MovieChat Forums > Stranger Than Fiction (2006) Discussion > Similar Short Story, er kinda.

Similar Short Story, er kinda.

posted 12 years ago by microneus
3 replies | jump to latest

When I was in college, I took a course called 'Science Fiction as Literature'. Great course, anyway, we had many text books, at least 2 were of just short stories.

In one of the short story books, was one of a man who on his daily walk, changed his route slightly and walked past the workshop of a grave stone maker. As a display, there was one marker that had the protagonist's name, exact date of birth and date of death, which happened to be that very day. The two hang out together to see what happens at midnight, but as the clock strikes, the story ends.

Anyone ever read this short?
If so, can u tell me the name of it or which book of short stories this was?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[–] dopefeeny 11 years ago

After reading your post, I did some google searches and found a similar sounding story -- could this be the one you are referring to above?? It sounds interesting...

"August Heat," a 1910 short story by W. F. Harvey

From Wikipedia: It's about two men whose glimpses of each of the other's possible future lead them to a strange paralyzed standoff.

Another excerpt: To both men’s shock, the model headstone Atkinson has just finished carving bears Withencroft's full name, his date of birth, and that very day as date of death. The two men agree that – for fear of runaway carts, banana peels, fallen ladders – Withencroft should stay at Atkinson's place until midnight has passed and the date changed.

[–] microneus 11 years ago

THAT'S IT!!!

What kind of Google searches did you use? I thought I tried everything.

Now that I have the Title, I should be able to find the book of short stories it was in.

thanks, Dopefeeny, you made my day.

edit: I believe the book of short stories was 'The Haunted Looking Glass'. It has a copyright date of 1959, but I think it was reprinted in 2001.

The book includes these other short stories:

ALGERNON BLACKWOOD, "The Empty House"
W.F. HARVEY, "August Heat"
CHARLES DICKENS, "The Signalman"
L.P. HARTLEY, "A Visitor from Down Under"
R.H. MALDEN, "The Thirteenth Tree"
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, "The Body-Snatcher"
E. NESBIT, "Man-Size in Marble"
BRAM STOKER, "The Judge's House"
TOM HOOD, "The Shadow of a Shade"
W.W. JACOBS, "The Monkey's Paw,"
WILKIE COLLINS, "The Dream Woman"
M.R. JAMES, "Casting the Runes"

[–] avortac4 (3575) 2 years ago

That doesn't sound too similar to this movie.

What DOES sound similar, though, is the Twilight Zone episode, where the writer can summon people by simply describing them on paper. He 'summons' mostly women this way, though, if I remember correctly.