- Hardcover: 198 pages
- Publisher: Subterranean (February 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1892284456
- ISBN-13: 978-1892284457
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 626 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
While Beaumont may be best remembered for his contributions to The Twilight Zone, he also produced a considerable number of short stores that crossed a spectrum of genres, from horror and dark fantasy to more traditional noir and mystery fiction. Twelve of the 13 stories in this collection have never been published before. "Adam's Off Ox" is a folksy tall tale combining a deal-with-the-devil plot with a surprising take on the origin of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. In "The Junemoon Spoon," the citizens of a small country town collude to take revenge on a sleazy traveling salesman. With "A Long Way from Capri," "Lachrymosa," "The Rival" and "A Friend of the Family," Beaumont uses romantic twist endings to heal his characters' wounded hearts. "Time and Again" and "The Indian Piper" are also gentle stories of healing, though without the romance. In "Moon in Gemini," a young woman's fears for her unborn baby rapidly turn to dangerous paranoia, while "Resurrection Island" will appeal to fans of pulp adventure. Although no dates are given to any of these stories, all betray their age with their old-fashioned sensibility. Fans of Beaumont's writing are sure to enjoy this collection, however. Introduction by Christopher Beaumont and afterword by Richard Matheson not seen by PW.
Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Final Treasures from a Twilight Zoner,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Touch of the Creature: Unpublished Stories (Hardcover)
The question that will immediately come to the minds of many Charles Beaumont fans regarding this new collection of thirteen previously-unseen stories is: What could possibly be left to publish? The author, best remembered for his outstanding teleplays for "The Twilight Zone," passed away over thirty years ago; and two earlier retrospectives--"Best of Beaumont" and "The Holwing Man" (a.k.a. "Selected Stories")--contained a total of eight unpublished (and uneven) tales between them. The happy news here is that, indeed, there are good pieces still remaining, and Subterranean (in full cooperation with Beaumont's son Christopher) has found several to include in "A Touch of the Creature."The best among these is certainly "Adam's Off Ox," a charming backwoods deal-with-the-Devil tale written in an amusing country vernacular. Here is Beaumont's Devil: "He was a study, let me tell you. A big man it was, standin there laughin at Billy Spiker--big and ornry looking and by no stretch of the imagination just exactly right. For one thing, he didn't have no hair on his whole body, and you could say this for a fact because the old vulgarian was naked as a jaybird, without even nothin to cover his modesty! Head slicker'n a bean and flatter on top than two pancakes...When he smiled, you could see his sharp pointy little teeth set in a row, and his bitty eyes, like a fish's eyes, ony a deep bright bloody red." There are at least three other very good stories in the book as well: "The Indian Piper," a strange and beautiful tale of a would-be criminal's redemption; "The Junemoon Spoon," more backwoods fun with a marvelous sting-in-the-tail at the end; and "Mr. Underhill," an ambiguous, unsettling offering which might have made an excellent "Twilight Zone." Along with a couple of near-misses--the interesting but overwrought "Resurrection Island" and "Fallen Star," which appears to be unfinished--there is enough quality material here to make the book worthwhile. Alas, it must also be reported that about half the works in "A Touch of the Creature" are weak, uninspired efforts which will do Beaumont's reputation no good at all. Worst are four stories ("A Long Way From Capri," "Lachrymosa," "The Rival," and "A Friend of the Family") seemingly written for the women's magazine market of the 1950s--hackneyed, half-baked "relationship" tales with substandard characterization and pat, formulaic happy endings. Utterly without individuality or style, it is difficult to imagine Charles Beaumont having written them at all. Yet lovers of Beaumont's work will feel nothing but gratitude to Subterranean Press for publishing "A Touch of the Creature." The reader unfamiliar with Beaumont should certainly not start here--"Best of Beaumont" or "The Howling Man" would be much more appropriate--but longtime fans will be surprised and delighted by the best of what this new volume offers. It is a tribute to the depth of Beaumont's genius that, more than three decades after his death, he still has a few wonderful tales left to tell.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Final Treasures from a Twilight Zoner,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Touch of the Creature: Unpublished Stories (Hardcover)
The question that will immediately come to the minds of many Charles Beaumont fans regarding this new collection of thirteen previously-unseen stories is: What could possibly be left to publish? The author, best remembered for his outstanding teleplays for "The Twilight Zone," passed away over thirty years ago; and two earlier retrospectives--"Best of Beaumont" and "The Holwing Man" (a.k.a. "Selected Stories")--contained a total of eight unpublished (and uneven) tales between them. The happy news here is that, indeed, there are good pieces still remaining, and Subterranean (in full cooperation with Beaumont's son Christopher) has found several to include in "A Touch of the Creature."The best among these is certainly "Adam's Off Ox," a charming backwoods deal-with-the-Devil tale written in an amusing country vernacular. Here is Beaumont's Devil: "He was a study, let me tell you. A big man it was, standin there laughin at Billy Spiker--big and ornry looking and by no stretch of the imagination just exactly right. For one thing, he didn't have no hair on his whole body, and you could say this for a fact because the old vulgarian was naked as a jaybird, without even nothin to cover his modesty! Head slicker'n a bean and flatter on top than two pancakes...When he smiled, you could see his sharp pointy little teeth set in a row, and his bitty eyes, like a fish's eyes, ony a deep bright bloody red." There are at least three other very good stories in the book as well: "The Indian Piper," a strange and beautiful tale of a would-be criminal's redemption; "The Junemoon Spoon," more backwoods fun with a marvelous sting-in-the-tail at the end; and "Mr. Underhill," an ambiguous, unsettling offering which might have made an excellent "Twilight Zone." Along with a couple of near-misses--the interesting but overwrought "Resurrection Island" and "Fallen Star," which appears to be unfinished--there is enough quality material here to make the book worthwhile. Alas, it must also be reported that about half the works in "A Touch of the Creature" are weak, uninspired efforts which will do Beaumont's reputation no good at all. Worst are four stories ("A Long Way From Capri," "Lachrymosa," "The Rival," and "A Friend of the Family") seemingly written for the women's magazine market of the 1950s--hackneyed, half-baked "relationship" tales with substandard characterization and pat, formulaic happy endings. Utterly without individuality or style, it is difficult to imagine Charles Beaumont having written them at all. Yet lovers of Beaumont's work will feel nothing but gratitude to Subterranean Press for publishing "A Touch of the Creature." The reader unfamiliar with Beaumont should certainly not start here--"Best of Beaumont" or "The Howling Man" would be much more appropriate--but longtime fans will be surprised and delighted by the best of what this new volume offers. It is a tribute to the depth of Beaumont's genius that, more than three decades after his death, he still has a few wonderful tales left to tell. |
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