Preface.
The title of this story is in reference to a play written by Jean-Paul Sartre called No Exit. The play is about "three characters who who find themselves waiting in a mysterious room. It's a depiction of the afterlife in which three deceased characters are punished by being locked into a room together for eternity." It sounds comical to say but then again, I've never read the play or watched any of the movie adaptions. I read the play's synopsis via Wikipedia; I also had no idea who Sartre was prior to reading about him.
There's a famous line in Sartre's play, "Hell is other people." I believe I heard this line on Criminal Minds. You know how at the beginning of each episode, it starts off with one of the characters reciting a quote? I was intrigued by the phrase because I thought it was pretty clever.
For those who never read the play either, you're probably wondering what Sartre meant by this quote. I found the answer here: https://www.rewriting-the-rules.com/conflict-break-up/hell-is-other-people/
"The notion that as soon as we are in the (real or even imagined) presence of another person, we begin to see ourselves through their eyes and this is the end of our freedom."
There are many interpretations to this quote so, you can accept whichever answer you choose.
My story of No Exit To takes some inspiration from Sartre's play, however, I didn't write it as a modern rendition of his original work. I found the synopsis of his play interesting and used it as a loose inspiration for my story.
No Exit To is a story about seven young adults who find themselves victims of their landlord's nefarious scheme in the occult.
