I always loved this story; extremely well written and quite plausible. This is what happens when you lock anyone in a room, where they don't see people, and lose the thread of real life.; like ICU psychosis. I'm old, and I know the feminists have gone to town over this citing men's cruelty, but really, when a woman has postpartum depression, it's often the most helpful thing. We did this when my sister had ;relieve her of work and care for the baby and housework, and meals, and let her get her strength and nerves back (not lock her in a room with barred windows. I guess I'm saying it was the right cure carried too far.
@iansmith91253 жыл бұрын
I read this as a kid & was horrified. It’s awful, genuinely upsetting. Absolutely fantastic & the subtext resonates still.
@garyduncan343 жыл бұрын
Loved this story I had a by pass operation last year and the pain killers (opiates) made me see all kinds of strange things coming out of the stained hospital room walls
@ireneanderson76992 жыл бұрын
Makes me think of the claims that the arsenic in the wallpaper colors made people ill and sometimes a bit crazy. Really enjoyed your narration as always!
@missy32403 жыл бұрын
It was cool to revisit this as a ghost story! I remember reading it in 1st year at University, waaaayyyy back in 1990, I had only considered it at that point through the lens of feminist literature as a warning tale. Great reading as always!
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
It's interesting in that you can take it many ways
@janetcw98082 жыл бұрын
One of my takes on the story was that the lady was suffering from post natal depression and had a control freak of a husband who wanted her out of the way because he was having an affair. Is that too simplistic? 🤔 And no way in my mind was that room ever a nursery/gym for children 😱😱. Creepy, chilling, and a masterful narration. Thanks so much.
@ClassicGhost2 жыл бұрын
+Janet Carr Wharton I think that is a very reasonable hypothesis. You may well be right
@MrsJanLong4 ай бұрын
Agree with the gaslighting husband - never ever trust a man who calls one "little girl"!
@Story-Voracious663 жыл бұрын
Hmmm... I kept putting off listening to this one; to be honest, I *love* it, and hate it because it is way too close to the bone. I wonder how many other (women especially) love it because they can relate so closely with it. I have always seen, and related to objects in the same way. I have been driven to a place like this in my life, by another "John" Too much information, I know. So thanks again Tony for your choice of story and unique delivery. Hang in there!, all whom can relate too closely to this. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's not an oncoming train.
@bobsylviajr.10853 жыл бұрын
Hell is being alone with your thoughts...forever.
@sarahstardust2 жыл бұрын
This speaks to me every time I listen to it. I've been bedridden with severe ME ("chronic fatigue syndrome") for many years now and a lot of what she describes fits what I've been through myself (though I recognize others' comparison to PPP is probably more apt). Too exhausted to read and write, company sucks the life out of me, sometimes my sleep schedule gets turned around so that I'm up at night. Dismissive doctors. I'm lucky to have a truly caring husband who believes me and not a whats-his-face from the story who thinks he knows better. If it weren't for the internet, especially KZbin, I might have just gone mad like that poor woman. I've definitely let my imagination get the better of me more than once during this illness as it's hard to think clearly and so I'll obsess over interesting daydreams. At least my walls aren't patterned or yellow! Lol. Thanks for the lovely distractions from it all.
@ClassicGhost2 жыл бұрын
I think that they will find a blood test for ME eventually. They were dismissive of a lot of conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD, etc for a long time and now acknowledge them. I talk about this endlessly at work that distinction that health professionals make between the worthy and unworthy patient, where the first is deemed to be ill through no fault of their own and the second is somehow responsible for their illness. No one chooses to be ill. Anyway, I wish you all the best and some relief from your troubles.
@sarahstardust2 жыл бұрын
@@ClassicGhost thank you! I just came across you commenting on working in mental health on another video, I think. I can't keep up on medical news, it's all well beyond me anymore, but I think I've heard of a lot of research into physical causes so a test being developed would make sense and help a lot with giving proof. I do have a doctor now who believes me and a specialist clinic is coming to my area, so I have some hope. First doctor I saw thought I was drunk though, that's how dismissive he was. But you're right, nobody would choose this, I certainly didn't.
@creative27162 жыл бұрын
@ Tony What a kind, compassionate response you gave to Sarah. There is very little understanding, compassion for those with chronic illness. You are a gem.
@BertieShaul-mn4qc2 ай бұрын
Thank you Tony I really enjoy this story!
