Blind Voices

by Tom Reamy

"It was a time of pause, a time between planting and harvest when the air was heavy, humming with its own slow warm music." So begins an extraordinary fantasy of the rural Midwest by a winner of the John W. Campbell, Jr., Award for best young science fiction writer. One summer day in the 1920s, Haverstock's Traveling Curiosus and Wondershow rides into a small Midwestern town. Haverstock's show is a presentation of mysterious wonders: feats of magic, strange creatures, and frightening powers. Three teenage girls attend the opening performance that evening which, for each, promises love and threatens death. The three girls are drawn to the show and its performers-a lusty centaur, Angel the magical albino boy, the rowdy stage hands-but frightened by the enigmatic owner, Haverstock. The girls at first try to dismiss these marvels as trickery, but it becomes all too real, too vivid to be other than nightmare reality. Each feels the force of the show and its power to alter everyday lives: Francine is drawn embarrassingly to the centaur, Rose makes an assignation with one of the hands and gets in trouble, and Evelyn is fascinated by the pathetic, mysterious Angel, The Boy Who Can Fly, and together they plan escape. No stranger or more disturbing vision of the dark side of carnival life has been handled with such grace or conviction since Bradbury's vintage period. With a poet's mastery of language Reamy brings his circus of characters to a startling, fantastic conclusion. ABOUT THE AUTHOR TOM REAMY, at the time of his sudden death, was one of the most popular young writers in the Science Fiction field in recent years. His style is in the fantastic tradition of Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury, and BLIND VOICES, his only novel, demands comparison to such masterpieces as Bradbury's Dandelion Wine or Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Magical Realism, Science Fiction Fantasy

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 1978

About the author

Thomas Earl Reamy was an American science fiction and fantasy author and a key figure in 1960s and 1970s science fiction fandom. He died prior to the publication of his first novel; his work is primarily dark fantasy.

His books include one novel, Blind Voices (published posthumously), and a collection of short stories, San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories. He was the winner of the 1976 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blind Voices is a combination of magical realism and southern gothic.
At the onset of the Great Depression, the circus comes to a sleepy small town…

Hawley, Kansas, dozed under the warm Friday sun. The clock in the high tower of the white rococo courthouse chimed twice, lazily scattering sparrows which immediately settled back again. Old men sat in the courthouse square, on benches under the shade of sycamore trees, telling half-remembered or half-invented stories of better times, whittling sticks away to nothing, pontificating on the government, President Hoover, the Communists, the Anarchists, the Catholics, the Jews, the stock market, and other topics about which they knew little or nothing. They nodded solemnly and spit dark brown globs of tobacco juice on the dry ground, predicting doom in every conceivable form.

The style of the novel reminded me somewhat of Ray Bradbury and it shows also a whiff or two of Malpertuis by Jean Ray.
The creatures in the circus are simply fantastic and unbelievable so everyone enjoys the freak show but the atmosphere of the story slowly thickens and turns macabre.

The Minotaur’s resemblance to the painting on the caravan was only superficial. He was a tall, powerfully muscled man, wearing only a loincloth. He did not have the head of a bull, but had long, bushy hair and horns sprouting from either side of his head. His face was slightly elongated, with only a suggestion of bovine features.

But even in the most sinister situations there is always a place for romance…

He waved his arms like a symphony conductor. The fireflies obeyed every movement, every gesture, swirling and dancing in a fantastic display. Then the expression of wild exuberance left Angel’s face to be replaced by studious concentration. The fireflies ceased their abandoned gyrations and began to coalesce, to take form.

However a foolishly sentimental ending ruined everything for me.
Despite all the progress human mind still remains a mystery… And human soul remains a mystery too.

