Night Ride and Other Journeys

by Charles Beaumont

Macabre

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Short Story Collection

184 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1957

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 collection contains many of his best stories, including perhaps his finest, "The Howling Man," which was adapted as a Twilight Zone episode. 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.

The Music of the Yellow Brass - 3/5 - south of the border, down Mexico way
A Classic Affair - 4/5 - well I'm not braggin' babe so don't put me down
The New People - 5/5 - can this still be real or some crazy dream?
Buck Fever - 3/5 - will I ever find love and peace of mind
The Magic Man - 4/5 - try, try, try to understand
Father, Dear Father (Oh, Father of Mine) - 4/5 - you know we'll have a good time then
Perchance to Dream - 4/5 - we're off to never-never land
Song for a Lady - 3/5 - lady, from the moment I saw you, standing whoaoa all alone
The Trigger - 4/5 - wine is fine but whiskey's quicker
The Guests of Chance - 3/5 - I'll pretend my ship's not sinking
The Love-Master - 4/5 - you must be sure that the girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina
A Death in the Country (The Deadly Will to Win) - 3/5 - at night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
The Neighbors - 4/5 - live together in perfect harmony
The Howling Man - 5/5 - here come the man with the look in his eye
Night Ride - 3/5 - 'cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see

[Wally Flangers · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Night Ride and Other Journeys” is a short story anthology that was published in 1960. There are fifteen stories within this collection. Four of these stories were never previously published.

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 “Night Ride and Other Journeys” is listed. The stories within the book include;

THE MUSIC OF THE YELLOW BRASS – This story was published in 1959 and is about a young Mexican bull fighter named Juanito Galvez who is up against the fight of his life with the odds stacked heavily against him…. A surprisingly great story with an awesome closing statement.

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 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.

BUCK FEVER – This story was previously unpublished…. Nathan joins Ransome and Arents, two of his employers, on a hunting expedition believing that getting in tight with the bosses will raise his stock within the company and open new doors for him. But, events he didn’t anticipate occurring end up sabotaging his position. This was a simple, but terrific story that could’ve ended a number of different ways – making it very difficult to predict exactly which direction it will go.

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.

FATHER, DEAR FATHER – This story was published in a 1957 issue of “Venture” and is about a fifty-three year-old scientist who builds a time machine to prove a theory he has. His goal is to execute his own father to see if it would result in him existing in his time thereafter. However, this action comes with unexpected consequence. As a result of his experiment, more lives are affected than his own…. Although this story was very short, it was among my favorites in the collection and was very well written.

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.

SONG FOR A LADY – This story was published in 1960 and is about a couple of newlyweds who desire to take a pleasure cruise on the Lady Anne, a very old ship with a questionable past. Despite the warnings and desperate pleads they receive from a couple of British passengers to board another ship, the couple cannot be persuaded and insist on boarding the Lady Anne. Once the ship sets sail, they soon realize they should’ve taken the passenger’s advice…. This was a descent story with an eerie ending and worth reading.

THE TRIGGER – This story was published in a 1959 issue of “Mystery Digest” and is about detective Ives, who is investigating suicides that are mysteriously occurring over a short time span. All of these suicides are of men who belong to the same club. Ives is trying to discover the motive and the correlation. This story started out great and was very enjoyable, but the ending was anticlimactic for me.

THE GUESTS OF CHANCE – This story was published in a 1956 issue of “Infinity Science Fiction”. It’s basically about an American president who wants out…. This was probably my least favorite story in the collection and I will not be reading this again. At least not in this lifetime.

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.

A DEATH IN THE COUNTRY – 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.

THE NEIGHBORS – This story was previously unpublished. It is about the negro family that has moved to a white neighborhood and is being terrorized. Armed and paranoid that everyone is out to get them, the tormented family trusts nobody and are ready to defend themselves by any means necessary. This story was short and to the point. It was kind of ahead of its time from when it was published. Beaumont’s vision ended up becoming reality. Although racism still exists and will always exist, it is not even one quarter of what it was fifty years ago.

THE HOWLING MAN – This story was published in 1959 and was scripted for the “Twilight Zone” (Season 2, episode 5). It is about a Bostonian named David Ellington, who is in the middle of traveling across Europe when he falls ill and eventually loses consciousness due to overexertion. Upon awakening, Mr. Ellington finds himself inside a monastery where he has been cared for by Brother Christophorus. While being nursed back to health, Mr. Ellington hears screams and howls coming from a locked cell down the hall and, against the warnings from the monks, decides to investigate. This is a Beaumont classic and different than “The Twilight Zone” adaptation in many ways. I highly recommend it.

