Born of Man and Woman by Richard Matheson

Welcome to the macabre and bizzaro world of Richard Matheson.

First off, how cool is this cover art? The Penguin Classics really know how to do it right. 

Born of Man and Woman is the first story to appear in this collection of Ricard Matheson short stories. Incredibly dark and disturbing, the reader is presented with a series of fragmented diary entries by an unnamed narrator being tortured and locked up in a basement by his abusive parents. Think "Flowers of Algernon" if it was a horror revenge story. The first-person narrative view brings the reader directly into the mindset of our psychologically wounded storyteller. The stream-of-consciousness, spelling mistakes and bad grammar effectively captures the interior thoughts of a developmentally challenged individual. For instance, his mother is verbally abusive and calls him "reteched" but he does not understand the meaning. He is a prisoner, chained up and completely void of any human contact other than his cruel parents who come downstairs to beat him or hurl insults. 

We get the sense that he might be physically deformed or abnormal in some way but such details are never made clear. Due the narrator's limited point of view, the story is full of ambiguity and the reader must fill in the blanks. His only glimpse of the outside world is a small window in the basement and his observations are akin to a child's imagination. His innocence and resilient nature makes him sympathetic, inviting the reader to root for his escape and enact revenge on the cruel parents. Whether you are an optimist or a cynic, the ending is purposefully ambiguous. Since this story is only a few pages long, this is a very quick read and totally engrossing from start to finish.