The Gloating Place story
Lonely high school student Susan Harper pretends that she was attacked by a masked man in order to get attention. She is successful, but when the community moves on to the next big news, she strangles the school's most popular girl to make it seem as though the "masked man" is responsible. Susan is pleased to be relevant again, but her actions have inspired a copycat masked man, who attacks and strangles her. Directed by: Alan Crosland, Jr. Story by: Robert Bloch.
16 total · 1 choice · 4 major · 11 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the desire for fame | choice | The high schooler Susan faked having been attacked by a masked assailant to get attention in at school and in the community. |
| ironic twist of fate | major | The story culminated with Susan being murderer by a copy cat of the fictional strangler she'd invented to garner attention. |
| loneliness | major | Susan was lonely. This prompted her to invent a story of being attacked by masked assailant to garner attention. |
| lying | major | Susan perpetrated an elaborated hoax about being attacked by a masked assailant, even going so far as to go down to the police station to identify suspects. Susan's mother sobbed uncontrollably as Susan lied through her teeth about having been attacked by a masked man. |
| murder | major | Susan strangled her schoolmate and made it look like it was the work of a deranged masked man. In the end, Susan was strangled by a masked man who'd been inspired by her own crime. |
| coping with unwelcome romantic attention | minor | The school hunk Tom brushed off Susan when she asked him to come over to her place to listen to some records together. |
| father and daughter | minor | Mr. Harper was in the room as his daughter, Susan, recounted the details of an alleged encounter with a masked attacker. |
| gluttony | minor | I his sketch, Alfred Hitchcock delighted in the prospect of indulging in a 6400 calorie mega-sundae. |
| husband and wife | minor | Mr. Harper convinced his headache afflicted wife to let their daughter listen to loud instrumental music on the phonograph for another 30 minutes. |
| journalism | minor | Susan was approached by a journalist for an interview. |