Review of Black Man with a Horn
All reviews are spoiler free, save for the first opening page.
Black Man with a Horn has one of the best openings of any horror short story I’ve ever read:
“There is something inherently comforting about the first-person past tense. It conjures up visions of some deskbound narrator puffing contemplatively up a pipe amid the safety of his study, lost in the tranquil recollection, seasoned but essentially unscathed by whatever experience he’s about to relate. It's a tense that says, “I am here to tell the tale. I living through it.””
He'll finish the into paragraphs with,
“A comforting premise, perhaps. Only, in this case, it doesn’t happen to be true.”
I love that move.
Klein’s “Black Man with a Horn” is a very popular tale, one told multiple times in various collections. It’s evocative.
Klein is a very good writer, despite his two books and small number of shorts, he is considered high quality, not unlike Ambrose Bierce.
As one example, take this review from Tor.com
Please Tell Me John Coltrane Never Read This: T. E. D. Klein’s “Black Man With a Horn” | Tor.com
“Let’s start with full disclosure: I love love love T. E. D. Klein. I wish I could say a spell to relieve him of his long writer’s block in the same way I wish I could use Joseph Curwen’s method to resurrect Jane Austen. I want more stories, more novels, epic series that would make Brandon Sanderson blanch! But alas, to paraphrase Gaiman, Mr. Klein is not my bitch, and I’ve yet to perfect the Curwen method. Soon, soon….”
There is a strong reason why this story has resonated and been included in multiple collections since it’s original printing in 1980 It works. It’s well written, and well-conceived.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.