The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories by Charles Beaumont

The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories Reviews

• 
  RJ - Slayer of Trolls

  Charles Beaumont, one of the main writers behind the success of the original Twilight Zone TV series, passed away at a young age due to early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. He left behind a wealth of short stories showing his wide range of interest and ability, not to mention a surprising maturity in theme and style for his tender age. This out of print and difficult to find collection contains some of his best pieces. As usual, the list of stories and ratings are below, along with some song lyrics that may be amusing or insightful or clever, or not.
  
  Miss Gentilbelle - 4/5 - I'm a boy, I'm a boy, but if I say I am I get it
  The Last Caper - 3/5 - you know he knows just exactly what the facts is
  The New People - 5/5 - can this still be real or some crazy dream?
  The Vanishing American - 3/5 - now they can't see me any more
  The Monster Show - 3/5 - you're face to face with the man who sold the world
  The Magic Man - 4/5 - try, try, try to understand
  A Classic Affair - 4/5 - well I'm not braggin' babe so don't put me down
  The Hunger - 2/5 - you think I'm a fool or maybe some kind of lunatic
  Black Country - 3/5 - you feel alright when you hear the music ring
  The Love-Master - 4/5 - you must be sure that the girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina
  The Dark Music - 3/5 - darkness wakes and stirs imagination
  Fair Lady - 3/5 - another one rides the bus
  Perchance to Dream - 4/5 - we're off to never-never land
  The Crooked Man - 4/5 - be yourself, no matter what they say
  Open House - 3/5 - I used to love her, but I had to kill her
  Last Rites - 3/5 - would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?
  The Murderers - 3/5 - life ain't for you and we're the cure
  A Death in the Country (The Deadly Will to Win) - 3/5 - at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
• 
  Wally Flangers

  “The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories” is a short story anthology that was published in 1965. Nine of these stories were previously published in “The Hunger and Other Stories” (1957), six of them were from “Night Ride and Other Journeys” (1960), and three of them were from “Yonder” (1958).
  
  As with all my short story collection reviews, I rate each story individually and then calculate the average rating as the total rating for the book. But, I warn you…. Some of the reviews of each individual story includes a brief synopsis, which may or may not include a SPOILER. I write my short story reviews this way for future reference to remind me of which ones are worth the time re-reading and which ones are not. Although I do not ruin a good story by announcing any significant spoiler….. If you happen to come across one, it will be in a story that I hated and never intend on reading again. But, you can avoid potentially stumbling across a spoiler by skipping to the very bottom of the review, where it says “FINAL VERDICT”. That is where my overall review for “The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories” is listed. The stories within the book include;
  
  MISS GENTILBELLE – Although this story was first introduced in this collection, it can also be found in “Charles Beaumont Selected Stories”. It is about an insane mother of a young boy, whose confused about his gender because she has told him he is a female throughout his entire life. Instead of calling him Robert, she refers to him as Roberta and makes him wear little dresses…. When it comes to disciplinary action, the mother is stellar! Instead of giving him the ol’ spanking or taking his toys away, she chooses to murder his pets – right in front of him. Naturally, over time this behavior messes with the boys mental state of mind and he decides to get some payback. I thought this story was great and even fits in well with today’s horror.
  
  THE LAST CAPER – This story was published in 1954 and is a science-fiction, cat and mouse game of find the “Chocolate Maltese Falcon”. A man named Bartholomew Cornblossom is after it and so is everyone else, including Martians! But, Bart is closer to the Maltese than he thinks…. This story was a fun read.
  
  THE NEW PEOPLE – This story was published in 1958 and is about a couple who move into a new house in a new town and are introduced to friendly folks in the neighborhood who are interested in two things; sex and murder. This was a fun story and one of my favorites, due to the dark mood setting and disturbing ending. I highly recommend this one to fans of the horror genre. Laymon and King fans will really enjoy this one.
  
  THE VANISHING AMERICAN – This story was published in a 1955. It is about a dude who realizes he is disappearing when he stops getting responses or reactions out of people he passes on the street or meets in an elevator. It was very short, but a fun read with a good ending.
  
  THE MONSTER SHOW – This story was published in 1956 in “Playboy” magazine. In this one, the reader is introduced to a show put on to entertain a different kind of crowd…. It has a game show type of feel to it with bright lights and a loud introductory speaker and ends unexpectedly. This story was only about five pages, but it was one that I was not fond of.
  
  THE MAGIC MAN – This story was published in 1960 in “Night Ride and Other Journeys” and is about a magician, awed by his audience for his mystifying magic, who ends up dissipating his aurora by his own hand. Although Stephen King is a big fan of this story, I just thought it was ok. It had its moments, but I wouldn’t rank it among the best stories in the collection…. I never put a lot of stock in King’s recommendations anyway. A lot of short stories and books he praises and say “scared the shit out of me” end up just being mediocre in my eyes.
  
  A CLASSIC AFFAIR – This story was published in 1955 in “Playboy” magazine and is a story told in a first-person narrative. Dave, the narrator, has a long-time friend named Hank Osterman.… Ruth, Hank’s wife, suspects that he is having an affair and asks Dave to confirm this suspicion. While investigating Dave discovers that Hank is, in fact, up to something…. But, not what Ruth thinks. This was a great story with an ambiguous ending. There are many directions this ending could have gone in. Beaumont settled on simplicity.
  