@beverlyamarantes97753 жыл бұрын
I listen to this every few years. Love everything about this story.
@michelleduplooymalherbe28372 жыл бұрын
Read the book years ago and was fascinated and wanted to read it again so badly but could not remember the author or title so imagine my joy when I found this and can't wait - think it calls for a cup of coffee and comfortable chair, hope I am as impressed as the first time,,,,,,,,
@terryIKE693 жыл бұрын
Brilliant! A frightening tale that resonates and sticks to you, impossible not to entertain (or obsess over?) the remaining duration of the day....or/and night
@rameyzamora10183 жыл бұрын
Wonderfully done - this story never fails to give me goosebumps. I am going to listen again, Tony, to appreciate the shades of narration. But not right away....
@joyfulsip36152 жыл бұрын
This is a really good one! Thank you, Tony. It’ll be with me all day…
@ann-mariepaliukenas193 жыл бұрын
Thanks again.
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
Always welcome
@martiwilliams45923 жыл бұрын
Marvelous! Thanks so much for sending this again--had actually forgotten all about it. Horrifying images, presentation, dialect, Masterful. Thank you! Also the interesting,. informative commentary.Will certainly listen again.
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Good on you for the use of the custom emojiis. Imogen says she will make some more soon
@martiwilliams45923 жыл бұрын
@@ClassicGhost Whoopeee! The more the merrier! Sorry I am so long on the uptakebut good you explained it to me ! By the way what is the title of your story about this kad of a military man who behaved badly toward a young woman named Vivian but got his due at this old English castle with lots of weird people and events galore? Need to binge this weekend.
@jcrcreations45153 жыл бұрын
Who else tried to get into the locked drawer today… Be honest
@fluffylee413 жыл бұрын
That’s my favorite line.
@Josephinejefferies2 ай бұрын
Enjoyed this
@eddiemunster21963 жыл бұрын
Thank you once again
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
My pleasure!
@lux.illuminaughty3 жыл бұрын
I read this one either back in highschool or college, can't remember now!, sometime between '94 and '98 and it - like A Rose for Emily - never quite leaves behind the same person that you were before reading the story. I have also found that reading/listening to it at different points in my life, the story has spoken to me a little differently each time. In June 1999, the band The Apples in Stereo released their album "Her Wallpaper Reverie" which had several musical interludes, mostly variations of the same melody, and of a psychedelic persuasion. I very much had the impression that the album name was a reference to this story, and the musical interludes didn't disabuse me of the notion. Fun album on its own 😁
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
I don't know the Apples in Stereo but I will go straight to them now. Sort of indie psychedelia?
@lux.illuminaughty3 жыл бұрын
@@ClassicGhost Some of that, but also some indie poppiness to them. In some aspects they reminded me of the earlier, more wholesome Beatles, thru Sgt. Pepper, with some White Album thrown in for good measure, just 30 years later...especially the song Strawberryfire. I mean, it's UNmissable, lol. I'm listening right now on YT 😊 my fave is Benefits of Lying (with your friend)
@lux.illuminaughty3 жыл бұрын
@@ClassicGhost I really appreciate how much you interact with your fanbase. I know it's got to take up a great deal of your time, and soon you simply won't be able to keep up with all the incoming messages, but while you're doing it THANK YOU SO MUCH! It is such a great part of this new(er) medium, that the relationship between audience and creator/performer is more interactive and less one-sided. Even without the response commenting, so often now the creators are able to respond to concerns & interests of their audiences in next-to-real-time from comments, or actual real time in live streams, it's really interesting and such a completely different experience from traditional entertainment, the closest maybe being improv theatre or a City Council meeting (which may or may not be entertainment). It makes every upload of yours even more engaging and anticipated, like "oh good, my friend Tony's put up a new story! Halt everything and settle in for a listen."
@janetcw98082 жыл бұрын
Listened again, there has been a group discussion on a different channel, I have recommended your channel of course.
@ClassicGhost2 жыл бұрын
Thank you Janet :)
@nbeasley23 жыл бұрын
PPP/PPD love this story.
@martiwilliams45922 жыл бұрын
ditto this time around. Just as horror evoking----I blame John
@michelleduplooymalherbe28372 жыл бұрын
WHAT CAN I SAY?????? SPINE CHILLING .........
@smeggerssmeghead31003 жыл бұрын
A master...
