left to them are rotated from family to family, and
they gather reluctantly to watch nonexistent televi-
sion programs because that is what Anthony wants
them to do. Anthony can be dangerous even when
he is trying to help. To please one woman who
misses her dead husband, he animates the body and
has it walk home.
Monstrous though Anthony is, the true terror
comes from the helplessness of the townspeople.
There is quite literally nothing they can do to im-
prove their condition, and Bixby makes it abun-
dantly clear that no one can even attempt to rebel
because they cannot hide their thoughts. There
have been many excellent stories about evil chil-
dren, notably “THE SMALL ASSASSIN” (1946) by
Ray BRADBURY and “Danger! Child at Large!”
(1959) by C. L. Cottrrell, but no other writer has
created a child to rival Bixby’s Anthony.“It’s a Good Life” 179