1gwendetenebre
"Zone of Terror" by J. G. Ballard
Discussion begins December 3, 2025.
First published in the March 1960 issue of New Worlds Science Fiction, #92.
AUTHOR BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?57637
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
Chronopolis and Other Stories
The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard
The Voices of Time and Other Stories
ONLINE VERSIONS
No online versions found to date
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date
MISCELLANY
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/j-g-ballard-my-favorite-books/
https://www.frieze.com/article/jg-ballard-dangerous-driving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwAGBYh4e8I
https://tinyurl.com/2m4k9z7f
Discussion begins December 3, 2025.
First published in the March 1960 issue of New Worlds Science Fiction, #92.
AUTHOR BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?57637
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
Chronopolis and Other Stories
The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard
The Voices of Time and Other Stories
ONLINE VERSIONS
No online versions found to date
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date
MISCELLANY
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/j-g-ballard-my-favorite-books/
https://www.frieze.com/article/jg-ballard-dangerous-driving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwAGBYh4e8I
https://tinyurl.com/2m4k9z7f
2RandyStafford
You can find it here at page 54: https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/luminist/SF/NW_1960_03.pdf
3AndreasJ
>2 RandyStafford:
Thanks, there's no way I'd gotten round to reading this otherwise, and I found it pretty good.
The "ghosts" being triggered by Larsen's use of stimulants, I guess Bayliss was popping his own pills too. It seems entirely in character with his alarmingly insouciant general behaviour.
Arguably, there's nothing "weird" here, depending on how seriously we're supposed to take Bayliss' neurological explanations. But it doesn't make any real sense that Bayliss would simultaneously see the exact same "ghosts" as Larsen, no matter how much he'd focused on the latter recently.
Thanks, there's no way I'd gotten round to reading this otherwise, and I found it pretty good.
The "ghosts" being triggered by Larsen's use of stimulants, I guess Bayliss was popping his own pills too. It seems entirely in character with his alarmingly insouciant general behaviour.
Arguably, there's nothing "weird" here, depending on how seriously we're supposed to take Bayliss' neurological explanations. But it doesn't make any real sense that Bayliss would simultaneously see the exact same "ghosts" as Larsen, no matter how much he'd focused on the latter recently.
4RandyStafford
An ok story in my opinion. You knew as soon as the gun was mentioned either Bayliss or Larsen was going to get shot.
I rather like the background stuff better than the main plot: the idea of replicating via hardware the human nervous system and Bayliss' rationale for ghost as well as, as >3 AndreasJ: says, the general insouciance in play.
I rather like the background stuff better than the main plot: the idea of replicating via hardware the human nervous system and Bayliss' rationale for ghost as well as, as >3 AndreasJ: says, the general insouciance in play.
5housefulofpaper
I looked online for other opinions about this story, to see if I could jump start my brain, and/or avoid writing anything really silly or uninformed (or both).
There's an oldish blog post that notes the original magazine version (per the link in >2 RandyStafford:) was revised, and the scientific or psuedo-scientific vocabulary gets toned down a bit. I read the revised version, in The Complete Short Stories (which I hadn't cracked open; actually I haven't read as much Ballard as I tend to think I have; maybe because people I read or now watch on YouTube mention him a lot).
The blog also agreed that this is a relatively minor early story, although it may be notable within Ballard's fiction. Bayliss may be his first example of an unreliable medical professional (the mad scientist, the bad doctor, though - in general culture, as old as time).
I'm not clear on whether Ballard's psychological ideas are original to him and literary inventions, or were current real theories at the time. The idea of the spine being like an evolutionary version of the geologic column is also in The Drowned World.
The temptation, given his later literary reputation, is to see it all as metaphor. But at this stage at least, Ballard definitely considered himself as writing science fiction and not "literary" fiction (meaning a more elevated and better form than any genre effort).
I think the story could be viewed as Weird - or even as Gothic, if you read it as a story of ghosts and/or dopplegangers.
I wonder, if I knuckled down and read all the Ballard I've bought, I'd see a theme of loss of identity and some kind of merging or confusion of protagonist and antagonist - Bayliss seeing the multiple "ghosts" of Larsen perhaps hints at it in this story.
There's an oldish blog post that notes the original magazine version (per the link in >2 RandyStafford:) was revised, and the scientific or psuedo-scientific vocabulary gets toned down a bit. I read the revised version, in The Complete Short Stories (which I hadn't cracked open; actually I haven't read as much Ballard as I tend to think I have; maybe because people I read or now watch on YouTube mention him a lot).
The blog also agreed that this is a relatively minor early story, although it may be notable within Ballard's fiction. Bayliss may be his first example of an unreliable medical professional (the mad scientist, the bad doctor, though - in general culture, as old as time).
I'm not clear on whether Ballard's psychological ideas are original to him and literary inventions, or were current real theories at the time. The idea of the spine being like an evolutionary version of the geologic column is also in The Drowned World.
The temptation, given his later literary reputation, is to see it all as metaphor. But at this stage at least, Ballard definitely considered himself as writing science fiction and not "literary" fiction (meaning a more elevated and better form than any genre effort).
I think the story could be viewed as Weird - or even as Gothic, if you read it as a story of ghosts and/or dopplegangers.
I wonder, if I knuckled down and read all the Ballard I've bought, I'd see a theme of loss of identity and some kind of merging or confusion of protagonist and antagonist - Bayliss seeing the multiple "ghosts" of Larsen perhaps hints at it in this story.
6AndreasJ
Glancing at the thread title, it occurred to me that the title is a bit odd - the terror is there, certainly, but what zone? There was no hint in the story that I noted that the place was cursed or the like. Is it some more abstract sort of zone that's meant, something like a state of mind?
7elenchus
>3 AndreasJ:
Ditto my thanks, Ballard's on my proverbial wishlist yet I've not actually gotten around to reading him.
>6 AndreasJ:
There is Bayliss's remark, "Actually last night was easier. I think I'm entering a new zone. Everything's beginning to stabilise, lose that edgy feel."
Ditto my thanks, Ballard's on my proverbial wishlist yet I've not actually gotten around to reading him.
>6 AndreasJ:
There is Bayliss's remark, "Actually last night was easier. I think I'm entering a new zone. Everything's beginning to stabilise, lose that edgy feel."
9elenchus
>8 AndreasJ:
Funny I made that mistake. I actually was having trouble keeping the names straight through the entire story, and I really don't know why. It's not like they're alike, nor were the characters alike. Odd. I feel like it's significant but haven't figured out how, just yet.
Funny I made that mistake. I actually was having trouble keeping the names straight through the entire story, and I really don't know why. It's not like they're alike, nor were the characters alike. Odd. I feel like it's significant but haven't figured out how, just yet.