[mark monday · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes through a Tom Reamy lens. same set-up: sinister carnival comes to a small midwest town, bringing with it magic and soul-searching about identity and a slow-burning, eventually over the top battle of good vs. evil. this is less of a rip-off and much more of a fond homage. I enjoyed it despite the familiarity of the story and overall preference for the Bradbury novel. the author has a lyrical way with words and a very modern sensibility when it comes to sexuality. Reamy also shows a very empathetic perspective when it comes to "difference" - the differences in the protagonists' (three young women) different approaches to life and especially the differences in physical appearance and ability experienced by the carnival's tragic "freaks". the Reamy lens also features a distinctly homoerotic vibe when it comes to describing the male gender (utterly absent when describing young women in the story), which was vaguely pleasant to a queer like myself - but also a bit eyerolling? anyway, this was an evocative, often moving, albeit rather unsurprising book overall. I preferred the author's prior San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories. that was consistently surprising and the breadth of imagination, depth of emotion, and range of styles on display really impressed me. unfortunately, Tom Reamy died before being able to write more. I wonder where his clear talent would have led him.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This marvellous pastoral fiction / fantasy, with it's overtones of supernatural and horror is one that I have been re-re-reading since I was a teen. Despite the fact that I am about word perfect on the events that happen in the little, 1940's (probably) town of Hawley Texas I am still enchanted anew every time I read it.

One still hot summer, just as the first 'talkie' movie is about to show in town a carnival rolls in to the small farming community. From the get go we realise there is something sinister about the carnival with it's advertised 'freaks' of snake women, tiny man Tim, medusa and the mermaid. More than anything else there is something strange and sinister about Havelock, the ringmaster and 'Anger the magic boy' a young beautiful albino who is, or has, something that actually does seem magical.

Our three protagonists are young women who have grown up together in the town. Rose regrets how little the other town are sophisticated but acknowledges that as the judges daughter they are socially her social equals. Francine the doctors only daughter shy a gentle, Evie the daughter of a wealthy farmer - though more than likely to run into the street and start playing 'ball' with the boys.

The writing is gorgeous, the slow creeping sense of dread is fulfilled with spades - subtle spades, but still. This book is so often compared with Ray Bradbury and his Something Wicked This Way Comes and it is a just comparison. To me however, this book is the superiour of the two and it is a crying shame that it is the only novel ever published by this author.

[Paul Dembina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a very long time ago but seem to recall it being quite good.

Probably one of the vaguest reviews you'll see I'm afraid

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/952841.html[return][return]Blind Voices is set in the same fictional Kansas town that forms the background to several of the short stories, but it doesn't really matter for continuity purposes: a travelling freak show comes to town, and brings sex and death in its wake. Some people have described it as Bardburyesque, but I think Reamy actually does better than Bradbury in some respects - in particular, the tone of horror is more gripping where Bradbury sometimes risks becoming twee. The book was apparently not completely finished at Reamy's death, but this was not obvious to me; there's a little unevenness of pacing, but I'd put that down to it being a first novel. Gripping and memorable.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blind Voices was the only novel Reamy completed before his untimely death. It strikes me as something of an homage to Ray Bradbury, with perhaps more of a magic realism or science fiction tone rather than traditional fantasy. It's a very good, moving read, with nicely drawn characters and a well-researched feel of Midwestern life of a century ago.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so sorry to hear when Tom Reamy died. This book is one of the best that I've ever read. It reminded me very much of Ray Bradbury and I think Reamy would have been a natural successor to Bradbury. Excellent work.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Ray Bradbury's work SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES may like this - very reminiscent of his work, but a bit darker. Fans of the show CARNIVALE will also like this.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up from 3.5. This had a strong beginning and an interesting conclusion. Between those two points, it meandered a bit. Somehow, in 190 pages it contained even more 1970s porny sex scenes than in a typical Stephen King.

[Randy Money · Rating 2 out of 5]

About 1/2 a great novel. It starts out well, obviously indebted to Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, but where Bradbury sticks with a supernatural threat, Reamy tries to rationalize his, give it more of a science fictional basis, and for me as a reader it just does not work. The justification slows the story and is clunky compared to the passages where there's still mystery and the characters are interacting while trying to solve that mystery.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read thru this novel last night in a little over an hour. It's a fairly short book, and the story just carried me right along to the finish.

