'The Loathsome!'

[cyberghostface]

So this is my final EC post, just in time for Halloween. It's from Weird Science #20. While I'll stop for now until presumably next Halloween, if there are any stories from EC or Warren that you would like to see here, just ask and I'll do my best to post it.

The story opens with a child born in the aftermath of a nuclear bomb. The wife of a sailor who was in proximity of the bomb gives birth to what we are told is a hideous mutant. The father is convinced, for the sake of his wife's mental health, to give away the child to an orphan asylum and tell her that it died in pregnancy. Years go on, and the two parents have another child and quickly forget about their first one.

Their child however, has grown up in the orphanage and has become hated by everyone around it. She is considered to be both a monster in looks and behavior. She often steals toys and breaks them, and she is frequently punished by the orderlies. When she is allowed to mingle with the other children, she is vicious. This is all recounted by two nurses; we never see the child.

Comments

[cleome45]

TBH, when I first read this last year, I expected her to look more like a literal "beast." Fur, a tail, and claws, like a small werewolf or werecat, maybe...?

That's what I get for being too literal.