By Pelan’s own reckoning, 1951 was “a generally weak year,” so it’s no surprise that his choice is kind of lame. It might even not be horror. You be the judge.
Daniel Kinnaird owns a cleaners where he has been happily doing business for quite some time. However, the local mobster, Costa, has just been released from prison, and he’s up to his old tricks, starting with running a protection racket at Daniel’s place of business. Worried, Daniel tries to find a way out of this ridiculous demand. He goes to everyone he knows, seeking advice. Most people tell him to just pay it, since other businesses do just that. This doesn’t sit well with him, and he learns that if he’s going to evade Costa’s attention, he needs to know someone tough.
Enter the enigmatic Uncle Isaiah. He’s a clever man (as evidenced by his secret mirror, which allows him to see any visitors without them being aware), well-traveled, and very good at solving problems. Yet no one seems to know where he is, not even his landlord. Finally, Daniel meets with his uncle (even though he never sees him; he witnesses him only as a voice through a door), and his cunning relative agrees to help him.
Most of this story is spent with Kinniard arguing with himself and others over what he can do about his situation. Most of the rest of it is spent by Kinniard searching high and wide for his uncle. By the time we get to the resolution of this story, no one really cares what happens. It’s such a drag to get through to the good stuff, and even the good stuff isn’t all that great.
SPOILER ALERT: Uncle Isaiah tricks Costa into a private confrontation. Here we learn that Isaiah is an old man with a full head of white hair, wild eyes, and a walking stick. There is something very obviously unbalanced about him, and even Costa fears him a little. The problem is, nothing really happens. In an amusing scene, Costa flips out and does a Benny Hill run around the room while Isaiah chases after him. Then, just as Costa is about to escape, Isaiah trips him and . . . and nothing. Nothing happens. Kirk implies that Uncle Isaiah dealt with Costa with extreme prejudice, as neither of them were ever seen again. But . . . where’s the horror? What did he do to Costa? What’s so scary about this? While it seems that something supernatural is going on, this can completely be dismissed by a rational explanation. END OF SPOILERS.
Uncle Isaiah is an intriguing character, or at least he is when other characters are talking about him. But actually meeting him is a major letdown. This is a shame, because the only interesting part of this story is this one character. Volume two is off to a bad start.
[This story first appeared in LONDON MYSTERY #11 and cannot be read online at this time.]
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