Too Close to the Forest by Bryce Walton
Dr. Marsten, a former experimental psychologist turned parapsychology researcher, stakes his reputation on a mental telepathy experiment before nine skeptical university professors at Revere University. His graduate assistant and narrator, Max Reinach, had been dismissed from working with Marsten once Marsten moved into ESP research, out of Marsten's concern for Max's scientific career, but Max is summoned back to witness the climactic demonstration. Marsten explains his method to the assembled professors: De Vaca (English Literature), H. Morrison (Biology), M. Borinsky (Russian History), Billingsley (Theosophy), Marian Adler (Psychology), and others. He will sit alone in a sealed, soundproofed room while each professor, in turn, sits alone in another verified room and tries to receive a telepathic word from him, writing down whatever impression comes to mind. Before starting, Marsten seals an envelope containing the "correct" answers and has the professors lock it in the university safe, to be opened only after the test. After each professor cycles through the room, Marsten emerges, collects the cards from Max, and compares them to his sealed list. He breaks down, declaring the experiment a failure, with a hit only in Adler's case, which he dismisses as chance. He bids the group goodnight and goodbye, flees the building, and disappears in his car. Max spends the night trying unsuccessfully to locate him, eventually joined by De Vaca, Morrison, and Billingsley, who fear Marsten may attempt suicide given his unstable emotional state. The next morning they open the sealed envelope. Inside is Marsten's list of nine target words, one per professor, tied to each one's academic field (Thackeray, Evolution, Lungs, Elgar, Phenobarbital, Adler, Trotsky, Hockey, Yuletide), whose first letters spell out TELEPATHY as an acrostic. The professors' actual written answers (Shakespeare, Darwin, Kidney, Debussey, Opiate, Adler, Stalin, Golf, Xmas) form a different acrostic from their own first letters, meaningless on its face, except for Adler's exact hit. Max obsesses over the discrepancy, convinced there is a hidden success buried in the failure. Police locate Marsten perched on a ledge thirty stories up on the Loeb Building. Riding to the scene, Max suddenly recognizes the pattern: each letter in the professors' acrostic is exactly one letter before the corresponding letter in TELEPATHY, except for Adler's A, which has no letter before it in the alphabet, which is why that one word matched exactly. This is the displacement factor known from other ESP card-guessing experiments, where subjects consistently identify the card before or after the actual target rather than the target itself. Max rushes to the building and shouts up at Marsten that the experiment succeeded, explaining the displacement factor, but Marsten, apparently not hearing or perceiving him over the wind, leans forward and falls to his death. Max resolves to continue Marsten's work himself, believing he has proven that Marsten's telepathy experiment was in fact a success, and hoping that somehow, wherever Marsten now is, he might still receive the thought that he had not failed.
By Bryce Walton · First published 1954 · Genre: Science Fiction, Psychological Drama, Mystery · 5,607 words
First lines
The dazzling difference between failure and success hung from a spidery thread. And established a barrier no ESP could sever.
I won't forget that evening of the big experiment. If the truth is ever known about that evening maybe the world will never forget it either. I got there first, and went into the hall they'd let Dr. Marsten have for the evening on the Revere University Campus. Dr. Marsten was sitting there alone behind a table with a few papers in front of him. A single lamp burned that spotlighted his face like some old classic sculpture in a gallery.
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Genres
- Science Fiction — The story centers on experimental ESP and paranormal phenomena as its core plot element, exploring the scientific investigation of extrasensory perception and its implications for human consciousness.
- Psychological Drama — The narrative intensely explores Dr. Marsten's mental state, obsession with proving his theories, emotional deterioration, and internal conflict, which drives the emotional arc and tragedy of the story.
- Mystery — The second half of the narrative becomes a puzzle-solving mystery as the narrator works to decode the displacement factor and understand why the experiment actually succeeded when it appeared to fail.
- Drama — The work features intense emotional conflict, mounting tension, character struggle, and a climactic dramatic scene on the building ledge that emphasizes human consequence and desperation.
Tags
Mental telepathy · ESP research · Parapsychology · Scientific method · Academic skepticism · Experimental psychology · Hidden patterns · Acrostic code · Displacement factor · Tragedy · Suicide · University setting
What this Textopian page supports
Too Close to the Forest is listed on Textopian as a short story by Bryce Walton, dated 1954 CE.
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- Work type: Short story
- Author: Bryce Walton
- Date: 1954 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Science Fiction, Psychological Drama, Mystery, Drama, Paranormal Fiction
- Length: 5,607 words
- Structure: 1 section, 105 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Too Close to the Forest by Bryce Walton
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