The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People

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The Disembodied Hand That Strangled People was a story that Calvin's father came up with when Calvin wanted a scarier-than-usual bedtime story. The story was never actually heard but involved a sentient, disembodied hand that strangled people to death and was never found after it had completed the murders.

History

When Calvin rejected "Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie" because nobody had made a TV cartoon of it and expressed displeasure at last night's story, claiming it to be boring, his father suggested a story that would "keep [Calvin] up all night". Calvin expressed interest in that idea and asked what the story was called, so his father replied.

Calvin expressed further interest at the idea of a disembodied hand (especially since he'd never gotten a scary bedtime story before) and his father began talking about how the hand got away. However, when he pretended that the hand was strangling him, Calvin passed out. His father was a bit bemused by this, but he liked how it effectively got him to fall "asleep".

Trivia

• This is the first appearance of Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie. This time, however, Calvin turned the story down, rather than screaming the book's title over and over.
• Calvin passes out when he is scared. While a common plot device in fiction, loss of consciousness is actually a rare response to fear unless the fear is connected to blood or syringes or the person has a condition such as epilepsy.

Dad telling Calvin the story of "The Disembodied Hand that Strangled People."