Mystery Solved! The Davenport

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Quite a while back, I posted about a short story I had read as a child but couldn't remember the title or author. It was about a man-eating couch. It bothered me that I couldn't remember it.

Then I discovered this group on LibraryThing: Name That Book. The members of this group help people find the titles of books they remember reading but have forgotten that piece of information. I figured I had nothing to lose so why not throw "Couch that Eats Detective" out there and see what happens. Surprisingly, I got several replies in just a few days.

Most of them were not what I was looking for. They were too recent or there was something not right about them. It's amazing how many stories there are about people-eating furniture! Then a member named Tinymouse2 posted a reply that rang all the right bells: The Davenport by Jack Ritchie. It was published in the Young Oxford Book of Nasty Endings in 1997 but, ahem, I was far from a kid that year. It is an old story though so I looked for another earlier collection that might contain it. I found A Chilling Collection by Helen Hoke published in 1979 and my library happened to have it. I put it on hold.

BINGO! That was it. As soon as I started reading it, I knew it was the right story. It was much shorter than I remember it though. Of course, I was a kid, everything was bigger then. I'm so glad I found it. It was fun to read it again.


Do you have a book you'd love to rediscover? If you are a member of LibraryThing, check out Name That Book.


*Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com