First appeared in John Skipp and Craig Spector's Still Dead, reprinted by Otto Penzler, and up for a Bram Stoker award.
Summary:
A circus barker, with an unusual invention, invites his unusual clientelle to sample his singular delights in order to serve others.
Discussion:
This is Wilson's only story ever up for an award. In a way, it's unsurprising yet in another, it is. The set-up is so brilliant, the author rides it through the entire story to arrive at its punch.
What's amazing is not how well it draws us in but how well it maintains our interest. There's just enough to keep the reader tantalized. It's amazing how little plot and character are involved.
The story--its illusion of speculative reality--upon further thought, falls apart. Why is he doing this? For whom? Who buys his product, given the state of the source material? Why should the character care about what enters more than what he sells?
But to focus on the flaws misses the miracle that this story works as powerfully as it does. Read it anyway.
