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Vespasian Moon's Fabulous Autumn Carnival: A Long Short Story
Federal Agent Jane Raczyck is tired of her job. So is Sheriff Sixtus Davis, the head law enforcement officer in the town of Turpin’s Gulch. But when Raczyck’s agency sends her to work with Davis on combating the drug epidemic in the small Appalachian hamlet, the two are compelled to investigate the local carnival and its mysterious impresario… even though they’d much rather be doing other things together.
54 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 18, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 28, 2022
Small towns are supposed to be sleepy, peaceful little places where nothing weird ever happens….right?
The main characters were a hoot. Neither of them seemed all that emotionally invested in carrying out the roles in society that they were supposed to be fulfilling. Even when Jane behaved like a federal agent and Davis took his job as head law enforcement officer in Turpin’s Gulch seriously, there was still always an faint undercurrent of restlessness and snark in their personalities that always made me wonder how they’d break the unwritten rules of how they were supposed to act next based on their occupations and gender identities. This was exactly what the setting needed in order to thrive, and it made me wish I’d ignored my overflowing to be read list and jumped ahead to this tale when it first came out.
I loved seeing how the narrator broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to the audience when necessary. For example, this was how Jane was described: “Now, because standards of beauty vary greatly, let me simply say that she had whatever you consider to be the most attractive hair color and style, atop whatever you think is the ideal face shape, with skin colored in the precise shade of pigment you like the best,” and it made me laugh out loud when I read it. Of course the audience’s preconceptions and tastes matter when describing a beautiful woman, and it tickled my funny bone to see that addressed so openly. Do keep an eye out for other unexpected moments like this while reading because i can’t possibly list them all in this review.
The paranormal elements of the plot were beautifully understated. Many of these scenes that included them could be explained away with rational alternatives to what some characters assumed was happening there. I love ambigious stuff like that, especially when it’s followed up with scenes that gently nudge the reader in the particular direction the author wants you go while still leaving room for other interpretations for those who wish to hang onto their own ideas about the origins of previous spooky moments. Yes, I’m being vague in this paragraph on purpose. If you want to know more, you’ll have to read this book!
While no prior knowledge of Appalachian culture is required to understand the storyline, readers who are from that culture or who have knowledge of it in other ways will find some gems here. I nodded and chuckled as I read certain passages because of how much they reminded me of certain people I knew when I was a kid or of cultural references that I rarely see mentioned in fiction.
Vespasian Moon’s Fabulous Autumn Carnival was everything I was hoping it would be and more.
The main characters were a hoot. Neither of them seemed all that emotionally invested in carrying out the roles in society that they were supposed to be fulfilling. Even when Jane behaved like a federal agent and Davis took his job as head law enforcement officer in Turpin’s Gulch seriously, there was still always an faint undercurrent of restlessness and snark in their personalities that always made me wonder how they’d break the unwritten rules of how they were supposed to act next based on their occupations and gender identities. This was exactly what the setting needed in order to thrive, and it made me wish I’d ignored my overflowing to be read list and jumped ahead to this tale when it first came out.
I loved seeing how the narrator broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to the audience when necessary. For example, this was how Jane was described: “Now, because standards of beauty vary greatly, let me simply say that she had whatever you consider to be the most attractive hair color and style, atop whatever you think is the ideal face shape, with skin colored in the precise shade of pigment you like the best,” and it made me laugh out loud when I read it. Of course the audience’s preconceptions and tastes matter when describing a beautiful woman, and it tickled my funny bone to see that addressed so openly. Do keep an eye out for other unexpected moments like this while reading because i can’t possibly list them all in this review.
The paranormal elements of the plot were beautifully understated. Many of these scenes that included them could be explained away with rational alternatives to what some characters assumed was happening there. I love ambigious stuff like that, especially when it’s followed up with scenes that gently nudge the reader in the particular direction the author wants you go while still leaving room for other interpretations for those who wish to hang onto their own ideas about the origins of previous spooky moments. Yes, I’m being vague in this paragraph on purpose. If you want to know more, you’ll have to read this book!
While no prior knowledge of Appalachian culture is required to understand the storyline, readers who are from that culture or who have knowledge of it in other ways will find some gems here. I nodded and chuckled as I read certain passages because of how much they reminded me of certain people I knew when I was a kid or of cultural references that I rarely see mentioned in fiction.
Vespasian Moon’s Fabulous Autumn Carnival was everything I was hoping it would be and more.
August 25, 2020
A paranormal Halloween mystery/adventure
A female government agent and a local sheriff (who indulge in some naughty but mostly off-stage hanky-panky throughout the story) try to solve the mystery of certain weird events that occur in a run-down Appalachian town with a history of drug abuse. These include the presence of Flying Jack, one of those backwoods crypto-creatures that the Discovery channel loves to investigate, as well as a mysterious character named Vespasian Moon, who stages an autumn carnival in the town every year. The plot is more charming than scary (I can’t review this book without mentioning the delightfully named Sergeant Dumbass, the sheriff’s dog), and a lot of the phenomena remain unexplained at the end, but a couple of quotations summarize all the reader needs to know.
Jane’s conclusion: “I think for him [Vespasian Moon] Halloween was a way of warding off true evil.”
And finally, the concluding lines of the book: “Should we go in?” Six asked finally.
