The Blessington Method

by Stanley Ellin

"What is The Blessington Method? There is, you see, a society called The Society for Gerontology, and its primary concern is with the tragic situation of aging. BUT... the problems that the society attempts to solve are not the ones that bother old people. Take Mr. Treadwell. Although he's only forty-seven and in the pink of health, he has an old-age problem. His seventy-two-year-old father-in-law lives with him... and looks as if he will live on forever. Now, for seemingly impossible problems, problems like Mr. Treadwell's, The Blessington Method offers a most perfect solution. If you think there's no crime worse than cold-blooded murder, prepare yourself for the shock of your life." Includes 9 more short stories of the macabre. 127 pages. (This description is from the Feb. 1966 Signet First Printing)

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Horror

Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Stanley Bernard Ellin was a mystery writer of short stories and novels. He won the Edgar Allan Poe Award three times and the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere once, and in 1981 he was awarded with the Mystery Writers of America's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.

Reviews

[Jayal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always been a fan of the short story, as opposed to the novel, and this booklet only reinforced that. Slightly misleading subtitle though; the 10 tales are not horror stories in their customary sense, certainly nothing supernatural here.
Each explores the twists and turns of the human mind, and all the horrors here are what we cook up within ourselves. All the more horrifying for that, perhaps.
A top read, definite page-turner.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very easy read, all the stories slipped down easily, but I did tend to find that the endings were always something of a damp squib. I expected a bit more, but maybe that's because we're a bit more demanding in 2013.

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arguably the best thing of all here is "The Day of the Bullet." A perfect Alfred Collier Dahl of a guy! The finales of the first two (including the title story) were very droll indeed.

[Watchdogg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Blessington Method by Stanley Ellin
First published in 1956

GR blurb -
What is The Blessington Method? There is, you see, a society called The Society for Gerontology, and its primary concern is with the tragic situation of aging. BUT... the problems that the society attempts to solve are not the ones that bother old people. Take Mr. Treadwell. Although he's only forty-seven and in the pink of health, he has an old-age problem. His seventy-two-year-old father-in-law lives with him... and looks as if he will live on forever. Now, for seemingly impossible problems, problems like Mr. Treadwell's, The Blessington Method offers a most perfect solution. If you think there's no crime worse than cold-blooded murder, prepare yourself for the shock of your life.

My thoughts -
Perhaps as a septuagenarian I am suspicious of the solution to caring for aging relatives using the Blessington Method. Yes, it is a problem-solving solution, but not favorable to those of us in that elder category. However, the story is well written and conceptually sort of unique. A solid three stars in accordance with my rating system - Good - better than average.

[Anne Seebach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting take on the horror genre. The writing is a little dated but still relatable, and excellently crafted. These shorts are for the most part more subtle than the usual traditional horror tale, bedded in perfectly possible real life scenarios, with a quiet, lingering horror. Many of the tales stop short of fully realised horror and tragedy, leaving the reader to readily imagine the unfolding realisations yet to come to it's characters. If you want to try a few tales a little closer to home, a little more 'ordinary', than madmen hiding in supernatural shadows, I recommend giving Stanley Ellen a go.

ADDIT: I've just discovered Hitchcock released an adaptation of the title story. I must confess I'd love to see someone have a go at adapting a few of the other stories in the collection. Especially 'Robert' and 'The Day of the Bullet'. I'll have to check out Hitchcock's 'The Blessington Method' and see what he made of that one.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Goes Around . . .

🖊 It is 1980, and people are living to 125 years. But what happens when an oldster gets on the younger generation’s nerves? Be careful of what you wish for, because you might get it!

📕Published –1956.

📺 1959 “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” television episode version. (Sir Alfred Hitchcock, British film producer, film director, actor, and writer.)

જ⁀🔵 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕥 𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕧𝕖 .
༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻










𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟:
ℙ𝕝𝕠𝕥: ★★★★★
ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥: ★★★★★
𝕎𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖: ★★★★★
𝕃𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕘𝕖: ★★★★★
𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣:★★★★★
𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘: ★★★★★
𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: ★★★★★
(5.0)

[Richard Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read a lot of mystery short story anthologies, you've read most of these stories already. In my case, I had already read every one of these stories. Most of them are in three to five of the anthologies in my collection.

Ellin was a master of the short story craft. Most of his stories either won or were nominated for multiple awards in the mystery field.

If you don't already know Stanley Ellin, this is a great place to start.

[Glenn Hopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten off-kilter but enjoyable short stories.