The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories

by Charles Beaumont

ix · Foreword · Ray Bradbury · fw
13 · Miss Gentilbelle · ss Stories for the Dead of Night, ed. Don Congdon, Dell, 1957
31 · The Last Caper · ss F&SF Mar ’54
42 · The New People [as by Michael Phillips] · ss Rogue Aug ’58
63 · The Vanishing American · ss F&SF Aug ’55
74 · The Monster Show · ss Playboy May ’56
81 · The Magic Man · ss Night Ride and Other Journeys, Bantam, 1960
101 · A Classic Affair · ss Playboy Dec ’55
115 · The Hunger · ss Playboy Apr ’55
130 · Black Country · ss Playboy Sep ’54
152 · The Love-Master [as by S. M. Tenneshaw] · ss Rogue Feb ’57
162 · The Dark Music · ss Playboy Dec ’56
177 · Fair Lady · ss The Hunger and Other Stories, Putnam, 1957
183 · Perchance to Dream · ss Playboy Oct ’58
192 · The Crooked Man · ss Playboy Aug ’55
201 · Open House · ss The Hunger and Other Stories, Putnam, 1957
213 · Last Rites · ss If Oct ’55
228 · The Murderers · ss Esquire Feb ’55
241 · A Death in the Country [“The Deadly Will to Win”] · ss Playboy Nov ’57
257 · Afterword · Richard Matheson · aw

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Mystery, Fantasy

258 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Charles Beaumont was born Charles Leroy Nutt in Chicago in 1929. He dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and worked at a number of jobs before selling his first story to Amazing Stories in 1950. His story “Black Country” (1954) was the first work of short fiction to appear in Playboy, and his classic tale “The Crooked Man” appeared in the same magazine the following year. Beaumont published numerous other short stories in the 1950s, both in mainstream periodicals like Playboy and Esquire and in science fiction and fantasy magazines.

His first story collection, The Hunger and Other Stories, was published in 1957 to immediate acclaim, and was followed by two further collections, Yonder (1958) and Night Ride and Other Journeys (1960). He also published two novels, Run from the Hunter (1957, pseudonymously, with John E. Tomerlin), and The Intruder (1959).

Beaumont is perhaps best remembered for his work in television, particularly his screenplays for The Twilight Zone, for which he wrote several of the most famous episodes. His other screenwriting credits include the scripts for films such as The Premature Burial (1962), Burn, Witch, Burn (1962), The Haunted Palace (1963), and The Masque of the Red Death (1964).

When Beaumont was 34, he began to suffer from ill health and developed a baffling and still unexplained condition that caused him to age at a greatly increased rate, such that at the time of his death at age 38 in 1967, he had the physical appearance of a 95-year-old man. Beaumont was survived by his wife Helen, two daughters, and two sons, one of whom, Christopher, is also a writer.

Beaumont’s work was much respected by his colleagues, and he counted Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, and Roger Corman among his friends and admirers.

-Valancourt Books

Reviews

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 · Rating 3 out of 5]

“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 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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)

[Jason Fetters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading a scary good short story collection called The Magic Man by Charles Beaumont. Every story is a winner and for your Summer reading, visit your local library or used bookstore and get you copy.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is an excellent piece of evidence that Charles Beaumont was a truly great short story writer, under-appreciated now because of his early death, which may have been due to a form of dementia. He was only 38 when he died, and had been writing since he was about twenty, but in addition to his short story output, he wrote for both television and movies, with many of his scripts being part of The Twilight Zone series.
This collection is actually an early attempt at a "best of" collection, since it includes stories from earlier anthologies. The timing of when it came out suggests that his friends in the writing field may have helped him get it published, in order to provide some income, as his own faculties had diminished greatly by then.
The stories themselves were Beaumont at his best, mostly written in the mid-to-late 1950s. The title story was incredibly moving, about the way that a story is far more entertaining and necessary than the truth can ever be. One of my favorites was the incredibly quirky "The Murderers," which was a truly unusual story about a pair of truly unusual killers. Some of the stories in this collection were not fantasy or mystery, but instead just odd slices of life, or in some cases death. One story was simply about stock car racing in the 1950s, at a small-town track in the middle of nowhere special. The matter-of-fact nature of life and death in such a setting was riveting.
Because a few of the stories haven't aged well, and because it's such an odd combination of stuff, I couldn't give it a full five stars, because I think some people will have trouble with some of the tales. Still, I recommend this collection, because his writing was so outstanding.