The cover copy* compares Reamy to Ray Bradbury; the first chapter left me feeling as if he were trying too hard to be like Ray, but the style/tone settled down fairly quickly once the story got started.

The style isn't the only comparison: As in Something Wicked This Way Comes - the novel is set in a small Kansas town in the first part of the twentieth century. A bucolic summer is disturbed when a carnival/freak show comes to town.

The ringmaster of this show, Havelock, has much in common with Bradbury's Mr. Dark (as well as Art Binewski of Geek Love); however the protagonists are young women instead of boys. This allows Reamy to deal with sexual aspects of a fascination with the bizarre more explicitly than I think Bradbury ever would or could have. The interaction of these three girls with the members of the carnival trigger disastrous consequences.

The story has some flaws: for example, you never find out what happens to Tim, the tiny man of the show. Some of the small town elements & character development seem a little off, as well. Apparently, Reamy died the autumn before this novel was released - Wiki article ... I wonder if that was part of the reason it was published? It was still a worthwhile read, if probably not a re-read.

* which mis-identifies one of the freak show members as a centaur instead of a minotaur... sheesh

Notes & Quotes

"It was the Columbian Exposition and Halley's Comet rolled into one."

* Darker/more sexualized than Bradbury - subjects he couldn't/wouldn't touch
* I wonder if Katherine Dunn (author of Geek Love) ever read this? :^)
* I could see Harvey Fierstein as Henry... :^)
* What happened to Tim?

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Haverstock’s Traveling Curiosus and Wonder Show came to the small town of Hawley, Kansas, it promised a wondrous array of freaks: mermaids, a Medusa woman, a Minotaur, Tiny Tim, a half-man half-woman, and of course, Angel - The Magic Boy! The show arrives on a night that the first talking picture show was also to be shown in Hawley, a farming community on the edges of the great drought and the Depression, but due to an ‘accident’ the picture show is cancelled and a full house arrives for the opening Friday night show. True to its outlandish advertising the show is a marvel and the townspeople, unsophisticated as they are, are still sure that somehow it is a fake, albeit entertaining. The next day, Saturday, the whole area comes to town and the show is the top drawcard. However, all is not as it seems, or in fact may be more than it seems, as Angel and Tiny Tim meet a local girl, Evelyn, while fishing and Angel seems to stop her from falling into the river without touching her. Dismayed by this happening they hurry away assuring Evelyn that she imagined it. That night, prior to the show, a violent rape and murder occurs and suspicion falls on the visiting carnies, and something much older and evil rears itself and hunts for some fleeing show members. Evoking Twain’s country tales and Bradbury’s quiet terror, Tom Reamy’s only novel showcases just what he could have been. RECOMMENDED.

[Yve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the gory elements this book was overwhelmingly cozy. It's good historical fiction with lots of perfectly Depression Era touches and also great fantasy, taking that mundane-yet-magical feeling that the dog days of summer hold for kids in school (the heroine's just graduated) and building it to grotesque proportions. Reamy really excels at characterization, making intricate portraits without wasting any breath - even the inactive characters, like "Old Mrs. Sullivan" and Eula May Gardner waiting at the train station, felt full of life. Rose Willett with all her conflicting emotions and ominous sociopathic potential was especially fascinating, but every time I think of the book again I realize how full and intriguing every part of it was. Not everything is spelled out or resolved, which is wonderful because it gives you lots to think about. I cried a bit, because with all the horror and weirdness there are these moments of unbearably romantic nobility and sentimentality for the characters and the world, the animals and the plants and it's a lot to take in. Lovely!

"Of course," Jack laughed. "Every summer's better than the last one."

