One of the first horror stories I ever read was Thus I Refute Beelzy, by John Collier. In this tale, a father refuses to believe his six-year-old son's story that he has a secret friend named Mr. Beelzy, who won't let anybody hurt him ("He said he'd come like a lion, with wings on, and eat them up").It's included in his book of short stories, Fancies and Goodnights, along with other delights.
You can read it online here.
1 comment:
Yes, it is a story that has stayed with me from childhood, as well. My mother used to read it to me, and she felt the irony was that Big Simon's relationship with Little Simon was really the imaginary one... I had a little trouble finding it b/c I recalled the name as "Beasley". Never thought it might be short for Beelzebub before...
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