Death on television by Henry Slesar

I have always been fascinated by Alfred Hitchcock movies and used to wonder how come he thought of such twists and turns in stories and that too almost 80 years back when the world was expectedly much simpler. Agreed that there were wars in Europe which were branded as world wars and despite the million bad things that happened during that time, science progressed at a sever pace never ever seen again in human life. But still, the simplicity behind all those crimes pictured and portrayed on screen in Hitchcock's creations were a marvel of their own. I loved the phrase "Alfred Hitchcock presents" and was searching for those series but as luck would've it, stumbled onto something that was even more sweeter, the screen play source behind some of those works and the role of Henry Slesar!!

The very first "bite" that i read about him, by him, hooked me in. His basis for the theme behind those stories was not the ingenuity of the deed but rather the sarcasm!! If you come to think of it, many of the famous creations, when seen with this new light are often so ironic considering the ending which originally would've shocked the audience!! Slesar mentions several references about Hitchcock and anecdotes and the book carries some of the finest thrillers ever written or possibly favored by the master director himself.

One such story, their most favorite, involves an old dilapidated house which is put up for sale by a widowed old lady, considered to be senile, having lost her son. She lists an abnormally huge amount for the house and despite several advices by the real estate folks she refuses to bring down the rate. One fine day a man visits her and offers to buy the house. After initial haggling by him which is stoutly rebuffed by the lady he eventually settles for the amount quoted by her, much to her surprise. Having been a hot and humid day, she offers him cold lemonade which he immediately accepts. The taste feels different and before the poison in it could complete its deed, she reveals the reason why and true to the saying, it was a revenge served cold!! Considering that there has been several credited and uncredited, original and plagiarised versions of the same story, you could see the ending coming a couple of pages early. Sujatha has a similar story of a guy who stays alone in a farm, surrounded by electric fence, only to be killed by a harmless stranger, whom he allows inside. But despite being predictable, the story still feels fresh, if you keep an open mind and realizing that it was written 7 decades before!!! 

I loved another story where in a lawyer, wins a judgement in his favor, catapulting him into the big league with that win, is confronted by an old man who claims the verdict was wrong and the lawyer got the wrong person convicted for the old man was the one who committed the crime. In the ensuing tussle, with the shame and vigour of having been blackmailed by a bum and the potential risk of losing out on the deals post his famous win, the lawyer kills the old man. His own wife turns against him and while getting arrested his friend looks at him weirdly and wonders why he killed the mad man, who goes around claiming he was the one who did the criminal act for any famous criminal case he comes across!! If you are not picturising this story in black and white while reading, then you are not reading it right!!!

There are still some more stories to go and like a kid keeping away his candy stash wanting to enjoy the sweet at the same time worried that it will get exhausted, will share the stories in bits and pieces as i read further.