STRANGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OMNIBUS

Read STRANGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OMNIBUS for Free Online Page B

Book: Read STRANGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OMNIBUS for Free Online
Authors: Benson Grayson
given a private office next to the Arch Fiend, and has free access to him. Naturally, he has not been officially exempted from the usual torture of the damned souls, but he is subjected to it only to the extent that it does not interfere with his advertising work. Of course, Booth makes certain that the advertising functions take up all of his available time.
    The first phase of Booth’s advertising campaign is already in full swing. According to a public opinion poll, in 2013, only forty-three percent of all Americans believe the Devil really exists. As the actor’s shade pointed out to Satan, one cannot be alert to the Devil’s lures, if he does not believe he exists.

THAT THING IN THE CELLAR
    Jimmy Peterson was a bright little five year old boy living with his parents in a small Ohio city. His father was the star reported on the local daily newspaper. Jimmy’s mother had taught school before he was born, but now stayed at home caring for him. As a school teacher, she was especially good at dealing with children and Jimmy was exceptionally bright and outgoing for his age.
    Then one day Jimmy’s father was offered a job as a copy editor on a large paper in Washington, D.C. Times were hard, the salary offered was most generous, and Jimmy’s mother was expecting another child. With only the slightest of regrets, Jimmy’s father accepted the offer and the family moved to the nation’s capital. Now they found it difficult to obtain a suitable residence. Although they had sold their old home in Ohio, they found housing prices in Washington much higher.
    Although Jimmy’s father enjoyed his new job, he thought of returning back to Ohio. Fortunately one day, the family learned of a home for sale within their price range. When the real estate agent took them to see the property, they were astonished. It was an old Victorian mansion, four stories in height with a peaked roof and turrets. It occupied a large wooded lot far from the closest neighbors, whose houses could not be seen from the mansion because of the high trees surrounding the property. When they the agent the reason for the surprisingly low price for the house, he explained that it was owned by an estate that wanted very much to dispose of it quickly.
    There was no reason to delay. Although the mansion suffered from neglect with the windows boarded up, it would be worth many times the offering price once a few moderate repairs were made. Accordingly, the family purchased the house and moved in. It was so large and had so many rooms that the furniture they had brought with them from Ohio did not begin to fill it. Jimmy was given his room on the third floor, one floor above his parents’ bedroom.
    The move from Ohio seemed to have changed Jimmy. He was no longer the cheerful, outgoing child he had been in Ohio. He missed his old friends and his comfortable old home. His mother gave birth to a daughter and had to devote most of her time to caring for the infant. What time she could spare from that had to go to her housekeeping chores, which greatly expanded due to the many rooms in the mansion. Not only did Jimmy no longer have the full attention of his mother, he now had no children to play with because the house was so isolated.
    Whenever Jimmy attempted to persuade his mother to play with him, she shooed him outside. There he found the vast shaded lot depressing. Playing inside was even worse. Many of the rooms were empty and the floors covered with dust. He hated his own bedroom because it seemed so isolated. Trying to sleep in it at night was even worse because of the strange creeks and sounds he occasionally heard. When he told his parents about them, they scoffed at him, telling he was a big boy now and should dismiss such childish fears. On one occasion when he had been awakened suddenly by the noises, he ran to his parents’ bedroom and pleaded to be allowed to share their bed for the night, only to be most curtly refused.
    One rainy day Jimmy decided to

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