Peter Beagle

Peter S. Beagle is my current binge author. I've just reread A Fine and Private Place; I'm near to finishing (re-finishing?) The Last Unicorn; and I intend to go on to the rest of his works that I have - The Folk of the Air, The Innkeeper's Song, Giant Bones, and Tamsin.

I've come to the conclusion that the following is a defensible proposition: Peter Beagle writes horror.

I offer for your consideration the following scenes.

• From The Last Unicorn: several scenes at the circus - Mammy Fortuna as Elli, and everything to do with the harpy; the first appearance of the Red Bull; and the lead-up to his second appearance (and much of that appearance as well).
• From The Folk of the Air: what Aiffe did to the cat, and to "Mansa Musa" "Prester John"; the appearance of her champions at the War; and the final confrontation between Aiffe and Sia.
• From The Innkeeper's Song: the torment the old man suffered at Arshadin's hands; the assassins who came after Nyateneri; and, of course, the coming of the griga'ath. (The whole situation with Lukassa has its own creepiness.)

I don't recall Giant Bones or Tamsin well enough to say, but I get something of the same feel from those books as well.

(Of course, it is also defensible to say that Beagle writes quite a number of things - farce, fantasy high and low, etc. - but this element of his writing just struck me.)

"Cheap, safe drug kills most cancers"

That's the headline on this New Scientist article. All I can say is, "Wow - if true".