SOLVED. man slowly transforms into unicorn "YOU ARE OK" "YOU ARE NOT OK" [s]

[Michele]

I think this was a short story, possible a novella. Setting is a non-specific but fairly drab-n-boring society. The man who is the main character notices a bump on his forehead one morning. He checks this sort of watch-thing he wears on his wrist and it says in reassuring green YOU ARE OK. Through the story the bump gets larger and he starts to feel strange -- doesn't want to go to work, feels the urge to wander outside, etc. He continues to check the watch thing and it continues to say YOU ARE OK, though he's pretty dubious that he really is OK -- although in another sense he's never felt better in his life. At some point the man meets a young woman who's having the same experience. About this time the watch-thing starts flashing bright red YOU ARE NOT OK! The proverbial "men in white coats" show up for him but by this time he is mostly transformed and has a lovely long horn and sharp hooves, so he smashes up the house with his horn and escapes.

I thought it was Thurber's "The Unicorn in the Garden" but that's not it. Googling gets me The Last Unicorn (for sure not it) and lots of hits on transactional analysis ("I'm OK/you're OK") which just makes me laugh.

Anyway, hoping this is familiar to somebody else.

[Bargle]

I've read it, but it's been years ago. I thought he changed into a deer, but that may simply be my bad memory. I remember his wife/companion keeps only looking at his health indicator and doesn't notice his horn/antlers. He finally forces her to look at him and she freaks out.

Of course I don't remember the story name, author or where I read it.
Maybe this will help jog someone elses memory.

[Michele]

Bargle wrote: "I remember his wife/companion keeps only looking at his health indicator and doesn't notice his horn/antlers..."

Yes, I'd forgotten that! She's totally in denial about what's happening to him.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

I too have read this short story. Like everyone else--NO idea who wrote it or the title. I'm thinking it was in a collection of short stories by the same author. But could be wrong on that one.

It's set in a very uptight, controlled society, where everyone conforms to the same ideals and is governed by the watch thingie.

He and the girl who is also starting to grow a horn are viewed as "insane" I think, and society hunts down--or at least trys to hunt down--everyone with this particular problem. And he does turn into a unicorn. I think the ending it about how he has an imagination and that's why he's changing, but that's a bit vague in my mind.

[Michele]

bumpty-bump

[Jo]

This sounds familiar to me, but like everyone else I have only vague recollections. If I read it, it would likely have been sometime in the 90's, do you have any idea of a publication date?

[Michele]

Unfortunately not. I'm pretty sure I read it in the last 5-10 years, but since I frequent second-hand bookstores that's no guarantee of publication date. In addition, if it were in an anthology, the original publication date could have been as far back as the 1950s.

[Jo]

It is now bugging me! On instinct I would say not written earlier than the 80's as I have rarely read anything before that other than pure SF. I could be entirely wrong however. Hope you find the answer.

[Michele]

I remember reading this anthology Unicorns!, but none of the titles jump out at me as being mine. Does anyone happen to have a copy they can look at?

[Sue]

I think I read this in an anthology called Continuum, edited by Roger Elwood; there were 4 books in the series. They are available on Amazon.

[Michele]

Continuum 1 for the click. One of the reviews says "This is the first of a 4 book anthology series, where the series concept is to have a set of four stories from each author, one per volume, which can each be read as individual stand-alone stories, but which together make up a story arc."

Given that, I'm 99% positive I've never read these books, but of course a story can be printed in more than one anthology, so that doesn't necessarily prove anything. Argh, this is starting to really bug me... I thought this would be an easy one lol

[Andy]

This site http://www.transformationlist.com/tra... about transformation stories has a description of a story that might be yours - unfortunately they don't have the title either.

[Kris]

Following up on Andy's clue, you might check out the short story "Mythological Beast" in The Best of Stephen R. Donaldson and possibly other anthologies.

Poquoson Public Library site - "...Mythological Beast, in which a man turns into a unicorn."

Amazon description - "Published between 1978 and 1999, these fantasy and science fiction stories are generally gloomy but occasionally depict protagonists prevailing... the oppressive regime of the futuristic "Mythological Beast" can only fail in its quest to crush wonder"

Goodreads review - "“Mythological Beast” is basically an elaborate science fiction variation on Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” and “Animal Lover” is an entertaining but light piece of action science fiction."

[Andy]

I think you've got it. This book review http://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Regals... says of "Mythological Beast" ""Mythological Beast" - Norman lives a perfectly sane, perfectly safe life as a librarian, in an age when violence has been eliminated by eliminating the causes of fear. Not that many people can read, or that anyone uses the library. He can't understand why the new nub of horn on his forehead doesn't register as anything odd on his biomitter, or why nobody seems surprised by his other gradual changes."

According to the ISFDB "Mythological Beast" was in an anthology called "Unicorns!" and in other places http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg...

[Gerd]

Probably a story from the Otherwere: Stories of Transformation collection?

[Andy]

And here's an excerpt from "Mythological Beast" http://books.google.com/books?id=lM9w... that includes the "You are OK" bit

[Michele]

"Mythological Beast" is it!!! Thank you so much, everybody -- I would NEVER have guessed it was Stephen Donaldson, but that's definitely my story. Hurray!!

[Kris]

Nice job, book detectives. :)

[Andy]

Team work works!

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Ok, I went over and checked out the cover on the Unicorns anthology--and that's the anthology I read it in. So yep, we've found it. :o)

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Michele, which anthology do you want shelved, then?

[Michele]

Let's shelve Unicorns!, that's the one I remember reading it in. Thanks!

[rivka]

There is a podcast which has a reading of this story: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2008...

The actual story starts at about 34 minutes in.

[Michele]

rivka wrote: "There is a podcast which has a reading of this story: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2008...

The actual story starts at about 34 minutes in."

Neat -- thanks!

[David]

I read this in a collection of short stories back in the mid 80's. I don't remember the other stories in the collection or the title of the book.

[Michele]

David wrote: "I read this in a collection of short stories back in the mid 80's. I don't remember the other stories in the collection or the title of the book."

Thanks, David, but this one has been solved. It was Unicorns!. If you're posting about a different book, you'll want to post it as a new topic.