“Beyond the Door” August 1952

Larry finally gives his wife the cuckoo clock she has always wanted, then announces that he got it wholesale and would not have been able to afford it otherwise. Doris loves the clock and the cuckoo, who pops out to see her more than is strictly necessary from a time-telling point of view. The cuckoo does not like Larry. Doris tries to show the clock to her “friend” Bob, but Larry arrives home unexpectedly. Realizing there are two “cuckoos” in the house, he throws Doris and Bob out, but keeps the clock. Finally, angry that the cuckoo consistently refuses to show itself, Larry comes at it with a hammer. The cuckoo launches itself out into Larry’s eyeball. His body is found and his death ruled accidental by the doctor, but Bob suspects otherwise.