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Best of Beaumont
A collection of short stories by Beaumont, some adapted for The Twilight Zone
238 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1982
3 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Charles Beaumont
211 books176 followersCharles 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 27, 2020
The Infernal Bouillabaisse - 4/5 - why should we be fated to do nothing but brood on food, magical food
The Beautiful People - 4/5 - hey, you, what do you see? something beautiful or something free?
Free Dirt - 4/5 - get that dirt off your shoulder
Fritzchen - 4/5 - mama, life had just begun
You Can't Have Them All - 3/5 - I knew she was gonna meet her connection
Mother's Day - 3/5 - word to your moms, I came to drop bombs
Last Rites - 3/5 - would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?
Blood Brother - 3/5 - and I still believe that I cannot be saved
The New People - 5/5 - can this still be real or some crazy dream?
Father, Dear Father (Oh, Father of Mine) - 4/5 - you know we'll have a good time then
A Classic Affair - 4/5 - well I'm not braggin' babe so don't put me down
Perchance to Dream - 4/5 - we're off to never-never land
The Customers - 3/5 - I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Hair of the Dog - 4/5 - I whip my hair back and forth
Insomnia vobiscum -
The Crooked Man - 4/5 - be yourself, no matter what they say
The Jungle - 3/5 - it's gonna bring you down...huh
Sorcerer's Moon - 5/5 - do you believe in magic?
The Trigger - 4/5 - wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
The Love-Master - 4/5 - you must be sure that the girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina
Three thirds of a ghost -
Place of Meeting - 3/5 - it was many years ago that I became what I am
The Beautiful People - 4/5 - hey, you, what do you see? something beautiful or something free?
Free Dirt - 4/5 - get that dirt off your shoulder
Fritzchen - 4/5 - mama, life had just begun
You Can't Have Them All - 3/5 - I knew she was gonna meet her connection
Mother's Day - 3/5 - word to your moms, I came to drop bombs
Last Rites - 3/5 - would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?
Blood Brother - 3/5 - and I still believe that I cannot be saved
The New People - 5/5 - can this still be real or some crazy dream?
Father, Dear Father (Oh, Father of Mine) - 4/5 - you know we'll have a good time then
A Classic Affair - 4/5 - well I'm not braggin' babe so don't put me down
Perchance to Dream - 4/5 - we're off to never-never land
The Customers - 3/5 - I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door
Hair of the Dog - 4/5 - I whip my hair back and forth
Insomnia vobiscum -
The Crooked Man - 4/5 - be yourself, no matter what they say
The Jungle - 3/5 - it's gonna bring you down...huh
Sorcerer's Moon - 5/5 - do you believe in magic?
The Trigger - 4/5 - wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
The Love-Master - 4/5 - you must be sure that the girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina
Three thirds of a ghost -
Place of Meeting - 3/5 - it was many years ago that I became what I am
August 31, 2018
This is a collection of short fiction by a man who was a very prolific writer of the 1950s and also involved in iconic TV shows such as The Twilight Zone. As the introduction by his friend Ray Bradbury makes clear, he was very much an ideas writer and his fiction does not usually develop characters particularly, with a lot of the characters being rather unpleasant. Possibly this is why quite a few of the stories didn't make much impression or I wasn't keen although some are quite vividly written, such as one about a futuristic city built in what had previously been the jungle home of tribespeople.
The best in my opinion is one about a priest who is asked to go to the house of a dying friend and the challenging conversation which ensues. That story had some emotional impact, and the ending was quite touching. So on balance I would rate this as a 3 star read.
The best in my opinion is one about a priest who is asked to go to the house of a dying friend and the challenging conversation which ensues. That story had some emotional impact, and the ending was quite touching. So on balance I would rate this as a 3 star read.
June 18, 2014
Seems astonishing to me that I just discovered Charles Beaumont, and by accident, at that. I'd just traded in a backpack full of tomes of which I was ready to let go, in Ballard's Twice Sold Tales, and finding nothing in their store that matched my to-read booklist, I pulled this one out at random and quickly noticed the accolades from Bradbury. A week or so later, when I finally picked this up, I had to force myself to slow down, though I'd gulp 3 or 4 stories at a go, anyway. I caught styles of Bradbury's wonder and Roald Dahl's naughtiness, and ultimately the weirdness of H. Ellison and Matheson. The dramatic end-twists are reminiscent of Rod Serling, so it's no surprise that it turns out that Beumont wrote several Twilight Zone episodes.
But to discover him only now is a sort of delightful surprise, and rather disconcerting to sense that he's being forgotten, since there are hardly any ratings here, and what a shame, because Beaumont's writing is wonderful and full of humor and bizarre twists and just the sort of prose that keeps you on your toes and feeling like you should really get back to the pen or keyboard to finish your own stories.
