A famous short story is “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates. This stunning story describes how the seemingly perfect girl, Connie, is terrorized by the most abnormal man, Arnold Friend. Some would argue that he is the devil. Any argument that Arnold Friend is Satan can be used to say he is nothing more than a psychotic serial killer. While this prospect is horrific, it is considerably less disturbing …showed first 75 words of 1099 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1099 total…Ellie keep to yourself, this ain’t your date-right?”(375), he thinks Connie is his date. The fact that Ellie knows what to do regarding the phones implies that they are not new to this sort of thing. Speculations could also be made that the numbers on his car refer to other victims. While all of this is supremely chilling it is not otherworldly. Arnold Friend is a creep, a stalker, a maniac but not supernatural.