| “ | Without a creaky roof, the rain would fall on your bed, and without a smooth, cold window, you could never see outside, and without a set of stairs, you could never go into the basement, where the dark spends its time. Without a closet, you would have nowhere to put your shoes, and without a shower curtain, you would splash water all over the bathroom, and without the dark, everything would be light, and you would never know if you needed a lightbulb. |
” |
— Lemony Snicket, The Dark
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The Dark is a picture book by Lemony Snicket. It is a story about a young boy and how he stops being afraid of the dark.
Plot[]
Laszlo is afraid of the dark.
The dark lives in the same house as Laszlo. Mostly, though, the dark stays in the basement and doesn't come into Lazslo's room. But one night, it does.
This is the story of how Laszlo stops being afraid of the dark.
With emotional insight and poetic economy, two award-winning talents team up to conquer a universal childhood fear.
Synopsis[]
A young boy, Laszlo, is afraid of the dark, though it lives in his old, creaky house. While it spreads out in places such as the closet, behind the shower curtain, and across doors and windows at night, it mainly lives in the basement. In the morning, Laszlo will say hello to the dark at the basement door, hoping that if he does so the dark will not come to his room.
One night, Laszlo's nightlight lamp goes out, and the dark speaks to him in a creeky, smooth and distant voice. The dark tells Laszlo that it wants to show him something, and Laszlo leaves his room with a flashlight. He looks towards the closet and shower curtain, before being told to go downstairs. He goes to the living room's largest window to look at the night, but the dark tells him to go into the basement. Though afraid, Laszlo enters the basement.
Lemony then informs the reader that the dark is not afraid of people, always waiting close by and looking down at everyone. Without the dark, one would not be able to recognize the light.
Laszlo, following the dark's direction, opens the bottom drawer of the dresser in the basement. He then obtains a new bulb for his nightlight, and thanks the dark. By the time Laszlo returns to his room, the dark is gone until he closes his eyes to sleep. He visits the dark the next morning inside the basement to say hello, and the bottom drawer still opens appears like a smile. Thereafter, Laszlo is never bothered by the dark again.
Trivia[]
- When discussing the book, Daniel Handler said that when he "embarked on the world of picture books, [his] first thought was to do something about the dark." He has a distinct childhood memory of explaining to adults that he was not afraid of the dark, but yet things that could be lurking inside.[1]
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