A Walk in the Dark

by Arthur C. Clarke

A walk in the dark. The dark, one of man's primal fears, becomes even more intense, on a lonely planet where the dark is deeper, and being alone in the unknown increases this primal fear a thousan

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery

Unknown Binding

First published August 1, 1950

About the author

Stories, works of noted British writer, scientist, and underwater explorer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.

Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.

He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse prize, the Bradford Washburn award, and the John W. Campbell award for his novel Rendezvous with Rama. Clarke also won the nebula award of the fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember that feeling of turning out the lights and walking up the stairs? Remember the moment when childhood bravado fails and the what if's begin - what if there are monsters in the dark, what if the darkness makes them bold, what if they were creeping up the stairs after you, ready to snap at your heels without notice? Clarke expands that terror into a six mile trek on a barren, lightless world. Robert Armstrong, alone and without any light-source, alternately ridicules and fears the mythical monster in the dark. Unfortunately, it is all too real...

[Litzy Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nunca se teme a la oscuridad, sino a lo que se oculta en ella... Precioso relato.

[Halin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clarke's short story deals with humanity's instinctive fear of darkness.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Shivers) Stuck on a dark planet, having to make a risky, lightless walk back to camp, our protagonist has to contend with memories of terrifying stories told over drinks. What sort of things lurk in the dark, on this seemingly silent, dark world? The suspense rises slowly, and just when you think he has made it, a chitinous sound clicks in the darkness...

[Zeynep Bal · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a mind. you just hold your breath till that beautiful 8 page ends. story link: http://www.sffaudio.com/podcasts/AWal...

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick little short story, where in space no one can hear you scream.

[Akrabar · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant short story

also available from
http://www.openculture.com/2014/04/re...

[Zen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic! My all time favourite horror story. The best part of the horror of this story is that we never see the beast. We just know, or at least we think we know, that it is there, a head of us....in the darkness.

The true horror of the story is left entirely to our imagination!

What is so great about this story is that slowly, bit by bit the final horror is methodically set up, piece by piece in the proceeding narrative.

The inky black darkness.
The loneliness.
The total isolation.
The unknown lifeforms that are hinted at by trace evidence.
The spooky stories told by the Old Timer.
The last, peculiar turn in the path just before one arrives at the space port.

Even the first line of the story is a set up for the events that come later. The story starts with a failed flashlight being thrown away in anger. And now the protagonist is left alone in the darkness. And of course, it is later stated by the Old Timer, that he thinks the unknown creature that followed him was afraid of the light. Nice story telling touch there A.C.C.

The best part of the story tough, is the cruel twist of fate that happens just as we we think the protagonist is going to make it safely into the space port. Well, we should have seen it coming. After all, A.C.C. did mention that last turn in the road a couple of times before it made its cruel appearance in the story, just when we least needed it.

All in all, a great story. And great to hear the audio version of the story read by A.C.C. himself is still available. As a kid, I listened to it on a vinyl record I would borrow from our local library. Usually just before I'd put on a vinyl copy of the soundtrack to 2001: A Space odyssey. Ahhh, those were the days.

[David Cartwright]

Read this story in my young teen years and I have had nightmares from it ever since: in high school I would rather face a bully than have this story show up in stressful dreams.
All the way through the treks in heavy jungle or rice paddies I could just imagine the scrape of claws on rocks in the dark.
I decided not to show the old paperback to my son, but encouraged him to read Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur Clark which he did. Like most of us he had his faves of both, but he never read the older stories after reading 2001.
So like milllions of other 50’s and 60’s kids, Clark has influenced me all through my life even noe ppwbin my mid 70’s I enjoy spooking myseself with A WALK IN THE DARK.
David Cartwright

[Dhara Parekh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long night walk under a starless and moonless (almost) sky without any light source on a foreign planet that has scary legends.

Arthur C. Clarke has written the literary version of the 30 seconds that I experience when my head is stuck under a t-shirt or when I am washing my face in front of a mirror or opening the shower curtain after watching a scary movie or walking into a dark room before turning on the lights.

[Dion Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great little creapy story

[Jacalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you want to FEEL the dark, there is this story. Clarke was an absolute master at his craft.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Effectively paints a picture of the true horror we humans suffer from: our own imagination.

[Amy Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eerie. The ending was greatly suspenseful— but psychological horror in literary form doesn’t grip me like it does in other media.

[Adam Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a breath

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like a Lovecraft story from the sci fi grandmaster.

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm being to become annoyed with Clarke that he leaves his shorts unfinished... a lasting line at the end foreshadowing a fate not told the reader.

[Brianna Ganimian · Rating 5 out of 5]

everyone knows the feeling of turning off the lights and running into bed as fast you can - this replicates that feeling exactly

[Mike Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid tale. Interesting premise carried well by elegant writing.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spooky!

[Si Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Armstrong finds himself walking across a lonely planet in the pitch dark. What’s that he hears in the distance?

A chilling bit of sci-fi horror.

[Chris Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mindwebs audiobook ##1 of 135 ( this version of MW is named and sorted differently from previous ver. with 76 episodes. See https://archive.org/details/Mindwebs_... )
I love the author, so he defaults to 5 stars due to his previous work which have filled me to the brim with suspense, awe and curiosity. This story comes from his book "Reach for Tomorrow".
Well this proved to be up to his usual standard, an astronaut suffers a tractor breakdown and is forced to walk back to the spaceport, on an alien planet. Shortly after setting off his torch fails, leaving him alone in the utterly deep black darkness of the outskirts of the galaxy with nothing but his imagination...Then a memory of local rumors about the keratinous clicks of an alien nocturnal predator lurking like some ancient trapdoor spider in the subterranean tunnels begins to prey on his confidence...Boo!

"Mindwebs-761001_AWalkInTheDark.mp3 Arthur C. Clarke"

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

How hard can it be to walk six miles to the space ship that will take you home? Six miles on a barren planet with no stars and no moonlight. Just total darkness. After all, you are alone on your walk, aren’t you?

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Walk in the Dark, by Arthur C. Clarke
Tapping into primal fears of being blind whilst moving, journey without sight. Silent threats and nerve-rattling suspense. Very good short story. (4 stars)
.

[Forked Radish · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best thing A.C. Clarke ever wrote.

[Kelly Is Brighid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has a Hitchcock-horror feel. I liked it.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there anything lurking in the darkness ...

[DJH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty lackluster ending, otherwise a great read!

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. Short, creepy, and very atmospheric. Loved it.