Review: Could Billie Sue Mosiman's short story, CARNIVAL FREAKS, be a lost Twilight Zone episode?
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2013
Just like the classic Twilight Zone episodes, Billie Sue Mosiman's short story, CARNIVAL FREAKS, began by laying out all of the cliched tropes (e.g., dingey atmosphere, sly barker, suspicious deal, greedy customers, a fortuneteller who wasn't believed, etc.). When the reader believed the story is "just another SF" short, Mosiman applied another Twilight Zone trademark- the unforeseen ending. Unlike most tales, CARNIVAL FREAK's sudden departure from its expected course was intended to startle and horrify the reader.Come one! Come all! The carnival is in town, and we've got a monster of a freak show! Pay a little extra to get a glimpse behind the curtain. What's inside... Well, it's no disturbing than you are. Besides- it'll grow on you after awhile and be all you can think about.This story reminded me of the Twilight Zone TV series, but I also recently read an anthology of carnival short stories that Mosiman's piece would have fit in. Here's some useful links on those subjects.The Twilight Zone: The Complete Definitive CollectionCarniepunkThanks for the brief flashback into the years of pulp SF with this modern work of paranormal fiction. Unfortunately, I'm looking for "new" and "different," not prose which fit like my comfortable old pair of warn-out jeans with the holes in the knees. I can't get "excited" about CARNIVAL FREAKS, and I can't point to anything that makes this ebook markedly "original." The author followed the Twilight Zone form well, incorporating distracting cliches, psychological torment, and the didn't-see-that-coming SF finale. I left CARNIVAL FREAKS not interested in what happened to the characters and ready to move on to the next book on my TBR, and that tells me much about the rating I should give.