H.G. Wells was a famous science fiction writer. The science fiction historian John Clute describes Wells as "the most important writer the genre has yet seen", and notes his work has been central to both British and American science fiction. Science fiction author and critic Algis Budrys said Wells "remains the outstanding expositor of both the hope, and the despair, which are embodied in the technology and which are the major facts of life in our world". In 1933, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' Thirty years earlier, H.G. Wells said something similar in his 1894 short story, The Red Room. This short gothic story was written in 1894 and was first published in the March 1896 edition of The Idler magazine. In The Red Room, a young man, 28, who never divulges his name, pays a visit to Lorraine Castle, which is said to be haunted. A year before, another brave soul, whom he refers to as 'his predecessor,' had attempted such an investigation into the supernatural. The castle has been sitting unoccupied for a year, ever since the Duke lost his life on the landing of the stairwell. Initially confident, the narrator becomes increasingly uneasy in the room. He attempts to conquer his fear by lighting candles, but keeping the candles lit in the draughty room becomes an ongoing battle. Each time a candle is snuffed out, the narrator's fear and paranoia increases… You can listen online to free English audiobook “The Red Room” by H. G. Wells on our website.