  THE HUNGER – This story was published in “Playboy” magazine in 1955. It’s about a sexually inexperienced chick named Julia who is on the prowl for a mass murderer on the loose and believed to be lurking around the surrounding areas. This was another classic Beaumont story and also ambiguous. I can see why a lot of people consider this one to be among the best in the anthology. I would definitely recommend reading this one.
  
  BLACK COUNTRY – This story was published in 1954 and was the first short story ever to be featured in “Playboy” magazine. It’s about a cancer stricken jazz musician who has taken his own life, but leaves something behind. This was one of my least favorite stories in the anthology. I do not plan to ever revisit this one.
  
  THE LOVE MASTER – This story was published in 1957 in “Rogue” magazine and is about a man named Salvadori, also known by the town folk as “the love master”…. For a price, Salvadori is trying to help a man named Mr. Cubbison make his wife, Beatrice, love him again and Mr. Cubbison believes he is just the man to do it. Unfortunately, Salvadori’s methods (or spells) are not working on Beatrice and he can’t understand why…. The love master does not make house calls, but chooses to make an exception in this case and lives to regret it. Although I had an idea where this story was headed, it was still an enjoyable read.
  
  THE DARK MUSIC – This story was published in 1956 and is about a prudish school teacher who hears hypnotic music at night which makes her do things she wouldn’t normally do. This story was surprisingly entertaining but I wasn’t overly fond of the ending.
  
  FAIR LADY – Although this story was first introduced in this collection, it’s another one that can also be found in “Charles Beaumont Selected Stories”. This story is almost too short to rate. It’s a cute story about an old woman desperate for love.
  
  PERCHANCE TO DREAM – This story was published in 1958 and was adapted for “The Twilight Zone”. While visiting a psychiatrist, Philip Hall reveals he hasn’t slept for 72 hours due to a sudden fear of dying and explains the details of his recent dreams that led him to this strong intuition. This was one of my favorite stories in the anthology and contains a classic Beaumont twist at the end.
  
  THE CROOKED MAN – This story was published in 1955 in “Playboy” magazine and is about a heterosexual couple living in some sort of alternative universe where hetero’s are the queers and targeted for extinction. Given the publishing dates, I can only assume “The Crooked Man” was the inspiration behind Ron Serling’s screenplay of “Eye of the Beholder”, but I cannot confirm this. It was a great story though and I highly recommend it.
  
  OPEN HOUSE – Another one that was previously unpublished…. Eddie Pierce has committed a heinous crime and his alcoholic buddies show up plastered at his apartment shortly after it takes place and ignore Eddie’s pleas to scram so he can get some sleep. This is a good story for you nosey people who can’t take a hint (or refuse to listen). I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense this story delivers.
  
  LAST RITES – This story was published in 1955 and is about a guy named George Donovan who is on his death bed and wants his priest and only friend, Father Courtney, by his side to ask him a very important question about the afterlife and his beliefs. Although this story was good and fitting for the time, it is definitely dated and very predictable.
  
  THE MURDERERS – This story was published in “Esquire” magazine in 1955 and is about a couple of mentally deranged alcoholics who are bored one evening and decide it would be fun to kill another human being. They come across an old, homeless dude and invite him back to their apartment to fulfill their agreed arrangement but a slight delay results in an unexpected change of events. This was an interesting story. I certainly underestimated the homeless man and realized I forgot one undeniable truth…. Just because you are homeless, does not mean you are stupid. Homeless people are survivors first…. honest and law abiding citizens second.
  
  A DEATH IN THE COUNTRY / THE DEADLY WILL TO WIN – This story was published in 1957 and is about an unemployed and weathered 48 year-old stock car racer named Buck Larsen. Buck travels across the country in his old Chevy in search of car races as a means of financial survival. He relies heavily on placing high enough in the race results to award him some of the prize money to keep his belly full and float him until the next race…. I have zero interest in car racing (or even cars in general), but this one was entertaining. The ending was fairly predictable, yet still effective.
  
  FINAL VERDICT: I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. There are some great stories printed in “The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories” with some unexpected twists in some cases. This short story collection is a must read for any “Twilight Zone” fan.
• 
  Jim Reddy

  Charles Beaumont was an American author of short stories and novels, as well as scripts for television and movies. He wrote a number of classic Twilight Zone episodes and his novel The Intruder was adapted into a film starring William Shatner in 1962. Unfortunately Beaumont passed away at the age of 38.
  
  The stories from this collection were chosen from three earlier collections. The stories are a mix of dark suspense with some science-fiction. I enjoyed them. Many of the stories definitely have a Twilight Zone like feel. If you like dark stories or stories with dark humor you’ll probably like them too.
  
  There’s a foreword by Ray Bradbury and an afterword by Richard Matheson. Bradbury was mentor to both Matheson and Beaumont, and Matheson and Beaumont were friends.
  
  Miss Gentilbelle (5/5)
  The Last Caper (3/5)
  The New People (4/5)
  The Vanishing American (4/5)
  The Monster Show (3.5/5)
  The Magic Man (3/5)
  A Classic Affair (3/5)
  The Hunger (4/5)
  Black Country (2.5/5)
  The Love Master (3/5)
  The Dark Music (5/5)
  Fair Lady (3/5)
  Perchance to Dream (4/5)
  The Crooked Man (4/5)
  Open House (4/5)
  Last Rites (4/5)
  The Murderers (4/5)
  A Death in the Country (4/5)
• 
  Debra

  Stephen King recommended the story "The Magic Man." Noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from
  Danse Macabre, published in 1981.