Summary

Beast from the Year 5000 – The author (describing his younger self in third person, as “the boy”) writes about finding himself entranced, as always, by the atmosphere of an old fashioned movie theatre, and by the promotional displays for movies being shown there, which often (he suggests) featured well-built men in various stages of almost-nudity. He also describes the appeal of a particular movie, “The Beast from the Year 5000”: the “beast,” the author writes, was a beautiful woman from the year 5000, exotically dressed and able to kill with a touch.

The whole experience, the author writes, can be looked at through two lenses. The first, he says, is that of his adult self, who can see how the boy’s feelings for the woman in the film and for his mother were similar – loving and fearful, entranced and down-to-earth. He discusses the old...