Project Gutenberg 2021-06-29 Public domain in the USA. 192 Jakes, John 1932 Scotland, Jay Jakes, John W. Jakes, John William Terry, W. E. 1921 1992 Terry, Willis E. Terry, Bill The Most Horrible Story Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Most Horrible Story" by John W. Jakes is a short horror fiction piece written in the early 1950s. The narrative revolves around a protagonist named James Thompson, who is lured into a mysterious Horror Book Club, promising readers an unparalleled tale of horror. The story cleverly exploits themes of obsession and the nature of horror itself. As Thompson becomes a member of the club, he finds himself in a chilling reading room where he is presented with a book bound in human skin. Curiosity leads him to read the titular story, which is shockingly brief, yet profoundly unsettling: "You're dead." His experience rapidly transforms from intrigue to despair as he discovers the inescapable nature of the book’s horror. Each rereading intensifies his psychological torment, trapping him in a cycle of horror and madness, ultimately leaving him in a horrifying existential crisis as he alternates between screaming and reading. The story serves as a haunting commentary on the effects of consuming horror and the thin line between fascination and fear. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 88.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Short stories Horror tales PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: American Literature 34701 2025-07-26T06:31:50.673426 text/html 10791 2024-10-18T14:38:13 text/html 464351 2025-07-26T06:31:53.999919 application/epub+zip 463141 2025-07-26T06:31:52.107436 application/epub+zip 131868 2025-07-26T06:31:51.183426 application/epub+zip 925616 2025-07-26T06:31:55.284930 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 918530 2025-07-26T06:31:53.450933 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 657703 2022-09-29T15:09:36.553727 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 28536 2025-07-26T06:31:50.522426 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 8708 2024-10-18T14:38:13 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16983 2025-07-26T06:31:55.438877 application/rdf+xml 28531 2025-07-26T06:31:51.651417 image/jpeg 4775 2025-07-26T06:31:51.415394 image/jpeg 3946543 2025-07-26T06:31:50.709420 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia