Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn
Ballantine Books, 1968
Price I paid: 90¢
Eric the Only was anxious to become a man…eager to perform his initiation Theft from the Monster World and be accepted by the elders of his small tribe.
Then the women would notice him…and one woman in particular might begin to take him seriously.
He had learned well the rules of stealing. He had long anticipated his just rewards. He had carefully plotted and schemed. He had minimized all the risks.
But though Eric understood the merciless ways of the Monsters who had long ago driven his people into the wretched burrows, he could not anticipate the treachery of men.
Suddenly―without warning―the best laid plans of Eric the Only went violently astray.
Schlock Value 