Certain recurring concepts dominate horror fiction, and most of them make perfect
sense. The vampire, the ghost, the psychotic killer, the werewolf—these and their
frightening companions in the horror canon have stood the test of time, have scared
many generations, and will scare many more.
But there is one horror concept that is much harder to
grasp. It dispenses with monsters and villains and things
that go bump in the night. It finds horror in the most
commonplace and familiar element of our day-to-day
life, as unexceptional as the back of our hand and our
gaze in the mirror. Yet, it may be the most disturbing
of any of the horrors, all the more unsettling for its very
guise of normalcy.
I am speaking of the double. What an odd starting point
for horror, yet the literature is filled with scary stories
built on this concept. Edgar Allan Poe delivered a
masterpiece of the genre in his story "William Wilson,"
whose narrator is harassed by a rival who presents a
perfect imitation of himself—yet he is the only person
who can recognize this sly mimicry. But the double
is never an exact double, and often represents a darker
alternative self. We see this in classic horror fiction
from Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to Robert
Bloch's Psycho. And we can trace it back even earlier
in myths—Narcissus, Romulus and Remus, and so
many other traditional accounts involving twins or siblings—built on the familiar notion
that our greatest adversary may look exactly like ourselves. In the foundational story of
Judeo-Christian belief systems, Cain kills Abel—the first murder story drawing on this
sense of a dangerous reciprocity.
At first glance, the Double seems a fairly tame villain, certainly not as formidable an
adversary as, say, Count Dracula or the Frankenstein monster. But it possesses one
quality that those others lack. You can run away from a vampire, but how can you escape
the horror that is so close to you that it could very well inhabit your own skin? This is
the most existential horror of them all.
Such is the horror at the heart of Thomas Tryon’s 1971 novel, The Other. Tryon enjoyed
huge crossover success with this book. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a handful of
horror novels managed to break out of the narrow world of genre fiction, and reach a
large mainstream audience. But the other books that achieved this crossover success—
most notably, Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist—needed to enlist Satan himself in
their attempts to jar the sensibilities of modern audiences. Tryon, in contrast, relied
on something far simpler and more familiar, a pair of twins.
Throughout this novel, Tryon builds suspense from misdirection and understatement.
The key moments of violence in this plot are presented from an oblique angle—
sometimes from afar, or in misty flashback, or occasionally only by implication. We
are all familiar with genre stories which force readers to decipher clues in order to guess
who committed the crime, but in The Other even the nature of the transgressions
require sleuthing. We are equally aware of stories with unreliable narrators, but Tryon
goes a step further in this novel, forcing us to guess the very identity of the person
who emerges periodically as the master storyteller.
Even the setting runs counter to the usual settings for horror. Here is no haunted
house, no eerie castle, no spooky deserted buildings. Instead, we are invited into a
bustling household packed to the brim with
extended family—well, at least at first, the number
of residents declines precipitously over the course
of the story—in a sleepy small town, circa 1935.
The most horrible thing on the minds of the
community members is a distant crime, namely
the Lindbergh baby kidnapping in faraway East
Amwell, New Jersey.
But the people in Pequot Landing, Connecticut,
the setting of Tryon’s novel, don’t worry much
about crime. When a series of deaths and injuries
take place at the Perry residence, no one looks for
suspects, or even considers that crimes might have
been committed. And no one would suspect that
twin boys, Holland and Niles Perry, might be
responsible for the incidents. The youngsters,
after all, are the victims of these tragedies. Their
father is now dead, and their mother has turned
into a melancholy recluse in the aftermath.
But even the most complacent onlooker can notice
something peculiar about the Perry twins. They may look alike, but their personalities
could hardly be more different. Niles, the younger (by a few minutes) of the two, is a
model child, helpful and considerate. But Holland is aloof and contentious, with a
marked cruel streak. Yet despite these obvious differences, the two are fiercely loyal to
each other, even to the extent of becoming co-conspirators in the unnatural events at
the Perry homestead.
The youngsters have a special talent, taught to them by their grandmother. They can
project themselves into other creatures, making the imaginative leap that allows them
to understand what it might be to fly like a bird, or strut like a rooster, or even blossom
like a flower. Perhaps this is merely a game, a way of expanding personal horizons and
envisioning other possible ways of life. But young Niles Perry is too skilled at playing
this game—so talented at immersing himself in the other that his own personality can
disappear in the process. At this advanced level, his skill turns into a liability, and the
youngster is subject to the vicissitudes of the personalities that supplant his own.
Yet who is wise enough to connect this innocent, almost childish game with the
unsettling series of tragedies that beset the household? And even if someone suspects,
what can be done to stop the viciously unfolding cycle, in which violence triggers
more violence?
Thomas Tryon took this subtle, psychologically rich plot and turned it into a runaway
hit—The Other would eventually sell 4 million copies and spend six months on the
bestseller list. The book is not without its limitations. The prose gets the job done, but
without much grace. The descriptions of landscape and sky, flora and fauna, won’t make
you forget Cormac McCarthy or Virginia Woolf. But the characters come alive with
animating spirit, and the psychological conflicts simmering throughout this novel are
both plausible and disturbing.
