Golden Age Fiction

The Sun was finally dying, the astronomers having predicted its demise within a few days. Unable to leave Earth, humanity had excavated accommodation deep underground for what was left of the population. But even though they would never see the Sun, the sky, or the stars again, life for the young astronomers Ramo and Kuila Rei now had its own light. "When the Sun Went Out" appeared in &#34...

Mr. Satterthwaite witnesses a brutal fight outside an opera house. What could have caused such behaviour? "The Face of Helen" appeared in the July 1951 issue of Black Mask Detective Magazine on pages 37 to 48. The Face of Helen was first published in "The Story-Teller," a monthly British pulp fiction magazine which ran from 1907 to 1937, in April 1927. With thanks to the Agatha Chr...

She was the last priestess of Asti, and the barbarians were approching. She had no choice but to escape to the surface world, taking with her the gifts of Asti. She wasn't to know, however, that one more ancient gift awaited her on the surface... "The Gifts of Asti" appeared in "Fantasy Book" vol. 1, no. 3 in 1948, pages 8 - 17. ----- Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton,...

All Ed Blair wanted was a fluff piece, a brightener for page two of the Tokyo Tribune, for which he was a reporter. His Editor, Murdock, had heard stories of the 'magic tricks' that the monks of the Hataka Shrine could do. "The Shrine" appeared in "Fantastic Universe," December 1956, pages 77 - 86. ----- Walter James Sheldon (9 January 1917 - 9 June 1996) was an American au...

Being a wizard missionary to the Free'l needed more than magic—it called for a miracle! "The Autumn After Next" appeared in the January 1960 issue of Worlds of If Science Fiction on pages 101 to 107. ----- Margaret St Clair (17 February 1911, Hutchinson, Kansas – 22 November 1995, Santa Rosa, California) was an American fantasy and science fiction writer who also wrote under the pseudo...

All inventors seek success. Some few achieve it. And now and then a Quintus Maugham is a bit too successful for his own health. "The Maugham Obsession" appeared in "Fantastic Universe," June-July 1953, pages 107 to 115. ----- August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lov...

An expedition from Earth had gone to investigate the Crab Nebula. And—an expedition from Somewhere was already there! Now what is a spaceship skipper to do under such circumstances? Lead the possibly-deadly aliens home? Try to detsroy them? What can he do? "First Contact" appeared in the May 1945 issue of "Astounding Science Fiction" on pages 7 to 33. In the original printing, ther...

The human race has deteriorated, and will die when the machines that have kept them alive in Subterannea for tens of millennia after the supposed death of the Sun eventually stop working. But there are those who believe that the Sun did not die, and the survival of humanity depends on it once again venturing Outside. "If the Sun Died" appeared in "Astounding Stories," August 1931,...

Agent Cameron had the unenviable task of protecting the Galactic Capitol building from the Damakoi, fanatical beings 70 percent of whom hated the Galactic Federation and all it stood for. And now he had one of the Damakoi in front of him, warning him of a plot by another Damakoi to deploy a Theta Bomb inside the Capitol building. But, knowing the Damakoi well, he wasn't taking any chances. &#3...

You're a detective and you have an assignment to find a client's wife. This good-time gal has found herself a nicer body and is masquerading as some other fellow's wife. So how can you find her? Simple. You get into one male body after another and become a different girl's husband each night. And you're determined to find her even if you have to be every woman's husband to...

The Rocket was ready to take the first intrepid pioneers to the Moon. But the world's excitement turned to hate when William Stanley, president of the company that had built the Rocket, canceled the flight. The time wasn't right, he said. But the public wanted their Rocket to fly, and they were prepared to kill to make it happen. "Rocket Summer" appeared in "Planet Stories,&#34...

Pst! This is top secret. Don't let it get around, but we've got the Russians right where we want them. They haven't got a secret left to their name. We know every detail. You see, the Russians were pretty sure their inner circle was leakproof, that no one could penetrate their vaults. But they reckoned without-- "The Man who Knew Everything" appeared in the October 1956 issue o...

Albrekt Verbrug was confident in his ability to hijack the Mars-Titan freighter 'By Jove,' and deliver its cargo of lithium and other materials to his comrades in the Flanjo military. But the crew of the 'By Jove' were experienced spacemen and Albrekt was not. "Blow the Man Down" appeared in "Worlds of If Science Fiction," March 1955, pages 92 to 107. ----- Charles...

