BLOCH, ROBERT – THE DEVIL’S TICKET in THE SKULL OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE 1965 Pyramid Books.
A very imaginative short horror story in
which a man doesn’t sell his soul to
Satan, but pawns it to him, with terrifying consequences. Hector Vane is the man, and he is an
impoverished artist, literally pushed to the brink of starvation by a lack of
respect for his talents. He is reduced to hawking his masterpieces around
various pawnshops. He is convinced that they are worth thousands, but he
expects to get next to nothing for them. He is therefore happy when a pawnshop
proprietor offers to take his soul instead, and leave him with his artwork. The
pawnshop dealer makes a strange deal. If Hector will paint someone’s portrait
for him within eighteen months, and brings it back with his pawn ticket, Hector
can have his own soul back. Hector signs a normal pawn shop contract on the
deal, and gets his ticket. As he arrives home, he finds out from his wife that
he is suddenly rich and famous. His work has been snapped up for a gallery
display, and he quickly becomes one of the biggest richest celebrities in the
business. He also attracts many exciting new models, and takes to one such
woman as his new muse and inspiration, though he never feels able to capture
her beauty on canvas to his liking. He clearly neglects his wife for this
mysterious new woman. Hector forgets to do the Devil’s requested portrait until
only days before the deadline approaches.
He is not worried as he can nominate any existing painting instead of
painting a new one. Alas, the woman he has been a seducing get jealous when
Hector refuses to leave his wife for her, and she burns down his studio,
destroying all of his as yet unsold work. He now has no work to sell to the
Devil. Hector hits on a novel solution.
He paints a portrait from memory of the devil himself. He takes that to
him. The Devil has planned that any
soul given to him must be the one he takes, but as he already has his own, he
can’t take anything. He admits that Hector has beaten him. He now needs only
one thing to let Hector go. He asks for the pawn ticket. Alas, Hectors wife has
thrown out the coat, which had the ticket in the pocket. Time has run out. The
Devil takes Hectors soul on the spot. A
good story that plays cat and mouse with expectations about how things will
end, though it leaves little doubt that poor old Hector is doomed from the
outset. A stylish little horror fable. http://mgpfeff.home.sprynet.com/bloch.html
© Copyright. Arthur Chappell
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