Of Rogues, Thirteen — Stephen Donald Huff

Rascals, rapscallions, villains and varlets; all terms of a bygone era intended to describe the guy in the black hat, that perverse character of low virtue and strayed morality who forever ties the distressed damsel to cold, steel rails. Gasp! Within fictional fantasies, they are always guys and damsels, and they must wear black. In reality, we still mostly read about bad ‘guys', but the women tend to fight back now, often with devastating effect. Tonight, the devil laces thigh-high boots over fence-net stockings before taking a turn through town. Be warned and beware â€" listen for sinister whispers skittering through night-bound shadows. Of evil delight in blind infatuation and of criminal disregard for the sanctity of human life; of creepy little dudes, bad boys grown into faultless fathers, and good boys fallen onto hard times; of juvenile delinquents, merciless judgments and capital crimes, and of the occasional hero named ‘grandpa', too; such twisted threads weave life's strange tapestry. Of wicked fetish, here find a fiendish gallery, and of rogues, an unlucky thirteen.