[Allen Mozek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m finishing up my complete watch through of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone & remembered I had a collection of short stories by Beaumont, one of the big three writers on the program alongside Serling & Richard Matheson.

I picked up this Fawcett collection years ago when I used to drive to Oswego on weekends to visit someone I was dating at the time. The name looked familiar, but at the time I knew next to nothing of Beaumont. Only one of the selected stories, Perchance to Dream, was adapted to the Twilight Zone, tho many retain the same uncanny flavor. These stories are much more lurid than early 60s TV censors would allow & many of them are very good. It’s an uneven collection tho - Beaumont falters when attempting slang, real or imaginary, or writing from a woman’s perspective. The stories don’t necessarily hold up to 2026 social perspectives(do yrself a favor & don’t read the Crooked Man)- but I found Miss Gentibelle very good as it mixes the gore & psychological sadism of Bloch’s Psycho w a gender dysmorphia that reminded me, of all things, of Sleepaway Camp. I really enjoyed the New People, the Vanishing American, & Last Rites. Most of these stories originally appeared in Playboy, tho others appeared in Esquire, Fantasy & Science Fiction and Rogue.

It’s February break so I was able to bang out this collection in one go while on the couch, listening to Ayler, Soft Machine 5, Terminal Cheesecake & early Merzbow. I hope to get in some more quality reading time bf returning to work on Monday, tho I prob have to ‘go to the office’ tomorrow & Friday.

Also, plz check out Elder Sign & Overdue, two of my favorite book podcasts.

[Paul Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Coronet Books] (1966). SB. 256 Pages. Purchased from Richard Dalby's Library.

18 largely forgettable short stories (1954-1960) from the overrated Charles Beaumont (1929-1967).

“Miss Gentilbelle” (1957) - Simple and nasty.
“The Last Caper” (1954) - Ill-conceived, cringeworthy rubbish.
“The New People” (1958) - Fair, overlong, a familiar narrative formula.
“The Vanishing American” (1955) - A simple invisibility allegory re: isolation and submergence.
“The Monster Show” (1956) - Limp and naff.
“The Magic Man” (1960) - A superior entry, illustrating the significance and delusion of supernatural faith.
“A Classic Affair” (1955) - Elementary but peculiar.
“The Hunger” (1955) - Twisted, disturbing, well executed.
“Black Country” (1954) - Crud.
“The Love-Master” (1957) - A ‘tale of the unexpected’ with a measure of sexual comedy.
“The Dark Music” (1956) - Miserable and boring.
“Fair Lady” (1957) - Vague and pointless. Somerset Maugham on an off day.
“Perchance to Dream” (1958) - Uninspired.
“The Crooked Man” (1955) - A prescient, (then) inverted look at sexuality, ‘normality’, tolerance and ‘conversion therapy’.
“Open House” (1957) - Brutal, tense and entertaining.
“Last Rites” (1955) - A look forward to AI and robotics; questioning ‘spirit and soul’. Transparently predictable from the outset.
“The Murderers” (1955) - Comeuppance for a brace of psychopaths.
“A Death in the Country” (1957) - A nondescript motor racing tale; feels out of place in this collection.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this in a local used bookstore some time ago and saved it for a rainy day. Reading this was a bucket-list kind of achievement because it's one of the books that Stephen King recommends at the end of Danse Macabre. Of historical interest, definitely, but few of the stories connected with me. My two favorites in this collection are "The Vanishing American" and "The Hunger" (and definitely were anthologized elsewhere). If you like the stories of John Collier, you might appreciate Beaumont at his best. When I was a kid, Beaumont was a guy I learned about from watching episodes of The Twilight Zone from the 1960s and you could only find collections of his stories at SF/fantasy conventions. Catching up with Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont in those days was a kind of hobby: they were the two writers for whom Twilight Zone was kind of in their wheelhouse, and they were contemporaries and buddies. (There's a story in this collection, "Perchance to Dream," which was adapted into a particularly good episode of the series.) Both Matheson and Beaumont had a peculiar flavor of satire/bitterness, they were all about sticking a pin in the conformity and smugness of the American postwar period, letting the air out of the 1950s, the writing tended to fit comfortably within the genre (unlike Ray Bradbury, who preceded them, they were more about plot than style) but there was a dark twist to the stories.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This phenomenal collection of short stories shows how diverse and underappreciated Beaumont is.

[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.