10. 'Suffer the Little Children' (1972).
This is one of the few stories in this early selection that I remembered just based on the title. With most of the others (Battleground, The Mangler and Trucks being the exceptions), I only realised I'd read them already once I began.
This one, though. Oh, boy. This one gave me nightmares.
I was excited to read Suffer the Little Children again partly just to see if it still had that effect on me. I first read it when I was about twelve, and I knew picking it up this time that my view of it was likely to be shifted significantly by adulthood.
Suffer the Little Children
This little gem is the story of Miss Emily Sidley, and elderly first grade teacher, who begins to feel as though her students have changed and are now watching her with evil intent. The ringleader, Robert, taunts her, even beginning to change and show her his new, real face; a terrifying, alien face which sends Miss Sidley screaming into the streets and almost under the wheels of a bus.
The story ends horribly, and possibly tragically, with Miss Sidnley removing the perceived threats herself with a pistol. Part of the genius of this story is that we are never entirely sure how tragic these killings are. Is Miss Sidley mad, or is a wicked force insidiously taking over her elementary school?
Re-reading this as an adult, a teacher, and a mother was a really interesting exercise. As a child, I really didn't like the character of Miss Sidley, even though I completely trusted her view of the children. As an adult and a teacher, I had huge sympathy with her immediately. I recognised the tricks she used to catch naughty students off guard, and understood the frustrations of sly sniggering behind your back.
As a mother, however, I had a very different reaction the the story. I found the ending pretty unbearable, and much more frightening than the idea of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers style takeover of a first grade class. As a mother, it was much more difficult for me to believe as certainly in the malevolence of the children, and when Miss Sidley screams at the remaining little girl, 'Damn you, change! Dirty bitch, dirty, crawling filthy, unnatural bitch!', I was as horrified as poor Mrs Crossen, who interrupts the killings.
As far as I can tell, Miss Sidley is Stephen King's first female protagonist, and I think, particularly considering his age and experience, he draws the elderly woman extremely well. Her frailty and refusal to give in to it are endearing, her commitment to the classroom is both admirable and sad. She is a Miss rather than a Mrs, drawing a picture of an eternal spinster utterly devoted to her teaching. This makes the horror of the invasion even worse, as the main focus of her life is taken away from her.
The main antagonist, Robert, is a real spook-fest. There are few things creepier than weird children, and Robert is a doozy. Sneaky, sneering, emotionless, he manages to feel both alien and like a mix of all the unpleasant kids you've ever had to teach. Funnily it is his audacity and rudeness, his overstepping of school rules and social boundaries, which is the scariest part of his character, much more so than the horrid, head-stretching changes to his body. For a little child, the rules mean everything. To break them so fearlessly means the child is no longer there.
I've always thought creepy kids were effective in horror stories because kids are supposed to be innocent, but I wonder if it's actually because they leave adults so utterly defenseless. Throw a giant rat at me and I would happily hack it to smithereens with whatever sharp implement I happened to have near me. Ask me to do the same to a child? Not a chance. Evil children are frightening because we are programmed not to hurt them, and therefore we are completely at their mercy.
One of the best things about this story, for a lifelong King reader, is the double whammy ending. Emily Sidney calmly walking her first graders into a cupboard to be shot and piled into a corner would be a horrific and brutal ending on its own, but King doesn't stop there, and the second ending is perhaps more frightening than the first, and is what leaves the reader thinking about this story long after its finished.
I wholeheartedly recommend this one. Spooky, sickening, memorable. A cracker.
Onwards!
This one, though. Oh, boy. This one gave me nightmares.I was excited to read Suffer the Little Children again partly just to see if it still had that effect on me. I first read it when I was about twelve, and I knew picking it up this time that my view of it was likely to be shifted significantly by adulthood.
Suffer the Little Children
This little gem is the story of Miss Emily Sidley, and elderly first grade teacher, who begins to feel as though her students have changed and are now watching her with evil intent. The ringleader, Robert, taunts her, even beginning to change and show her his new, real face; a terrifying, alien face which sends Miss Sidley screaming into the streets and almost under the wheels of a bus.
The story ends horribly, and possibly tragically, with Miss Sidnley removing the perceived threats herself with a pistol. Part of the genius of this story is that we are never entirely sure how tragic these killings are. Is Miss Sidley mad, or is a wicked force insidiously taking over her elementary school?
Re-reading this as an adult, a teacher, and a mother was a really interesting exercise. As a child, I really didn't like the character of Miss Sidley, even though I completely trusted her view of the children. As an adult and a teacher, I had huge sympathy with her immediately. I recognised the tricks she used to catch naughty students off guard, and understood the frustrations of sly sniggering behind your back.
As a mother, however, I had a very different reaction the the story. I found the ending pretty unbearable, and much more frightening than the idea of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers style takeover of a first grade class. As a mother, it was much more difficult for me to believe as certainly in the malevolence of the children, and when Miss Sidley screams at the remaining little girl, 'Damn you, change! Dirty bitch, dirty, crawling filthy, unnatural bitch!', I was as horrified as poor Mrs Crossen, who interrupts the killings.
As far as I can tell, Miss Sidley is Stephen King's first female protagonist, and I think, particularly considering his age and experience, he draws the elderly woman extremely well. Her frailty and refusal to give in to it are endearing, her commitment to the classroom is both admirable and sad. She is a Miss rather than a Mrs, drawing a picture of an eternal spinster utterly devoted to her teaching. This makes the horror of the invasion even worse, as the main focus of her life is taken away from her.
The main antagonist, Robert, is a real spook-fest. There are few things creepier than weird children, and Robert is a doozy. Sneaky, sneering, emotionless, he manages to feel both alien and like a mix of all the unpleasant kids you've ever had to teach. Funnily it is his audacity and rudeness, his overstepping of school rules and social boundaries, which is the scariest part of his character, much more so than the horrid, head-stretching changes to his body. For a little child, the rules mean everything. To break them so fearlessly means the child is no longer there.
I've always thought creepy kids were effective in horror stories because kids are supposed to be innocent, but I wonder if it's actually because they leave adults so utterly defenseless. Throw a giant rat at me and I would happily hack it to smithereens with whatever sharp implement I happened to have near me. Ask me to do the same to a child? Not a chance. Evil children are frightening because we are programmed not to hurt them, and therefore we are completely at their mercy.
One of the best things about this story, for a lifelong King reader, is the double whammy ending. Emily Sidney calmly walking her first graders into a cupboard to be shot and piled into a corner would be a horrific and brutal ending on its own, but King doesn't stop there, and the second ending is perhaps more frightening than the first, and is what leaves the reader thinking about this story long after its finished.
I wholeheartedly recommend this one. Spooky, sickening, memorable. A cracker.
Onwards!
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