Satisfying endings
Is there anything better than a satisfying ending? Of course not. A story that ends against what we want or desire really bothers us and we don't care for it at all. I can think of the story In the Woods. This story ended, but didn't satisfy me.
I recently read three short stories. All dealt with insanity. All had endings, but they didn't all satsify. "The Tell-tale Heart" had the most satisfying ending. We get to see the narrator taken away for a grievous murder, but we dont' really know where he is. I like that we can have the leeway to think of him as sitting in jail or in an asylum. There were no surprises or things that were not expected.
Now, I also read "The Sandman." This story is from German gothic literature. The whole story was not to my taste. I can see the benefit it would have. It takes on the creepy structure that all gothics have, but this story didn't satisfy me because it seemed schizophrenic in the idea. We are led to believe during the story that this evil man is something more than man. He is taking eyes and killing fathers. He is an alchemist. Then the main character falls in love with a robot. The fact that she's a robot and the evil man steals her eyes makes him crazy. Then he kills himself. This story bothered me because it started in one direction then ended up in some strange realm withe love robots. It's almost like the main character deserved to die. He was quite stupid if he couldn't tell the difference between a live girl and a wax doll.
Then the last of the three story, was "Dread" by Clive Barker. This was the newest of the stories, and didn't really satisfy me. The story is a good idea. It delves into the fears of two of the characters. These characters are then tortured to the breaking point. The problem is that the tormetor is then killed by what he fears. The issue is that we never really get the fear of the tormentor until the end. It doesn't go into as much depth. The problem is that he is killed by his fear, but there's no build up to it.
Three stories ended. Two left me with a bad taste in mouth, and despite the fact that horror should leave that, I needed a tasteful bitter taste. The Poe story ended well. It made good sense. The other two had much potential, but failed.
