The Well

by W.W. Jacobs

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Audiobook

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

William Wymark Jacobs was an English author of short stories and novels. Quite popular in his lifetime primarily for his amusing maritime tales of life along the London docks (many of them humorous as well as sardonic in tone). Today he is best known for a few short works of horror fiction. One being "The Monkey's Paw"(published 1902). It has in its own right become a well-known and widely anthologized classic.


~Literary Works

Many Cargoes (1896)
The Skipper's Wooing (1897)
Sea Urchins (1898) /aka More Cargoes (US) (1898)
A Master of Craft (1900)
The Monkey's Paw (1902)
The Toll House (1902)
Light Freights (1901)
At Sunwich Port (1902)
The Barge (1902)
Odd Craft (1903) : contains The Money Box, basis of Laurel and Hardy film Our Relations (1935)
Dialstone Lane (1902)
Captain's All (1905)
Short Cruises (1907)
Salthaven (1908)
Sailors' Knots (1909)
The Toll House (1909)
Ship's Company (1911)
Night Watches (1914)
The Castaways (1916)
Deep Waters (1919)
Sea Whispers (1926)

Reviews

[Tamoghna Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The well, which had long ago fallen into disuse, was almost hidden by the thick tangle of undergrowth which ran riot at that corner of the old park. It was partly covered by the shrunken half of a lid, above which a rusty windlass creaked in company with the music of the pines when the wind blew strongly. The full light of the sun never reached it, and the ground surrounding it was moist and green when other parts of the park were gaping with the heat.”

You must be well acquainted with the author’s The Monkey’s Paw, if you are even slightly into the horror genre. That story is popular enough to feature in maximum school curriculum, however, after reading this you will re-discover Jacobs’ specialty, to write ghost stories with no supernatural component, almost none at all. Sure enough you can make some alien stuff out of the elements, but you can simply even neglect them if you want to.

And that feature is much more prominent in this lesser known work of Jacobs. It’s based on an entirely everyday-setting of incidents, with a feud between two people concerning a dough-loan. And that’s where the dark side of human nature is revealed, though not in a gruesome sort of way, but in a PG-13 sort of way.( I hope you get that.) The ending, however is a bit foreseeable from about a page beforehand. There’s some debate regarding whether it’s metaphoric, drawing inspiration from Nemesis, as that would be justifiable in matters of reality; but I like to believe it’s not. Even that means missing of the author’s signature style.

Atmosphere does play an important role in ghastly-ghostly and horror stories, and Jacobs is a master of that. Unlike his other famous works, this one is fully gloomy, and murky. Overall, not his best work, but still more than enough to send a shiver down your spine.

"He held his breath then, and forgetting his fears drew the line in inch by inch, so as not to lose it's precious burden..."

[Federico DN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's Go Fishin'

Two long-time friends spend their afternoon playing an amicable game of billiards. Jem Benson, the host, in the prime of his life and happily betrothed to her soon-to-be wife, Olive. Wilfred Carr, on the other hand, is in a very precarious state and in desperate need for money, with no time to hide it, and only one way to get it.

Oh this was just EXCELLENT! Possibly my all-time favorite from WW Jacobs. Extremely predictable, yet at the same time extremely entertaining too. I especially enjoyed the developments between Jem & Wilfred, and the time spent with Jem & Olive. Fantastic character management for such a short piece, and a highly compelling storytelling all around. This story played smoothly and effortlessly like a motion picture inside my head. Knew exactly where this was going right from the start, guessed the ending to a T, and I still enjoyed it immensely. Wild! Such an approachable and easy to read style too. Impressive. Recommendable.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.



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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1902] [12p] [Horror] [4.5] [Recommendable]
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★★★☆☆ The Monkey's Paw [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories <--

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Vamos a pescar.

Dos amigos de largo tiempo pasan la tarde amistosamente jugando al billar. Jem Benson, el anfitrión, en la flor de su vida y felizmente comprometido con la que será su futura esposa, Olive. Wilfred Carr, por otro lado, se encuentra en un estado muy precario y necesitando desesperadamente dinero, sin tiempo para ocultarlo, y con una sola forma de conseguirlo.

¡Oh, esto fue simplemente EXCELENTE! Posiblemente mi más favorito jamás de WW Jacobs. Extremadamente predecible, pero al mismo tiempo extremadamente entretenido. Disfruté especialmente de los desarrollos entre Jem y Wilfred, y el tiempo pasado con Jem y Olive. Fantástica gestión de personajes para una pieza tan corta, y una narración muy atrapante y sólida en todo sentido. Pude visualizar esta historia suavemente y sin esfuerzo como una película dentro de mi cabeza. Supe exactamente hacia dónde iba esto desde el principio, adiviné el final a la perfección, y aún así lo disfruté inmensamente. ¡Increíble! Un estilo de escritura muy accesible y fácil de leer también. Impresionante. Recomendable.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.



