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"Perfect Toy for a Nine Year Old" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by author Bruce R. Cordell. It was published in the thematic anthology Tomorrow's Cthulhu by Broken Eye Books in January 2016.[1]
Synopsis[]
When times are tight, doting father Charlie Tokarev illegally downloads a digital pattern for a much-in-demand "supertoy," the rat-like Mister Jenkin, before printing it using his home software and gifting it to his daughter Margaret.
At first everything goes swimmingly, Margaret falling instantly in love with the toy, but soon things in the Tokarev household begin to take a turn for the worse: Margaret’s attitude becomes more sinister and Max, the family cat, disappears.
Soon, Charlie comes to the realisation that Mister Jenkin is an unhealthy influence on his daughter, and resolves to take the toy away. However, Mister Jenkin has other plans and, after showing Charlie the mutilated remains of Max, tells the man of his desire to wear his face.
The story culminates with Margaret’s mother returning home and noticing that Mister Jenkin seems to be looking strikingly like her absent husband that day…
Behind the Mythos[]
Although never actually named as "Brown Jenkin," Mister Jenkin is clearly a reimagined version of Keziah Mason's rat-like familiar from "The Dreams in the Witch-House."
References[]
- ↑ Title: "Perfect Toy for a Nine Year Old" at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database