History Literature / TheLandlady

It starts out with Billy, a young British man, arriving in an unfamiliar city on business and looking for a place to stay. He finds a cozy-looking bed and breakfast inn with a quaint old woman inside, who welcomes him to stay, just like the ''other'' young men she's been fond of.

* [[spoiler:WaxMuseumMorgue]]: ''The'' twist of the story.

* AffablyEvil: The titular landlay is a sweet woman, she just feels lonely. [[spoiler:And is an unrepentant murderer.]]

* AdaptationalKarma: In the Alfred Hitchcock Presents version, the landlady is arrested offscreen after turning Billy's corpse into a rug.

* MundaneHorror: A nice small bed-and-breakfast with a friendly host, where nearly every small detail implies something creepy. It has only two guests who are still there though they checked in more than a year ago, and are "known for one and the same thing" ([[spoiler:having gone missing]]); the host gives her guests tea which tastes like BitterAlmonds. Guess the implications?

* AffablyEvil: The titular landlay is a sweet woman, she just feels lonely. [[spoiler:And is an unrepentant murderer.]

* BitterAlmonds: Discussed trope: [[spoiler:Billy thought to himself that his tea tastes like bitter almonds, which was cyanide that the landlady used to poison him so she could stuff him.]]

* FridgeHorror: If you don't know about [[spoiler: the BitterAlmonds trope]] before reading the story and later learn about it, the landlady's [[spoiler: offering of tea]] will become much, '''much''' more horrifying.

* BitterAlmonds: [[spoiler: Billy thought to himself that his tea tastes like bitter almonds, which was cyanide that the landlady used to poison him so she could stuff him.]]

* AffablyEvil

* CreepyHousekeeper

%%* WaxMuseumMorgue

* TaxidermyTerror: Semi-averted; the stuffed dog and parrot are cosy-looking and amazingly lifelike, and the horror only comes when you realize [[spoiler:the landlady is applying the same techniques to the young men she "collects".]]

"The Landlady" is a short horror story by Creator/RoaldDahl. It starts out with Billy, a young British man, looking for a place to stay. He finds the [[AC:BED AND BREAKFAST INN]] and a quaint old woman inside, who welcomes him to stay, just like the ''other'' young men she's been fond of.

The story was adapted for a 1961 episode of ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents''.

!!!Tropes used in "The Landlady":

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The hotel appears nice, but really isn't.

* MundaneHorror: A nice small hotel with a friendly host, where nearly every small detail implies something creepy. It has only two guests who are still there though they checked in more than a year ago, and are "known for one and the same thing" ([[spoiler:having gone missing]]); the host gives her guests tea which tastes like BitterAlmonds. Guess the implications?

* AmbiguousEnding: what it might seem to those not very attentive to details or simply unfamiliar to [[spoiler:BitterAlmonds]] trope. If you belong to neither of these, however, the ending is unambiguously [[DownerEnding Downer]].

It's pretty much horror to anyone who knows what [[spoiler:BitterAlmonds]] signify.

* AmbiguousEnding: what it might seem to those not very attentive to details or simply unfamiliar to [[spoiler:BitterAlmonds]] trope. If you belong to neither of these, however, the ending is unambiguously [[DownerEnding Downer]].

* AmbiguousEnding: what it might seem to those not very attentive to details or simply unfamiliar to [[spoiler:BitterAlmonds]] trope. If you do, however, the ending is unambiguously [[DownerEnding Downer]].

* [[spoiler: BitterAlmonds: Billy thought to himself that his tea tastes like bitter almonds, which was cyanide that the landlady used to poison him so she could stuff him.]]

* [[spoiler:WaxMuseumMorgue]]

* CrapsaccarineWorld: The hotel appears nice, but really isn't.