I should really deal with that soon
November 1, 2017 8:17 AM Subscribe
Jonesing for just one more scary story after Halloween? Check out the short comic The Door In The Kitchen by Abby Howard.
We just bought a house and we're moving in a little over a week and I know I should avoid these sorts of stories, but here we are.
I do wish our new place had a pantry.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:35 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I do wish our new place had a pantry.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:35 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Augh it's like a metaphor for my entire life.
posted by Frowner at 8:50 AM on November 1, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 8:50 AM on November 1, 2017 [23 favorites]
Maybe it just wants to watch Stranger Things 2.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:54 AM on November 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:54 AM on November 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Poor thing did nothing but try to escape a prison, and she attacked it. She could have at least asked if it needed help before attacking.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:02 AM on November 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:02 AM on November 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
I find it hard to read this without thinking "so, the thing in the basement is Nazis, right?" or something similar. Relative to reality, fiction is a lot less scary these days.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:07 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:07 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
She could have at least asked if it needed help before attacking.
Yeah, I can tell I've been reading too many perky children's book stories because I was imagining she'd eventually talk to it and they'd work something out and she'd have a creepy-looking but actually nice roommate or something.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:08 AM on November 1, 2017 [38 favorites]
Yeah, I can tell I've been reading too many perky children's book stories because I was imagining she'd eventually talk to it and they'd work something out and she'd have a creepy-looking but actually nice roommate or something.
posted by carrioncomfort at 9:08 AM on November 1, 2017 [38 favorites]
Maybe take a pic or video of it? Send it to someone, post it somewhere? Like, 99% of all smartphone-enabled people would do that, right? Many with an eye toward monetizing this thing.
Actually, a page where she tries to capture an image but it's always blurry would've been good.
All in all, though, liked it, because...
Basic premise CONFIRMED: now living alone (50% of the time anyway) for the first time in my life, in a house with lots of odd little doors, cabinets, etc. You wind up listening/NOT LISTENING a lot. Wondering, did I leave that open?
AND, in my previous, older house, we discovered a storage space under a basement stair, but not right away. After a couple of weeks in the place, I mean. The door was paneled to match the walls, so it blended in pretty well. No exterior handle, either. Managed to get it open and found a small student desk and chair in there.
It's still there, as far as I know.
posted by Caxton1476 at 9:08 AM on November 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Actually, a page where she tries to capture an image but it's always blurry would've been good.
All in all, though, liked it, because...
Basic premise CONFIRMED: now living alone (50% of the time anyway) for the first time in my life, in a house with lots of odd little doors, cabinets, etc. You wind up listening/NOT LISTENING a lot. Wondering, did I leave that open?
AND, in my previous, older house, we discovered a storage space under a basement stair, but not right away. After a couple of weeks in the place, I mean. The door was paneled to match the walls, so it blended in pretty well. No exterior handle, either. Managed to get it open and found a small student desk and chair in there.
It's still there, as far as I know.
posted by Caxton1476 at 9:08 AM on November 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
This happened to me once! I mean, it was a cockroach, and it was the ceiling in the bathroom, but basically same story. (WE DID NOT BECOME FRIENDS. (But I did let it out, and it ran across the street. (It used the crosswalk.)))
posted by capricorn at 9:38 AM on November 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by capricorn at 9:38 AM on November 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
It was THREE INCHES LONG
posted by capricorn at 9:38 AM on November 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by capricorn at 9:38 AM on November 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
Say “what in the name of the Lord do you want,” come on!
But no. This is in fact about avoidant anxiety, which I have got, and I would prefer facing a flayed skeleton to a lot of things.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:54 AM on November 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
But no. This is in fact about avoidant anxiety, which I have got, and I would prefer facing a flayed skeleton to a lot of things.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:54 AM on November 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I can tell I've been reading too many perky children's book stories because I was imagining she'd eventually talk to it and they'd work something out and she'd have a creepy-looking but actually nice roommate or something.
Seriously, before I understood what's going on here, I thought she was going to have a word with it, ask it what it wants, what its situation is. I was surprised that she didn't.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:07 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Seriously, before I understood what's going on here, I thought she was going to have a word with it, ask it what it wants, what its situation is. I was surprised that she didn't.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:07 AM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's still there, as far as I know.
These eight words pack a lot of anxious-making into them.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:12 AM on November 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
These eight words pack a lot of anxious-making into them.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:12 AM on November 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
AND, in my previous, older house, we discovered a storage space under a basement stair, but not right away. After a couple of weeks in the place, I mean. The door was paneled to match the walls, so it blended in pretty well. No exterior handle, either. Managed to get it open and found a small student desk and chair in there.
It's still there, as far as I know.
Its previous occupant no longer requires it.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:12 AM on November 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's still there, as far as I know.
Its previous occupant no longer requires it.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:12 AM on November 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Wherein I click the first result from Google search for "avoidant anxiety" and receive the following warning:
Reader, I avoided the rest.
posted by slipthought at 10:22 AM on November 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
President Trump is about to start a nuclear war with North Korea…. No such warning has ever been published on this website since its creation in 1995. However, the very high probability of a nuclear WW III, and the certainty of irreversible climate change in the next few years requires that this warning be posted. If Trump starts WW III, or does nothing to stop climate change, mental illness will be the least of our worries..
Reader, I avoided the rest.
posted by slipthought at 10:22 AM on November 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
slipthought, same!
posted by zoetrope at 10:32 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by zoetrope at 10:32 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
...Wow. That was great and exceptionally spooky. I have the feeling that reminding myself "it's a metaphor for avoidance!" isn't going to be much help when my brain inevitably pulls that last panel out of my memory banks at 1 AM.
posted by Meow Face at 12:09 PM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Meow Face at 12:09 PM on November 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Really great, evocative drawings. Thanks for introducing me to Abby Howard!
posted by whistle pig at 1:06 PM on November 1, 2017
posted by whistle pig at 1:06 PM on November 1, 2017
My favorite spooky story in the "just moved into a new house and discovered a mysterious door that nobody noticed before" genre is still this 1946 episode of radio's Suspense:
The House in Cypress Canyon
posted by non canadian guy at 2:36 PM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
The House in Cypress Canyon
posted by non canadian guy at 2:36 PM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I’m avoiding this story about avoidant anxiety so hard and it’s making me anxious.
posted by Grandysaur at 11:08 PM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Grandysaur at 11:08 PM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This story is me but with some important but a-hassle-to-deal-with house maintenance problem instead of a pantry monster.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:30 AM on November 2, 2017
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:30 AM on November 2, 2017
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posted by Pope Guilty at 8:34 AM on November 1, 2017 [4 favorites]