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                            THE DARK OTHER

                        By Stanley G. Weinbaum

                    _Fantasy Publishing Co., Inc._
                         LOS ANGELES      1950

            Copyright 1950 by Fantasy Publishing Co., Inc. Manufactured in U. S. A. [Transcriber's Note: Extensive research did not uncover any
  evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] _Other Books by Stanley G. Weinbaum_

                             DAWN OF FLAME
                             THE NEW ADAM
                            THE BLACK FLAME
                           A MARTIAN ODYSSEY




                 CONTENTS


     Chapter                            Page

      1. PURE HORROR                      9

      2. SCIENCE OF MIND                 17

      3. PSYCHIATRICS OF GENIUS          25

      4. THE TRANSFIGURATION             33

      5. A FANTASY OF FEAR               42

      6. A QUESTION OF SCIENCE           50

      7. THE RED EYES RETURN             58

      8. GATEWAY TO EVIL                 65

      9. DESCENT INTO AVERNUS            73

     10. RESCUE FROM ABADDON             81

     11. WRECKAGE                        89

     12. LETTER FROM LUCIFER             96

     13. INDECISION                     104

     14. TOO BIZARRE                    112

     15. A MODERN MR. HYDE              119

     16. POSSESSED                      127

     17. WITCH-DOCTOR                   135

     18. VANISHED                       142

     19. MAN OR MONSTER? 149

     20. THE ASSIGNATION                156

     21. A QUESTION OF SYNAPSES         164

     22. DOCTOR AND DEVIL               172

     23. WEREWOLF                       180

     24. THE DARK OTHER                 186

     25. THE DEMON LOVER                194

     26. THE DEPTHS                     201

     27. TWO IN HELL                    209

     28. LUNAR OMEN                     217

     29. SCOPOLAMINE FOR SATAN          225

     30. THE DEMON FREE                 233

     31. "NOT HUMANLY POSSIBLE"         242

     32. REVELATION                     250




The Dark Other




1

Pure Horror


"That isn't what I mean," said Nicholas Devine, turning his eyes on his
companion. "I mean pure horror in the sense of horror detached from
experience, apart from reality. Not just a formless fear, which implies
either fear of something that _might_ happen, or fear of unknown
dangers. Do you see what I mean?" "Of course," said Pat, letting her eyes wander over the black expanse
of night-dark Lake Michigan. "Certainly I see what you mean but I don't
quite understand how you'd do it. It sounds--well, difficult." She gazed at his lean profile, clear-cut against the distant light. He had turned, staring thoughtfully over the lake, idly fingering the
levers on the steering wheel before him. The girl wondered a little at
her feeling of contentment; she, Patricia Lane, satisfied to spend an
evening in nothing more exciting than conversation! And they must have
parked here a full two hours now. There was something about Nick--she
didn't understand exactly what; sensitivity, charm, personality. Those
were meaningless cliches, handles to hold the unexplainable nuances of
character. "It _is_ difficult," resumed Nick. "Baudelaire tried it, Poe tried it. And in painting, Hogarth, Goya, Dore. Poe came closest, I think; he
caught the essence of horror in an occasional poem or story. Don't you
think so?" "I don't know," said Pat. "I've forgotten most of my Poe." "Remember that story of his--'The Black Cat'?" "Dimly. The man murdered his wife." "Yes. That isn't the part I mean. I mean the cat itself--the second
cat. You know a cat, used rightly, can be a symbol of horror." "Indeed yes!" The girl shuddered. "I don't like the treacherous beasts!" "And this cat of Poe's," continued Nick, warming to his subject. "Just
think of it--in the first place, it's black; element of horror. Then,
it's gigantic, unnaturally, abnormally large. And then it's not all
black--that would be inartistically perfect--but has a formless white
mark on its breast, a mark that little by little assumes a fantastic
form--do you remember what?" "No." "The form of a gallows!" "Oh!" said the girl. "Ugh!" "And then--climax of genius--the eyes! Blind in one eye, the other a
baleful yellow orb! Do you feel it? A black cat, an enormous black cat
marked with a gallows, and lacking one eye, to make the other even
more terrible! Literary tricks, of course, but they work, and _that's_
genius! Isn't it?" "Genius! Yes, if you call it that. The perverse genius of the Devil!" "That's what I want to write--what I will write some day." He watched
the play of lights on the restless surface of the waters. "Pure horror,
the epitome of the horrible. It could be written, but it hasn't been
yet; not even by Poe." "That little analysis of yours was bad enough, Nick! Why should you
want to improve on his treatment of the theme?" "Because I like to write, and because I'm interested in the horrible. Two good reasons." "Two excuses, you mean. Of course, even if you'd succeed, you couldn't
force anyone to read it." "If I succeed, there'd be no need to force people. Success would mean
that the thing would be great literature, and even today, in these
times, there are still people to read that. And besides--" He paused. "Besides what?" "Everybody's interested in the horrible. Even you are, whether or not
you deny it." "I certainly do deny it!" "But you are, Pat. It's natural to be." "It isn't!" "Then what is?" "Interest in people, and life, and gay times, and pretty things,
and--and one's self and one's own feelings. And the feelings of the
people one loves." "Yes. It comes to exactly the point I've been stressing. People are
sordid, life is hopeless, gay times are stupid, beauty is sensual,
one's own feelings are selfish. And love is carnal. That's the array of
horrors that holds your interest!" The girl laughed in exasperation. "Nick, you could out-argue your
name-sake, the Devil himself! Do you really believe that indictment of
the normal viewpoint?" "I do--often!" "Now?" "Now," he said, turning his gaze on Pat, "I have no feeling of it at
all. Now, right now, I don't believe it." "Why not?" she queried, smiling ingenuously at him. "You, obviously." "Gracious! I had no idea my logic was as convincing as that." "Your logic isn't. The rest of you is." "That sounds like a compliment," observed Pat. "If it is," she
continued in a bantering tone, "it's the only one I can recall
obtaining from you." "That's because I seldom call attention to the obvious." "And that's another," laughed the girl. "I'll have to mark this date in
red on my calendar. It's entirely unique in our--let's see--nearly a
month's acquaintance." "Is it really so short a time? I know you so well that it must have
taken years. Every detail!"