In “The Trombone, the Pianist, the Four-Wheeler, and the Zombies” by Carolyn Watson, three elderly people face an invasion by hordes of flesh-eating undead in their own way.
Cannibalistic zombies are a very familiar horror premise, which has been used to death (pun intended.) This example of a clichéd concept is notable for its feisty protagonists and sardonic humor.
Victoria Silverwolf, Tangent Online
The Trombone, the Pianist, the Four-Wheeler, and the Zombies – by Carolyn Watson
Premise:
Being 82 years of age is problematic when fighting zombies.
Review:
The story doesn’t focus on the zombie plague. Kip, the protagonist, concentrates on his own setup. He’s doing all right. The electricity and the water remain on. He can still make instant coffee. Of course, what with most people abandoning the city, his friends taking refuge in a community centre, and the ashes of his deceased wife in an urn on the kitchen table, he’s beginning to feel a bit lonely.
Then the water and electricity go out. That does it! He’s off to battle the zombies with his cane… if he can get down the stairs to ground level.
This story is about resilience in the face of inevitable doom. A stand-in, perhaps, for the difficulties of coping with old age. I’m only ten years younger than Kip. I easily identify with both his problems and his thoughts. Do I see myself whacking zombies with my cane? Well, why not? Worth a try. Alleviates boredom. Get’s one excited. Fulfills childhood fantasy. Offers all sorts of short term advantages. Good while it lasts.
The serious message is that, in life, everyone dies. If you feel you are close to the end, why sit around waiting for it? That just hastens its arrival. Do something. Anything. Keep busy. Write reviews for Amazing. Hunt zombies with a cane. Whatever works.
The story is more complicated than I’ve indicated, with a nifty ending accenting the message. Another, positive, uplifting tale. Fantasy, yes, but useful, practical fantasy. If you can, be like Kip. That be my goal.
R. Graeme Cameron, CLUBHOUSE: Review: On Spec Magazine #125, https://amazingstories.com/2023/11/clubhouse-review-on-spec-magazine-125/
Leaf – by Carolyn Watson
Premise:
Six-year-old Beatrice notices a leaf sprouting out of her mother’s hair. Her only concern is how to water it. Her mother is too busy setting up a real estate deal to pay attention to her newfound foliage. All the leaf wants to do is conquer the world.
Review:
Hmm, not quite urban realism. Puts me in mind of J.G. Ballard’s The Crystal Worldwhere the world’s lifeforms mutate into a crystal jungle. The question inspired by both is not so much “Why?” as “What does the symbolism mean?” Does the leaf stand for the inevitability of greed destroying humanity? The suicidal nature of our civilization? Is there an implication innocence alone guarantees survival? Or does it represent, through role reversal, what we are doing to the natural world? Or merely Nature’s revenge? Or just a leaf trying to take over the world? I don’t much care, actually. I simply sat back and enjoyed the surreal imagery as I read, rather like contemplating a painting by Max Ernst. Intriguing in and of itself.
Graeme Cameron, The Clubhouse Review, Amazing Stories
“The House on Whaler Bay” is a beautifully written story by Carolyn Watson about Meryl and Lottie, elderly twin sisters growing old together. The twins cling to the last of their independence in the midst of failing health. Their interactions are comical and the story movingly portrays how society selfishly treats its elder members. The twins’ niece, Miriam, and her family are the every-family with lives of their own, but no time for their elderly relatives. Meryl and Lottie wind up in a nursing home where they are shadows of their former selves: “The twins closed their eyes to their visitors. They had stopped speaking to the family and no amount of begging or pleading could persuade them otherwise.”
Zachary Boissonneau, The Review Review
The inane world of celebrity adoptions is ribbed by Carolyn Watson in “Little Precious,” as a famous actress adopts a child from a foreign land who turns out to be a demon. It is played for laughs, needling the folly of our celebrity culture and the spin of Hollywood press.
Bob Blough, Tangent
The “Little Precious” in the story by Carolyn Watson is a beast-like child, adopted in a foreign country by a vain actress named Fritzi Fayre. She calls the boy Tigger and wants to make something out of him in the nicely written little satire.
Sam Tomaino, SFRevu Review
