The Hellion
One morning, Alois Almon, the celebrated writer of cult horror, gave up writing and retired to his cottage in the hinterlands. He neither gave interviews nor entertained anyone. Speculation was rife that the writer had lost his mind after years of penning fantastical tales of terror, well-known for their extreme realism. What follows is the real story behind his drastic decision.
Alois Almon was working on his yet unpublished last novel, The Sphere of the Hellion when he suddenly decided to retreat from the world of books. Around the same time, the entire country was shocked by a series of unsolved murders in the town of H., where the writer resided. The killings were noted for the fact that the bodies were found mutilated with multiple bite marks, and many parts missing. Some had their limbs, while others had their heads taken away. The whole scene was so gruesome that the authorities soon made the details of the case restricted from the public.
One day, Almon heard a strange voice speaking to him. It said, “There is a surprise for you in the garage.” At first, he dismissed it as he was eager to finish his book. But curiosity quickly overcame his resolve and he proceeded to investigate the matter and opened the garage.
What he saw inside was like a page from the very book he was writing. In the corner of the room sat the Hellion, the creature from his novel. He was almost human, but more goblin-like, with a large round head and a small square body. Two big eyes shone on his face. His mouth was open in a smile glittering with pearls of crooked teeth. Beside him was a heap of various body parts, from limbs to heads, which the Hellion appeared to have been devouring when he was disturbed.
Stunned and bewildered, Almon quickly closed the garage and pondered on whether to call the authorities. Instead, he decided to visit an itinerant blind healer who was in town at that time. Almon told the medicine man about the book he was writing and his predicament, pleading for a solution.
The healer thought for long and replied, “You penned the creature into existence. The only way to destroy him is to feed him the hand that created him.” When Almon was leaving, he added, “Remember, with your hand shall disappear your ability to write.”
That night, determined to put the solution into action, Almon chopped his right hand with an ax, and carried it to the garage, shaking with pain. The Hellion smiled on seeing Almon. But on seeing the severed hand, tears appeared on his face. As Almon placed the hand in the Hellion’s mouth, he could hear a strange mixture of crushing bones and falling tears. Then suddenly the Hellion vanished, and Almon collapsed on the floor in a deep sleep.
Next morning, Alois Almon woke up and took the decision that shocked the fans of horror fiction all over the world.
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