Peculiar Tales Read Online Free Page B

had been coming from.
    “Jesus Christ,” I told the barker. “You sure live up to your advertising.”
    “Pretty impressive, ain’t he?”
    “No kidding. What is it? Some sort of skin disease or something?”
    “Hell, no! He’s the real thing all right.”
    “Look, just between you and me, let’s not be kidding each other here. I know there’s no such thing as a real Frankenstein. That was just a story whatsername wrote. They made a couple a movies from it. That’s all. There ain’t no such thing as a real Frankenstein.”
    “Ah, well, that’s just where most people go wrong. There sure was a real Frankenstein and there he is, in the flesh, what’s left of it at any rate.”
    “Say, pal, I’m not one of your ignorant rubes. I work for a paper. I been around. Come on, lemme have the real story. It’s good enough, I’ll pay you for it.”
    “I told you the truth mister,” the barker said, unfolding the screen and placing it back in front of his exhibit, “and there ain’t much more I can tell you than that.”
    “Who is he, really? What’s wrong with him?”
    “Say, I’ll tell you what. You stand me to a beer and I’ll tell you. Deal?”
    “Sure. There’s a tavern right down the block, got a good lunch there, too.”
    “That’s just what I was hoping you’d say.”
    We were heading back out into the sunlight when I thought of something. “Say, what about ...?”
    “Frankie? He’ll keep , have no fear!” For some reason the kid thought this was really funny.
    I found a booth for us in a quiet corner of the tavern, ordered some beer and sandwiches and when the waiter left the table I leaned toward my friend and said, “All right. Let’s have it.”
    “Well...I suppose you’ve read the book or seen the movie —Frankenstein , I mean?”
    “Who ain’t seen the movie? But, yeah, I read the book when I was in high school. Pretty tough going, I can tell you, and not half so creepy as the movie.”
    “Yeah, well, I always wanted to sue Mary Shelley for libel, the way she described what he was trying to do—and especially the way she described the creature he made. ‘Hideous monster’, phooey! It was no more hideous than you are!”
    Well, thinking back to the abomination I’d seen in the tent, I sure didn’t take that as any sort of compliment. But, I figured, maybe he’d lived with the awful thing so long he’d gotten used to it. Saw it’s better side, as it were. Maybe it had a nice personality. So I didn’t say anything and let him keep on talking, which he did.
    “All I can say is that you at least got the basic idea of what Frankenstein was after. Sure, he was trying to create life. But he was after more than that. He not only wanted to create life, he wanted his own life to go on forever. Immortality. Eternal life. And you know what? He did it. He figured it out.”
    “Figured what out?”
    “Figured out how to live forever. He figured if his formula would give eternal life to his creation, it would work just as well on himself. So he mixed himself up a big batch of his formula and he drank it.”
    “He did, huh? I suppose Frankenstein is still with us, then?”
    “He sure is!”
    Our beers arrived just then. The kid took a long suck on his, wiped his lips and leaned toward me conspiratorially. “Guess how old I am. Go ahead. Give it a shot.”
    “I dunno. Twenty, twenty-five?”
    “That’s what I figured you say. What would you think if I told you I was more’n a hundred and sixty years old?”
    “What d’you think I’d say?”
    “I can prove it!”
    “If you can do that, then I’d say you earned yourself your free lunch. So what you’re trying to tell me is that you’re ...?”
    “You bet I am! That’s just exactly who I am!”
    If he was a hundred and sixty year-old mad scientist I was Primo Carnera, so I just smiled and bit into my sandwich, which had meanwhile arrived and was very tasty.
    “Yeah, well, you’ll see. Tell you the truth, I’ve been