Looking for short story about a doll's house and a man playing God

January 13, 2013 10:33 PM

Someone recently emailed me trying to track down a short story he remembered reading as a kid (in Johannesburg, 1970). He thought it might be by Roald Dahl. I told him that I'm 99.9% sure it's not by Dahl, just on the basis that I've read everything he ever published. The story sounds interesting though (something about a doll's house and playing God), and I'd like to try to help him track it down if I can. Does it ring a bell for anybody? Plot description follows.

The story is about a man that buys a very elaborate dolls house and becomes obsessed with the house to the point that he starts thinking he is God to the people in the house until he finds a crucifix in the house that has been hidden away. The only other thing I remember about this story that I am trying to track down is at the end of the story after this guy has obliterated the doll’s house he goes outside his own house looks up into the sky and sees a huge boot coming down on him.

posted by web-goddess to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

James Cross, The Doll-House, from Harlan Ellison's Dangerous Visions anthology. Google books result here.
posted by googly at 11:00 PM on January 13, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Yeah, I found that by googling too, but this plot description doesn't sound anything like what the guy described.
posted by web-goddess at 2:45 AM on January 14, 2013

I am reminded of Twilight Zone episodes The Little People and Miniature, but the details are obviously wrong.
posted by catalytics at 4:18 AM on January 14, 2013

There's a sort of thematic similarity to George R.R. Martin's Sandkings, but for one problem that came out in 1979.
posted by dhartung at 6:43 AM on January 14, 2013

I came here to mention Sandkings too.
posted by Mezentian at 6:56 AM on January 14, 2013