[Hugo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd heard a lot about Tom Reamy over the years. He died young, and the eulogies were many. I couldn't quite get to grips with this book, though: the Bradburyesque setting and style seemed much at odds with the darker tone of the story, and there was a clumsiness to the book which grated. It seems more a stretched novella than a novel, even though it's a short novel. I found out later that this was more of a first draft, a work in progress when Reamy died, and I think it's a book which would have been perfected in the redrafting. Some of this is quite clunky; the changes in tone seem harsh, and many moments are underwritten or, in the case of a character's death, not written at all.

Not for me, then; but I have the book of Reamy's short stories - all perfect and polished gems, by all accounts - which I am looking forward to reading.

[prcardi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Writing Style: 4/5
World: 3/5

Offbeat, not a typical fantasy. Reamy works with so very little, effectively drawing out a short story. The plot is simple, the characters easy to distinguish, the fantastical entirely predictable. But one gets to anticipate the plot developments regardless. What befalls each character is memorable nonetheless. The fantastical is delightfully phantasmagorical. Reamy is a writer, a gifted writer working magic with limited material. Blind Voices is also just a little bit sordid, Reamy walking close enough to the line to peer over at horror. It is rare that I get to experience a book whose execution exceeds its ambition. Recommended for those valuing style over substance, brevity in place of length, juxtaposition instead of exposition, and some grotesqueness tainting innocence.

[Dalibor Dado Ivanovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odlicna knjiga, nakon sto covjek pomisli da je upoznat sa svim kvalitetnim autorima iz doba Novo valskog Sfa, otkrije se ovakvo nesto. Dosta podsjeca na Bradburyeve radovo, no i ovo je pravo kvalitetna knjiga. Likovi su zanimljivi i prepuni cuda, stil pisanja je stvarno slican Bradburyu...no drago mi da sam otkrio knjigu.

[Warwick Stubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple, and at times sweet, and at other times dark, tale of middle(?)-small-town-America visited by a small carnival of 'freaks' - from Medusa and a snake lady, to a Minotaur and a boy involved in magic tricks. The story feels very contemporary of 50s 20th Century America, and plays out like a soft mystery about the freaks and the local teenage girl, Evelyn, who becomes entangled with the magic boy. Females are presented as independent, autonomous, and very colourfully, giving them their sexual freedom without being derogatory or misogynistic - a huge relief, and a pleasure to be able to read a male author's work with real and credible female emotions and feelings. There is quite a lot of sexual tension and sexual references in relation to both sexes, as some of the plot developments follow down this path. Sadly, when a death of a close friend happens, there doesn't seem to be a lot of reactionary sorrow and heartache as our main character, Evelyn, seems to be so focused on her part of the plot. The novel does also wrap itself up pretty quickly after an impressive show-down of magic.

This book is neither hard science fiction or strictly genre-Fantasy; it uses the concept of evolution as a science-underpinning to the magic on display, but make no mistake, the novel does feel like light-weight Fantasy instead.

Recommended for a quick read: realistic characters, not a great deal of depth, but an interesting twist on the 'carnival of freaks' theme.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

2024 Book #17:
Blind Voices (1978) by Tom Reamy

A perfectly adequate but ultimately cliché dark-fantasy story. In Reamy’s only novel (published after his untimely death in 1977), a mysterious carnival arrives in a small Kansas town, capturing the imaginations of Rose, Evelyn, and Francine (our main characters). A variegated cast of carnie characters are introduced, including a possibly magical boy named Angel and an almost-definitely-evil ringleader named Haverstock. This book has been described as Bradbury-esque, and I think that’s a fair comparison. Reamy’s writing captures something of the lyricism and melancholy of Bradbury, but it also sometimes feels forced. Blind Voices explores some interesting coming-of-age themes, and fleshes out its characters very well. But it does all of this within a rather naive framework, with clear boundaries between good and evil. This makes the novel feel like it was written for young readers, except that it contains some really nasty violence (and sexual content) that puts it squarely in the adult camp. All of this is to say that Blind Voices is mostly wistful and stereotypical low fantasy, but with a thread of something darker and more mature below its surface. Since this was a posthumous publication, I don’t want to judge it too harshly. Blind Voices would be a great novel to get into the dark-fantasy genre. But in the end, it felt sort of basic. Not terrible, not amazing. (low 3/5)

[AllFictionisFantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shelve next to: Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Dreaming Jewels, and Circus of Dr. Lao.

