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  Collected Fiction

  Henry Kuttner

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  Title Page

  About Henry Kuttner

  Pseudonyms

  “Meet the Author” (March 1940)

  “Meet the Author” (November 1940)

  “Meet the Author” (March 1946)

  “Meet the Author” (July 1946)

  “PS’s Feature Flash” (November 1950)

  Bibliography

  Short Fiction Bibliography - Chronological

  Short Fiction Bibliography - Alphabetical

  Fiction Series

  1936

  BALLAD OF THE GODS

  THE GRAVEYARD RATS

  BALLAD OF THE WOLF

  THE SECRET OF KRALITZ

  IT WALKS BY NIGHT

  1937

  THE EATER OF SOULS

  I, THE VAMPIRE

  WE ARE THE DEAD

  THE SALEM HORROR

  RAGNAROK

  THE BLACK KISS

  RAIDER OF THE SPACEWAYS

  THE JEST OF DROOM-AVISTA

  H.P.L

  WHEN THE EARTH LIVED

  QUEST OF THE STARSTONE

  THE CASE OF HERBERT THORP

  THE BLOODLESS PERIL

  1938

  WORLD’S END

  THE SHADOW ON THE SCREEN

  HOLLYWOOD ON THE MOON

  THUNDER IN THE DAWN (Part One)

  THUNDER IN THE DAWN (Conclusion)

  SPAWN OF DAGON

  AVENGERS OF SPACE

  THE DARK HERITAGE

  DICTATORS OF AMERICA

  DOOM WORLD

  THE DISINHERITED

  BEYOND THE PHOENIX

  THE TIME TRAP

  HANDS ACROSS THE VOID

  THE STAR PARADE

  1939

  THE INVADERS

  THE FROG

  THE TRANSGRESSOR

  CURSED BE THE CITY

  BELLS OF HORROR

  BEYOND ANNIHILATION

  HYDRA

  THE WATCHER AT THE DOOR

  “TELEPATHY IS NEWS”

  THE HUNT

  THE CURSE OF THE CROCODILE

  THE CITADEL OF DARKNESS

  THE MISGUIDED HALO

  ROMAN HOLIDAY

  THE TRUTH ABOUT GOLDFISH

  THE ENERGY EATERS

  TOWERS OF DEATH

  THE GRIP OF DEATH

  SUICIDE SQUAD

  WORLD’S PHARAOH

  1940

  THE LIFESTONE

  WHEN NEW YORK VANISHED

  THOTS ON THE WORLDSTATE

  ALL IS ILLUSION

  BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

  SCIENCE IS GOLDEN

  THE SHINING MAN

  50 MILES DOWN

  THE SEVEN SLEEPERS

  PEGASUS

  DR. CYCLOPS

  KNIGHT MUST FALL

  IMPROBABILITY

  THE MAD VIRUS

  TIME TO KILL

  THE ROOM OF SOULS

  NO MAN’S WORLD

  WORLD WITHOUT AIR

  THE COMEDY OF ERAS

  THE UNCANNY POWER OF EDWIN COBALT

  THE ELIXIR OF INVISIBILITY

  MAN ABOUT TIME

  A MILLION YEARS TO CONQUER

  REVERSE ATOM

  THRESHOLD

  1941

  DRAGON MOON

  BLOOD ON THE RIVER

  THE GREEKS HAD A WORD FOR IT

  REMEMBER TOMORROW

  HERCULES MUSCLES IN

  MEN DIE ALONE

  THE LAND OF TIME TO COME

  THUNDER JIM WADE

  TUBE TO NOWHERE

  THE DEVIL WE KNOW

  TROPIC HELL

  TREE OF LIFE

  A GNOME THERE WAS

  CHAMELEON MAN

  RED GEM OF MERCURY

  1942

  DESIGN FOR DREAMING

  THE BURNING CORPSE

  LATER THAN YOU THINK

  SILENT EDEN

  THE INFINITE MOMENT

  MASQUERADE

  THE CRYSTAL CIRCE

  DAMES IS POISON

  FALSE DAWN

  DEADLOCK

  SECRET OF THE EARTH STAR

  WAR-GODS OF THE VOID

  THE TWONKY

  COMPLIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR

  THUNDER IN THE VOID

  WE GUARD THE BLACK PLANET!

  NIGHT OF GODS

  PIGGY BANK

  TOO MANY COOKS

  1943

  NOTHING BUT GINGERBREAD LEFT

  TIME LOCKER

  DE WOLFE OF WALL STREET

  MIMSY WERE BOROGOVES

  BLUE ICE

  SOLDIERS OF SPACE

  WET MAGIC

  CLASH BY NIGHT

  SHOCK

  UNDER YOUR SPELL

  BETTER THAN ONE

  EARTH’S LAST CITADEL (First Installment of a Four-Part Serial)

  OPEN SECRET

  CORPUS DELICTI

  NO GREATER LOVE

  EARTH’S LAST CITADEL (Second Installment of a Four-Part Serial)

  GHOST

  READER, I HATE YOU!

  EARTH’S LAST CITADEL (Third Installment of a Four-Part Serial)

  GRIEF OF BAGDAD

  THE WORLD IS MINE

  EARTH’S LAST CITADEL (Final Installment of a Four-Part Serial)

  PROBLEMS IN ETHICS

  ENDOWMENT POLICY

  THE PROUD ROBOT

  CRYPT-CITY OF THE DEATHLESS ONE

  GALLEGHER PLUS

  MUSIC HATH CHARMS

  THE IRON STANDARD

  1944

  TO DUST RETURNETH

  A GOD NAMED KROO

  TROPHY

  SWING YOUR LADY

  THE CHILDREN’S HOUR

  THE BLACK SUN RISES

  THE EYES OF THAR

  HOUSING PROBLEM

  WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

  1945

  DEATH WEARS A MASK

  THE PIPER’S SON

  BEFORE I WAKE . . .

