Halloween!

[cyberghostface]

As requested, an old EC classic.

This story comes from Shock SuspenStories #2.

The story opens with Miss Dennis applying for matron duty at an orphanage. She discovers the orphanage itself to be rundown and threadbare, but the master on the other hand..





Miss Dennis sees that the children are all thin and malnourished, and promises to take care of them. The children are skeptical, saying that the other matron was cruel to them. Dennis later confronts Mr. Critchit about the poor conditions for the children, who tells her that he's doing the best that he can, but that the food prices have risen while the allotments haven't.

To give the children better food, Miss Dennis pays extra out of her own pocket, and the children start to improve. That is, until Mr. Critchit informs her that the allotment has dropped again. Things begin to worsen--in addition to the food, the childrens' clothes begin to wear out. Miss Dennis does the best she can, and the children are happy around her.

When Halloween comes around, the children want to celebrate Halloween and ask Miss Dennis for a pumpkin. When Miss Dennis asks Mr. Critchit, he tells her that they have no money to throw away on such trivialities.

Comments

[crinos]

The Moral of the story: Gruesome murder and dismemberment is alright if the guy yourself is an (Attempted) murderer himself.

Seriously though, it seems like in every EC story the retribution is always like ten times worse than the crime the bad guy himself had committed.

[icon_uk]

It's suitably Old Testament... literally in fact - "They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8-7)

[grazzt]

I'm not sure I'd agree with that. The retribution is usually horrific, but it's short. The crimes that are the source of the retribution usually involve long term suffering on the parts of many people, so even if nothing as horrific happens to them, it's still cumulatively worse than the retribution. This guy above isn't just guilty of attempted murder, he was running a scam to ensure a group of orphan children were cold and hungry (or moreso than they would have been). The guy in "T'ain't the Meat" hadn't just poisoned his own kid, he'd also contributed to a corrupt system that cheated enormous numbers of people at best, and made them sick at worst. The guy in "Blind Alleys" is a similar figure to the one in the above story, except with blind people.

[crinos]

And what about the guy from Foul Play? He murdered a competing player with poisoned cleats, and in retaliation the entire team got together, dismembered him, and played ball with his severed body parts.

[grazzt]

I did say "usually". ;)