Nobody knew that Gruin had killed his sweetheart, but her little red heels tapped a march of death wherever he went, driving him to a desperate resolve. "Clicking Red Heels" appeared in the June 1937 issue of Weird Tales on pages 668 to 677. ----- Paul Frederick Ernst (November 7, 1899, Akron, Ohio – September 21, 1985, Pinellas County, Florida) was an American pulp fiction writer. He is b...

Bertrand Baxter was a man's man living in a household of women, most of whom baffled him. But, when he discovered a unique connection to his youngest daughter, who was still a baby, he devised a plan to understand women better. "Go To Sleep, My Darling" appeared in "Infinity Science Fiction," November 1958, page 99 - 109. ----- Winston Kinney Marks (1915-1979) was an American a...

Step by grueling step the four of them slogged their way toward a tenuous safety. It was a magnificent display of their will for survival. The only question was, whose survival? "The Survivors" appeared in "Amazing Stories," August 1961. ----- T. D. Hamm (real name Thelma Hamm Evans, 1905 – 1995) was a science fiction writer with stories published in If, Tomorrow's Universe, Th...

A strange and curious little story, about the moonlight mating of flowers. "Vallisneria Madness" appeared in the May 1937 issue of Weird Tales on pages 612 to 616. Ralph Milne Farley was the pen name of the science fiction writing collaboration between Roger Sherman Hoar, state senator and assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts, and his daughter Caroline Prescott Hoar. Vallisneria is...

Professor Halley had perfected his machine for shrinking objects to sub-atomic size, and his trusty assistant, Hale McLaren was ready to make the journey into the sub-atomic universe. His daughter, Shirley, who loved Hale, was also determined to go, and Halley reluctantly agreed.  The plan was to bring them back in half an hour, but Halley had made one vital miscalculation... "Out of the Sub-u...

Whatever goes up must come down. Including moon rockets. But there's no law saying what they must come down to. "Down to Earth" appeared in the November 1963 issue of Amazing Stories on pages 53 to 71. ----- Harry Max Harrison (March 12, 1925 – August 15, 2012) was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Ma...

A blunder by a stock clerk meant that Mark Forepaugh and his servant, Gunga, were stranded on Inra without power until the relief ship arrived. But they couldn't stay in an unpowered trading station; they had to venture out and get to the Mountains of Perdition where they had a better chance of being rescued. That trip, however, necessitated a trip through the hostile jungle of Inra... "Th...

When is a suicide not a suicide? When there is an aging husband concerned about his health, a beautiful young wife, and a large life insurance policy. Hercule Poirot is called in by the insurance company to investigate. "The Marsdon Manor Tragedy" appeared in the March 1924 issue of "The Blue Book Magazine" on pages 121 to 126. "The Marsdon Manor Tragedy" first appeared in...

Vincenzo and Aziz had a plan to steal one of the ice-sweepers orbiting Saturn and use it as their pirate base. Henry, for whom this was his first job, was 'volunteered' to be stranded in space in the path of the ice-sweeper and be 'rescued' and gain access to the ship. But when Ranjit saved Henry's life, he started having second thoughts. And then, Joachim and the beautiful Mor...

For a man who never flew before to step from an airplane into space thousands of feet above the earth--that takes nerve! Yet old Beth knew that was the only slim chance for his fire-trapped logging crew. "Fire of Retribution" appeared in "Argosy All-Story Weekly," October 20, 1928, pages 712 - 717. ----- Lawrence Louis Donovan (July 1885 – March 11, 1948) was an American pulp ficti...

"The Machine," they exclaimed, "feeds us and clothes us and houses us; through it we speak to one another, through it we see one another, in it we have our being. The Machine is the friend of ideas and the enemy of superstition: the Machine is omnipotent, eternal; blessed is the Machine." "The Machine Stops" appeared in the November 1909 issue of "The Oxford and Cambrid...

I was there to recruit the Unmarried Mother. But first I had to gain his confidence by allowing him to 'settle' with the one who'd gotten him pregnant when he was a woman, and had ruined his chances of joining the Space Corps. I trusted that he wouldn't kill him. That would be problematic... "All You Zombies" appeared in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,&#34...