"The Blue Air Compressor" is a short story originally published in the January 1971 issue of Onan Magazine, and later reprinted, after revision, in the July 1981 issue of Heavy Metal.

PlotEdit

The story concerns author Gerald Nately, who writes a short story about his friend's morbidly obese wife, Mrs. Leighton. When she finds the story and mocks it, Nately shoves the nozzle of an air compressor into her mouth and overinflates her, causing her to explode. Her remains are buried under the tool shed, and Gerald flees to the Near East after retitling his story "the Blue Air Compressor."

Gerald's crime is never discovered, but he eventually beheads himself with a guillotine.