Sep 16, 2010
The shortest horror story ever written
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.
-Frederic Brown, via Futility Closet
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Sep 16, 2010
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.
-Frederic Brown, via Futility Closet
* * * * *
AHHH!!! that was actually pretty creepy
you are stupid
He opened it to find a woman!
:)
It’s not a horror story if he only finds one woman. What makes it utterly terrifying is when he opens the door to find hundreds of women!
lol!!!!
don’t do it. You seen what happened the last time they started. (BD)
the only problem was that she used to be called frank
now that is horrifying!
Touche, Matt Brown. Touche.
I did get a little chill. Lol. Clever. Just being the last person on earth would be scary enough!
He took the knock off the door and went to bed.
LOL that’s pretty smart.
And Ron smith beat it by one letter, many decades ago:
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a lock on the door.
@5, that’s 2 letters.
Knock
Lock. Change the L, add an n.
…He meant shorter by one letter, not differing by one.
Bummer, my catchy “He opened it to see the last woman on earth” line was already taken. :-(
Haha, very creepy, indeed!
‘Twas a raven, nothing more.
nice!
I love this poem haha! When i read this horror story it’s exactly what came to my mind :D!
clever… very clever
Okay, this had me thinking at about 2 am last night. I’m semi-claustrophobic, so even scarier for me would be:
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was no door.
it could be an animal @ the door… never know!!
He opened it to find another man standing there. NOOOOOOOOO !!!
vs
The last man on Earth heard a knock on the door.
…seriously… or…
the final survivor then noticed, the walls were blood.
:/
Inb4 Woodpecker…
THEN WHO WAS PHONE?
….waiting for lift off.
door was locked. “rape me” by nirvana was playing on repeat on the other side.
There’s a horror story that’s one letter shorter:
“The last man on earth sat alone in a room. There was a lock on the door.”
May i ask what’s so scary about a lock? Sorry…
It is the implication. If that man is the last man on earth (assume that “man” means “person” or “human,” as I think was the intent and what the author wanted to imply), then why might he need for there to be a lock on the door? What is it he needs to bar entrance from? The implication is that there is a reason he is referred to as the last man; that there is *something* out there that he definitely doesn’t want getting in. Clearly it isn’t likely an animal, as a simple closed door without a lock is enough to keep out most wildlife. Furthermore, the lock implies that whatever it is can open doors. If the nameless horror could simply break through the door, a lock would be pointless. Locks are there for the purpose of preventing a door from being opened. So what is there that can open doors if there are no other humans?
Bloody hell, that was a longwinded explanation. And it makes the story a whole lot less terrifying.
Well said.. that is bacilly what I was thinkin after readin everyones comments down to this one
And just the fact that there is a man stuck in a room that is locked. He can’t really get out, he is stuck for eternity
A scratching upon the door may be spookier.
I’m guessing it was the I.R.S.
Really! The IRS or a robot from Columbia Record Club. lol
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. The doorbell rang.
Just thought I’d shorten it a bit more without changing the intent.
I don’t find this creepy at all.
If he was the last man on earth wouldn’t that fact that he was alone be understood?
The last man on earth sat in a room. There was a knock at the door.
horror story for a matchbook cover
in the dark
naomi mistook
a shard of glass
for her contact lens
just started wearing contacts…still freaking out about touching my eye…yeah, thanx for that little “tidbit-o-sunshine.” I’ll be dwelling on your little “nugget-o-fun” every morning and every night.
O_O
I dont mean to sound retarded, but can someone explain this to me?
@Rob, The guy is the last person on Earth, so how is there a knock on the door?
It’s really on wiki. If you look it up, just know that a the person on the other side of the door is a woman. A race of immortal aliens come to Earth, kill off everything until there is a pair (female and male) of everything and then when the animals start dying they ask the man how to stop it. He tells them the animals need affections and they should pet them. They start dying and get scared off. The man told them to pet a poisonous snake. In the end the man asks the last women about restarting the population and she’s not too keen on the idea.
Also, some idiot was saying the aliens kill the guy in the end… they don’t. Just, fyi.
Most people don’t bother to look at the story’s background and assume wrong. They also are told it’s a horror story and assume the door has some monster or something, people have tunnel vision most of the time and fail to look outside the box. No matter how simple it is.
Uh
Just ignore him. Pretty sure he’s a troll.
Last person in the world. There’s a knock at the door, and it isn’t him knocking. *What* is knocking at the door, if no one else is left? Why is there knocking at the door, and how does whatever’s on the other side know he’s there?
How would he know he was the last? Surely a knock would be welcome.
Have to admit,it was very creepy if youget to thinking about it.
But now it’s joke time.
He opened it to find Chuck Norris.
But, that’s not funny.
I like KFC
I have a strange fascination with lying.
it was god!
Wow it’s like so short….. And I mean creepy can you imagine knowing your the last person on earth and then you heard a knock who ever was knocking would have to be the last one cause I would die !!!!!!!!!!!
Side trivia: The Star Trek episode “Arena” was based on a short story by the author of this “story”.
How about: “He woke up frightened, reached for the matches, and they were put in his hand.”?
A lot of people that comment on here are dumb asses
This short short story by Fredric Brown is only one of the shortest short stories ever written. Another is by Alberto Manguel. I don’t know the title, but the entire story reads: “When I awoke, the dinosaur was still there.” 8 words.
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. Distantly, there was telephone ring.
wtf this insn’t scary
well that was scary
(sike not!!!!!!!)
yah, so scary! now were is the rest of it?
IT’S NOT SCARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ohhh! So scary…not! That’s not the scariest story!go on dog with a blog its so FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that was actualy kind of creepy!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how dose he know he’s alone?
My dear Destanie …we are all alone
The real shortest horror story ever..
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‘MONDAY !!’