THE CENTURY'S BEST HORROR FICTION #56: "Lonely Road" by Richard Wilson

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We’ve seen many different kinds of horror so far, but this is probably the first instance of what is known as quiet horror. Even though when you get right down to it, the explanation is kind of lame, getting there is pretty intense. Can you think of anything lonelier than an American highway at three in the morning?



Clarence is driving across the country on his way home when he starts to fall asleep behind the wheel. To wake himself up, he stops off for some coffee at a diner, except when he gets in there, the place is empty. No people, no coffee on the burner, nothing. Clarence is confused, but he’s not deterred. He makes himself a small meal and leaves some money for the owner. He moves on.


Later, just as he’s about to run out of gas, he stops at a filling station. Yet again, he finds no one. An attendant does not answer his honk. Once again, he fulfills his needs and leaves sufficient money for the owner.


But he’s starting to notice just how alone he is in the world. He has not seen anybody in a long time, not even passing cars on the road. He starts to worry, and when he goes to a bank to make a withdrawal, only to see no one else is there, he knows something fishy is going on.


This is exactly the kind of story Rod Serling would have latched onto. Hell, Richard Matheson would have probably read this with a hard-on. This is a brilliant statement on man’s loneliness in the universe. But then, things start getting back to normal. On his way into the city, Clarence sees a toll taker at the bridge. Suddenly, he starts noticing people again.


SPOILER ALERT: When he finally sees his wife, she explains that she feels like she was recently moved to another existence very briefly before being moved back here. She even has some evidence of it. But why had Clarence been left behind while the rest of the human race moved over? He likens the experience to something that happened to their dead son: young Bobby had a fish tank full of life, and he decided to transfer them all into a new, identical tank. Then, he noticed that he’d left behind a snail, and that kind of lessened the thrill of it. As a result, he moved everything back into the original.


That sounds kind of lame. However, if this is true, the greater implications are a bit unnerving. A greater power tried to move us into a new home, but forgot one lonely guy on a late night, lonely road? The greater power then said, “Fuck it,” and put us all back? Does this mean we’re now living in a failed experiment? END OF SPOILERS.


This is not a perfect story, but it certainly is intriguing. The suspense of it all will have you turning pages. Give it a shot.

[This story first appeared in THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE-FICTION and cannot be read online at this time.]