Tales of the Unexpected
Drawing upon his own experiences in life, and peppered with Dahl’s trademark humour, this collection of short stories often managed to provoke a knowing smile, some unsavoury thoughts, and if you allow your imagination to run a bit wild, possibly spine-chilling conclusions.
However, several pieces in Tales Of The Unexpected have rather abrupt endings, and because of that, a few left me with a big question mark after reading. Like, “Huh?”
Had these been written by someone else, I would have assumed that the author was simply too lazy to carry on writing. But somehow the master of macabre got away with the open-ended treatment of his tales, at times even compensating the inconclusive ending with immaculate pace and a surprising twist.
In cruel terms, you can say he got away with murder. Just like Mary Maloney in “Lamb to the Slaughter”.
