"Allal" is a short story written by American writer, composer, and world traveler Paul Bowles. This story was first published in Rolling Stone Magazine on January 27, 1977 and since has been included in many compilation short story books. "Allal" is about an outcast boy and his fascination with a pet snake that eventually leads to his very unusual death. This short story contains many Gothic Fiction themes such as loneliness, human attraction to one's own atavistic natures and the uncanny.