Horror Story Spotlight: The Jaunt by Stephen King

 

PLOT SUMMARY: In the future,  a lack of resources forces people to take a jaunt to Mars. However not all jaunts are successful.

It is often said that curiosity killed the  cat. But satisfaction brought it back.

But did it really? Once you burn your hands on the stove, just to check what heat is like on skin, does the satisfaction of that knowledge heal you, teach you a lesson, or leave you with a horrid memory of the one time you displayed stupidity?

In any case, people who are curious are also the ones who find answers. Without answers, we would not have knowledge and think of all the things that great and curious minds would not have discovered or invented had their inquisitiveness not taken precedence over any other thought.

In a way, curiosity does lead to inventions does it not?

There have been several time travel and teleportation themed story over the past few years. But not many have been about the terrible agony one might face when they are going through teleportation.

Well here's one story to give you nightmares.

THE JAUNT Plot

It is the future and Mark and his family are getting ready to make the trip to Mars following a lack of resources.

But his children, Ricky and Patty are eager to learn the story about how the teleportation technique came about.

And so Mark tells them the story of Victor Carune, a scientist in 1987 who accidently teleported his fingers while working on the Jaunt. He tries to send in a pencil next and that too works just fine.

The next item on the list is mice. But that's when Carune suffers a major setback in his research. The mice go in but when they come out the other side they barely survive a few seconds before they die.

Carune tries every possible way to get them to the other side, even sending them backwards but they still die. He tries the fishes next and one of them  manages to come alive after initially come through the other side belly up.

Mark continues the story, sating the children's curiosity though keeping a few details to himself like the first human who was jaunted.

A prisoner on death row, Rudy Foggia was promised full pardon should he participate in the experiment. Rudy agrees because of the experiment fails he dies. If he doesn't participate in the experiment, he will still die because of his crimes. Rudy jaunts, asking for a chicken dinner when he comes out, but when he does, he has aged quite a lot. His hair has turned white and his appearance is gaunt. He manages to say that going through the teleportation felt like an eternity and then collapses because of a heart attack.

Mark is unable to narrate this story even though Patty is insistent. He is almost relieved when the assistants head over to them with gas masks.

Mark then reveals that Carune soon realized that the mind was capable of feeling fear and excitement and it was an important factor when one jaunted.

And so it was discovered that the teleportation sort of worked when one was unconscious.

It is finally time for Mark and his family to be given anesthesia. To put his family's mind at ease, he takes it first.

However when he awakens moments later, he finds himself in the midst of a nightmare. His wife is pointing and screaming. Patty is still asleep, his son has transformed into something akin to a monster.

Rick's hair has turned white and he has gone quite mad. He tells his father he wanted to experience what happens during the Jaunt and so he held his breath when he was given the gas. He tells him Rudy was wrong. It wasn't an eternity that he experienced but something that was longer than that.

Rick cackles and is wheeled away by the assistants.

Clearly, Rick isn't going to survive. He will either pass away on his own like Rudy did or he will be put to sleep.

The story is undoubtedly terrifying and while it may not induce nightmares, the last scene will leave a lasting impression that will send a shiver through you.

Scare Scale: 3.5/5

The Jaunt is a short story that can be found in The Skeleton Crew by Stephen King