--- title: "The Dark Door by Alan Edward Nourse — Classic Ebook | Publica Now" description: "Read a free sample of The Dark Door by Alan Edward Nourse at Publica Now — a public-domain classic ebook, readable online." canonical: "https://publica.now/creators/vito/works/the-dark-door" --- Literary # The Dark Door by Alan Edward Nourse [ V Vito ](https://publica.now/creators/vito) Follow $1.99 [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fthe-dark-door) Secure payment on Stripe. publica.now never sees your card. Share Link copied Format epub Published May 03, 2026 Rating No reviews yet ![The Dark Door](https://fls-a13cb2d7-1b3e-4883-a0bd-297afd110a11.367be3a2035528943240074d0096e0cd.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/works/01kqnntzxkcfs06f77y40s8fzj/cover.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=d29ce3bb571c165c97a702f29f7aee93%2F20260911%2Fauto%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260911T122848Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Signature=6a76b1ec5b227f6a4eefa2f16b0c3952581269e9dd03b22b80115d0bee6bc90f) ## About this work The Dark Door by Alan Edward Nourse — a public-domain edition published by publica.now. Sample ## Take a look inside Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from The Counterfeit Man More Science Fiction Stories by Alan E. Nourse published in 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note. The Dark Door 1 It was almost dark when he awoke, and lay on the bed, motionless and trembling, his heart sinking in the knowledge that he should never have slept. For almost half a minute, eyes wide with fear, he lay in the silence of the gloomy room, straining to hear some sound, some indication of their presence. But the only sound was the barely audible hum of his wrist watch and the dismal splatter of raindrops on the cobbled street outside. There was no sound to feed his fear, yet he knew then, without a flicker of doubt, that they were going to kill him. He shook his head, trying to clear the sleep from his brain as he turned the idea over and over in his mind. He wondered why he hadn't realized it before, long before, back when they had first started this horrible, nerve-wracking cat-and-mouse game. The idea just hadn't occurred to him. But he knew the game-playing was over. They wanted to kill him now. And he knew that ultimately they would kill him. There was no way for him to escape. He sat up on the edge of the bed, painfully, perspiration standing out on his bare back, and he waited, listening. How could he have slept, exposing himself so helplessly? Every ounce of his energy, all the skill and wit and shrewdness at his command were necessary in this cruel hunt; yet he had taken the incredibly terrible chance of sleeping, of losing consciousness, leaving… [ Sign in to buy ](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcheckout%2Fthe-dark-door) The sample continues in the full work. [ #classic ](/search?query=classic) [ #public-domain ](/search?query=public-domain) [ #library ](/search?query=library) ## Reviews No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts. [Sign in to leave a review](https://publica.now/access?redirect=%2Fcreators%2Fvito%2Fworks%2Fthe-dark-door) No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts. 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