The Perfect Host

by Theodore Sturgeon

I was fourteen then. I was sitting in the car waiting for Dad to come out of the hospital. . . She was hanging out of a window on the second floor of a near ell of the hospital. Her hair was dank and stringy, her eyes had mud in them, and her teeth were beautiful. She was naked, at least to the waist. She was saying "Mister!" and she was saying it to me. The Perfect Host is a dark and chilling story of madness and possession. Theodore Sturgeon was one of the most influential genre authors of his time and this surprising story will show you why.

Genres: Horror

53 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 6, 2013

About the author

Theodore Sturgeon (1918–1985) is considered one of the godfathers of contemporary science fiction and dark fantasy. The author of numerous acclaimed short stories and novels, among them the classics More Than Human, Venus Plus X, and To Marry Medusa, Sturgeon also wrote for television and holds among his credits two episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, for which he created the Vulcan mating ritual and the expression "Live long and prosper." He is also credited as the inspiration for Kurt Vonnegut's recurring fictional character Kilgore Trout.

Sturgeon is the recipient of the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the International Fantasy Award. In 2000, he was posthumously honored with a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

Reviews

[Cheryl]

Brilliantly written. After I was done I reread it, and realized how each character is a real person, each shift in point-of-view reveals a different voice... which heightens the impact of the SF idea ever so effectively. Each character could have their own chapter in a novel; some could have their own entire novel.

But that's a bonus. Mostly the story is just as exciting as the cover art. Not Stephen King horror, or even Black Lagoon, but still horrifying. And beautiful.

The only thing that prevents me from giving it five stars is the ending. *I* think it panders. It's clever, and I can definitely see why some readers would love it. I would have loved it when I was a less experienced reader, tbh. But imo the ending should have been left ambiguous.

Read this story. Read it, think about it, enjoy it... and don't reveal my spoiler until afterwards, if at all.

[Alia]

The terror of love
The Perfect Host by Theodore Sturgeon.

This was a funky little story, in general it has a clever trick at the end of the narration. Sturgeon was a cheeky guy, so it is a nice touch, but won’t leave you overly impressed. What makes this story really special is the talent he had not only for finding very interesting settings, but for developing characters.

When I got very impressed here was at the middle arc, with the story of a couple. It is brilliant, he very quickly made a powerful insight of how wrong things can go, between two people who really love each other by means of a little stupid thing.

It is a very short story, I wouldn’t wish to say more, but to make a solid recommendation.

[Egghead]

how easily love
changes when entity comes
to live within one

[Ben Johnson]

A short story that packs all the punch of a full-fledged novel.

[Glen Thickett]

very short, just a novella, loved the self-reference - "this sort of thing is strictly against the rules"

[Alexander Theofanidis]

Από την πένα του εξαίρετου Θίοντορ Sturgeon, ένα το λιγότερο περίεργο διήγημα. Πέρα από το γεγονός ότι ο συγγραφέας κάποια στιγμή σπάει τον 4ο τοίχο και γίνεται μέρος της ιστορίας, παρά τα σαφή και εξαιρετικά εκφραστικά του μέσα, δημιουργεί (σκόπιμα;) ένα μπέρδεμα στον αναγνώστη. Η ιστορία per se, δεν έχει κάποια δυσκολία στο να την παρακολουθήσει κάνεις παρά τη συνεχή αλλαγή οπτικής γωνίας και την παράθεση των γεγονότων από διαφορετικό χαρακτήρα. Ωστόσο στο τέλος, ο αναγνώστης μένει με κάποιες απορίες ως προς τα πραγματικά κίνητρα το συγγραφέα και το που πραγματικά οδηγούν οι απολήξεις της σκέψης του όπως αποτυπώνονται στο συγκεκριμένο διήγημα. Γιατί στη γραφή του Sturgeon, τίποτε δεν είναι απλοϊκό, όσο απλά κι αν δείχνει δομημένο εκ πρώτης όψεως.