The Process Is a Process All Its Own
By Peter Straub, first published in Conjunctions
A serial killer that smells people’s words gets more than he bargained for with his latest target.
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Plot Summary
A man named Tillman Hayward (Tilly) experiences smells differently from other people; to him, bubbles, blood, even words have smells that tell the story of their origin. “Positive” words often have the worst smells because of their fake meanings. Tilly oversees his father-in-law’s properties and often travels to Milwaukee in search of new acquisitions, which is where his second, more insidious “job” takes place. There, he hunts for girls to be the newest victim in a series of murders that have dubbed him the “Ladykiller”. On his latest trip to Milwaukee, he actually intended to buy a property, but instead found himself captivated with a girl he sees walking into a library. He becomes convinced that he has to have her and follows her inside, but can’t find her anywhere. Tilly returns to his brother’s house where he’s staying and debates just returning home, but decides to try his luck and go out on the hunt one last time. At a bar, he finds the girl again, whose name is Lori Terry. She can make her words smell amazing, which is a rare skill and only draws Tilly in further. He takes her out to his warehouse in the suburbs, and although she initially expresses some concern about the sketchy conditions, she ultimately agrees to go inside. It’s only when she’s trapped in his basement that she realizes he’s the Ladykiller, and she begins berating him about how sad and disgusting his life is. Even her ugly words smell amazing, and Tilly is impressed that she can keep her composure in the face of death. She finds his favorite knife in one of the drawers and threatens him with it. Lori manages to slice his stomach open with the knife, which enrages him so much that he knocks her to the floor and slices her throat so brutally that he almost decapitates her. After she dies, Tilly goes through his usual ritual of necrophilia and dismemberment, and then takes her body away to arrange it in the streets of Milwaukee. He then walks away to begin his process anew.