Mark Porton's Reviews > Unhappiness

This Kafkaesque ghost story was indeed Kafkaesque and it’s called Unhappiness.

The narrator is an obviously unhappy man and one night he’s pacing his room on his very worn carpet when a ghost of a small boy storms in. (Note: I imagine the carpet is so worn like a racetrack – because he probably walks the same path each evening – lap after lap, after lap). This man was even so sad he questioned the ghost, asking him if he had found the right department – it seems he doesn’t believe he is worth visiting.

They argue about who should close the door. Our unhappy gentleman also sees this ghost isn’t so little and has feminine attributes – to the point of telling the apparition – “If you were a girl you might not lock yourself in a room with me”. I thought that was a bit creepy, a lot really.

Eventually, after several terse exchanges with this ghost, our miserable man leaves the room with a candle and argues with a neighbour about such things as whether one can feed a ghost, and whether ghosts exist if one doesn’t believe in them. Heady, stuff. Eventually the man goes back to his room to sleep.

If you’re after confusion, absurdity, spookiness, criminal sexual tension, and darkness. You may find this one worthwhile – it kind of reminded me of Kafka’s The Investigations of a Dog and the David Lynch movie Eraserhead.

This unpleasantly indecipherable short story can be found on ‘tinternet, like.

3 Stars