"The Glass Floor" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the autumn 1967 issue of Startling Mystery Stories.[1] It was King's first professional sale.[2][3][4]
Charles Wharton visits Anthony Reynard, the recently widowed husband of Wharton's sister Janine, in his Victorian mansion, the appearance of which unsettles Wharton. Reynard tells Wharton that Janine died by falling off a ladder while dusting the mansion's East Room, breaking her neck. When Wharton asks to see the room, Reynard refuses, telling him the door to the room has been plastered over. When Wharton protests, Reynard's elderly housekeeper Louise explains that the East Room – which has a floor made entirely out of mirror glass – is regarded as "dangerous".
At Wharton's insistence, Reynard gives him a trowel and allows him to reopen the East Room, refusing to watch. Upon entering the room, Wharton is quickly disoriented by the mirrored floor; fancying that he is standing in mid-air, he panics and calls for help. Reynard finds Wharton's body lying in the middle of the room; he removes it using a pole hook, leaving a small pool of blood on both the floor and ceiling. As he prepares to once again plaster the East Room shut, Reynard wonders "if there was really a mirror there at all".[2]
Publicationedit
King wrote "The Glass Floor" in the summer of 1967 at the age of 19. It was the first of his submissions (over the course of two years) to magazine editor Robert A. W. Lowndes to be accepted for publication. King earned $35 (equivalent to $320 in 2023) for the story, marking his first professional earnings from writing.[2][5] "The Glass Floor" was first published in the autumn 1967 issue of Startling Mystery Stories. It was later published (with some minor amendments) in issue #298 of Weird Tales in autumn 1990 and in issue #68 of Cemetery Dance in December 2012.[1][5][6] In 2020, it was published as part of the trade hardcover Best of Cemetery Dance 2.[7] It has never been collected in a work by King.[3]
Receptionedit
Michael R. Collings described "The Glass Floor" as "derivative, depending upon Poe and Lovecraft for its situational and atmospheric horror", while regarding it as an improvement on the "workaday prose" of King's earlier work.[8]George Beahm also regarded the story as "derivative", but judged it to be "a first effort that requires no apology".[9]
Revisiting the story after 23 years in 1990, King described the first several pages as "clumsy and badly written - clearly the product of an unformed story-teller's mind" but judged the climax to be "better than I remembered" with "a genuine frisson".[2]
Rocky Wood notes two seeming factual errors in the story: Reynard's mansion bears the date 1770 but is contrastingly described as "Victorian" (1770 being part of the Georgian era) and "Revolutionary War vintage" (the American Revolutionary War lasting from 1775 to 1783).[3]
Referencesedit
^ ab"The Glass Floor". StephenKing.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
glass, floor, confused, with, glass, floor, short, story, stephen, king, first, published, autumn, 1967, issue, startling, mystery, stories, king, first, professional, sale, short, story, stephen, kingcountryunited, stateslanguageenglishgenre, horror, short, s. Not to be confused with Glass Floor The Glass Floor is a short story by Stephen King first published in the autumn 1967 issue of Startling Mystery Stories 1 It was King s first professional sale 2 3 4 The Glass Floor Short story by Stephen KingCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenre s Horror short storyPublicationPublished inStartling Mystery StoriesPublisherHealth Knowledge Inc Media typePrintPublication date1967Chronology The 43rd Dream Cain Rose Up Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Publication 3 Reception 4 References 5 See also 6 External linksPlot summary editCharles Wharton visits Anthony Reynard the recently widowed husband of Wharton s sister Janine in his Victorian mansion the appearance of which unsettles Wharton Reynard tells Wharton that Janine died by falling off a ladder while dusting the mansion s East Room breaking her neck When Wharton asks to see the room Reynard refuses telling him the door to the room has been plastered over When Wharton protests Reynard s elderly housekeeper Louise explains that the East Room which has a floor made entirely out of mirror glass is regarded as dangerous At Wharton s insistence Reynard gives him a trowel and allows him to reopen the East Room refusing to watch Upon entering the room Wharton is quickly disoriented by the mirrored floor fancying that he is standing in mid air he panics and calls for help Reynard finds Wharton s body lying in the middle of the room he removes it using a pole hook leaving a small pool of blood on both the floor and ceiling As he prepares to once again plaster the East Room shut Reynard wonders if there was really a mirror there at all 2 Publication editKing wrote The Glass Floor in the summer of 1967 at the age of 19 It was the first of his submissions over the course of two years to magazine editor Robert A W Lowndes to be accepted for publication King earned 35 equivalent to 320 in 2023 for the story marking his first professional earnings from writing 2 5 The Glass Floor was first published in the autumn 1967 issue of Startling Mystery Stories It was later published with some minor amendments in issue 298 of Weird Tales in autumn 1990 and in issue 68 of Cemetery Dance in December 2012 1 5 6 In 2020 it was published as part of the trade hardcover Best of Cemetery Dance 2 7 It has never been collected in a work by King 3 Reception editMichael R Collings described The Glass Floor as derivative depending upon Poe and Lovecraft for its situational and atmospheric horror while regarding it as an improvement on the workaday prose of King s earlier work 8 George Beahm also regarded the story as derivative but judged it to be a first effort that requires no apology 9 Revisiting the story after 23 years in 1990 King described the first several pages as clumsy and badly written clearly the product of an unformed story teller s mind but judged the climax to be better than I remembered with a genuine frisson 2 Rocky Wood notes two seeming factual errors in the story Reynard s mansion bears the date 1770 but is contrastingly described as Victorian 1770 being part of the Georgian era and Revolutionary War vintage the American Revolutionary War lasting from 1775 to 1783 3 References edit a b The Glass Floor StephenKing com Retrieved February 11 2021 a b c d King Stephen Fall 1990 Scithers George H Schweitzer Darrell Betancourt John eds The Glass Floor Weird Tales No 298 Wildside Press pp 36 42 ISBN 978 0 8095 3214 8 a b c Wood Rocky King Stephen 2012 Stephen King Uncollected Unpublished Overlook Connection Press p 169 171 ISBN 978 1 892950 59 8 Collings Michael R Engebretson David 1985 The Shorter Works of Stephen King Starmont House p 8 ISBN 978 0 930261 03 0 a b Vincent Bev 2022 Stephen King A Complete Exploration of His Work Life and Influences becker amp mayer p 98 ISBN 978 0 7603 7681 2 Wood Rocky 2017 Stephen King A Literary Companion McFarland amp Company p 88 ISBN 978 0 7864 8546 8 Chizmar Richard 2019 The Best of Cemetery Dance II Cemetery Dance Publications ISBN 978 1 58767 081 7 Collings Michael R 2008 The Many Facets of Stephen King Wildside Press p 18 ISBN 978 0 89370 923 5 Beahm George 1998 Stephen King from A to Z An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work Andrews McMeel Publishing pp 83 84 ISBN 978 0 8362 6914 7 See also editStephen King short fiction bibliography Unpublished and uncollected works by Stephen KingExternal links edit The Glass Floor at StephenKing com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Glass Floor amp oldid 1202282249, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
