Ray Bradbury‘s character Lenny (Leonard) lives at home with his mother and has a lot going for him. He has a body-builder’s physique, secure job, nice car, and no shortage of girls wanting to go out with him. Unfortunately, he is also mentally and socially challenged. He doesn’t take disappointment or ridicule well, often barely able to control his temper. The story takes place over a Halloween night. Lenny is excited, but the party he was looking forward to is a flop, leading to a potentially explosive homecoming. Themes include alienation, repression, interdependence, arrested development, fitting in, fear, despair.
I once read a comment that this is the scariest story ever written in which nothing happens. It is tempting to think that its horror lies only in the last 200 words… from the point Lenny comes into his mother’s room and lays down on the bed next to her. However, this is not the case for Lenny’s mother and many other parents, partners, siblings and children across the world. They experience the same feeling every day — the fear of being assaulted or mistreated by someone close to them and from whom they feel they cannot escape.