I Am the Doorway
Encyclopedia
"I Am the Doorway" is a short story by Stephen King
, first published in the March 1971 issue of Cavalier
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
.
during a space mission to Venus (similar to the cancelled Manned Venus Flyby
). He begins the story with his hands bandaged, and complains of terrible itching both after the mission and current. The change takes the form of numerous tiny eyeballs that break out on his hands. These eyeballs act as the titular "doorway" for an alien species, allowing it to see into our homeworld, only the eyeballs are imperfect windows, and distort everything that the aliens see into horrifying monstrosities which, the man perceives, it fears and hates intensely.
Soon, the alien presence is not only able to see through this doorway, but take control of the man's shattered body, using him to commit terrible murders. In a desperate attempt to maintain his humanity, he douses his hands in kerosene and sets them on flames, only to find out that once the doorway has opened, it cannot be so easily closed. He manages to make the alien presence go away for nearly seven years. But after the eyes reappear on his chest, he reveals that he plans to kill himself with a shotgun to prevent the alien being from committing any more horrors.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, first published in the March 1971 issue of Cavalier
Cavalier (magazine)
Cavalier is an American magazine that was launched by Fawcett Publications in 1952 and has continued for decades, eventually evolving into a Playboy-style men's magazine...
magazine, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift
Night Shift (book)
Night Shift is the first collection of short stories by Stephen King, first published in 1978. Many of King's most famous short stories were included in this collection.-Stories collected:-Details:...
.
Plot summary
This story relates a crippled ex-astronaut's account of the terrifying change he undergoes after being exposed to an extraterrestrial mutagenMutagen
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations cause cancer, mutagens are therefore also likely to be carcinogens...
during a space mission to Venus (similar to the cancelled Manned Venus Flyby
Manned Venus Flyby
A manned Venus flyby was considered by NASA in the mid 1960s as part of the Apollo Applications Program, using hardware derived from the Apollo program...
). He begins the story with his hands bandaged, and complains of terrible itching both after the mission and current. The change takes the form of numerous tiny eyeballs that break out on his hands. These eyeballs act as the titular "doorway" for an alien species, allowing it to see into our homeworld, only the eyeballs are imperfect windows, and distort everything that the aliens see into horrifying monstrosities which, the man perceives, it fears and hates intensely.
Soon, the alien presence is not only able to see through this doorway, but take control of the man's shattered body, using him to commit terrible murders. In a desperate attempt to maintain his humanity, he douses his hands in kerosene and sets them on flames, only to find out that once the doorway has opened, it cannot be so easily closed. He manages to make the alien presence go away for nearly seven years. But after the eyes reappear on his chest, he reveals that he plans to kill himself with a shotgun to prevent the alien being from committing any more horrors.