The cabin in which I found myself was small and rather untidy. A youngish man with flaxen hair, a bristly straw-coloured moustache, and a dropping nether lip, was sitting and holding my wrist. For a minute we stared at each other without speaking. He had watery grey eyes, oddly void of expression. Then just overhead came a sound like an iron bedstead being knocked about, and the low angry growling of some large animal. At the same time the man spoke. He repeated his question, -"How do you feel now?" I think I said I felt ...
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The cabin in which I found myself was small and rather untidy. A youngish man with flaxen hair, a bristly straw-coloured moustache, and a dropping nether lip, was sitting and holding my wrist. For a minute we stared at each other without speaking. He had watery grey eyes, oddly void of expression. Then just overhead came a sound like an iron bedstead being knocked about, and the low angry growling of some large animal. At the same time the man spoke. He repeated his question, -"How do you feel now?" I think I said I felt all right. I could not recollect how I had got there. He must have seen the question in my face, for my voice was inaccessible to me. "You were picked up in a boat, starving. The name on the boat was the Lady Vain, and there were spots of blood on the gunwale." At the same time my eye caught my hand, so thin that it looked like a dirty skin-purse full of loose bones, and all the business of the boat came back to me. - Taken from "The Island Of Dr. Moreau" written by H. G. Wells
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I consider H.G. Wells to be a pioneer of the science fiction- horror genre, if for no reason other than this book. This book is terrifying, but is probably overlooked by many because of the time period in which it was written. "Island" tells the story of a man who is ship-wrecked, only to be rescued by a boat with mysterious cargo. The boat arrives at an uncharted island, which the survivor soon finds out is inhabited by twisted animal- man hybrids. This book would not have been half as disturbing as it is if it were based in modern times, but the fact that the story occurs in the Victorian era makes it a fascinating read. If you are looking for a book to introduce yourself to the works of H.G. Wells, make this one of your top choices.
