Challenge 69: Trick or Treat

To celebrate Halloween weekend, our Challenge dons a somewhat new costume. I’ve been very diligent in seeking out ideas and common themes in the estimable stories and articles of our contributors; now let us dig into the past and disinter some old bones that may yet be lively enough to engage us in a merry midnight dance — or give us pause.

Eric S. Brown has established himself with us and in the genre fiction world generally as “Mister Short Horror Story.” Others, such as Norman A. Rubin, have shown us real expertise in the genre of horror, as well. Students who’d like to write a term paper on Horror for an English class would find Bewildering Stories a gold mine.

But that’s not the Challenge, either. Rather, when my Russian dentist says I’m scary, it may be time to take a look at things. I think we’ll find a “treat” rather than a “trick” for Halloween. Yours truly has written a few things for Bewildering Stories that, I think, are the opposite of horror fiction. Your mission, Mr. or Ms. Phelps, should you decide to accept it, is to disregard flapping batwings and werewolf wails on a moonlit night fitfully obscured by dark and scudding clouds. Rather, you are to follow the challenges across the moors and emerge on the other side of fear.

The theme of the Doppelgänger is well known in literature. In my “Bewildering Bio” I cite instances where a double appears. What is my attitude toward that phenomenon? Can you combine those instances and turn them into a horror story? It’s a lot easier than it may seem at first glance.
The theme of fear appears in one editorial, three stories and a poem:

“Where Have All the Space Aliens Gone?” (issue 11)
“2002: a Palindromic Odyssey” (issue 17)
“The Flying Dutchman of MacKinnon Hall” (issue 22)
“Mars Draws Near” (issue 57)
“The Inadvertent Intervention of the Floon ” (issue 67)
Who is afraid of what? And how is fear overcome or dispelled?
Taboos are based on fear. Cannibalism is an almost universal taboo, probably because it is associated with the transmission of disease. Likewise, incest is associated with genetic, psychological and social disorders. (Oedipus doesn’t need an oracle; he needs a psychologist to treat his fear of abandonment and a team of estate lawyers to handle his legal affairs.)

However, nudity is much more variable: some cultures have a very strong nudity taboo; others also have the taboo but to a much lesser extent. Both “Gained in Translation” (issue 38) and “The Floon ” deal with nudity from a North American perspective. What is the author’s attitude toward nudity, and how does he resolve the conflicts it raises?

So, you see, there’s no “trick” to it, and I look forward to the “treats” of your responses. Please send them to us at Bewildering Stories !