In the Dark

Clark, Dale, 1905-1988Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.3

Word count: 14K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.In the Dark by Dale ClarkAuthor: Clark, Dale, 1905-1988,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2010

Editor's review

"In the Dark" is a short work under the American literature category, offered free of charge by Project Gutenberg as an e-book, with a low barrier to access. Its author, Dale Clark, was active in the mid-twentieth century; short stories of this magazine kind typically excel at compact situations and suspense-driven pacing, and readers can observe how American popular narrative builds tension within a limited length. The electronic edition retains basic information such as author, language, and category, making it easy to verify the source. It is better suited as a supplementary sample of genre short fiction than as a systematic work of literary history. While reading, note how the "dark" atmosphere suggested by the title is realized through scene and dialogue, and how the ending handles the resolution of suspense. For readers using public-domain resources for textual analysis, this work offers a lightweight point of entry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in American suspense short stories
Readers studying twentieth-century American popular-magazine narrative
Readers using public-domain e-books for short-text analysis
Readers hoping to complete an English short story in a short time

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking long-form plot and character development arcs
Beginning readers who rely on detailed annotations or Chinese translations
Readers with limited patience for reading English originals

Reading tips

Read it in one sitting to experience the rhythm of suspense, then revisit key scenes
Mark sentences that build atmosphere while reading, and compare the title's resonance with the text
Compare it with other public-domain American short stories to observe differences in handling similar themes
After reading, retell the plot turns in your own words to check whether you grasped the narrative focus

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What genre does this work belong to?

Judging by the title and the author's background in American popular writing, it is closer to a suspense or atmospheric short story. Specific plot details should be based on the text itself; readers can treat it as a sample of genre short fiction.

Is the e-book edition convenient to read?

Project Gutenberg provides a plain-text e-book that can be opened on a computer, tablet, or e-reader. The formatting is fairly plain; adjusting font size and line spacing is recommended for a more comfortable reading experience.

Do I need to know the author's background to read this?

Not necessarily. The short story can be read independently, and knowing the author's active period helps in grasping the writing context. For research, you may look further into the author's other works and the magazine background of the same period.

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About the author

Clark, Dale, 1905-1988 Author · American · 1905–1988

Dale Clark (1905–1988) was an American writer of popular fiction, mainly active during the mid-twentieth-century pulp magazine era. He wrote science fiction and adventure stories for such mass-market periodicals, and his representative work is In the Dark. Public information about his life is limited. His writing generally served the pulp magazines' demand for tightly plotted, imaginative fare, with narratives often driven by suspense and action, reflecting the typical character of genre fiction from that period. Only one of his works is currently held in this collection, which is not enough to present his full range, yet it still offers a glimpse of his attempts in the overlapping fields of science fiction and adventure. For readers studying popular literature of the pulp era, Clark is an author worth noting.