Billy Weaver was lured into a seemingly cozy bed and breakfast, only to discover that the landlady had sinister intentions. He became one of her victims, preserved like her other taxidermied animals.
In Roald Dahl’s short story “The Landlady,” Billy Weaver, a young businessman, arrives in Bath and seeks accommodation. He is drawn to a bed and breakfast with a sign that reads “Bed and Breakfast,” and he is greeted by a peculiar, yet seemingly harmless landlady. The house is oddly comforting, with a warm fire and pets—a parrot and a dachshund—sitting quietly in the living room.
As Billy signs the guestbook, he notices that the two other names, Christopher Mulholland and Gregory Temple, seem familiar, but he can’t recall why. The landlady assures him that they are still in the house, which Billy finds odd but doesn’t question further. She serves him tea and they chat, but as the conversation progresses, Billy starts to feel uneasy. The landlady’s knowledge of the previous guests is intimate and detailed, and she makes strange comments about how there’s no need for her guests to leave.
The story’s tension builds as the landlady’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre. She mentions that her pets are stuffed, and Billy realizes that the tea tastes peculiar. It’s implied that the landlady has poisoned him, and as the story ends, it becomes clear that Billy will suffer the same fate as the previous guests—preserved as part of the landlady’s collection, never to leave the bed and breakfast. The story leaves readers with a chilling sense of the landlady’s true nature and the grim fate that awaits young Mr. Weaver.