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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1902] [12p] [Horror] [4.5] [Recomendable]
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[Richard Dominguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even on a warm summer evening a cold, damp air comes up from the disused well. It should have been filled in years ago. Jem Benson was to come to regret that it hadn't been...

Good story that has a bit of a surprise at the end. Another good feature is the main character Jem whom comes across very well. Excellent reading by Simon Stanhope.

[e · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description for this story did notttt do it justice! This was so much more than blackmailing with some explicit letters (though I was already invested at that point). This really was ghastly though and I couldn’t stop thinking about The Ring the whole time. Poor Olive she had no idea what was going on :(

[Jay C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short story. Creeeee-py!

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining listening 🔰😀

Another will written British romantic small village romantic short story adventure thriller by W. W. Jacobs about a young woman 🚺 and young man 🚹 wooing. The young woman 🚺 drops her jewelry in the well. The young man 🚹 attempts to retrieve the jewelry with a sad ending. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick read. Enjoy reading or listening 🔰😀🏰🏡 2022

I listened to this as part of the Classic Tales of Horror - 500+ Stories. It was very enjoyable 2023

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tale to read. The 'well' becomes the final resting place of the main antagonist, who set about trying to blackmail his own cousin, and his cousin took matters into his own hands.

[Mr Macura · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Well" is a very atmospheric short-story with a sinister feeling to it right from the beginning on. I enjoyed the mystery around the well although the ending was predictable and - in my view - not overly frightening. As with so many stories of this kind the true unease does not come from the events themselves but the narration and how it makes everything feel not quite right. That being said you could also easily interpret the story in a way where there was nothing supernatural taking place at all. The "incident" at the end could simply be due to a fit of panic of the protagonist. Apart from that however it has almost everything you would want in a ghost story, although it is much shorter (around a ten minute read) than many of the Victorian classics of the genre.

[IremKaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Well by W. W. Jacobs is one of his greatest stories. Like so many of his works, The Well also features some supernatural events and murder. Throughout the story, you get chills down your spine. There are so many gaps that need to be filled in our minds. The story takes place in a country house and begins with Jem Benson and his cousin, Wilfred Carr, playing pool and having a chat about their lives and Jem’s soon-to-be wife. Carr has been irresponsible and is in 1500 pounds debt so he asks his cousin, Jem, to give him the money he needs. Jem refuses, so Wilfred tries to blackmail him with Jem’s affair letters and they start to argue. What happens after is a complete mystery because in the story it was described as him watching his cousin’s figure moving slowly away into the moonlight and we never hear from him again. You can see foreshadowings throughout the story of the events that will take place. The well itself is a symbol of unexpected incidents in this story. You can’t see what is coming for our main character, it is unknown and mysterious, like the bottom of a well. Also in the story, the atmosphere is always gloomy matching the themes: dark, supernatural, death, and so on. The story is very well-written in terms of the detailed description of the atmosphere and the intriguing plot that was used to raise questions. The ending which I won’t mention to avoid spoilers was creepy enough for me to question my choices for short stories but I would personally read it again. I encourage all horror fans out there to read this story. It is easy to read and can be finished in one 20-minutes sitting. Be careful, you might have nightmares.

[rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am just absolutely captivated by Jacobs’ style of writing. Another banger.

From the blurb this didn’t sound like a horrific story; it actually sounded boring! How mistaken I was. The telling of a horror story through implied events is an art that some of the authors we’ve read thus far haven’t managed.

It is so exciting finding classical authors that I’m genuinely interested in.

[AN · Rating 3 out of 5]

'But all else was silence.'

[Bonnie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this short story kept me listening till the end was my first W W Jacobs books... will be looking for more from this author

[Shaza ╭♥╯ Hashish · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة قصيرة مثيرة من ال ١٩٠٠م مع ذلك حلوة و غير متوقعة
دة حرفيا من حفر حفرة لأخيه وقع فيها

[Amr Nabil · Rating 3 out of 5]

'But all else was silence.'

[Haitham · Rating 5 out of 5]

قصة البئر هي قصة قصيرة مشبعة بالغموض والخوف من كشف جريمة وتنتهي بالوقوع في شرّ العمل.. أن تذيق نفس الكأس وينكشف أمرك.

[N. R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

How the well will be used and later, how it will be required of the main character to descend into it, one can easily guess.

So, even with that being a no-brainer, the realistic way in which Jacobs masterfully leads us into such spiraling yarn is what really makes this one stand out. Hence my four star-rating and none less!