What do you think?
Rate this book
The Other Worlds: 25 Modern Stories of Mystery and Imagination
An anthology of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories.
Contents
"Foreword, Philip D. Stong
"The Considerate Hosts", Thorp McClusky (Weird Tales 1939)
"The Man in the Black Hat", Michael Fessier (Esquire 1934)
"Naked Lady", Mindret Lord (Weird Tales 1934)
"The House of Ecstasy", Ralph Milne Farley (Weird Tales 1938)
"Escape", Paul Ernst (Weird Tales 1938)
"The Adaptive Ultimate", Stanley G. Weinbaum (Astounding 1935)
"The Woman in Gray", Walker G. Everett (Weird Tales 1935)
"The Pipes of Pan", Lester del Rey (Unknown 1940)
"Aunt Cassie", Virginia Swain (orig)
"Notes on Part II", Philip D. Stong
"A God in a Garden", Theodore Sturgeon (Unknown 1939)
"The Man Who Knew All the Answers", Donald Bern (Amazing 1940)
"Adam Link’s Vengeance", Eando Binder (Amazing 1940)
"Truth Is a Plague", D. W. O’Brien (Amazing 1940)
"The Fourth-Dimensional Demonstrator", Murray Leinster (Astounding 1935)
"Alas, All Thinking!", Harry Bates (Astounding 1935)
"The Comedy of Eras", Henry Kuttner (Thrilling Wonder Stories 1940)
"A Problem for Biographers", Mindret Lord (orig)
"Note to Part III," Philip D. Stong
"In the Vault", H. P. Lovecraft (Weird Tales 1932)
"School for the Unspeakable", Manly Wade Wellman (Weird Tales 1937)
"The House Where Time Stood Still", Seabury Quinn Weird Tales 1939)
"The Mystery of the Last Guest", John Flanders (Weird Tales 1935)
"The Song of the Slaves", Manly Wade Wellman (Weird Tales 1940)
"The Paneled Room", August Derleth (Westminster Magazine 1933)
"The Graveyard Rats", Henry Kuttner (Weird Tales 1936)
"The Return of Andrew Bentley", August Derleth & Mark Schorer (Weird Tales 1933)
Contents
"Foreword, Philip D. Stong
"The Considerate Hosts", Thorp McClusky (Weird Tales 1939)
"The Man in the Black Hat", Michael Fessier (Esquire 1934)
"Naked Lady", Mindret Lord (Weird Tales 1934)
"The House of Ecstasy", Ralph Milne Farley (Weird Tales 1938)
"Escape", Paul Ernst (Weird Tales 1938)
"The Adaptive Ultimate", Stanley G. Weinbaum (Astounding 1935)
"The Woman in Gray", Walker G. Everett (Weird Tales 1935)
"The Pipes of Pan", Lester del Rey (Unknown 1940)
"Aunt Cassie", Virginia Swain (orig)
"Notes on Part II", Philip D. Stong
"A God in a Garden", Theodore Sturgeon (Unknown 1939)
"The Man Who Knew All the Answers", Donald Bern (Amazing 1940)
"Adam Link’s Vengeance", Eando Binder (Amazing 1940)
"Truth Is a Plague", D. W. O’Brien (Amazing 1940)
"The Fourth-Dimensional Demonstrator", Murray Leinster (Astounding 1935)
"Alas, All Thinking!", Harry Bates (Astounding 1935)
"The Comedy of Eras", Henry Kuttner (Thrilling Wonder Stories 1940)
"A Problem for Biographers", Mindret Lord (orig)
"Note to Part III," Philip D. Stong
"In the Vault", H. P. Lovecraft (Weird Tales 1932)
"School for the Unspeakable", Manly Wade Wellman (Weird Tales 1937)
"The House Where Time Stood Still", Seabury Quinn Weird Tales 1939)
"The Mystery of the Last Guest", John Flanders (Weird Tales 1935)
"The Song of the Slaves", Manly Wade Wellman (Weird Tales 1940)
"The Paneled Room", August Derleth (Westminster Magazine 1933)
"The Graveyard Rats", Henry Kuttner (Weird Tales 1936)
"The Return of Andrew Bentley", August Derleth & Mark Schorer (Weird Tales 1933)
466 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1941
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Phil Stong
53 books5 followersPhilip Duffield Stong (January 27, 1899-April 26, 1957) was an American author, journalist and Hollywood scenarist. He is best known for writing the novel State Fair, on which three films (1933, 1945 and 1962) and one musical by that name were based.
Stong was born in Pittsburg, Iowa, near Keosauqua. His father operated the general store, which is now an antique store. The 1844 brick house where Stong was born is located adjacent to the store and is now a private residence. He attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Stong scored his first success in 1932 with the publication of his famous novel, State Fair, which was later adapted for the screen as the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name. In addition to his novels, his short stories were published in most of the leading national magazines of the time, and he wrote several screenplays.
As a nine-year old city boy travels from Des Moines, Iowa by train to visit his grandfather's farm in the early 1900s, he imagines how he will impress his cousins ― with stories of skyscrapers and trolley cars, automobiles and the Union Park Zoo, Ingersoll Amusement Park, and the Capitol ― things he thinks might dazzle farm boys. However, as his cousins and his grandfather introduce him to country life, the eyes that are dazzled become his own.
The Iowa Kids 1910 series is a collection of three unforgettable stories -- humorously captured and simply told. Farm Boy, High Waters, No-Sitch the Hound.
As a boy, the author Phil Stong spent many hours on a farm owned by his maternal grandparents -- the Duffields -- where he walked the land, fished in the creek, played in the dairy barn, chored for his grandparents, and otherwise immersed himself in the wonders and wisdom of rural life. Linwood Farm, as it was called, was located just three miles west of Keosauqua across the Des Moines River on the ridge line in Pittsburg. The farm remained in the Duffield family until it was sold during World War I. But in 1932, Stong bought back the family's historic farm which he owned until he died in 1957.
Phil Stong's experiences on Linwood Farm were later captured in many of his literary works, particularly in his books for young people. The Iowa Kids 1910 series is a collection of three unforgettable stories -- humorously captured and simply told.
About his writing career, he once said, "Fell while trying to clamber out of a low bathtub at the age of two. Became a writer. No other possible career."
Stong's The Other Worlds: 25 Modern Stories of Mystery and Imagination, was considered by Robert Silverberg (in the foreword to Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction) to be the first anthology of science-fiction. Compiling stories from 1930s pulp magazines, along with what Stong called "Scientifiction" it also contained works of horror and fantasy.
Stong published more than forty books. He died at his home in Washington, Connecticut, in 1957. Stong is buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Keosauqua.
Asked in 1951 to comment on humanism, Stong responded: "I’ve never gone deeply enough into any of the various definitions of “humanism” to be able to make any intelligent or instructive comment on the subject. When I read any of these tenuous expositions, they remind me (a) of the blind men and the elephant and (b) that I’d better have a glass of beer and get to bed. I don’t see how you distinguish between the humanism of More and that of Dewey or of Aristophanes or Lackland or Chaucer or Bunyan or Saintsbury or Taine. The boys that practice it seem to me tremendously more effective than the ones who preach it from the varied pulpits."
Stong was born in Pittsburg, Iowa, near Keosauqua. His father operated the general store, which is now an antique store. The 1844 brick house where Stong was born is located adjacent to the store and is now a private residence. He attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Stong scored his first success in 1932 with the publication of his famous novel, State Fair, which was later adapted for the screen as the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name. In addition to his novels, his short stories were published in most of the leading national magazines of the time, and he wrote several screenplays.
As a nine-year old city boy travels from Des Moines, Iowa by train to visit his grandfather's farm in the early 1900s, he imagines how he will impress his cousins ― with stories of skyscrapers and trolley cars, automobiles and the Union Park Zoo, Ingersoll Amusement Park, and the Capitol ― things he thinks might dazzle farm boys. However, as his cousins and his grandfather introduce him to country life, the eyes that are dazzled become his own.
The Iowa Kids 1910 series is a collection of three unforgettable stories -- humorously captured and simply told. Farm Boy, High Waters, No-Sitch the Hound.
