"And the Light Goes Out" by Vladimir Torin, summary Automatic translate

This dark novella, written in 2020, is a terrifying tale of a living doll that brings death and madness to an ordinary family in a foggy metropolis. The plot is chillingly realistic, depicting reactions to a mystical intrusion into the confined space of a house. This novella opens the "…from Gabin" series as the first volume. This steampunk detective series also includes the novels "My Post-Imago," "About Noses and Locks," "The Mystery of 12 Rue Florette," and other books about the city of Gabin.

Foggy Squall and Master Goodwin’s Shop

Jonathan Morton works as a clerk at Leipschitz & Leipschitz. His cruel boss keeps his employees working until late in the evening. A thick foggy squall blankets the streets of Gaben. Air sirens blare. He rushes to buy a present for his son Caleb for his ninth birthday. Public transportation is extremely disrupted. He waits for over an hour at the Toothless Bridge steam tram station. In the tram, Jonathan overhears a conversation between two passengers. The women are discussing a popular toy store. It turns out the store is already closed.

The frustrated father decides to look for another place. The tram suddenly breaks down, forcing passengers to walk through the darkness. A policeman at the intersection advises against walking along Hart Street due to the dense fog. The man wanders through the deserted alleys of the Carpetbagger District. His eye catches a ridiculous poster with a crude drawing of a dancing jester. The advertisement leads to the dead-end alley of Fair Alley, where Mr. Goodwin’s shop is located, open seven days a week.

The establishment is darkened by darkness. A strange man in a cocked hat and an old harlequin mask stands behind the counter. The shopkeeper is behaving in an insolent and rude manner. Mr. Goodwin accuses Jonathan of buying gifts at the last minute. Then the puppeteer suddenly changes his anger to mercy. He carries a large cardboard box from the back room. Jonathan makes a rash purchase and takes the toy home.

Margot’s wife greets her husband with open disapproval. The box is tied with old twine and smells disgustingly damp. Inside is a giant wooden doll. The toy’s name is Baby Cobb. The gift looks utterly frightening. It has a pale wooden face, sharp features, long, articulated fingers, and a mad, indelible grin. The woman openly calls the doll "How creepy." Caleb, however, is completely happy. The boy takes his new friend to his room. The parents go off to rest.

Nightmare in the Children’s Room

Little Cobb waits for the adults to leave. The doll comes to life and begins to speak. The wooden monster tells chilling stories. He describes his life with the Master, the constant punishments and beatings with a whip. The toy boasts of its evil deeds. The monster openly intimidates the child with terrifying ink creatures. Caleb freezes with genuine fear.

The wooden man resorts to outright bullying. He forces the boy up to the attic. The child brings his parents’ old green suitcase. The toy cynically tears the memorable love letters into tiny pieces. Cobb orders the child to bend over and crawl into the tight space of the suitcase. The boy receives a blow to the back with the lid. Then the monster drags out all of Caleb’s favorite toys. The doll mercilessly criticizes them, rejecting teddy bears and wooden soldiers. The creature humiliates the child, hits him painfully with its sharp fingers, and threatens to send him to an insane asylum.

Events take a bloody turn. Little Cobb gropes Caleb’s face with his rough hands. Then he asks him to unbutton his vest. The boy obediently opens a tiny door in his wooden chest. The monster pulls out a real long knife. With one swift motion, the villain cuts off the teddy bear’s head. The wooden man forces the severed part deep into Caleb’s mouth.

The doll promises a brutal, bloody spectacle. Baby Cobb coldly presses a blade to the child’s cheek. He methodically slices off the living boy’s face. The creature intends to stretch the fresh, bloody skin over its own head. Baby Cobb decides to completely steal the identity of his helpless victim.

Fireplace standoff

Margot is sitting on the ground floor. She’s listening intently to the detective audio play "Murder Mystery" on the radio. Strange muffled sounds from above attract her mother’s attention. She grabs a broom from the closet and goes up to the nursery. The room is in complete chaos. Mutilated toys, lined up in battle formations, are scattered everywhere. A figure in pajamas and her father’s old bicorne hat sits in the middle of the room.

The creature slowly turns around. Margot sees her own son’s face, stretched crookedly over a strange wooden head. The edges of the skin are sticking out, blood slowly dripping onto the collar of his pajamas. In his hand, the monster tightly clutches a real, shiny revolver. Margot realizes the full chilling horror of what is happening. The doll is openly threatening to shoot the woman.

