What's Cookin' story
Married couple Fred and Erma are the owners of a failing restaurant with a squid-only menu. One day, Fred and Erma's luck is soon changed when Gaston, a mysterious drifter who works as the restaurant's janitor, gives them some steaks that turns out to taste delicious, so much so that the restaurant gets a huge boost in both sales and popularity. However, Fred discovers that Gaston's steaks are made of the flesh of his landlord, Chumley, who Gaston killed and butchered. The sight leaves Fred to be torn between going to the police or allowing more people to be killed so they can be put on the menu and save the restaurant. Directed by: Gilbert Adler. Story by: A. L. Katz.
11 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| cannibalism | choice | The title is an allusion to the man flesh that was "cookin'" in Fred and Erma's no longer failing restaurant. The story hinged on them turning their business around by killing people to clandestinely serve up the meat in the guise of "beef". |
| facing financial ruin | major | Fred and Erma had pretty much their entire net worth tied up in their failing squid-only restaurant business. |
| facing the demise of a personal enterprise | major | Fred and Erma was dreading the imminent insolvency of their squid-only restaurant business. |
| husband and wife | major | Fred's determination to make a go of his and Erma's wildly unpopular squid-only restaurant put a strain on their marriage. That all changed, however, when they switched to serving a delicious type of meat in the guise of steak. |
| law enforcement | major | Officer Chumley was a regular at the diner and gave Fred updates on the murder investigation. In the end he joined in Fred and Irma's cannibal restaurant business venture to turn an extra buck. |
| murder | major | The mysterious drifter Gaston was a little bit too helpful when he killed off Fred and Erma's bothersome landlord. He offered to kill more people and put them on the menu. Then he tried to kill Fred himself. But Fred and Erma turned the tables on him and killed, and served up, Gaston instead. |
| coping with unwelcome romantic attention | minor | Erma pointedly pre-empted any unwelcome romantic overtures from Gaston by waving her handgun under his nose. |
| corruption in society | minor | Officer Chumley decided to make some extra cash by becoming part owner of Fred and Erma's secret cannibal restaurant. He therefore gleefully stood by as Fred and Erna slaughter and serve up Gaston. |
| greed for riches | minor | Fred, Erma, and the sheriff all noted with abject greed how much money they stood to make out of offing people to peddle their flesh as steak. |
| living corpse | minor | The story is presented by the Crypt Keeper, a cackling, wisecracking cadaver. |