The Pied Piper of Hamelin

"Out they scampered from doors, windows, and gutters, rats of every size, all after the piper." - The Pied Piper of Hamelin

"The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is the story of a rat catcher hired by the town of Hamlin to lure rats away with his magic pipe. When the Piper fulfills his duty and the citizens refuse to pay for his service, he retaliates by turning his magic on their children, leading them away as he had the rats. The story of the Pied Piper may actually reflect a historical event in which the town of Hamelin lost its children. Theories have been proposed suggesting that the Pied Piper is a symbol of the children's death by plague or catastrophe.

In "Danse Macabre," the bullied teen, Roddy, takes on the symbolic role of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. He decides to get revenge against the people who cast him and his father out of society, focusing on the children that bully him at school. Like the Piper, Roddy has the ability to control rats with his musical talent, though he uses that skill for a different purpose.