Story behind a story: “His Poisoner”
“His Poisoner” was the second story I ever got published, and as I recall I was paid the princely sum of $5 for it. I didn’t care much about the payment in this case, because I was intrigued by Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine and their interpretation of stories in a way that reminded me of radio plays from the 1930s. The fellows there, Rish and Big, liked the story and adapted it . . . oh, 16 years ago.
I’m a public librarian by profession, which means I interact a lot with the public and meet all kinds of people. Every so often, I meet someone who seems to be auditioning to be put into a story. I suppose it’s in the same vein as people watching, though in my case the people come up to me and start talking.
And my goodness, the things they have to say.
I won’t name names, though I believe the patron who inspired “His Poisoner” is now deceased. The person sat down and told me they wanted information on poisons. Interesting, I thought. Librarians as a general rule are trained to interview patrons about their research needs, respectful of privacy and decorum but also hoping to zero down on the client’s exact need, since the opening request is often vague or not really representative of their true information request. I’d interacted with this particular person for many years and had learned, frankly, it was better not to drill down too far and just roll with the initial question.
As I typed away, the patron said, “I’ve moved into a senior center now, and the staff are coming into my room and eating the food out of my refrigerator. I’m going to teach them a lesson. I’m going to poison all the food and kill them.”
This additional tidbit froze up the joints in my fingers. You can imagine my concern, not so much for these hypothetical food thieves as for the strong possibility that someone with such delusions might inadvertently poison themselves. Should I call the police? Or ask about the name of the senior center and try to alert them? Ah, the librarian’s daily ethical challenges.
I solved the immediate problem by punting, telling the patron I couldn’t find anything, but offering them an encyclopedia of poisons that wouldn’t be a useful sabotage aid. In the meanwhile, the library was going through a small internal crisis because staff were claiming some of their food was disappearing in the kitchen. One person said their piece of pie was eaten, another that their Diet Coke was stolen . . . you get the picture. I began thinking of that patron interaction and the current workplace friction, and the two ideas began to fuse together. Out of it came the story of a workplace food thief, and the repercussions that followed.
It’s me at my most Tales from the Crypt, I think. Want to listen? The episode is currently on Youtube here.
