13. 'The Mangler' (1972).

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I'm going to start this post by making it clear that I fully understand if anyone reading my previous posts is baffled by my admiration and enthusiasm for this particular story. I have, on several occasions, referred to some of the stories I have read as 'silly' or 'ridiculous', and there is very little I can think of that is more ridiculous than a haunted laundry machine. But, like the fairly stupid sounding premise of The Day of the Triffids, for some reason, it just works.

The Mangler

 I loved this story.

It's about a detective who is investigating the horrifically grisly death of a woman who worked on 'the Mangler' - a supersized folding and ironing machine - after she was pulled into its workings, despite safety apparatus which should have made this impossible.

The detective soon discovers that this is not the first 'accident' involving this particular machine, and starts to believe that it may be possessed by an evil force.

Now, does that sound ridiculous? Of course it does! It's a totally bonkers and really stupid idea. But perhaps this is where we really start to see King come into his own. because this story is super entertaining, horribly funny, and scary, damn it. I was genuinely frightened of a laundry machine.

So, why is it so good? Let's start with the general execution of the story. The Mangler has a detailed and fascinating history, which is painstakingly drawn out by King. Officer Haunton works as a real detective, interviewing victims and gathering evidence, and through this, the evil and insidious nature of the machine is slowly revealed. The plot unfolds (no pun intended) so cleverly and carefully that you find yourself fully invested in what should be an uninvestable idea.

The two main characters, Officer Haunton and his neighbour, are the archetypal 'ordinary men' that King has made his bread and butter over the years. We like them, we go with them, and we want them to win. Shame, really.

The best part of this? For me, the wonderful gore. As an adult, I find my stomach considerably weaker than it was in my teens, when I could sit through the splatteriest of body horror whilst eating a blood orange. In spite of this, I really enjoyed the over the top, hyper gorey scenes when the Mangler dispatched its victims, or small pieces of them, at least. The description of Mrs Frawley's remains is such a great mix of hilarious and retch-inducing that I laughed aloud even as I covered my mouth in horror.

I only have one complaint about The Mangler. You guessed it: Unsatisfactory Ending Alert. I see where King was going, and I'm not entirely sure where else he could have gone, but the ending out-stupided even this nutty story.

Overall, I still hugely recommend this for anyone who isn't too much of a literary snob. Have fun!

I'm off to do some ironing.

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