Welcome to the Horne

By Rudolph Kohn

Back in 2021, I went to an event that was held at a hotel conference center, and my experience there that night was so unusual that I knew I had to write about it. In Welcome to the Horne, a scientist arrives late the night before a conference at the Horne Hotel and tries to get some sleep before his busy day starts. But everything is a little off. From the strange shape of his room to the odd condition of the plumbing, he's left confused and uncomfortable. And the front desk seems to be willing to make things better--almost too willing--but they only end up making things worse.

Some of the things in this story actually happened, like the messed-up plumbing and the unexpected knock at the door. And I tried to sprinkle in a bit of dreamlike Lovecraftian horror to make things a little more exciting and interesting. Anyway, I'm hoping you find this short story to be a fun little exercise in (mostly) subtle, creeping terror, with a humorous little twist at the end.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rudolph Kohn
• Release date: Feb 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215378342

Rudolph Kohn

I'm a physicist trying to get into writing. I read a lot of mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy, and my writings hit the same genres (or I guess, will hit those genres--I still don't have a lot of pieces published). My greatest influence is probably Rex Stout.Check out my blog rnkfiction.blogspot.com for free short fiction and commentary on writing.Thanks for checking out my profile!

Book preview

Welcome to the Horne

by Rudolph Kohn

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2023 Rudolph Kohn

Book cover based on a royalty-free image by Tony Yakovlenko at Unsplash.

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I find myself in a crisis of perception. From a young age, I made myself a serious student of the natural world, and my belief that everything could be explained through careful observation and rigorous application of the scientific method led me to reject not only all mysticism, but also many of the harmless flights of fancy that my friends in youth deceived themselves with--much to my own dismay, at times. Yet now, after years of work in the natural sciences and a decent record of publication, I discover that I have experienced something I find impossible to describe through rational means. The vivid memories would be relatively simple to dismiss by themselves, as a particularly memorable dream perhaps, but the scars carved into my hands turn that vividness into an irresistible urge to believe that those memories are real, although I cannot find a suitable explanation for them as they stand in my mind.

I feel--perhaps it is appropriate to say that, for