The Interlopers is a 1919 satirical thriller short story written by Hector Hugh Munro under the pen name Saki. The story follows Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym, two sworn enemies from feuding families that meet in a forest to settle their long-held feud, only to find themselves trapped in a life-or-death situation.
- Cruel Twist Ending: The two leads are eaten alive by wolves after finally reconciling their differences and promising to end their families' generations-long feud, which, ironically, had only continued to be perpetuated by their disdain for each other and would have long since died out otherwise.
- Double-Meaning Title: "The Interloper" is what the two lead men view each other as, as they believe the other is an intruder attempting to steal their rightful territory from them and are willing to kill each other over it to secure ownership. By the end of the story, the men learn the hard way that they're the real interlopers, trespassing in the territory of wolves, the actual owners of the forest that they've fought each other for decades over.
- Downer Ending: After being trapped under the fallen tree for some time, the two men finally realize that their years-long feud had been for naught and swear to help the other out should their men come to rescue them, with hopes of returning to their respective territories as friends. And then they get devoured by the wolves they unintentionally drew the attention of with their calls for help.
- Feuding Families: The von Gradwitz and Znaeym families, who had been feuding for three generations over ownership of the strip of the forest Ulrich and Georg find themselves trapped in.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Ulrich briefly emphasizes the speed at which the figures descending the hill are moving, already hinting that there's something off about them. He also mentions that there are 9 or 10 of them, to which Georg responds that he only had seven men with him when he set out, and the reader never finds out how many men Ulrich himself had with him. Despite this, neither thinks too much of it until it's too late.
- From Bad to Worse: Two men find themselves painfully pinned under a fallen tree branch and then are descended upon by wolves after calling for help.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: What Ulrich and Georg imagined they would become once they escaped their predicament. Unfortunately for them, they reconciled their differences too late.
- Hope Spot: After calling for help for several minutes, Ulrich finally begins to see figures descending the hill and rushing toward them quickly. These figures turn out to be wolves.
- Oh, Crap!: Ulrich has this reaction when he realizes who, or what, exactly, the figures approaching them are.
- Savage Wolves: Ulrich and Georg are unceremoniously devoured by the wolves they drew the attention of when calling out to their men for help.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After spending some time trapped under the tree, Ulrich and Georg finally settle their differences and end their family's generations-long feud, promising to return to their respective territories as friends once their men come to rescue them. And then the wolves come and render their truce moot.
- Space Whale Aesop: "Don't hold grudges over petty things, or else wolves will devour you."
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Where are the men Ulrich and Georg set out with? Georg mentions he had seven men with him, while Ulrich brought his own undisclosed number of men, and yet none of them are around when the men call for help after being pinned under a tree for (presumably) several hours.