“No,” Jane replied after a pause. “There are some things that are better to suspect than to know for sure.”
Recommended.
A female government agent and a local sheriff (who indulge in some naughty but mostly off-stage hanky-panky throughout the story) try to solve the mystery of certain weird events that occur in a run-down Appalachian town with a history of drug abuse. These include the presence of Flying Jack, one of those backwoods crypto-creatures that the Discovery channel loves to investigate, as well as a mysterious character named Vespasian Moon, who stages an autumn carnival in the town every year. The plot is more charming than scary (I can’t review this book without mentioning the delightfully named Sergeant Dumbass, the sheriff’s dog), and a lot of the phenomena remain unexplained at the end, but a couple of quotations summarize all the reader needs to know.
Jane’s conclusion: “I think for him [Vespasian Moon] Halloween was a way of warding off true evil.”
And finally, the concluding lines of the book: “Should we go in?” Six asked finally.
“No,” Jane replied after a pause. “There are some things that are better to suspect than to know for sure.”
Recommended.
October 29, 2019
This is a highly entertaining story that combines crime fighting with supernatural high jinks. I really enjoyed Gambrel's novel, The Directorate, which is an action packed space opera kind of story. Vespasian Moon's Fabulous Autumn Carnival is something very different. It has thrills, but there's also a delightful comic goofiness to it that I really enjoyed. It's a crowd pleaser, pure and simple.
November 14, 2019
Berthold Gambrel keeps getting better and better.
This is a light-hearted yet dark romp through a much less malevolent version of Bradbury’s “Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show.” Kind of spooky, kind of kooky, not at all ooky.
Mr. Gambrel's work reminds me of the classic “Twilight Zone" or the Darin Morgan-penned X-Files episodes.
Good stuff!
This is a light-hearted yet dark romp through a much less malevolent version of Bradbury’s “Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show.” Kind of spooky, kind of kooky, not at all ooky.
Mr. Gambrel's work reminds me of the classic “Twilight Zone" or the Darin Morgan-penned X-Files episodes.
Good stuff!
November 20, 2022
A great short story, that for its full impact needs to be read during the last week of October.
April 13, 2023
… and things that go flap in the night.
A perfect short story for the Halloween season. Berthold Gambrel creates a tale which borders between the known and unknown by weaving a down-to-earth plot with intentionally unanswered elements. I found this story to be a fun, quick read.
A perfect short story for the Halloween season. Berthold Gambrel creates a tale which borders between the known and unknown by weaving a down-to-earth plot with intentionally unanswered elements. I found this story to be a fun, quick read.
November 1, 2019
A quick read with colorful characters and wonderful wit. For example, in regards to Sheriff Sixtus Davis the narrator says: "There is nothing women find sexier than competence, he'd heard, and probably that was why he hadn't had a girlfriend for quite some time." Made me laugh out loud. Terrific cover design too.
January 29, 2021
Although I wasn't quite sure about it at the start, this turned out to be a clever, funny, and completely enjoyable story with an unpredictable ending.
Federal Agent Raczyck is sent to a backwater little town to investigate a drug racket that's possibly centered on Vespasian Moon's Carnival. And she's not the first agent to be sent out there. Basically, this is an assignment for agents who don't give a rat's fart anymore. But when she joins up with Sheriff Davis, well, strange things are afoot. And just what is that odd presence Davis's dog keeps detecting?
The humor in this is perfect. Most of the time it's subtle and delightfully sarcastic, and it's always right on the mark without being over the top. For example....
"Don't worry, I'll be leaving Deputy Bryan here. He's incredibly capable..."
"My hat fell in the toilet again!" Bryan called from the station's lavatory.
I have to admit, the "sexy" bit right off the bat with Davis and Raczyck struck me as a bit "porn movie" ridiculous, but as I keep treading, I loved the running gag of this pair's constant attempts to get a little private time.
Overall, a great story that left me eager for more from Gambrel!
Federal Agent Raczyck is sent to a backwater little town to investigate a drug racket that's possibly centered on Vespasian Moon's Carnival. And she's not the first agent to be sent out there. Basically, this is an assignment for agents who don't give a rat's fart anymore. But when she joins up with Sheriff Davis, well, strange things are afoot. And just what is that odd presence Davis's dog keeps detecting?
The humor in this is perfect. Most of the time it's subtle and delightfully sarcastic, and it's always right on the mark without being over the top. For example....
"Don't worry, I'll be leaving Deputy Bryan here. He's incredibly capable..."
"My hat fell in the toilet again!" Bryan called from the station's lavatory.
I have to admit, the "sexy" bit right off the bat with Davis and Raczyck struck me as a bit "porn movie" ridiculous, but as I keep treading, I loved the running gag of this pair's constant attempts to get a little private time.
Overall, a great story that left me eager for more from Gambrel!
December 3, 2020
Another fun, Halloween-inspired short read from Berthold Gambrel. The two main characters, Agent Jane Raczyck and Sheriff Sixtus Davis, are a bit rough hewn, but improve as the story progresses. The plot elements -- troubled small town, Halloween carnival, weird goings-on, and sinister local supertitions -- merge to a satisfying climax for all parties. There are regular shots of humour and the adult situations never cross the line of discretion. And the cover is a work of art!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews