Science Fiction Aficionados discussion
SF Short Stories
>
List of pre-1970 hidden gems
date
newest »
newest »
I love the 'invasion of the bodysnacher movies', you may or not know there are a total four movies. All of them are good by the way.So, I decided I'm going to find the original story that made such a influence and read it. And, this is what I found.
"The Body Snachers" by Jack Finney
C 1954 Colliers Magazine Nov 26, Dec 10, 24.
So, I did not want to buy these magazines, so I started searching and low and behold I found the mags and story on line.
UMZ.org
Guess what, the story is pretty darn good. I would give it 5 stars. All things considered.
Hope you look it up.
Scott wrote: "I love the 'invasion of the bodysnacher movies', you may or not know there are a total four movies. All of them are good by the way.So, I decided I'm going to find the original story that made su..."
I'm pretty sure the films were based on the book of the same name Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney.
I could have got the wrong end of the stick of course and this isn't the story or films you're referring too.
Nope, I mispelled his last name. It's Finney. So after reading the short story version, I'm looking forward to reading the book adaptation. That your are referring to. To bad I know what happens.Thanks
This is an old thread maybe needing an update? Anyway, here's mine: Take a look at those Megapacks. Lots of great reading there if you're into the "good ole SF." While I can't remember short story authors, I can remember one that influenced my novel Rogue Planet--"The Silk and the Song." I remember reading it as a young adult and coming up with the following what-if: What if the those who enslaved the humans were other humans. That led to the First Tribe enslaving the Second in Rogue Planet.r/Steve
Scott wrote: "I love the 'invasion of the bodysnacher movies', you may or not know there are a total four movies. All of them are good by the way.So, I decided I'm going to find the original story that made su..."
One of the scariest scenes in cinema for me was the ending of the 1970's era Body Snatchers movie where Donald Sutherland makes that noise.
Paul wrote: "The Gnarly Man : L Sprague de Camp - Unknownhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67...#
The Sound Machine : Roald Dahl – Timeless Stories
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96...
The Mindworm :..."
Good selection. I've read most of these. This is the period of the changeover from the short story to the novel being the dominant form of SF.
Jim,I can't remember a lot of short stories or their authors because the short story form is all but disappearing. When I start a story, I don't know if it will be a short, novella, or novel. I've tried collections, but they don't do well at all, which is surprising in this age when people are so busy it would make sense that a story they can read during a few trips on the commuter rail should be more popular than a long novel. Author friends I've talked to seem to have had the same experience.
When one of my stories becomes a short or novella, I tend to make it a freebie, either in my blog or as a PDF free for the asking. It just seems like expending the same effort for a collection as a novel and not finding any readers for the former means today's authors have to focus on novels. Sad....
r/Steve
To my mind the reason for the death of the short story is the death of the newsstand fiction magazines. There are still a few hanger-ons, but not nearly as many as there use to be.
Many great pre-1970 short stories are available now for free on the internet. One of my favorites is P. Schuyler Miller's "Spawn" (1939): If you're curious, you can read it (like I did) here: http://hell.pl/szymon/Baen/The%20best...
C. John,I agree. But the old ones (e.g. Analog) have become eclectic clubs. I was excited about eFiction, an online ezine (two shorts published there), but it became clubish too. Hence my retreat to my website for shorts and novellas.
Again, the problem for authors is: why spend so much energy querying the few ezines when that energy can be better spent querying for a novel?
We live in a wonderful era of publishing for readers--lots of good authors and stories--but not a particularly good time for authors. My mantra still is: if I can entertain at least one reader with a story--any story--that story is a success, especially because I had so much fun writing it, whether it be short, novella, or novel.
r/Steve
Dan wrote: "Many great pre-1970 short stories are available now for free on the internet. One of my favorites is P. Schuyler Miller's "Spawn" (1939): If you're curious, you can read it (like I did) here: http:..."Thanks. I downloaded it but haven't read it yet.
Scott wrote: "I love the 'invasion of the bodysnacher movies', ...
UMZ.org"
Sadly, UMZ.org is for sale as of 2019-02-14
I see that there was a typo... The story is in 3 parts, (but unlike the search would lead you to believe, is actually in several different pdfs) linked here:
https://www.unz.com/print/Colliers-19...
https://www.unz.com/print/Colliers-19...
https://www.unz.com/print/Colliers-19...
https://www.unz.com/print/Colliers-19...
https://www.unz.com/print/Colliers-19...
https://www.unz.com/print/Colliers-19...
What does PSF and MPSF stand for?
I read Finney's book last year and thought it was pretty solid. The Donald Sutherland version of the movie was good, but I grew up on the black & white Kevin McCarthy one. Loved that movie!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67...#
The Sound Machine : Roald Dahl – Timeless Stories
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96...
The Mindworm : C M Kornbluth – Best of CMK
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...
Protected Species : HB Fyfe – Yet More PSF
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69...
The Fun they Had : Isaac Asimov – Connoisseur’s SF
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15...
The Quest for St Aquin : Anthony Boucher – Crispin 5
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62...
Command Performance : Walter M Miller – The wall around the World 1979
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34...
The Snowball Effect : Katherine Maclean – Decade the 1950s
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48...
Lot : Ward Moore – Penguin SF
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60...
The Liberation of Earth : William Tenn – Penguin SF
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60...
Pyramid : Robert Abernathy – More PSF
The First Men : Howard Fast - MPSF
The Store of the Worlds : Robert Sheckley MPSF
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
The [Widget], the [Wadget] and Boff : Theodore Sturgeon - The Joyous Invasions
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/87...
The Failed Men : Brian W Aldiss – STAN
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
The Other Celia : Theodore Sturgeon – Century of SF
The First Days of May : Veillot - Century
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...
Space-Time for Springers : Fritz Leiber - Yesterday’s Tomorrows
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47...
For Love : Algis Budrys – Galaxy 7
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33...
The Handler : Damon Knight – Merrill 1960
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...
The Short Life : Francis Donovan – Crispin 4
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36...
Christmas Treason : James White - Merrill 4
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62...
Slow Tuesday Night : R A Lafferty – Road
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40...
A Two Timer : David Masson – New worlds 1
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
The Jigsaw Man : Larry Niven - Road 3
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83...
Kyrie : Poul Anderson – Wollheim Carr 69
Masks : Damon Knight
Going Down Smooth : Robert Silverberg
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38...