Charles Beaumont – The Howling Man Edited by Roger Anker (Tor Books, 1992, 572 p.,Original 1988 as Charles Beamont: Selected Stories, Dark Harvest)
Beaumonts talent also helped bring to lift such cinematic terrors as "The Premature Burial" and "The Masque of the Red Death". As a writer of short stories, his contribution to the landscape of our nightmares is unequalled.
THE HOWLING MAN is the definite collection of Beaumont's most haunting work. Here are the classics – "The Hunger", "Miss Gentilbelle", "Free Dirt" – along with five never before published stories. THE HOWLING MAN features introductions by
Robert Bloch Dennis Etchison
Ray Bradbury Harlan Ellison
Roger Corman Richard Matheson
And many other masters of horror and dark fantasy. They offer illuminating tributes to Beaumont – as a friend, a colleague, and a man whose dark magic left an indelible stamp on modern horror fiction, and on their own imaginations.Content:
Introduction - by Roger Anker
Preface - by Christopher Beaumont
Introduction to "Miss Gentilbelle" - Ray Bradbury
Miss Gentilbelle - (1957)
Introduction to "The Vanishing American" - by John Tomerlin
The Vanishing American - (1955)
Place of Meeting - (1953)
Introduction to "The Devil, You Say?" - by Howard Browne
The Devil, You Say? - (1951)
Introduction to "Free Dirt" - by Dennis Etchison
Free Dirt - (1955)
Song for a Lady - (1960)
Introduction to "Last Rites" - (1988)
Last Rites - (1955)
Introduction to "The Howling Man" - by Harlan Ellison
The Howling Man - (1959)
The Dark Music - (1956)
Introduction to "The Magic Man" - by Charles E. Fritch
The Magic Man - (1960)
Introduction to "Fair Lady" - by George Clayton Johnson
Fair Lady - (1957)
A Point of Honor - (1955)
Introduction to "The Hunger" - by Richard Christian Matheson
The Hunger - (1955)
Introduction to "Black Country" - essay by Ray Russell
Black Country - (1954)
Introduction to "Gentlemen, Be Seated" - by Frank M. Robinson
Gentlemen, Be Seated - (1960)
The Jungle - (1954)
Introduction to "The New People" - by Saul David
The New People - (1958)
Perchance to Dream - (1958)
Introduction to "The Crooked Man" - by Robert Bloch
The Crooked Man - (1955)
Blood Brother - (1961)
Introduction to "A Death in the Country" - by William F. Nolan
A Death in the Country - (1957)
The Music of the Yellow Brass - (1959)
Night Ride - (1957)
Introduction to "The Intruder" - by Roger Corman
The Intruder (Chapter 10) (Excerpt)
Introduction to "Mourning Song" - by Jerry Sohl
Mourning Song - (1963)
Introduction to Unpublished Stories - by Chad Oliver
Introduction to "To Hell with Claude" - by Chad Oliver
To Hell with Claude - [Claude Adams] - short story by Charles Beaumont and Chad Oliver
Appointment with Eddie
The Crime of Willie Washington
The Man with the Crooked Nose
The Carnival
This is a thick paperback. Charles Beaumont whose real name was Charles Nutt is one of those writers praised to heaven in every article about his work, whose untimely death with 38 in 1967 after Alzheimer left a large gap. Of course everybody who is interested in genre knows the movies he wrote or co-wrote, the in the blurb mentioned Corman movies or the proto Lovecraft movie
The Haunted Palace or
Night of the Eagle, the Leiber movie.
This is a very well done collection, the introductions are the usual celebrations and anecdotes, sometimes a bit gushing and enthusiastic. The introduction by editor Anker is solid. I read only a few of the tales, sometimes I asked myself though what I was missing as I thought them okay but not that brillant. But I guess it is a matter of perspective.
