Fredric Brown – Nightmares and Geezenstacks

Scary Books, Kiddies!

 

Nightmares and Geezenstacks, by Fredric Brown, 1961.  Bantam, 1979.  

      This fine little tome (182 pages) is given no cover credit by Bantam.  The red bats are likely simple clip-art-types dropped into the image. 

The red creature laying across the top of the egg is obviously a harpy.  I know I’ve seen this particular image, but I can’t find it!

She’s a harpy of the old kind, as shown above.

      The “egg guy” is a detail from The Last Judgment, an astounding triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, from sometime around 1482.

      Wow, huh?

      Now you see him!  As for the wonderful text inside the covers ...

      Brown’s stories are a great mixture of humor and sardonic wit.  Here are a few story cycles

·         the “Nightmares” in various colors, each beginning with a guy waking up;

·         the “Great Lost Discoveries” tales;

·         experiments in time travel with “The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver” (one through three);

·         and tons more brief knockouts.

See you next time!