- Perchance to Dream: Selected Stories

by Charles Beaumont

Other authorsRay Bradbury (Foreword), William Shatner (Afterword)
Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Collection

Publication

Penguin Classics (2015), 322 pages

Description

The profoundly original and wildly entertaining short stories of a legendary Twilight Zone writer. It is only natural that Charles Beaumont would make a name for himself crafting scripts for The Twilight Zone, for his was an imagination so limitless it must have emerged from some other dimension. Perchance to Dream contains a selection of Beaumont's finest stories, including five that he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes. Beaumont dreamed up fantasies so vast and varied they burst through the walls of whatever box might contain them. Supernatural, horror, noir, science fiction, fantasy, pulp, and more: all were equally at home in his wondrous mind. These are stories where lions stalk the plains, classic cars rove the streets, and spacecraft hover just overhead. Here roam musicians, magicians, vampires, monsters, toreros, extraterrestrials, androids, and perhaps even the Devil himself. With dizzying feats of master storytelling and joyously eccentric humor, Beaumont transformed his nightmares and reveries into impeccably crafted stories that leave themselves indelibly stamped upon the walls of the mind. In Beaumont's hands, nothing is impossible; it all seems plausible, even likely.… (more)

Media reviews

User reviews

LibraryThing member michaeladams1979
Fantastic collection of short stories running the gamut from drama to horror, from SF/F to weird. It is unsurprising some of the best episodes of the Twilight Zone were derived from his works, he had a gift for storytelling. Characters, scenes, and settings come to life deftly and with a
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verisimilitude to the human condition that is hard to match. Very impressive, highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member ghr4
Charles Beaumont's Perchance to Dream is an uneven collection of short stories. Some are terrific, including those he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes: the title story, "The Jungle", "The Howling Man", "Song for a Lady", "In His Image", and "The Beautiful People". In all instances the
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source material naturally exceeds the adaptations in quality and nuance; the effects of the shackles of the television series' time constraints and network censors are clearly evident after reading the originals. Apart from these, however, it's really a mixed bag: a few with a neat twist ending, but most feeling forced or falling flat.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2015

ISBN

0143107658 / 9780143107651
Page: 0.4234 seconds