Talk:The Monkey's Paw/Archive 1

Monkey's Paw is a suggestive type of story
The story of Monkey's Paw is a suggestive type of story in which the reader can give a suggestion what was the ending of the story. Perhaps the end of the story was a debatable if it was really Herbert knocking on the door or just something. But whatever the reader's view it is still correct because eveery one is entitle of his/heer own opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.115.167.19 (talk • contribs) 03:50, 20 July 2005

X-files episode
I'm pretty sure I remember an X-files episode based on this theme, but I want to be sure before adding that to the article under the 'in popular media' section. I think the episode involved a genie(I think she came out of a carpet instead of a lamp), but the main similarity is that someone wished to bring his brother back to life(after dying as a result of wishing to be invisible and getting hit by a truck), and after seeing the horrifying result, used another wish to cancel it out. The first wish may have involved wealth, I don't remember all the details, or if the invisibility was the first wish or part of a seperate set of 3 wishes. --Outdoorvegan 14:42, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Organizing "similar stories" reference
I have reorganized the references to similar works, but I'm not sure my new setup works well. Suggestions/improvements are welcome. I tried to separate it into versions of the actual story itself (films, play, etc.) and then variations on it, with the latter divided into parodies, and similar works (stories about wishes gone bad featuring a moneky's paw). That meant combining a manga and TV show with literary works. I also removed a reference or two that weren't specifically enough similar to this story, since "wishes went unexpectedly bad" could encompass a vast amount of fiction. - DavidWBrooks 20:34, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

Monkey's Paw
(This comment moved from personal Talk page) I understand the necessity to keep articles "clean," but one of the major aspects of Wikipedia I enjoy is learning and becoming aware of random information like other adaptations. Since the article is already terse, why do you feel the need to keep editing it for brevity when the information being added is interesting, relevant, and not superfluous? —Preceding unsigned comment added by JeezBreeze (talk • contribs) 09:52, 3 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I have been removing references to programs/films/cartoons that have storylines similar to "Monkey's Paw" but not identical to it - e.g., the Simpson's "Treehouse of Horror" - because the list was (IMHO) getting way too long. This person disagrees. Any other thoughts? - DavidWBrooks (talk) 11:44, 3 July 2009 (UTC)


 * How about creating a page listing the entries--List of adaptations of "The Monkey's Paw"? That would keep this article terse and yet document to interested readers adaptations to the story line.  You could provide a link thru a "See also:" in the existing section "Variations, parodies".  Pinethicket (talk) 15:59, 29 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Good idea - go ahead! - DavidWBrooks (talk) 01:25, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

The Simpsons version, incidentally, had a cute gimmick: The monkey's paw had (like the Simpsons cartoon characters) a thumb and only three fingers, and is formed in a fist, but with the first wish the index finger straightens out, then the second and third fingers in turn. There was also a variant story as part of the theatrical British-made movie, Tales From the Crypt (1972), starring Richard Greene -- in dire circumstances his wife wishes for enough money to stave off bankruptcy, Greene is killed in a highway accident and she gets his life insurance. After the funeral his wife wishes him "back, just as he was before his car collided with the tree" - his coffin is suddenly brought into the house by silent men who promptly leave - but he is dead in the coffin and a friend must explain to the wife that her husband suffered a fatal heart attack while driving and then his car hit the tree, so she impulsively wishes him "alive again and never dying" and his corpse becomes animated and screams unceasingly, because filled with embalming fluid, and nothing will put him out of his misery - not even chopping him up with an axe. Sussmanbern (talk) 03:01, 14 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Eternal agony - that's certainly cute, all right. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 12:00, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

Buffy episode
BUFFY adapted the story in its fifth season, in an episode called FOREVER. Buffy's adoptive sister Dawn Summers obtains a spell and tries to ressurect their mother Joyce, who died in the previous episode. When she and Buffy hear a knocking at the door during a storm, Dawn loses her nerve and cancels the spell, and Buffy opens the door to find nobody there. In this version the sisters are not responsible for the original death. CharlesTheBold (talk) 12:20, 18 August 2009 (UTC)
 * That is a perfect example of the "based on/similar to Monkey's Paw" story lines that I have removed from the article because, IMHO, there are way too many of them to be listed (see my comment directly above). So far, nobody seems to have objected to that removal, but wikipedia is always in transition, so that may change. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 16:03, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Notable quotation
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/37/messages/1138.html The story begins with a quotation "Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it" - unfortunately attributed by the author to Anonymous. Is it a popular enough saying to be worth noting ? It would be nice to know if the author originated the quotation himself ! --87.194.174.252 (talk) 10:22, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

