"Hand Shadows To Be Thrown Upon The Wall"

From gutenberg.org.

Henry Bursill's introduction has a slightly plaintive note:  'But by what pains they were invented can never be revealed; for it is known to my tortured digits alone, and they, luckily for me, are dumb...  my left little finger thrills at the memory of "Grandpapa".'

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From "A Christmas Story":  insensate evil, a nameless rabble of victims, a tapestry of obscenity.