The legendary John Carpenter is well-known to genre fans for his slew of classic movies throughout the 1970s and ’80s.
His talents didn’t just extend to the big screen, as he also featured in fiction books too. One of those was the 1995 horror anthology Classics of the Supernatural, which was edited together by British writer Peter Haining and also featured the work of James Herbert, Robert Bloch and Shirley Jackson.
Safe to say, Carpenter was mixing with literary horror giants here.
His four-page story Harlequin is a twisted tale of a tortured man who pulls up to the beach at night, muttering how ten years has been a long time.
After stripping naked, he proceeds to start peeling off his skin, to reveal green, scaly skin underneath. Throughout this gruesome transformation, he can constantly hear the sound of a harpsichord playing.
As he is ready to return to his oceanic home, a clown appears in the trees near to the beach. Calling to him, the clown tells him that he is not in fact a fish but a clown.
The man then feels the urge to peel away his skin one more time, only to reveal a white, painted face with a greasy-slashed smile…
Although published in 1995, in this collection, Carpenter wrote this short in 1969, with its first publication coming in 1981 (when he was arguably coming to the peak of his powers), in The Science Fiction Collector fanzine, with it also being published four more times (including Classics of the Supernatural) up until 2004.
Harlequin, is an interesting footnote in Carpenter’s career, as he would use themes of transformation in his retelling of The Thing in 1981, plus later features Prince of Darkness and In The Mouth of Madness.
Carpenter wants to challenge the reader, disgust them and make them think. Harlequin is definitely worth seeking out for Carpenter fans.
Bloody Flicks 