Beyond the Door

A marriage begins to fracture over something small, ordinary—and deeply wrong.

When Larry Thomas buys his wife Doris a cuckoo clock, it seems like a harmless gift. But soon Doris becomes convinced that the clock’s mechanical bird favors her and resents her husband. What begins as an uncomfortable fixation turns into something more corrosive, as suspicion, jealousy, and emotional distance creep into their home.

As the marriage collapses and betrayal surfaces, Larry finds himself alone with the clock—its presence no longer quaint, but oppressive. Each mechanical movement seems to carry judgment, hostility, and intent. Whether the threat is supernatural or purely psychological is never made clear, and that uncertainty is the story’s most disturbing element.

In Beyond the Door, Philip K. Dick delivers a chilling portrait of domestic paranoia, where the familiar becomes alien and the line between reality and delusion quietly dissolves. Stripped of futuristic spectacle, this early work reveals Dick’s mastery of intimate dread and psychological unease—proving that horror does not require monsters, only a mind under pressure and a home that no longer feels safe.