The Red Room
Complete textA confident young visitor declares that no intangible ghost can frighten him and chooses to spend the night in a reputedly haunted room. The warnings of the house’s elderly occupants do little to shake his resolve. Alone with candles, he begins to test his certainty against the room’s atmosphere.
Continue readingAbout The Red Room
The story makes attention to light and shadow a measure of confidence. Practical efforts to secure the room cannot prevent the imagination from assigning significance to each change. Compare the narrator’s early dismissal of the household with his later dependence on ordinary objects, and consider how the need to identify a cause can intensify fear rather than contain it.
Reading focus
Follow the candles and shifting shadows as a confident observer discovers the difficulty of controlling his own fear through explanation.
This reading edition contains 3,923 words in 1 original section. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: H. G. Wells. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
“I can assure you,” said I, “that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.” And I stood up before the fire with my glass in my hand.
Contents
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Is this the complete The Red Room?
This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 1 section and 3,923 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.
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