SOLVED. MG/ YA Horror. Killer sock monkey owned by a child. Stuffed animal had safety? pins in its hands that it used as claws. Read around 1971-1981. [s]

[Mae]

I remember reading a book decades ago in which a child has a sock monkey that kills people. I remember the following details: The monkey felt heavy when picked up and had pins (I think they were safety pins) in its "hands" that it used as claws. I could be wrong, but I think the monkey drank the blood when it killed people.

I must have read it at least 40 years ago, possibly more, so my memory of the book is fuzzy.

[Kris]

Mae, is this book for teens or adults? Is it a short story in an anthology/collection?

Did the child control the sock monkey?

I added some details to the header/topic title. You can update it by clicking the small "edit" link after the header. This only works on the full Desktop website - not the Mobile website or app. (On the Mobile website, click the "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.)

[Mae]

I don't think the monkey was controlled by the child. In fact, I think it may have attacked the child at one point. I think the child might have been afraid of the monkey from the start and people didn't think he should be. I keep thinking there was an old woman involved. Perhaps a grandmother who gave the toy to the child? I think the child was a little boy.

I don't remember if it was a short story or not. It may have been.

I'm sure I was either a preteen or a teen when I read it, but I don't recall what age the story had been written for. It was around 40 to 50 years ago and I only read it once.

[Paige]

I think you're looking for The Patchwork Monkey by Beverly Butler. Check it out here:
https://www.scaryforkids.com/patchwor...
It was featured in:
Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures

[Mae]

Paige wrote: "I think you're looking for The Patchwork Monkey by Beverly Butler. Check it out here:
https://www.scaryforkids.com/patchwor...
It was featured in:
[book:Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures|178..."

I think you're right! That does look like the story I read. Thank you.

[Paige]

Yay! Glad I could help.

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Mae. One Goodreads reviewer provided a link to a review with screenshots of "The Patchwork Monkey" in Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures by Andre Norton:

Quote:
She picked up the monkey from the pillow. Funny, he was heavier than she had thought. A little bigger, too. ... There in the end of each paw, almost hidden in the seam, was a pin bent like a hook. Some child of years ago must have thought monkeys should have claws and provided this one with them.

[Mae]

Kris wrote: "Glad you found your book, Mae. One Goodreads reviewer provided a link to a review with screenshots of "The Patchwork Monkey" in Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures by [author:Andre No..."

That's most likely why I originally came across this story. I'm a huge fan of Andre Norton. She's one of my all time favorite authors so I would have read anything she was connected to as either author or editor.