living so far out," bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence; "of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Pathway's a bog, and the road's a torrent. I don't know what people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses on the road are let, they think it doesn't matter.'" On this bleak night, Sergeant Major Morris, a long-time family friend pays a visit. Morris, a British officer, has returned from a long engagement in India. They drink around the fire and listen to Morris tell tales about his Asian adventures. Drunk on whiskey, Morris is goaded into telling the family the story of the monkey's paw. He is reluctant, but his will power has been weakened by the liquor, and once he opens up the story pours out of him faster than the whiskey poured in. "'It had a spell put on it by an old fakir,' said the sergeant major, `a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it.' His manner was so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter jarred somewhat. `Well, why don't you have three, sir?' said Herbert White cleverly. The soldier regarded him in the way that middle age is wont to regard presumptuous youth. `I have,' he said quietly, and his blotchy face whitened." And then the old soldier tells them that he has no idea what the first man did with his first two wishes - but the third wish was for death. He tries to destroy the paw by tossing it into the fire, but Mr. White quickly retrieves it. Before he leaves, Morris cautions the old man to make his wishes wisely. Before the night is out, Mr. White, on a dare from his son, wishes for 200 pounds. The paw twist grotesquely in his hand an

Spooky!

I tried to read it, but the first 3 stories are terrifying, and i could not continue after them... very good book if you like the macabre.

Still haunting after all these years...

I was first introduced to Jacobs's work by my high-school English teacher, who had us read "The Monkey's Paw" along with assorted works by Edgar Allan Poe. Jacobs is first and foremost a humorist, but he handles human psychology and psychopathy well in this collection of his short stories. Also must-reads, aside from the title, are "The Well," "The Toll-House," "The Interruption," and if you like morbid humor with your mystery, "The Vigil."