The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock is a 1973 children's storybook by Bill Peet.
Prewitt Peacock has the plainest train of any of the peacocks in his group, but it quickly takes a frightening twist, growing into a "monster". Prewitt's inability to keep his feathers under control earns him the anger of the other peacocks, but it might come in handy when dealing with Travis the tiger...
This book contains examples of the following tropes:
- Alliterative Name: The story centers around a peacock named Prewitt.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Prewitt isn't very popular before his tail coverts begin changing because of how plain he is, and after it becomes spooky, the rest of the group take offense at how much it frightens them. All that changes when they realize Prewitt's train scares off their primary predator.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: The other peacocks (starting with their current leader) talk Prewitt into becoming their leader after he scares off Travis.
- Chekhov's Gun: Prewitt's train is very spooky and he can't keep it from springing up. While this initially makes the other peacocks furious at him, it comes in handy when it scares Travis just before he can eat them all.
- Proud Peacock: The leader of the peacocks flaunts his beautiful train.
- Sadistic Choice: The other peacocks demand that Prewitt either get rid of his train feathers or leave the group. When Prewitt tells them he's keeping the train and staying, they chase after him to pull out his feathers.
