"The Wheel" by Bentley Little
This weird tale (published in Cemetery Dance # 64, which also happens to be a Bentley Little special issue) revolves around a wheel of fortune, but don't expect to find a smarmy Pat Sajak or ageless Vanna White close at hand. The titular apparatus--wooden, paint-flaking, and studded with nails around its outer rim-- is located in the housing-project apartment of an elderly widow, and its segments are painted with alliterative, politically-incorrect commands such as "Choke the Chink" and "Kick the Kike." Spinners of the strange wheel (such as the young narrator, who finds himself addicted to its mysteries) must carry out the order, or otherwise suffer a similar violent fate. The premise makes for a haunting story, one that hints at a bizarre source for seemingly random crimes of racial intolerance in the inner city.
Offbeat but dark, "The Wheel" is quintessential Bentley Little, and is well worth giving a spin. Fans of this prolific and highly-respected author will also find plenty of other material (as outlined on the magazine cover above) to enjoy in CD's dedicated issue.
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