W. W. Jacobs (1863–1943)

Ten cuidado con lo que deseas y después, ten cuidado de aquello que puede darte las cosas de manera aparentemente sencilla.

Este es un relato de terror bastante corto, pero como siempre me sucede en estos casos, me ha dejado impactada, no solo la historia, que es bastante buena, si no la capacidad que tenían o tienen algunos autores para decir tanto en tan pocas palabras.

Como casi siempre sucede en lo muy buenos cuentos de terror, el miedo no radica en la historia en sí, si no en el show more ambiente que se genera a través del relato, aquí se siente la angustia, el miedo, el dolor de la pérdida y el arrepentimiento.

Nadie da nada a cambio ¿no?, así que mi mente maquiavélica tiene que pensar hacía donde irá este relato después de su final.

Lo cierto es que me ha resultado un relato bastante genial, de esos que te lees en, literalmente, una sentada, pero que te dejan con las neuronas trabajando y con la piel de gallina. show less

Okay but did anyone stop and think with the way the wishes were going, wouldn't a third one just be more macabre . . . For further analysis, we'll have to go spoiler alert, even though it is more about what we know that we don't know:
So the second wish (basically an unwish) evolves into a horror exercise in the mind of Mr. White, and while it would be fascinating to see the spectral reality, we are set off on a new tangent when Mr. White wishes, presumedly, to unwish the unwish. So now we show more won't actually ever know the form and nature of the incarnation, nor are we told the specific ins and outs of the third wish, but all of these unknowns pale in comparison to the ultimate unknown (relayed above), which many people might not catch, that is, there's no reason to assume the third wish will go any better than the previous ones. In fact, I propose that the horror reverberates in crescendo, culminating in soon to be unimaginable horrors unleashed show less

You probably already know this story. A monkey's paw that can grant wishes but always at a horrible cost. Unfortunately, I can’t write any kind of synopsis without totally spoiling the story. In any case, it is a classic and highly influential supernatural horror story. If you are familiar with Stephen King’s much more horrifying [b: Pet Sematary|10583|Pet Sematary|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308894674s/10583.jpg|150017] you will probably find that The Monkey's Paw is its show more direct inspiration.

Certainly The Monkey's Paw is a great little story but not particularly scary for today’s sensibilities. The hint at something unspeakable lurking behind a closed door just does not work anymore, to be honest, it never worked for me to begin with. If you got it flaunt it. For me, the (anti)climax of the story is a bit of a cop out. The author should have gone all the way and show us some messed up monstrosity that will drive the reader insane just from the description, but he pulled back at the last minute.

Still, it’s a nice and quick read with some good spooky atmosphere. An OK Halloween read I think. It probably seems terrifying a century ago.

Note
If you like spooky stories about wishes gone wrong check out Robert Louis Stevenson’s excellent The Bottle Imp. show less

English review at the bottom

Una de esas historias que todos conocemos por su inclusión a la cultura pop, pero que sigue causando una fascinación diferente cuando te acercas a ella en su forma original.

La atmosfera lograda es fantástica, se presta a ser empático con el protagonista y con su esposa, esto logra que el cuento sea aterrador la primera vez que lo lees (o lo escuchas a través de un buen narrador), aún cuando explícitamente no se describa lo que esta pasando, queda a show more interpretación del lector imaginar lo bueno o malo que espera tras la puerta (basándonos en circunstancias anteriores, concluyó que es algo horrible y el mundo debería temer lo que se avecinaba) por lo que, al igual que el protagonista, nos enfrentamos a nuestra propia psique, reiterandonos el conocido dicho "Ten cuidado con lo que deseas".

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One of those stories that we all know for its inclusion in pop culture in many ways but that continues causing fascination when one approaches to the original form.

The atmosphere is fantastic, it lends itself to being empathetic with the protagonist and his wife, this makes the story easily frightening the first time you read it (or listen narrated by a good storyteller) even though it isn't explicitly to describe what is happening, it is left to the reader to imagine what good or bad may awaits behind the door (based on previous circumstances concluded that it is something horrible and the world should fear what was coming) so we face. As the protagonist, to our own psyche and finally we rejoice the well-known saying "Be careful with what you want". show less