@gwenleblanc2197 Жыл бұрын
The story strongly suggests the room had been used for the confinement of a lunatic, she thinks nursery, but she’s not a reliable narrator, and goes from mild post partum dew press ion to post partum psychosis.. The rings set in the walls, the window is barred, the floor has been damaged, the bed is nailed down, and it’s been chewed on (which she does as well in a moment of anger and frustration). The husband lets her stay there (although he no s out realizes it’s last use) because there’s no lunatic there now, it’s open and airy, and he seems a sort of stubborn practical fellow, not one to give in to “fancies”. Perhaps that’s what the problem of inheritance mentioned earlier in the story entailed. Yellow would have been a popular choice of color for a sickroom. Perhaps the last occupant also had the sort of thick-headed, tut-tut, everything will be fine Dear sort of physician who ignored all the obvious signs as well until it came to complete psychosis.
@eladoren939 Жыл бұрын
תודה!
@scarletshield0093 жыл бұрын
Ah the classic
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
I had done it before but I messed the music up so re-issued it as new.
@sarahsamaria82833 жыл бұрын
Intriguing story. Got the impression of the husband as a control freak or an "emotional abuser". Pay no heed to the wife's concerns. May be she went psycho at the end. She was driven up the wall in the end thus entangling herself with the wallpaper.
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
I think that is what happened. He shut his wife up in the nursery upstairs and she went mad. Or because she went mad, so he put her there. As to what came out of the wallpaper. I prefer to think something really did crawl out.
@lesleyannthompson30532 ай бұрын
I think all those women lived there and and now lives in the wall paper ❤
@sandy_says3 жыл бұрын
John is an abuser. The poor woman. Anybody ll go crazy stuck in a room all day
@ReginaApple0072 жыл бұрын
How is he abusive when the woman is crazy/possessed? She said she's too tired to move so it's not as though she can leave.
@hawthornetree6463 жыл бұрын
I want to creep around my house now!
@blixten29283 жыл бұрын
HOW did you find a wallpaper for your thumbnail that actually COULD be the awful stuff in question?? My goodness. Insane minds exist!
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
That's a picture of the wallpaper I've picked for our new house...
@blixten29283 жыл бұрын
Oooooh as creepy in real life as the stories he reads....spooky !!
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
:)))
@MDinmyMind2 жыл бұрын
How can I put this? I suffered from severe postpartum depression after the birth of my beautiful daughter. It is an experience that haunts me to this day and I am 71 now. I felt that the poor woman was also suffering a like condition when a baby was mentioned. It seems from there she descended into pure madness. This is a truly horrifyingly tale well read! Thank you once again Tony!
@creative27162 жыл бұрын
This one is hard to follow. So tired 😫, best to take a nap and try again later.
@creative27162 жыл бұрын
Have completed the story now... It seemed a descent into schizophrenia and psychosis and yet, maybe it started as PPD. Madness is a frightening future none of us hope for.
@DonnaGisellaTranchel11 ай бұрын
💙💙💙
@rachael7060Ай бұрын
John sounds positively tiresome!!!😏 The last thing for someone with postpartum depression is to be alone and to be told that she's being silly!😢
@teddydog62293 жыл бұрын
I know this story but know I'll enjoy your doing it. Is it a ghost story or the story of a woman going mad ? I can never decide. Your accent brushed against the Bronx in a few words. Not intended as a criticism of any kind. It's an enunciation I hear all the time.
@teddydog62293 жыл бұрын
What's most maddening about this story is that every time John speaks or does something it seems like he might be trying to gaslight her. Then when she dwells at length she seems less like someone fighting madness to someone who already is. The only absolute certainty is the hideous life their dysfunctional marriage has endowed the paper with.
@teddydog62293 жыл бұрын
Ewwwww. I imagine the canary-yellow of that horrible suit David Bowie wore in the 80's. I bet he smelled papery too.
@carolrios92163 жыл бұрын
I loved this story, but this recurring theme where women allow their husbands to totally subjugate them, making them lonely recluses in their own homes really makes me mad! Signed- a women's libber from way back.
@ClassicGhost3 жыл бұрын
+Carol Rios I don’t do that to Sheila. She’s never in
@carolrios92163 жыл бұрын
@@ClassicGhost Tony, you seem like a very compassionate person, Sheila is a lucky woman!