Welcome to another guest attraction, pulled from the annals of early American weird fiction! This strange story comes from 1935, almost 50 years after Robert Louis Stevenson released Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In the story which follows, we impose upon a James Allington who is confident he has unlocked the secrets of dual personality, drawing a distinction between his own method and that described by the protagonist in Stevenson’s novel.
However the splitting of personality occurs, Allington is convinced he will wield great power upon accomplishing this feat. This, I think, is where odd behavior gives way to madness, as Allington is unclear how this ability will render him great power. Perhaps Bloch intended that we, as the reader imagine what this power might entail. Whatever the case, this is briefly touched upon, Allington begins his experiment, and the story unfolds in the only way one can imagine it will, given the man’s outright arrogance.
A fascinating aspect in this story is the unknown. We are provided with Allington’s point of view, in which he sees the measure of his success which terrifies him and results in his death. However, we only know he is dead upon others coming upon his corpse in his study. It is during the experiment—while Allington is under hypnosis—that we are privy to his view of things. As there is no witness to the experiment otherwise, we are left to assume the experiment unfolded exactly as Allington described it. Or are we? Narrators, being unreliable, may certainly weave elements into their stories which they perceived but may or may not have been present. Could it be, perhaps, that the effigy of his own evil nature was but a figment of his imagination, that the whole of the experiment existed in his mind? If this is the case, how are the fingerprints on the knife to be accounted for?
Well, it seems I have spoiled the whole thing for you. Or have I? Come along on this excursion and experience this attraction for yourself. Then come to your own conclusion about what actually transpired in the study of James Allington.
