The Red Room

An unnamed narrator is in conversation with the custodians of a castle (a man with a withered arm and an old woman). He insists that nothing but a very real ghost will frighten him, and, as he’s 28 and has never seen a ghost, he has nothing to fear. The custodians insist otherwise, but the narrator only views their warnings as intentional enhancements to the castle’s haunted reputation. A third custodian enters, a man with a shade covering his eyes, who says nothing to the narrator. Despite the old woman’s continued aversion to his plan, the man with the withered arm directs the narrator to the castle’s haunted room—the Red Room. When the man with the shade protests, the narrator makes clear that he only came to the castle to investigate the supposedly haunted room. Nothing the custodians could say would stop him.

The narrator leaves the custodians, embarking on a journey through dark, chilly passageways to the Red Room. Though he prides himself on his rationality, he can’t help but be affected by the dark, old-fashioned furniture and the odd behavior of the custodians. His unease grows as he continues to make his way into Lorraine Castle, startled by shadows that resemble human figures. He eventually comes to the Red Room’s door and enters. There, he recalls people who investigated the room before him. One was a young duke who died falling headlong down the stairs outside of the room. Another was a husband who played a practical joke on his wife that led to his own demise. The room is large and ominous, having many nooks and alcoves where the darkness is overwhelming. The narrator’s candle does little to illuminate the space, and his imagination begins to conjure up terrible images in the darkness.

To combat this, he decides to examine the space clinically and rationally. His exploration of the space satisfies him, as he is assured that he is completely alone in the Red Room. Even still, the darkness makes him uneasy, so he places his candle in the darkest alcove to ensure nothing is there. When his nerves only grow, he brings in candles from the hall to illuminate the entire room. Still, his fear lingers and only becomes worse as the candles begin to extinguish on their own. Although he rushes to relight them, the candles keep going out. He grows so frenzied with fear that he attempts to escape in the darkness, but instead he knocks himself unconscious on a piece of furniture.

He wakes up in the care of the custodians, who explain that they found him at dawn, unconscious and bleeding in the Red Room. As the memories of the night return to him, the narrator reveals that the Red Room is not haunted by a ghost at all, contrary to the expectations of the custodians. Even worse, it is haunted by fear itself. The man with the shade agrees and says that as long as the room and its reputation exist, fear will continue to plague the castle.