First published back in June of 1987, Janice Greene’s short tale ‘Fast Forward’ was released as a stand-alone story for the Fearon Education ‘Fastback’ series. The Fastback series were designed to encourage reluctant readers to take up reading, keeping the stories short, sharp and thrilling. This particular story is classed as a ‘Double Fastback’, meaning it’s roughly double the length of a standard Fastback and was published within the ‘Horror’ series.
The story was later reprinted within the ‘Chamber Of Horrors’ (1991) Fastback Anthology.
DLS Synopsis:
Don Rayburn loved TV. Films, game shows, documentaries – whatever it was, he no doubt enjoyed every minute of it. Which is why he’d spent so much of his money on the 11-foot satellite dish which they now had in their front garden. It gave him access to a whopping 140 TV channels. He also now had two VCRs, so he could watch live broadcasts whilst taping something on another channel.
His wife, Brenda, was far from impressed when he’d come home with the new VCR. More entertainment equipment filling up the game room. At this rate Don would have no time for anything other than watching all his shows and movies. The game room was dominated by tapes already, long gone was anything that Brenda would use.
Even when their new next-door neighbour moved in, Don barely got out of his seat from watching his films. Although Don had already heard about the Howard’s. Marvin Howard was Tony’s boss, but Tony didn’t have a good word to say about him. Don trusted Tony. He’d known him long enough to know Tony had his head screwed on.
True to form, when Marvin came over to ask a favour of Don, the man had already made a nuisance of himself. Disturbing Don’s viewing of a film and then having the audacity to ask Don to turn the VCR’s green light off as it was hurting his eyes. Although, to be fair, the new VCR did give off a strange green glow from time to time.
It was a green glow that Don soon found would precede a vision of the future. Strangely, the VCR would fast forward, and then on the TV screen it would reveal a moment in the not-too-distant future. Showing Don a terrible crime that was going to happen. A warning.
Although it seemed unlikely, Don was convinced his new VCR was able to reveal events that were going to occur. On each occasion, a brutal murder. The first of which would be Marvin Howard’s demise…
You’ve gotta love a quirky 1980s horror! Here we have just that. The sort of thing that might’ve appeared on a ‘Tales From The Crypt’ (1989 – 1996) episode. A similar vibe to Adam Millard’s ‘The Bad Game’ (2016) basically.
Essentially, we have a guy who buys a second-hand VHS player which we find out reveals glimpses of future murders when it fast forwards. In true 80s style, the VHS player casts an eerie illuminous green glow, which of course then has a deadly impact upon what happens next. Oh yes, its quirky and camp 80s horror alright!
Of course, half the joy in this story is how dated it is. This fella spends a fortune on blank VHS tapes, analog equipment, and a huge satellite dish. He’s obsessed with films and TV shows. Watching film after film into the wee hours of the morning whilst his poor wife sleeps upstairs.
There’s a whodunnit element to the tale too, although let’s be honest, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to work out the culprit from early on. No spoilers, but yeah, you can see the big twist coming chapters ahead. The irony, eh?!
Anyway, the murders themselves aren’t anything of note. A few strangulations of the neighbours by the heavy-gloved hands of our perpetrator. Not the most inspired of techniques but does the job.
The end result is a fun and entertaining short read, with the most enjoyment coming from the 1980s setting. Those who were around during the 1980s and indeed old school VHS collectors will get the most out of the tale, with the nostalgia of the setup and Don’s obsession bringing a wry smile to your face.
The Fastback runs for a total of 59 pages (which are just 4” x 5.5” with an average word count of around 100 words per page).
© DLS Reviews
