Eerie Tales of Terror and Dread by Bernhardt J. Hurwood

Author:Bernhardt J. Hurwood [Hurwood, Bernhardt J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Horror
Google: kSPhAAAAMAAJ
Publisher: Scholastic book services
Published: 1973-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

It is doubtful that Roddy Abel gave much thought to the elderly man who bought him lunch on the day he learned he was to be rich again. From that day on his life was a whirlwind of excitement — fast expensive cars, beautiful girls, applause, and power. A word from Roddy Abel in the right place could make or break the career of a singer, a musician, even a television executive. Roddy became arrogant, overbearing, rude, and cruel. Within a year of his having regained his inheritance he had become a superstar.

Although Roddy Abel never hesitated to grant audiences to the faithful, especially when they happened to be members of the press, he never told a soul about the strange man whose last words to him had been a softly murmured, “Ten years, then.” Oh, Boddy made great use of the stories of how he had suffered when he was down and out. He had his routine worked out to such a fine degree that he could make his listeners laugh or cry with the slight movement of an eyebrow, or some other such insignificant gesture. And they loved it, every moment of it, because he was one of their favorite heroes and could do no wrong.

When Boddy failed to show up on time at a preholiday season party being given by one of Hollywood’s reigning glamour queens, who had flown in from the West Coast especially for the occasion, everyone was disappointed. No one was much worried. From the hostess down to the last guest everybody was certain that Boddy would eventually appear. Not one of them dreamed that Boddy would never be seen alive again, and each became progressively more annoyed as the evening progressed. Concern for his well-being first turned to mild annoyance, and then to anger sparked by viciousness. Of course, none of them had the vaguest notion that Boddy Abel had an appointment to keep, an appointment he had made ten years ago. But Boddy remembered. He remembered well.

The night before, he had gone to sleep very late with a terrible headache. The only thing that had seemed to help it, he found, was to lie down and remain as quiet as possible. After several attempts to get up, only to find that he had a chorus of little men with sledgehammers in his head, he finally cancelled all appointments for the evening and went to bed. Sleep came very quickly, but with sleep came dreams, frightening dreams of falling through space, dreams of being trapped in a burning building, dreams of running along the railroad tracks, a locomotive bearing down on him, and his feet getting heavier, heavier, heavier, till they were like immovable lead weights, as the train came closer, closer, and closer. Then, suddenly, he was in the dark, floating as if in some mysterious place far away from earth. He could move his arms and legs, he could turn, he could, feel. But he could neither see nor hear. He

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