1925: ‘The Clock’ by Arthur Styron

Hertzsprung-Russell rating: B10^-3

Available in: Weird Tales Volume V, no VI

Synopsis: An old widower (‘Widower? I barely know ‘er!’) has her soul inexplicably bound to an old grandfather clock (of course it’s inexplicably bound; it’d be weird if, like, a doctor looked at her and said ‘Ah! Here’s the problem! Here’s why your soul is bound to this clock.’ and then, like, wrote her a scrip for it) and dies a horrible death when the clock is destroyed by an axe-wielding maniac. It’s all part of a disturbing new clock-destroying trend on TikTok.