The Fool Killer

A young boy named George Mellish, tired of being mistreated by his foster parents, runs away from home and finds himself on a freight train headed east of the Mississippi River. He meets a rough but kindred spirit named Dirty Jim, who tells him about the legendary "Fool Killer," an eight-foot-tall bogeyman. When George falls ill, Dirty Jim takes him to a small town where he meets a young girl named Blessing and her mother, Mrs. Faversham. However, George soon discovers that Mrs. Faversham plans to return him to his foster parents, and he sets out on his own once again. He meets a young Civil War veteran named Milo, who has lost his memory due to a war wound, and together they stumble upon a camp meeting where a fanatic preacher named Reverend Spotts is conducting a revival. During the meeting, George blacks out and wakes up to find the Reverend murdered. He sets out to find Milo and eventually finds a new home with the Dodds, a small-town storekeeper family. However, when he mentions the murder to them, he blurts out that "The Fool Killer" is responsible, and later that night, he sees a shadowy figure at his window, wielding an ax - the infamous Fool Killer.