Mr. Death and the Redheaded Woman

A Star & Elephant Book

by Helen Eustis

Originally published in the Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 11, 1950 under the title, The Rider on the Pale Horse.

33 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Helen Eustis was an American translator (from French) whose reputation rests on two novels: The Horizontal Man (1946), which received an Edgar, and The Fool Killer (1954). Eustis was born in Cincinnati Ohio and educated at Columbia University New York. She was married to Alfred Young Fisher and later Martin Harris, and worked briefly as a copywriter. She has also written a children's story, Mr Death and the Redheaded Woman. The Fool Killer was made into a horror movie staring Anthony Perkins in a role not unlike that of his Psycho character Norman Bates.

Reviews

[Erin Wolfley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my very favorite books as a child, and is 100% responsible for my healthy outlook on death. I wish it wasn't out of print, because I can't fangirl about it to anyone without making them read my copy first.

[༺Kiki༻ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Death and the Redheaded Woman is a delightful fable set in the Old West. It was originally published as "The Rider on the Pale Horse" in the Feb 11, 1950 edition of The Saturday Evening Post.

After Maude Applegate's own true love is shot playing cards in a saloon, she refuses to let Mister Death have him. She sets out on her daddy's pretty pinto pony to make a deal with Mister Death, but everything changes when she meets her end of the bargain.

"Maude Applegate was so mad she could of cried, but she didn't do no such of a thing, since she was a redheaded woman, and besides, somethin' better come to her mind."

The writing and illustrations (by Reinhard Michl) are wonderful, and it's just as charming as it was the first time I read it.