Removed from article
Removed from article beginning 21:14, 29 June 2007

Ikip (talk) 18:12, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Link to unabridged text
The link to the "Full Short Story Text"  was to a page that, as the name of the site might suggest, contains a purged version of the story. I have replaced the link with this . As I haven't read the story but on those two webpages, I can't absolutely vouch that either is unabridged, but the version at the new address I provide is certainly a few lines longer. Perhaps someone who has read the story in a reliable edition has something to say? 93.144.5.255 (talk) 23:50, 27 October 2011 (UTC)
 * That is not the unabridged version: but this might be http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/mnkyspaw.htm its several pages longer. But not sure if it contains the whole storyMilkStraw532 (talk) 23:56, 27 October 2011 (UTC)
 * How is it several pages longer? Double spacing doesn't make it any longer. It's just the same as the version I suggested:  (and as the internal wikisource version, which ought to be unabridged). As for the version at , this part is missing: "The old man turned and regarded her, and his voice shook. "He has been dead ten days, and besides he--I would not tell you else, but--I could only recognize him by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now?". 93.144.5.255 (talk) 13:43, 28 October 2011 (UTC)

BBC radio adaptation from the 1940s
Unlisted in this article is an adaptation of the story which must have been made by the BBC during the 1940s, since I recall my late father describing his recollection of the same many years later. In that version, they added the extra-gruesome sound effect of the reanimated (but still unseen) Herbert White dragging one leg on the ground as he approaches the door. Nuttyskin (talk) 17:45, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Cool! But we need a source ... memory (as we all know) is a tricky thing. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 18:56, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Other media
imdb lists a 1978 film as well. TheTyrant (talk) 03:23, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

Mysterious ending
I was wondering what Mr White wished for at the end of the story. Did he wish that he could cancel the second wish? AsphaltAssault17 (talk) 12:18, 22 March 2016 (UTC)


 * He probably would have wished his son safely dead and returned to his grave as before.


 * Why didn't he wish that he had never asked for the £200 to begin with? Nuttyskin (talk) 00:07, 23 July 2018 (UTC)

What would that have solved? Hell pikachu (talk) 05:04, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Cultural Impact
At the very least, there ought to be a section devoted to criticism of the story's cultural impact. There is a reason people keep remaking, parodying and referencing The Monkey's Paw: because we all fear death, and above all we fear the deaths of our loved ones, particularly our children.

But the most terrifying thing is, that we all know that if that was our child, we would make the second wish, and not wish it away afterward; because nothing is worse than losing your child, and you would give anything to have them back, back from the gates of death, even looking like that!

And after two world wars, and a broken heartful of industrial accidents and drug overdoses and car crashes and deaths-by-misadventure, and young people going through life like they think they're immortal; it has proven to be a very recurrent theme, for the most tearful of reasons. Nuttyskin (talk) 00:28, 23 July 2018 (UTC)
 * If you have sources that have discussed it then, go for it. DonIago (talk) 16:14, 23 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Be bold but only if you find a good source or two; otherwise it's just original research. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 16:23, 23 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I've always thought that it is primarily a cautionary tale about greed. Morris warns about wishing on the paw in the story. If you gave some people the paw today, they would immediately wish for a large sum of money, it is just human nature.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 17:07, 23 July 2018 (UTC)


 * I am not sure enough to post this for sure on the actual page(s), but I am wondering if this story, originally, was not an inspiration for Charles Addams' character, eventually named Thing. I posted this theory on Thing's talk page as well, but without confirmation from a reliable source, I am not sure it belongs on either wiki page.  It did come out early enough in the 20th century that Charles Addams could have been aware of it.  The story, according to the page, was first published in 1902, and Charles wasn't born until 1912.  32.212.102.239 (talk) 07:06, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

Hatnote
I have removed an enormously long hatnote that said "This article is missing information about the story's development/inspiration, publication history, response, themes, and legacy. Please expand the article to include this information." Hatnotes are visually distracting items that exist to alert readers about issues that they may need to keep in mind - e.g., this article doesn't have enough references, so be cautious! - they're not long notes to editors. That's what the Talk page is for. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 12:22, 15 June 2019 (UTC)

Simpsons parody
There is a subset of wikipedia editors who think that no article is complete until it lists something from the Simpsons cartoon. I've lost track of how many times some has added the Simpsons parody from their annual Halloween special to the list of versions. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 18:30, 20 February 2021 (UTC)


 * If it is verifiable, and can be listed under something like "other media" or "cultural impact", then doesn't it qualify for mention? 32.212.102.239 (talk) 07:08, 1 November 2021 (UTC)


 * You'd need a source that discusses it in more detail than merely verifying its existence per WP:IPCV. DonIago (talk) 01:51, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

wonder woman
The already long section titled "Notable versions in other media" is about places where "the story has been adapted" not merely referenced, and not a similar somebody-back-from-dead story. Wonder Woman 1984, the latest edition, is not a version of The Monkey's Paw although it references it; its got a "dreamstone" that has different powers than the paw and a different story. Ergo, I would say, it doesn't belong in what is already a section that borders on a trivia list. That's why I removed it and unless many object will remove it again. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 01:12, 17 July 2021 (UTC)


 * No response, so out it goes! - DavidWBrooks (talk) 11:30, 20 July 2021 (UTC)