The Beast With Five Fingers

 The Beast with Five Fingers

The name may sounds quite silly but The Beast with Five Fingers is a good horror tales, full of suspense and creepy moments. Written by W. F. Harvey, this book and its author became famous after this story was adapted into a movie in the 1940s. Funnily enough, while the flick was good in its own right, it lacked all the elements that made this story stand out.

As you probably guessed, the nemesis in this story is a hand, a disembodied hand at that. I thought about leaving that bit out but it's fairly obvious from the start. Firstly, the name is a giveaway of course. But I would also guess that you've seen posters of the 40s movie since it is a cult classic of sorts. Most importantly, the author builds up our expectations surrounding the mysterious powers of one character's hand. You know it is weird. You know it is evil. You just don't know how it will scurry around like a bloodthirsty rat.

Well, the main story is about a man called Eustace Borlsover and the unfortunate gift he inherits from his blind uncle. It all starts out when Eustace meets up with uncle, Adrian, and discovers that one of his hands is capable of automatic writing. In fact, it seems like that hand has been possessed by a vile, stubborn spirit. For now, the nephew is fascinated as opposed to utterly frightened. Perhaps the fact that the uncle was sick made him think that there couldn't be anything truly evil coming from that side.

As it happened, the uncle passes away. And Eustace receives a funny package which sounds like the uncle had packed away a weird rat. Yes, it is only in horror novels that folks don't fret about receiving mysterious parcels housing unknown creatures! His laidback manner flies out the window the moment he discovers what the package contains – his uncle's hand, which is alive and kicking by the way. Soon it becomes a battle for survival, a freaky scenario that befits some of the best slasher-in-the-attic movies I have come across. Will Eustace survive? Will his life be snuffed out by that disembodied hand? Will the hand be buried or burned?

The story itself sounds cliché and rather simple but, as I mentioned earlier, it contains a number of elements that made this a lovable horror tale. Firstly, there was the narration style. The writer used a first person narrative of an outsider to set the stage and wrap up the tale. But, for the rest of the short story, he opts for a third person view where he follows the footsteps of the unfortunate Eustace. Thus, when you catch glimpses of him from afar, his sense of fear is more visible, all the more so since we do move away from him at certain critical moments. This adds to the suspense especially during the 'lost hand in the lounge' frenzy.

Then there is the buildup of suspense. The author unfolds the events slowly, taking pains to describe Eustace and his uncle. He throws in more details about themselves in their different meetings. In this way, you have a sense of premonition that something really bad is coming Eustace's way. At the same time, you become sure of an aura of evil surrounding the poor uncle.

This particular storytelling tactic is also applied to the introduction of the disembodied hand. Whilst the reader is expecting the hand to pop up right at the beginning, the author takes his time throwing it into the game. First you get the strange box. Then they mention the scurrying noises within the box. After that, in the midst of opening the parcel, it falls onto the ground and the 'creature' dashes to safety before Eustace can catch it or get a proper glimpse of it. Thus, using such methods, the author successfully creates a tense atmosphere around this idea. After all, you have a general idea how this will end; it is this expectation of death and gore that ends up scaring you throughout the book.