Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

On the Feast of Stephen
by D ean Newman
This EC-inspired story about how a dog is for life and not just for
Christmas has a seasonal sting in its tail. It was born out of the idea
that Christmas drink-driving messages are hard-hitting this time of year,
so why shouldn't one about pet cruelty be so?
Steve hated Chr i st m as. He hated ever yt hi ng about i t . In f act , he went out of hi s way
to m ak e i t as hor r i bl e an ex per i ence as he coul d for as m any peopl e as he coul d. His
only pleasur e was other people?s miser y.
He knew that people loved their animals, so ever y year on the r un-up to Chr istmas, Steve
w ould go ar ound tr apping and hiding other people?s cats and dogs in his cellar and then
enjoy hear ing the distr aught ow ner s tr avel out in all w eather s to tr y and find them, but
they never did? and this year w ould be no differ ent.
This had gone on for year s and w henever people came pr ying or asking too many
questions, he w ould simply pack up his few belongings and move on. It wasn?t a pr oblem
as ther e was only himself to w or r y about and no one ever noticed him w hen he was ther e
so they w ould miss him even less w hen he was gone.
This year he had done himself pr oud and managed to smash his ow n ?pr evious best?. His
haul this year though had been gained at consider able r isk, as nor mally he w ould pick up
cats and dogs fr om the str eet or tied up outside shops, but this year for the fir st time he had
br oken into backyar ds and gar den sheds.
Ther e was no doubt that he w ould have to move befor e next Chr istmas as such dar ing
r aids had undoubtedly ar oused suspicion, but he knew that no one could touch him. He
even used to joke to himself that even the police had no leads, w hen in fact often that was
all that often r emained of people?s canine companions.
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