As a boy, the author Phil Stong spent many hours on a farm owned by his maternal grandparents -- the Duffields -- where he walked the land, fished in the creek, played in the dairy barn, chored for his grandparents, and otherwise immersed himself in the wonders and wisdom of rural life. Linwood Farm, as it was called, was located just three miles west of Keosauqua across the Des Moines River on the ridge line in Pittsburg. The farm remained in the Duffield family until it was sold during World War I. But in 1932, Stong bought back the family's historic farm which he owned until he died in 1957.
Phil Stong's experiences on Linwood Farm were later captured in many of his literary works, particularly in his books for young people. The Iowa Kids 1910 series is a collection of three unforgettable stories -- humorously captured and simply told.
About his writing career, he once said, "Fell while trying to clamber out of a low bathtub at the age of two. Became a writer. No other possible career."
Stong's The Other Worlds: 25 Modern Stories of Mystery and Imagination, was considered by Robert Silverberg (in the foreword to Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction) to be the first anthology of science-fiction. Compiling stories from 1930s pulp magazines, along with what Stong called "Scientifiction" it also contained works of horror and fantasy.
Stong published more than forty books. He died at his home in Washington, Connecticut, in 1957. Stong is buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Keosauqua.
Asked in 1951 to comment on humanism, Stong responded: "I’ve never gone deeply enough into any of the various definitions of “humanism” to be able to make any intelligent or instructive comment on the subject. When I read any of these tenuous expositions, they remind me (a) of the blind men and the elephant and (b) that I’d better have a glass of beer and get to bed. I don’t see how you distinguish between the humanism of More and that of Dewey or of Aristophanes or Lackland or Chaucer or Bunyan or Saintsbury or Taine. The boys that practice it seem to me tremendously more effective than the ones who preach it from the varied pulpits."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2020
This book has three sections- on on just strange stories, one on mostly time travel, and the final one on horror.
A few of the stories are quite good and a few are seriously dated in their over-the-top and outmoded writing styles.
You'll find a few diamonds here and a few duds if you choose to read this book. A bit of a roller coaster ride- so, are you getting a ticket?
A few of the stories are quite good and a few are seriously dated in their over-the-top and outmoded writing styles.
You'll find a few diamonds here and a few duds if you choose to read this book. A bit of a roller coaster ride- so, are you getting a ticket?
June 4, 2013
While first thinking about this review, I imagined writing that I really didn't fully enjoy any of the stories in this anthology. Most of them hooked my attention, but I was never really satisfied. On further reflection I realized I in fact got considerable enjoyment from many of them, and often looked forward to the next one. Remembering that all the stories were selected from popular magazines predating 1941 (Weird Tales, Astounding Stories, Amazing Stories, etc.), I concluded my enjoyment would have been more unequivocal if I'd read them in the original magazines, rather than a hardcover anthology, with its misleading cover stating:
The stories are mostly fantasies, but hardly on a level with Dracula or Frankenstein, alternating between picaresque frivolity and melodrama, with little or no concern for timeless themes. Trivial, forgettable, but witty and a lot of fun. Just what one might need and want from a magazine story. So perhaps the book format led me to expect too much, even though I probably never would have read them otherwise.
Two stories I particularly remember for their ingenuity and wit are Theodore Sturgeon's "A God in the Garden" and Lester del Ray's "The Pipes of Pan." The editor, Phil Stong, provides droll and informative introductions for each section.
"A Superb Selection
25 Modern Stories of
Mystery and Imagination
[The Other Worlds]
A spine-chilling collection of the
best stories of fantasy and horror
since Dracula and Frankenstein
The stories are mostly fantasies, but hardly on a level with Dracula or Frankenstein, alternating between picaresque frivolity and melodrama, with little or no concern for timeless themes. Trivial, forgettable, but witty and a lot of fun. Just what one might need and want from a magazine story. So perhaps the book format led me to expect too much, even though I probably never would have read them otherwise.
Two stories I particularly remember for their ingenuity and wit are Theodore Sturgeon's "A God in the Garden" and Lester del Ray's "The Pipes of Pan." The editor, Phil Stong, provides droll and informative introductions for each section.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews