cally transformed into the shape of a young
human woman for the confrontation with King
Haggard, the brooding villain, which results in the
rejuvenation of the land and the working out of
the destinies of the various characters. Although
it is clearly not meant to be taken too seriously,
readers make definite emotional connections with
the story, and the novel has remained quite popu-
lar. A full-length animated version was brought to
the screen in 1982 but did not measure up to the
written work.
“Lila the Werewolf” (1974) is an interesting
urban fantasy, one of whose characters is a were-
wolf, although the story could not even remotely
be considered horror. This short story is related to
the novel The Folk of the Air(1986), in which the
activities of an elaborate medievalist society are
actually a partial mask for some genuinely magical
events and powers. Although the novel is quite
readable, it is disappointingly slight compared to
Beagle’s first two book-length fantasies. The
Innkeeper’s Song(1993) is an episodic, traditional
fantasy adventure told in a very complex style and
featuring several interlocked quest stories. The
novel is very loosely related to The Last Unicorn,as
are the contents of Giant Bones(1997), a collec-
tion of short stories. The Unicorn Sonata(1996)
follows the adventures of a young girl who is trans-
ported into an alternate reality where unicorns ac-
tually exist.
Beagle’s most recent novel is Tamsin(1999).
A young American girl moves to England, where
she soon meets a sociable 300-year-old ghost. To-
gether they explore the world of the lingering
dead as the ghost seeks her long lost lover and the
living girl tries to find a purpose for living. At
times reminiscent of A Fine and Private Placeas
well as The Canterville Ghost (1906) by Oscar
Wilde, it is one of Beagle’s most impressive efforts.
He has also produced a number of outstanding
short stories in recent years, including “A Dance
for Emilia” (2000), in which a human spirit resides
in a cat, and “Quarry” (2004). Most of his recent
short work has been collected in The Rhinoceros
Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquain-
tances(2003). Although the amount of work pro-
duced in a career that spans 45 years is
comparatively small, the average quality is ex-
tremely high, and Beagle has long been regarded
as a major fantasy writer, even when several years
elapsed between new titles.Beaumont, Charles(1929–1967)
Charles Beaumont was the pseudonym of the
American writer Charles Nutt, who started writ-
ing science fiction in the early 1950s but who soon
turned to supernatural and psychological horror
and sometimes straightforward mystery stories, in-
cluding his only novel. Beaumont was a prolific
short story writer whose quality was consistently
high. Many of his stories were adapted for televi-
sion, for which he frequently wrote screenplays.
He also scripted several movies, of which the most
worthwhile are The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao(1964)
and Burn Witch Burn(1961), based on novels by
Charles G. Finney and Fritz LEIBER, respectively.
Beaumont’s most famous story is “THE VANISH-
ING AMERICAN” (1955), in which an inoffensive
man fades slowly out of existence, a device that is
taken up and examined in more detail in The Ig-
noredby Bentley LITTLE(1997). A well-intentioned
man inadvertently frees the devil himself from cap-
tivity in “THE HOWLING MAN” (1960), and the
magical power of jazz is invoked effectively in “The
Night Ride.” Beaumont’s ability to portray contem-
porary characters in extraordinary situations and to
create an atmosphere of quiet horror rivaled that of
Richard Matheson and the early Ray Bradbury,
and his premature death following the onset of
Alzheimer’s disease while he was still in his 30s
was tragic. Almost all of his stories are excellent,
but titles of particular note include “The Beautiful
People” (1952), “The Last Caper” (1954), “The
Hunger” (1955), “The Crooked Man” (1955), and
“Perchance to Dream” (1958).
Although his career lasted only 15 years,
Beaumont produced enough outstanding short fic-
tion to fill five collections, Yonder(1958), The
Hunger and Other Stories(1958), Night Ride and
Other Journeys(1960), The Magic Man(1965),
and The Edge(1966). Later collections reshuffled
these and added a few that had been overlooked,
and most of his work can also be found in The Best
of Beaumont(1982), The Howling Man(1992), and
A Touch of the Creature(1999). Charles Beaumont:Beaumont, Charles 19