He deserves your readership. Find a copy and settle in to Beumont's strangely good tales.
But to discover him only now is a sort of delightful surprise, and rather disconcerting to sense that he's being forgotten, since there are hardly any ratings here, and what a shame, because Beaumont's writing is wonderful and full of humor and bizarre twists and just the sort of prose that keeps you on your toes and feeling like you should really get back to the pen or keyboard to finish your own stories.
He deserves your readership. Find a copy and settle in to Beumont's strangely good tales.
April 28, 2010
A wonderful collection from a writer who died way too early at the age of thirty-eight. He was one of the writers ofThe Twilight Zone along with Serling and Matheson. Three of his tales he adapted for episodes are in this book.
Some inventive ideas here: a vampire seeing a psychiatrist because of his problems being one of the undead, a world where people are tube-born and heterosexuality is a crime, a physicist testing the old paradox about going back in time to kill your father before you were conceived doesn't get the answer he's expecting, an old man in retirement, The Love-Master, learns a lesson about the inventiveness of one woman, a man with a computer and a love potion find 563 perfect matches and has to go through them in a year because a new crop turns eighteen every year.
Some inventive ideas here: a vampire seeing a psychiatrist because of his problems being one of the undead, a world where people are tube-born and heterosexuality is a crime, a physicist testing the old paradox about going back in time to kill your father before you were conceived doesn't get the answer he's expecting, an old man in retirement, The Love-Master, learns a lesson about the inventiveness of one woman, a man with a computer and a love potion find 563 perfect matches and has to go through them in a year because a new crop turns eighteen every year.
November 14, 2008
a good selection of some of the best stories from each of the short story collections: the hunger and other stories, yonder, and night ride and other journeys. a good choice for somebody who doesn't want to commit themselves to charles beaumont right away. i myself recommend just buying the three collections themselves but if this is all you read of beaumont it will be worth it.. :)
June 24, 2019
If you liked the old TV shows The Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, you'll like this collection of short stories by Charles Beaumont. A couple of them were adapted for TZ episodes. Quirky, humorous, insightful. A good read. Plus a fine introduction by Ray Bradbury.
March 27, 2025
I'm not really a fan of short story collections, but I thought Beaumont did quite a good job with this collection.
May 10, 2016
There really are no correctly descriptive shelves for Charles Beaumont stories, but these will have to do. This collection's only flaw is that most of the stories were readily available in other collections, but it's still a good assortment of his short fiction.
Amazingly prolific in his short career, Beaumont turned out some wonderful tales. Relatively few had elements of the fantastic. Mostly, they just took the reader to the very outer edges of reality and left him or her dangling there.
In this one, "Beautiful People," "The Jungle," "Three Thirds of a Ghost" and "Sorcerer's Moon" all had elements of SF or fantasy that were definitely there, within the context of the story, along with a few in which the reader must simply wonder.
If you ever liked the Twilight Zone, or the short stories of Ray Bradbury or Richard Matheson, then you simply must read the works of Charles Beaumont, of which a tiny fraction are printed in this book.
Amazingly prolific in his short career, Beaumont turned out some wonderful tales. Relatively few had elements of the fantastic. Mostly, they just took the reader to the very outer edges of reality and left him or her dangling there.
In this one, "Beautiful People," "The Jungle," "Three Thirds of a Ghost" and "Sorcerer's Moon" all had elements of SF or fantasy that were definitely there, within the context of the story, along with a few in which the reader must simply wonder.
If you ever liked the Twilight Zone, or the short stories of Ray Bradbury or Richard Matheson, then you simply must read the works of Charles Beaumont, of which a tiny fraction are printed in this book.
Currently Reading
June 28, 2023"Miss Gentilbelle" - Robert's mother attempts to convince him he is a girl. When she kills a frog that he brings indoors he takes the knife and stabs her with it.
"A Place of Meeting" - Vampires ponder what they will do in the post-apocalypse when all of the people are gone.
"The Dark Music" - A prudish teacher succumbs to music from the woods issuing from the pipes of Pan.
"A Place of Meeting" - Vampires ponder what they will do in the post-apocalypse when all of the people are gone.
"The Dark Music" - A prudish teacher succumbs to music from the woods issuing from the pipes of Pan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2011
The only reason I give this four stars instead of five is because it includes stories that you could pick up in Beamon'ts previous collections Night Ride, Yonder, and Hunger. All the stories in here are quality works, fantastic material for fans of the odd, mysterious, and creepy.
August 20, 2012
Friggin' amazing!
December 2, 2015
Read the stories in here that weren't included in the other Beaumont books I own. He was an incredible writer.
January 20, 2011
A good bit of fiction.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews