fear-contorted

Updated: May 17, 2025

There was a rush of feet, the rough clutch of hands at his shoulders.... Presently he found himself blinking down upon the fear-contorted face of Old Man Anderson dirt-streaked, bearded, gaunt, dead! Slowly his eyes crawled beyond the body on the floor.... Before him, its empty arms stretched toward him, its straps and wires twisting snakily in front of him, was The Chair! By ETHEL WATTS MUMFORD

- O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921