At the time of its release, The Other earned praise from Anthony Burgess, and
comparisons with John Cheever and other highbrow establishment authors. Few
horror books have enjoyed such acclaim, but the achievement is all the more
remarkable when one considers the author’s background. Tryon had never published a
novel before The Other. He was a middle-aged actor, who had enjoyed some modest
career successes, largely on the basis of his rugged good looks, suitable for westerns
and war movies. You can see him acting alongside John Wayne in The Longest Day, a
film about the Normandy landing, or as a cowboy in the TV series Wagon Train and The
Big Valley. His biggest acting success, however, came in the role of a Catholic priest in
the 1963 film The Cardinal, for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination. (But he
suffered under the direction of Otto Preminger, whose treatment of the actor bordered
on abuse—at one juncture, he even fired Tryon while his parents looked on.)
But in his mid-40s, Tryon decided that he needed a career change. After all, he had
graduated with honors from Yale, and didn’t need to rely on the shrinking opportunities
to play handsome screen characters. He thought he might have some success as a
film producer, but the studios showed no interest in his pitch for a horror movie
about twins. So he devoted more than a year to turning the concept into a novel. The
Other eventually became a movie, with a screenplay by Tryon, but he eventually decided
that he preferred life away from Hollywood. He had few contacts with the movie industry
in the remaining two decades of his life—although he made considerable sums of
money selling rights for his stories to the leading studios.
The Other is not a novel about the film industry—not by any measure. Yet it does
show the dark side of role-playing, and it is hardly a stretch to view protagonist Niles
Perry as master of method acting. The essence of the horror in these pages draws from
a simple premise: What happens when you stop playing the role and it starts playing
you?
Can we go further, and see Thomas Tryon as projecting himself into the deadly twins
who instigate the horrors in this novel? That would make The Other a book of a
doubled double. Add to this the complexity Tryon faced in Hollywood as a gay man
whose career would be jeopardized if the public learned the details of his private life.
He had already dealt with traumatizing situations as an actor, and could envision even
worse ones if his personal ‘other’ got exposed in the press.
Perhaps all this explains the emotional intensity of this novel, and how the untried
Tryon managed to move so effortlessly from film to the bestseller list. He had been
preparing for years to write this kind of horror story—and in the worst possible way:
by living it out. And the energy in this book, by the same token, perhaps represents
the realization of its author that by moving from the screen to the printed page he
had found an escape, away from the limelight of Hollywood and into the imaginative
life of the professional storyteller. Readers back in 1971 could hardly have grasped
these aspects of The Other, but they could feel its authenticity and passion. And for
all of the limitations of this book, they still enliven its pages today.
Ted Gioia writes about music, literature and popular culture. His latest book is How to Listen to Jazz from
Basic Books.
Publication Date: September 27, 2016
This is my year of horrible reading.
I am reading the classics of horror fiction
during the course of 2016, and each week will
write about a significant work in the genre.
You are invited to join me in my annus
horribilis. During the course of the year—if
we survive—we will have tackled zombies,
serial killers, ghosts, demons, vampires, and
monsters of all denominations. Check back
each week for a new title...but remember to
bring along garlic, silver bullets and a
protective amulet. Ted Gioia















Essay by Ted Gioia












Follow Ted Gioia on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/tedgioia
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
(with links to essays on each work)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Adams, Douglas
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Aldiss, Brian
Barefoot in the Head
Aldiss, Brian
Hothouse
Aldiss, Brian
Report on Probability A
Allende, Isabel
The House of the Spirits
Amado, Jorge
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
Amis, Martin
Time's Arrow
Apuleius
The Golden Ass
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Blind Assassin
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
The Atrocity Exhibition
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Ballard, J.G.
The Drowned World
Barker, Clive
Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3
Barth, John
Giles Goat-Boy
Bester, Alfred
The Demolished Man
Bierce, Ambrose
The Complete Short Stories
Blish, James
A Case of Conscience
Borges, Jorge Luis
Ficciones
Bradbury, Ray
Dandelion Wine
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Brockmeier, Kevin
The View from the Seventh Layer
Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Master and Margarita
Bunch, David R.
Moderan
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Butler, Octavia E.
Fledgling
Campbell, Ramsey
Demons by Daylight
Card, Orson Scott
Ender's Game
Carpentier, Alejo
The Kingdom of This World
Carroll, Lewis
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Chambers, Robert W.
The King in Yellow
Chiang, Ted
Stories of Your Life and Others
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke, Susanna
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Crowley, John
Little, Big
Danielewski, Mark Z.
The Fifty Year Sword
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Davies, Robertson
Fifth Business
Delany, Samuel R.
Babel-17
Delany, Samuel R.
Dhalgren
Delany, Samuel R.
The Einstein Intersection
Delany, Samuel R.
Nova
Dick, Philip K.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Dick, Philip K.
VALIS
Disch, Thomas M.
Camp Concentration
Disch, Thomas M.
