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So i came up with a Invasion of the body snatchers esk encounter where the PCs come across a town were nearly every NPC has been replaced by a changling and nearly everything has been replaced by a Mimic. The NPCs will act oddly to the players, sweeping the dirt road for example or eating plates (Things that could almost pass for socially acceptable). If the players choose to stay the night they will find themselves completely surrounded by Mimics and have to fight their way out, and any items they have bought will attack them (as they are also mimics).

Am i sadist for thinking this up?

So i recently started a new campaign and things were going OK. The party got the first quest (deal with some kobolds)but things got a little weird after that. Everyone except the ranger wanted to shop a bit in town and the ranger left to go deal with the Kobolds. Fine. He should be able to deal with 3 them by himself. Turns out he rolls crappy, and I roll really well. i hit him for 5 with one and the Other crits. I decide at the last minuet that the koblold hits him with the flat of his sword to cause non lethal damage. But should i have killed him? the Player was clearly about to die because of something he did. I just felt like a bully killing him during the first session. What would you have done?

I've tried using the CR system however i feel it either creates extremely easy encounters or nearly impossible encounters. If I just tailor each encounter ignoring CR i can usually gauge it correctly. I'm just curious how other DM's make balanced encounters.