De Mortuis
by John Collier
- 2 Members Following
Follow a topic to see new activity, such as homework help questions and answers, in your personal feed on the homepage.
At a glance:
- Author: John Collier
- First Published: 1951
- Type of Plot: Horror
- Time of Work: The mid-twentieth century
- Setting: Upstate New York
- Characters: Dr. Rankin, Irene Rankin, Bud, Buck
- Genres: Short fiction, Horror literature
- Subjects: Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Marriage, Adultery, Faith, Ethics, Truthfulness and falsehood, Tombs or graves
- Locales: United States, New York, North America
The Story
As mild-mannered Dr. Rankin puts the finishing touches to a patch of wet cement on his cellar floor, he is startled by sounds, signaling the entrance of Bud and Buck, who call out, “Hi, Doc! They’re biting!” Not wanting to be disturbed, he remains silent, but his friends figure out where he is and come down the stairs.
When the friends ask Rankin about the wet cement patch, he explains that he has repaired a spot where water has been seeping in from an underground spring. Bud—the realtor who sold him the property—refuses to believe that such a spring...
(The entire page is 1525 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:
- 30,000+ literature study guides
- Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
- An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
- Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
- 100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE
