"Nothing in the Dark"

Nothing in the dark is a perfect example of the dark fantasy subgenre because utilizes a number of dark fantasy themes such as fear, horror, and impending death. At the beginning an old woman is woken by the sound of someone outside her window. The fear she exudes serves to set a fearful mood, as accented by a setting composed of a dilapidated old house with boarded windows. The general lack of organization serves to accentuate this feeling, with the lack of visibility caused by a snowstorm to top off the general mood of fearful suspension. Without warning a man is shot, and lies outside her door whilst beeging for help under the pretense that he will die. The fearful mood reaches a cresendo, as the old woman refuses to open the door, begging the young officer (shooting victim) to not ask her to open the door. She's evidently horrified to even think of opening the door, much less open it. Stating that she'll die if she goes outside, she pleads the young man to go away even as he pleads for her to help him. This fear of impending death reaches a cresendo as she steps outside, only to not die. She helps the young man inside, yet this only accentuates the mood as the story goes on, the presence of impending death ever there. The old woman explains why she can't go outside, telling of how she had always seen the presence of death whenever a death occured. However, this is interrupted by the arrival of a city worker who proceeds to knock in the door when she refuses to open it. The old woman is thrown to the floor by the event, and for a moment appears dead; thus giving the impression that the city worker was death come to take her away. Contrary to expectations, she is not in fact dead and the worker proceeds to tell her that she must evict her home as construction crews will be coming within the hour to tear it down. This meeting ends ominously when the old woman begs the young man to explain to the worker why she cannot go outside; however, the worker states that no one is there and promptly leaves. It is at this moment that the old woman realizes that she has allowed death to enter through her door.