NIGHT RIDE – This story was published in 1957 and is about a very talented jazz musician named Davey Green, whose piano playing abilities are pushed to the limit by the leader of the band. This one started out slow and confusing, but picked up as it went and ended up morphing into a great story.

FINAL VERDICT: I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. There are some great stories printed in “Night Ride and Other Journeys” with some unexpected twists in some cases. Like all of Beaumont’s fictional works, this short story collection is a must read for any “Twilight Zone” fan.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the audiobook version of Night Ride, a collection of short stories by Charles Beaumont. It's read by several men with deep voices, and they're all very good, especially Harlan Ellison, who reads Perchance To Dream, possibly the best story, and Ellison's performance (ha) gives it all the drama that it requires.

Charles Beaumont, along with Rod Serling and George Clayton Johnson were the three most frequent writers on The Twilight Zone, so many of the stories have that creepshow vibe. Beaumont's style is much more apolitical than Serling's, with the exception of The Neighbors, a true horror story of living in a Karen/Trump World.

I also enjoyed A Death In The Country, his stock car racing story. He really captured the excitement of stock car racing and I wished he'd written more stories like that. This was a very entertaining audio book, and it runs for about eight hours. Good enough for that trip across state lines with corpses in the trunk.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good collection, though it does not quite have the violence of the hunger and other stories, it is quintessential beaumont, playful and disturbing sometimes. stand outs for me include: "the music of the yellow brass", "a classic affair", "the love-master", "a death in country", "the howling man", and "night ride".

[Ben Loory · Rating 3 out of 5]

i don't know... beaumont is an interesting writer. all these stories are pretty much perfect. well written, imaginative, properly formed. but somehow the overall effect isn't so great. they don't hit very hard. and compared to the stories in the hunger and other stories, they aren't very dark or very strange. they just seem kind of... ordinary.

maybe i will reconsider. i don't know. i feel weird about it. they are both perfect and kind of boring.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook raised to 3.5. I would have easily rated this a 5 star read/listen IF 3 or 4 of the stories weren't inexplicably cut short of the ending. This is nearly enough to make me swear off audiobooks. The commercial at the end was cut off, as well, just as the website address was about to be given!
Perchance To Dream, narrated by the excellent Harlan Ellison, was one of the stories where the tape ran out before the story was finished.
I think this is the first Charles Beaumont fiction I have read/listened to but it won't be the last. He's a very good writer. Perchance To Dream and Night Ride were, for me, the best of this anthology and I think I remembered the story The Howling Man, as it was one of the old Twilight Zone episodes about a man freeing the Devil from his locked cell.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first came across Charles Beaumont as a writer on the classic Twilight Zone. After reading these stories, especially the ones that appeared on TZ, I think that I need to reassess CB as a writer. When comparing the stories that appeared on TZ with the ones in the collection, it seems that the televised ones , were put into TZ format by another writer. My guess would be Rod Serling.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories will remind you of The Twilight Zone, which they should. Beaumont wrote several teleplays for the t.v. series. He has a a particular knack of really understanding the ambience and language of the culture he writes about. A bit different from my usual reads, but I feel like I've discovered a new author.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good collection. It had quite a few stories I hadn't read and a couple of really good oldies that I knew and loved. My all-time favorite, The Howling Man, was in there, absolutely top-notch. I also really enjoyed The Neighbors and Night Ride.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine if Ray Bradbury got horny and read a beat novel before sitting down to write some short stories and that's Charles Beaumont. The end result is okay if a little corny but still fun.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Music of the Yellow Brass 4/5
A Classic Affair 4/5
The New People 5/5
Buck Fever 4/5
The Magic Man 4/5
Father Dear, Father 5/5
Perchance to Dream 4/5
Song for a Lady 4/5
The Trigger 4/5
The Guests of Chance 4/5
The Love-Master 3/5
A Death in the Country 2/5
The Neighbors 4/5
The Howling Man 5/5
Night Ride 2/5

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

could not finish

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to fill in some of the stories not published in Beaumont's "Howling Man" book. Some good, some not.