Not as good as any of those, but a good read. An effortless read.

Tonally inconsistent. Reamy never has his characters deal with a violent and tragic rape/death, and the book suffers from this.

Great to see a supernatural coming of age story from the perspective of young women, who are actively exploring their sexuality.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO I found out about this book by perusing a GR member's bookshelves, and thought 'Huh, interesting title, circus plot, compared to Ray Bradbury, gotta check it out'.

It was impossible to find a copy anywhere. It's from the 60's, written by a guy who died at a young age, eliminating the opportunity to write anything else. A Shame, that.

Taking place in a little wheat and farm town in Kansas, we are introduced to a traveling curiosus and wondershow, boasting an incredible freakshow line up - Medusa, a Snake-woman, a Mermaid, a Minotaur, and an Angel the Magic Boy...to name a few.

Are they for real? How do they pull it all off? It's all the towns folk can talk about. Unlike most other traveling shows, this one's got something dark and dangerous brewing in the shadows.

While not as creepy as I would have liked it to be,(I mean, C'mon! They compare it to Bradbury) it did keep me turning the pages... The more I read, the more I knew, the more I WANTED to know...

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun and quick read. Tom Reamy does a really great job combining the grotesque and idyllic, the hopeful and horrific. I can see how writing Twilla helped to set up this story. The creatures in the freak show are fully realized and interesting characters, and the town is fully inhabited. And not all the wretched horror comes from the monsters.

This is much closer to what I wanted Something Wicked This Way Comes, although I found Mr. Dark a much more compelling villain. I can only imagine how amazing this would be if Reamy had had a final polish run on this. I'm a little sad that I've come to the end of Reamy's published works, and sadder that the world won't get to read more of his stories. If you haven't read San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories, do yourself a favor and pick that collection up.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The early death of Tom Reamy deprived the literary world of a very interesting voice. In this novel, he drew upon influences from Ray Bradbury [Something Wicked This Way Comes] and Charles Finney [Circus of Dr. Lao]. In fact, one of the young characters is named Finney, which I assumed to be an homage.
This book alternates between being hopeful and grim, and it isn't until one of the speeches by the "villain" that the reader learns that it is as much science fiction as it is fantasy, and why.
Reamy, who died of a heart attack, apparently at his typewriter while writing a story, created a world which is never fully explained. In this case that's a good thing. A story in which everything makes perfect sense doesn't leave room for dreaming, and this story needs that room.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 1 out of 5]

A baffling combination of nauseating idyll and lurid sex and violence. Nothing baffling about the book's construction, story, or characters however. Predictable, stereotypical, etc., etc. Waste of time. I think the author died or killed himself young so thankfully he didn't publish anything else.

[Allyson Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this pretty cliched and kind of corny- amusing in a B movie sort of way.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish that Tom Reamy had lived to create a final draft of this. The writing and pacing are both clunky, but the story is great.

[Mia Khan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So formulaic. Rolling my eyes for most of the second half of this one.

[Norman Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark analogue of "The Circus of Doctor Lao."

[Edoardo Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

In between other books, at the moment I am re-reading some of the stories I read when I was young. Seeing Blind Voices on the shelf at my parents’ house, I remembered being enchanted by an atmosphere of fairground mysticism when I read it and, taking it from the bookshelf, I read the blurb and then the back cover – and remembered again that this was Tom Reamy’s only book and that he had died before Blind Voices was published. This aura of tragedy overlay my memory of the book: all I could remember was a halo of heat and brassy fairground music; I had no recollection of the story itself, other than that I had enjoyed it.

So I brought Blind Voices home and set to reading it again. And, yes, there was a travelling show, although it was an out-and-out freak show rather than the travelling fair with outlandish exhibits that I vaguely recalled, and yes, the story is suffused with the heat and dust of summer on the flat grain plains of the American heartlands. But is it a good story?

Well, yes, but when I first read it – checking the copyright date that was 46 years ago! – I had not yet read Ray Bradbury. The story is basically Something Wicked This Way Comes with more sex (I’m rather surprised that the teenage me that read the story didn’t remember this at all) and children who you start off thinking are protagonists but end up being merely observers. Now, it’s clear that it’s a good story rather than a great story, one that wears its influences so clearly that it’s almost a homage to Bradbury.

However, it does still retain its air of quiet tragedy for I think it’s clear that Reamy would have gone on to be a major writer in his own right if he had not died so young. He had talent and he was on his way towards finding his own voice but he had not got there yet with this book.

A note about the cover: it’s one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and bears no relation to anything in the book. Please don‘t judge this book by its cover!

[James]

"It was a time of pause, a time between planting and harvest when the air was heavy, humming with its own slow warm music." So begins an extraordinary fantasy of the rural Midwest by a winner of the John W. Campbell, Jr., Award for best young science fiction writer. One summer day in the 1920s, Haverstock's Traveling Curiosus and Wondershow rides into a small Midwestern town. Haverstock's show is a presentation of mysterious wonders: feats of magic, strange creatures, and frightening powers. Three teenage girls attend the opening performance that evening which, for each, promises love and threatens death. The three girls are drawn to the show and its performers-a lusty centaur, Angel the magical albino boy, the rowdy stage hands-but frightened by the enigmatic owner, Haverstock. The girls at first try to dismiss these marvels as trickery, but it becomes all too real, too vivid to be other than nightmare reality. Each feels the force of the show and its power to alter everyday lives: Francine is drawn embarrassingly to the centaur, Rose makes an assignation with one of the hands and gets in trouble, and Evelyn is fascinated by the pathetic, mysterious Angel, The Boy Who Can Fly, and together they plan escape. No stranger or more disturbing vision of the dark side of carnival life has been handled with such grace or conviction since Bradbury's vintage period. With a poet's mastery of language Reamy brings his circus of characters to a startling, fantastic conclusion. ABOUT THE AUTHOR TOM REAMY, at the time of his sudden death, was one of the most popular young writers in the Science Fiction field in recent years. His style is in the fantastic tradition of Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury, and BLIND VOICES, his only novel, demands comparison to such masterpieces as Bradbury's Dandelion Wine or Something Wicked This Way Comes.

[Robert Nolin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing here just barely manages not to read like pulp sci-fi. Short sentences in iambic pentameter, they fall upon the ear in staccato rhythm, challenging you to stay awake. I should be kind, as it seems the novel went to print unfinished. But this is pretty amateur stuff, describing things and actions that don't need to be explained (He went to the door, he turned the handle, e.g.). Everything is on the surface (pulpy) and it reads like the detailed summary of a movie plot.

Horniness is experienced as an uncontrollable pain that must be assuaged. What? Guys, does it feel like pain to you? If so, see a doctor.

Reamy loved the letter H. Harold. Hawley. Henry. Haverstock. Lot of letters to choose from , Tom. Give your readers a break.

The book ends with a scene out of a bad thriller, with the evil dude monologuing for pages to let us know what we have been trying to figure our for 170 pages. Everything, that is, except what motivates the evil dude. With his powers, the best he can come up with is a traveling show in which every performance risks drawing attention to his powers? Bilking rubes is the best you can come up with, but you can manipulate matter and gravity with your mind. Whatevs, dude, you be you. Really, the scariest part of the book were the out-of-control sexual urges going on, which was emphasized far more than Dr Evil. He's just kept in the background for the Final Boss scene. There's a weird homoerotic vibe undergirding this book, giving it a perhaps-unintended strangeness.

There's really not much here that I can recommend. Derivative. Can't decide if it's Bradbury or Stephen King.