I once read a comment that this story by Ray Bradbury is the scariest ever written in which nothing happens. Lenny (Leonard) lives at home with his mother. He appears to have a lot going for him. He is young and fit, has a body-builder’s physique, secure job, nice car, and no shortage of girls wanting to go out with him. The story takes place on a Halloween night. Lenny is excited, but the party he goes to is a flop. When he comes home, we see the horror that his mother must face most days of her life.
It is tempting to think that the horror in the story exists only in its 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 this every day: the fear of being assaulted or mistreated by someone close to them and from whom they feel they cannot escape.
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