Robert Aickman Readers discussion

Indeed, this is one of my favourites. Not only a classic Aickman tale but a classic weird tale in which the precise nature of the menace remains nebulous throughout.

I thought also that the creepiness of the story was established, not only by what happens, but by the precise way in which Aickman phases and describes things. A technique that is quintessentially his own.

this is also one of my favorites of the collection. it was Aickman at his most Aickman, i suppose. i really liked the underlying connection between the predictable, chance-hating protagonist and the comfy, babying living death Hospice that he encounters. it is almost as if the Hospice is his natural destination, in so far as his personality is described. and yet he rebels against it, as i guess anyone would rebel against an endspace, even one as seemingly a good fit as the Hospice. a wonderful story.

I was strongly reminded of the Ramsey Campbell story 'The Entertainment' when I read this, which makes me think that Ramsey Campbell was probably directly referencing this story when he wrote it - the similarities are so striking.

However... this was the first Robert Aickman story I've ever read, and it was something of a... well - I'm tempted to say 'roller-coaster' but that would be wrong. It's more like a Sunday afternoon's gentle drive in uncomfortable country. You wouldn't want to step out of the car, and things keep getting more and more unusual.

The whole story is a masterful trip from reality to incomprehensibility, with a few unresolved guns on the way. The handcuffed man; the over-boisterous maid; the over-interested handsome waiter - all of these come to nothing. The gun should be smoking by the end of the story, and while it was red-hot for me, letting the protagonist escape in a hearse was a little too happy for my liking.

That said, I don't feel quite as deprived of closure as when I finally summed up the courage to finish 'House Of Leaves'. This was a great story, and I came to this page hoping to find insight and one of those ever-elusive 'a-ha!' moments. Perhaps posting this will bring other Aickman-erudite Goodreaders from the woodwork and... well, who knows what we'll discover?

that would be nice if it happens!

thanks for the tip on the Ramsey Campbell story. haven't heard of that one.

I'm treating myself to a re-read of this story and I have to say I'm loving it all over again. It's actually made me burst out laughing several times already. The events are at times almost so absurd that one could almost call it black comedy.

Mandy wrote: "The whole story is a masterful trip from reality to incomprehensibility, with a few unresolved guns on the way. The handcuffed man; the over-boisterous maid; the over-interested handsome waiter - all of these come to nothing. The gun should be smoking by the end of the story, and while it was red-hot for me, letting the protagonist escape in a hearse was a little too happy for my liking."

Usually, with Aickman's stories, I feel like the story is scattered with clues that, if only I could put them all together, I could make sense of it all and glean the "real" story underneath. This one was no exception.

The feeling I am left with this time is that perhaps the protagonist Maybury had in fact died. His departure in the hurst at the end, riding out with the coffin in the back where none of the passengers in the front spoke to him seem to strongly suggest this.

But if so, at what point in the night did he die, and how? The cat scratch is one possible cause of his death that was left unchecked even though Maybury was well aware of the possibility of infection. Perhaps the infection explains his delerium and confused awareness of what was happening, his dream like state?

Alternatively, perhaps he experienced his own murder in the third person some how, the death cry he heard in the night being his own?

But I just don't know, I can't quite get it all to fit...

Hello there, new member and Aickman fan. Have only read a dozen stories, so plenty of treats in store for me, I'm sure.
'The Hospice' is one that I have read, and one of my favourites - by any author.
Also a huge Campbell fan, and 'The Entertainment' is a tribute to Aickman, according to the story notes.
Regards, Lincoln.

Welcome Lincoln,

I've read a few of Campbell's short stories but not "The Entertainment", I shall have to keep a look out for it. Which collection did you find it in?

Thanks for the welcome, Simon.
It can be found in 'Told by the Dead', which is an excellent collection. You can also find it in the anthology '999'.
Lincoln.

Hi Lincoln - I'm a huge Campbell fan too, although Told By The Dead is still on my shelf waiting to be read. Looking forward to it even more now.

I discovered Aickman years ago with "Cold Hand in Mine," and "The Swords" has haunted me since I first read it, but I just read "The Hospice" at the prompting of a friend on Twitter.

I thought it was a great, challenging and perplexing tale with great creepiness. I think a conclusion can be reached, but it's kind of fun that it may not be the correct conclusion.

I think it takes us into interesting, eerie places that violent horror can't.

I just read this story in Gothic Literature class in college and I instantly became a fan of Aickman. Such a dark tale with many different ways to interpret this story.

What's really exceptional about Aickman's stories is the quality of the less striking and more subdued to reemerge with the second or third reading and give delights one never expected. 'The Hospice' might be one of those, I suppose, though I definitely rated it as one of the best in the 'Cold Hand in Mine' collection after the first reading.