The mother decides to play along with the cruel creature. She hides her rising nausea behind feigned sternness. Margot pretends to completely trust the doll. The woman offers to put her fake son to bed. Cobb obediently lies down in bed and demands a fire starter. Margot lights the coals with chemical kindling. Then she sits on the edge of the bed.

The mother sings an old lullaby in a soft voice. The wooden man relaxes and snores loudly. Margot carefully pulls her child’s bloody face off the varnished wooden skull. She leaves the mask on the nightstand, grabs the creature by the collar, and abruptly throws it straight into the blazing fire.

The creature screams frantically. The monster tries to climb out of the chimney. Margot pulls it down with a metal poker. The doll smashes against the iron grate. The intense heat causes the bullets in the revolver’s cylinder to explode with a roar. A bullet painfully burns the woman’s hand. A terrified Jonathan comes running to the rescue. His husband intercepts the poker. Together, they calm the wooden monster forever in the flames. The parents find the mutilated Caleb in the toy chest.

Dr. Doe’s Intervention

The family urgently calls for a surgeon. Dr. Nathaniel Francis Doe arrives through the storm via pneumatic tubes. The grim and cold physician performs a complex, hours-long operation. He reattaches the boy’s severed face. The patient receives the necessary healing vaccines and miraculously survives.

In the morning, the police flatly refuse to investigate the incident. Sergeant Gabena doesn’t believe the story about the living doll and Goodwin’s sinister shop. Constables find no evidence at the address. Mr. Goodwin categorically denies any involvement in the toy trade. Law enforcement officers threaten to charge the parents with cruelly torturing their own son.

Jonathan is losing his mind from frustration and rage. He desperately tries to expose the dollmaker. His father hires a private investigator, Mr. Grimmle. The detective goes to the empty shop and disappears without a trace.

A desperate clerk wanders the foggy streets of the city. Chestnut Street is plunged into a lingering, mournful silence. Neighbors fearfully avoid the Morton house. Caleb slowly recovers physically. The child’s psychological state remains catastrophic. He hides from the world, stutters severely, suffers from nightmares, and finally becomes completely silent.

The Return of the Puppeteer

In the schoolyard, Caleb sits on a swing, completely alone. A tall man in a bicorne hat and harlequin mask approaches the metal bars. It’s Mr. Goodwin. The puppeteer engages in a long conversation with the frightened boy. The stern schoolteacher, Mr. Spallwood, frightens the stranger with a stern shout: "Morton!"

At home, the boy goes to bed. In his dreams, he sees different people, constantly changing masks. First, a cold Aunt Geraldine sits on the edge of the bed. Then Dr. Doe appears. Behind the surgeon’s stern mask lies a giant humanoid flea. Waking in a cold sweat, the terrified child calls for his father.

Caleb recounts Goodwin’s words about the nonexistent Ministry of Secret Affairs. The boy precisely quotes the line of the women on the tram: "My Clotilde will be so jealous." Jonathan instantly pieces together all the disparate facts. His father was lured to the shop entirely deliberately. The chain of coincidences, the tram breakdown, and even the delay at work were masterfully planned in advance. The enraged father draws his revolver and runs out into the fog.

Goodwin easily enters the house with the flea monster. The beast obediently runs on a leash. Margo sits by the living room window. She experiences strange dreams and is completely paralyzed. The Puppeteer has remotely paralyzed her mind. The villain, along with his vile pet, ascends unhindered to the defenseless child’s bedroom.

A difficult choice

Three long days pass. Jonathan is dead. The police claim the clerk shot himself with his own revolver on a bench in Elms Park. Margot picks up a huge kitchen knife. She slowly makes her way to her son’s room. The boy stands calmly by the window, dressed in black mourning. He speaks in the raspy, alien voice of Little Cobb.

The creature had completely taken over the child’s mind and body. Goodwin had completed a cruel mystical experiment. The puppeteer was searching for an effective way to give the wooden monster a real, living mother. The evil will within the boy calmly dictates the woman’s terms. Margot can take the life of her child and die herself. Or she must resign herself and accept the new rules of this terrifying game.

The doll solemnly promises to occasionally let the real Caleb out. The fake son swears his sincere filial love. The grief-stricken woman’s will rapidly fades. At that moment, the real Margot Morton dies deep within. The mother places a sharp knife on the bedside table. She obediently ties the boy’s tie. Together, they leave the nursery.