David Wright O'Brien
Rats in the Belfry
"Rats in the Belfry" by John York Cabot is a speculative fiction story written in the early 1940s. The narrative follows an eccentric suburbanite named George B. Stoddard, who designs an architecturally bizarre home filled with oddities and quirks. The plot revolves around the house’s strange occurrences, particularly the sensation of hearing rats, leading to a bizarre discovery that intertwines the ordinary with the extraordinary. The story follows Stoddard and an exasperated contractor, Mr. Kermit, as they navigate the challenges of building the Stoddard's dream home. As the couple moves in, they are troubled by strange noises that they initially believe to be rats. However, their investigation leads them to uncover a portal in the belfry that connects them to a past moment in history, specifically involving Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering. Presented with this unique opportunity, Stoddard proposes a radical plan to take action against these historical figures, leading to an unexpected climax that intertwines themes of time travel, ambition, and the quirkiness of human nature in the pursuit of their dreams.