[UA] Re: UA digest, Vol 1 #546 - 17 msgs

[Brian V (Vajra) King]

> William Sleator has also written some genuinely disturbing books for childen 
> -- and it's a lot easier to find his books.  _Others See Us_, _House of 
> Stairs_, _Beasties_...good stuff.

I remember a children's book called Sideways Stories from Wayside school, 
or something like that, don't know the author.  There's a scene where a 
new kid comes in an he is wearing a smelly raincoat.  The teacher makes 
him take it off, but there is another raincoat, so she makes him take 
that off.  This happens again and again, the smell getting worse each 
time, until they remove the final raincoat and there is nothing but a 
dead rat.  The teacher says "dead rats aren't allowed in the classroom" 
and throws it out the window.

I've always wanted to work that in to a scenario.  It's a great example 
of surreal horror in that: 1. It's horrible. 2. It makes no sense. 3. 
It's made even more horrible by the fact that everyone treats it as 
completely normal.

Brian KIng

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