June 10 - "Clothes Make the Man"

A Week of Richard Matheson“Clothes Make the Man”
by Richard Matheson
Button, Button: Uncanny Stories (2008)

* * (Okay) Supernatural

A drunken man corners a guest at a party and tells him the tragic tale of his brother’s losing battle with his wardrobe.

There were moments when the story rose above silliness. In fact, in those brief moments the tale had some real potential for terror. In the end it was the drunken rambling that put me out of the story. Every moment away from Charlie and his increasingly finicky wardrobe was excruciating. Even the quote unquote surprise reveal at the end was wasted because of its proximity to the toxic narrator. So much potential here, squandered.