We’ve talked a little about short stories here in the past few weeks, so now, let’s take a look back at another great story: “Lamb To The Slaughter” by the amazing children’s writer, wartime spy, and (sadly, also) anti-semite (amongst other naughty things), Roald Dahl.

There was something so wonderfully twisted about Dahl, something that comes out in his work for kids, things like The Witches and James And The Giant Peach, and of course, the Willy Wonka stuff as well. And I think that twisted aspect was really a frighteningly accurate understanding of the absurdity of humans. That’s why Dahl’s dark stories for adults were so perfect.

“Lamb To The Slaughter” is one of those stories that just feels classic, about an abused wife of a police detective. He comes home one night as she’s making him dinner, mistreats her, and having finally had enough, she kills him. But she does it with the most interesting of weapons…

Years ago I picked up a copy of a collection of Dahl’s stories, entitled Someone Like You, mostly because of the cover and the author’s name. And also the title. It’s simple and ridiculous, but I was in the mood for Dahl’s brand of storytelling and thought maybe the book was perfect for someone… like me.

Several of the stories in the collection are quite dark, almost crime stories in a way, but with an understanding, like I said, of how silly those dark places adults can inhabit are. “Lamb To The Slaughter” was adapted as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1958, as well as an episode of the British series, Tales Of The Unexpected. Another classic story from Someone Like You, “Man From The South” was adapted quite a few times in various television shows and films, including that anthology film Tarantino was involved in back in the 90s, Four Rooms.

from here.

You can read “Man From The South” here. And you can read “Lamb To The Slaughter” here and here. I hope you enjoy them both.