A Touch of the Creature - Charles Beaumont
Satan sipped at his liquor and scrooged up his face. “This here is a highly unusual conversation,” says he. “Hmm. You want ta know what I do with souls, hey? Let’s see now: give me a minute ta study . . . Hmm. You mean, what do I do with—Well, I—That is—Hellfire, what’s in this corn anyways? Danged if I can recomember; though I know well they is some reason.”
Here it is. For me, the companion book to Centipede’s unstoppable Mass for Mixed Voices, though this book was published far in advance of that career retrospective.
Both uncollected and unpublished, the second word especially is a bit of a scare card for me. Unpublished? Why? Was there something wrong with the stories? Were they unfinished? I’ll sometimes pass because of asking myself questions like these. But Mass for Mixed Voices was a collection of the century, and none of these stories are in there. Bottom line is, they’re Charles Beaumont, and that’s enough for me. The fact that the collection is introduced by Richard Matheson, with nothing but kind words, cements the deal.
These stories are a bit different that the Beaumont I’m familiar with, though they’re remarkable tales. Not as much Twilight Zone, but plenty of recognizable life, often dark. There’s some weird here, too, and most exhibit the mastery he was known for: intelligent, lean, dark, sometimes hitting hard or touching deeply—all Beaumont.
I’ve included a full, hidden list of the stories for those who want a brief summary of each, but in a brilliant overall collection, here are my favorites with a little additional commentary:
“Adam’s Off Ox” – A honky-tonk of a story about Billy the traveling salesman hawking his miracle cure-all and a deal with the Devil for him to tell the truth once in his life.
“The Rival” – Tim suspects his wife is having an affair and one day returns home hours earlier than expected. He finds a strange coat in the apartment and confronts his wife, who admits to the affair and that she’s seeing the new beau tonight. Convinced the manly thing to do is to meet his rival, Tim agrees to travel with his wife to the rendezvous in order for him to bring his own relationship with her to a close.
“A Friend of the Family” – Reynolds is on a date with a co-worker when a man from the office invites himself to sit down and attempts to ruin the relationship by speaking at length of Reynolds’ recently deceased wife.
“Moon in Gemini” – Jodi is pregnant, and as she goes about a few daily errands her inner monologue gets her increasingly upset as her worries compound.
“Resurrection Island” – To get a scoop, a Hollywood magazine writer smuggles himself as an extra into the newest mega-blockbuster filming of the industry’s top director’s newest project, where thousands of extras are shipped to the director’s private island for filming, not knowing what to expect.
full story list
Richard Matheson has the introduction and Christopher Beaumont the forward, and I’d recommend skipping both until you’ve read the stories. Christopher Beaumont’s piece doesn’t discuss the stories at all, but is particularly moving after you’ve seen what all of the hullabaloo with this writer is about. And you’ll see it, it’s here. Not so much in horror or even speculative fiction this time, but in perception and humanity, and in the skill with which we’re examined.
High marks again, some stories being the highest, to you, Mr. Charles Beaumont. I am deeply saddened to have finished the book, as I was with your retrospective collection. You died far too young and the world was deprived of a truly special writer. I miss you; I wish I would have met you. We all miss you, even if we don’t know it.
“It’s like winning twenty hands of poker and then losing fifteen. I don’t know why, but you’re never happy about the twenty you won.”
4 stars
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Satan sipped at his liquor and scrooged up his face. “This here is a highly unusual conversation,” says he. “Hmm. You want ta know what I do with souls, hey? Let’s see now: give me a minute ta study . . . Hmm. You mean, what do I do with—Well, I—That is—Hellfire, what’s in this corn anyways? Danged if I can recomember; though I know well they is some reason.”
Here it is. For me, the companion book to Centipede’s unstoppable Mass for Mixed Voices, though this book was published far in advance of that career retrospective.
Both uncollected and unpublished, the second word especially is a bit of a scare card for me. Unpublished? Why? Was there something wrong with the stories? Were they unfinished? I’ll sometimes pass because of asking myself questions like these. But Mass for Mixed Voices was a collection of the century, and none of these stories are in there. Bottom line is, they’re Charles Beaumont, and that’s enough for me. The fact that the collection is introduced by Richard Matheson, with nothing but kind words, cements the deal.
These stories are a bit different that the Beaumont I’m familiar with, though they’re remarkable tales. Not as much Twilight Zone, but plenty of recognizable life, often dark. There’s some weird here, too, and most exhibit the mastery he was known for: intelligent, lean, dark, sometimes hitting hard or touching deeply—all Beaumont.
I’ve included a full, hidden list of the stories for those who want a brief summary of each, but in a brilliant overall collection, here are my favorites with a little additional commentary:
“Adam’s Off Ox” – A honky-tonk of a story about Billy the traveling salesman hawking his miracle cure-all and a deal with the Devil for him to tell the truth once in his life.
Joe Lansdale may have risen from the ashes of stories such as these. Fast-paced, fantastically told in the vernacular, and in a somewhat rip-roaring style that Mr. Lansdale would go on to perfect.
“The Rival” – Tim suspects his wife is having an affair and one day returns home hours earlier than expected. He finds a strange coat in the apartment and confronts his wife, who admits to the affair and that she’s seeing the new beau tonight. Convinced the manly thing to do is to meet his rival, Tim agrees to travel with his wife to the rendezvous in order for him to bring his own relationship with her to a close.
Though this one does require some additional suspension of disbelief, I’m surprised “The Rival” was never published. A very strong story, it’s got a lot of heart and is one of my favorites here.
“A Friend of the Family” – Reynolds is on a date with a co-worker when a man from the office invites himself to sit down and attempts to ruin the relationship by speaking at length of Reynolds’ recently deceased wife.
This is a beautiful story of life and death, and my favorite in the collection. With stories like this it doesn’t matter whether or not they’re fiction. They are true, and I defy you not to be moved. If you can get your hands on this book or this story, read it, and then advise your friends and family to do the same. You will have made the world a little bit better if you do.
“Moon in Gemini” – Jodi is pregnant, and as she goes about a few daily errands her inner monologue gets her increasingly upset as her worries compound.
This one doesn’t quite have the sparkle of some of the other stories contained here, but it contains something else: a ridiculously strong character study.
“Resurrection Island” – To get a scoop, a Hollywood magazine writer smuggles himself as an extra into the newest mega-blockbuster filming of the industry’s top director’s newest project, where thousands of extras are shipped to the director’s private island for filming, not knowing what to expect.
Another fantastic entry, this one’s packed with lean muscle and stark imagery and is an epic showing despite being a short story.
full story list
Spoiler!
Richard Matheson has the introduction and Christopher Beaumont the forward, and I’d recommend skipping both until you’ve read the stories. Christopher Beaumont’s piece doesn’t discuss the stories at all, but is particularly moving after you’ve seen what all of the hullabaloo with this writer is about. And you’ll see it, it’s here. Not so much in horror or even speculative fiction this time, but in perception and humanity, and in the skill with which we’re examined.
High marks again, some stories being the highest, to you, Mr. Charles Beaumont. I am deeply saddened to have finished the book, as I was with your retrospective collection. You died far too young and the world was deprived of a truly special writer. I miss you; I wish I would have met you. We all miss you, even if we don’t know it.
“It’s like winning twenty hands of poker and then losing fifteen. I don’t know why, but you’re never happy about the twenty you won.”
4 stars
SAM_5443.jpg
SAM_5410.jpg
SAM_5421.jpg
SAM_5423.jpg
SAM_5414.jpg
SAM_5434.jpg
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