The Genocides
Doctorow, Cory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Donoso, José
The Obscene Bird of Night
Ellison, Harlan (editor)
Dangerous Visions
Ellison, Harlan
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream
Esquivel, Laura
Like Water for Chocolate
Farmer, Philip José
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Fowles, John
A Maggot
Fuentes, Carlos
Aura
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gaiman, Neil
Neverwhere
Gardner, John
Grendel
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Grass, Günter
The Tin Drum
Greene, Graham
The End of the Affair
Grossman, Lev
The Magicians
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Harrison, M. John
The Centauri Device
Harrison, M. John
Light
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Helprin, Mark
Winter's Tale
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Hill, Susan
The Woman in Black
Hoffman, Alice
Practical Magic
Houellebecq, Michel
Submission
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Jackson, Shirley
The Haunting of Hill House
James, Henry
The Turn of the Screw
James, M.R.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Keret, Etgar
Suddenly, A Knock at the Door
Ketchum, Jack
Off Season
Keyes, Daniel
Flowers for Algernon
King, Stephen
Carrie
King, Stephen
Pet Sematary
Krilanovich, Grace
The Orange Eats Creeps
Kundera, Milan
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Kunzru, Hari
Gods Without Men
Lafferty, R.A.
Nine Hundred Grandmothers
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Dispossessed
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
The Big Time
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Leiber, Fritz
Our Lady of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
Swords & Deviltry
Leiber, Fritz
The Wanderer
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Levin, Ira
Rosemary's Baby
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Link, Kelly
Magic for Beginners
Lovecraft, H.P.
Tales
Malzberg, Barry N.
Herovit's World
Mandel, Emily St. John
Station Eleven
Mann, Thomas
Doctor Faustus
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
Markson, David
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Matheson, Richard
Hell House
Matheson, Richard
I Am Legend
Matheson, Richard
What Dreams May Come
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miéville, China
Perdido Street Station
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Millhauser, Steven
Dangerous Laughter
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Moorcock, Michael
Behold the Man
Moorcock, Michael
The Final Programme
Morrison, Toni
Beloved
Murakami, Haruki
1Q84
Murakami, Haruki
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the
End of the World
Nabokov, Vladimir
Ada, or Ardor
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Obreht, Téa
The Tiger's Wife
O'Brien, Flann
At Swim-Two-Birds
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Oyeyemi, Helen
White is for Witching
Percy, Walker
Love in the Ruins
Poe, Edgar Allan
Tales of Mystery & Imagination
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Pratchett, Terry
The Color of Magic
Pynchon, Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Rabelais, François
Gargantua and Pantagruel
Rice, Anne
Interview with the Vampire
Robinson, Kim Stanley
Red Mars
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Rushdie, Salman
Midnight's Children
Russ, Joanna
The Female Man
Saramago, José
Blindness
Sheckley, Robert
Dimension of Miracles
Sheckley, Robert
Mindswap
Sheckley, Robert
Store of the Worlds
Shelley, Mary
Frankenstein
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Silverberg, Robert
The World Inside
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Smith, Clark Ashton
The Dark Eidolon
Smith, Cordwainer
Norstrilia
Smith, Cordwainer
The Rediscovery of Man
Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
Spinrad, Norman
Bug Jack Barron
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Stoker, Bram
Dracula
Stross, Charles
Glasshouse
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels
Thomas, D.M.
The White Hotel
Tiptree, Jr., James
Warm Worlds and Otherwise
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The Hobbit
Updike, John
The Witches of Eastwick
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Mixed Men
Van Vogt, A.E.
Slan
Van Vogt, A.E.
The Voyage of the Space Beagle
Van Vogt, A.E.
The World of Null A
Vance, Jack
The Dragon Masters
Vance, Jack
Emphyrio
Vance, Jack
The Languages of Pao
Verne, Jules
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Vollmann, William T
Last Stories and Other Stories
Vonnegut, Kurt
Cat's Cradle
Vonnegut, Kurt
The Sirens of Titan
Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Walpole, Horace
Hieroglyphic Tales
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Winton, Tim
Cloudstreet
Woolf, Virginia
Orlando
Zabor, Rafi
The Bear Comes Home
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Zelazny, Roger
This Immortal
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
My Year of Horrible Reading
When Science Fiction Grew Up
Ray Bradbury: A Tribute
The Year of Magical Reading
Remembering Fritz Leiber
A Tribute to Richard Matheson
Samuel Delany's 70th birthday
The Sci-Fi of Kurt Vonnegut
The Most Secretive Sci-Fi Author
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Robert Heinlein at 100
A.E, van Vogt Tribute
The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley
The Avant-Garde Sci-Fi of Brian Aldiss
Science Fiction 1958-1975: A Reading List
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Postmodern Mystery
Fractious Fiction
Ted Gioia's web site
Ted Gioia on Twitter
_____
SF Site
io9
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Los Angeles Review of Books
The Millions
Big Dumb Object
SF Novelists
More Words, Deeper Hole
The Misread City
Reviews and Responses
SF Signal
True Science Fiction
Tor blog
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction
and its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors, publicists
or other parties.
All rights reserved.




To purchase, click in image
|
Thomas Tryon in his acting days