  BABY FACE

  THREE BLIND MICE

  THE CODE

  THE LION AND THE UNICORN

  PERCY THE PIRATE

  CAMOUFLAGE

  WHAT YOU NEED

  LINE TO TOMORROW

  SWORD OF TOMORROW

  BEGGARS IN VELVET

  1946

  THIS IS THE HOUSE

  THE FAIRY CHESSMAN (First of Two Parts)

  THE FAIRY CHESSMAN (Conclusion)

  WHAT HATH ME?

  VALLEY OF THE FLAME

  THE DARK ANGEL

  WE KILL PEOPLE

  THE CURE

  THE DARK WORLD

  RAIN CHECK

  VINTAGE SEASON

  ABSALOM

  CALL HIM DEMON

  THE LITTLE THINGS

  I AM EDEN

  TIME ENOUGH

  1947

  TOMORROW AND TOMORROW (First of Two Parts)

  TROUBLE ON TITAN

  JUKE-BOX

  TOMORROW AND TOMORROW (Second of Two Parts)

  PROJECT

  WAY OF THE GODS

  FURY (Part One of Three)

  JESTING PILOT

  LANDS OF THE EARTHQUAKE

  THE BIG NIGHT

  FURY (Second of three parts)

  DREAM’S END

  FURY (Conclusion)

  ATOMIC?

  DARK DAWN

  LORD OF THE STORM

  EXIT THE PROFESSOR

  MARGIN FOR ERROR

  THE POWER AND THE GLORY

  1
948

  DON’T LOOK NOW

  EX MACHINA

  PILE OF TROUBLE

  THE MASK OF CIRCE

  HAPPY ENDING

  EXTRAPOLATION

  1949

  PRIVATE EYE

  THE TIME AXIS

  THE PRISONER IN THE SKULL

  SEE YOU LATER

  THE PORTAL IN THE PICTURE

  COLD WAR

  1950

  PROMISED LAND

  THE VOICE OF THE LOBSTER

  EARTH’S LAST CITADEL (1950 abridged version)

  AS YOU WERE

  THE SKY IS FALLING

  PARADISE STREET

  CARRY ME HOME

  1951

  THE ODYSSEY OF YIGGAR THROLG

  GOLDEN APPLE

  ANDROID

  WE SHALL COME BACK

  1952

  THE WELL OF THE WORLDS

  THE EGO MACHINE

  1953

  SATAN SENDS FLOWERS

  A WILD SURMISE

  THE VISITORS

  HOME IS THE HUNTER

  YEAR DAY

  OR ELSE

  HUMPTY DUMPTY

  1954

  WHERE THE WORLD IS QUIET

  1955

  TWO-HANDED ENGINE

  HOME, THERE’S NO RETURNING

  1956

  RITE OF PASSAGE

  1958

  NEAR MISS

  A CROSS OF CENTURIES

  Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California on April 7, 1915, to Naphtaly Kuttner and Amelia.

  Kuttner grew up in relative poverty following the death of his father. As a young man he worked for the literary agency of his uncle, Laurence D’Orsay, in Los Angeles before selling his first story, “The Graveyard Rats”, to Weird Tales in early 1936.

  In 1940 Kuttner married fellow writer C.L. Moore, whom he met through the “Lovecraft Circle”, a group of writers and fans who corresponded with H.P. Lovecraft.

  Kuttner was known for his literary prose and worked in close collaboration with his wife, C.L. Moore. They met through their association with the “Lovecraft Circle”, a group of writers and fans who corresponded with H. P. Lovecraft. Their work together spanned the 1940s and 1950s and most of the work was credited to pseudonyms, mainly Lewis Padgett and Lawrence O’Donnell. Both freely admitted that they collaborated in part because his page rate was higher than hers. In fact, several people have written or said that she wrote three stories which were published under his name.

  L. Sprague de Camp, who knew Kuttner and Moore well, has stated that their collaboration was so seamless that, after a story was completed, it was often impossible for either Kuttner or Moore to recall who had written what. According to de Camp, it was typical for either partner to break off from a story in mid-paragraph or even mid-sentence, with the latest page of the manuscript still in the typewriter. The other spouse would routinely continue the story where the first had left off. They alternated in this manner as many times as necessary until the story was finished.

  Among Kuttner’s most popular work were the Gallegher stories, published under the Padgett name, about a man who invented high-tech solutions to client problems (including an insufferably egomaniacal robot) when he was stinking drunk, only to be completely unable to remember exactly what he had built or why after sobering up. These stories were later collected in Robots Have No Tails. In her introduction to the 1973 Lancer Books edition, Moore stated that Kuttner wrote all the Gallegher stories himself.

  In 1950 he began studying at the University of Southern California, graduating in 1954. He was working towards his master’s degree but died of a heart attack on February 3, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, before it was completed.

  PSEUDONYMS

  Edward J. Bellin

  Paul Edmonds

  Noel Gardner

  Will Garth

  James Hall

  Keith Hammond

  Hudson Hastings

  Peter Horn

  Kelvin Kent

  Robert O. Kenyon

  H. Kuttner

  Henry Kuttner, Jr.

  C.H. Liddell

  Scott Morgan

  Lawrence O’Donnell

  Lewis Padgett

  Woodrow Wilson Smith

  Charles Stoddard

  Bertram W. Williams

  MEET THE AUTHOR

  Autobiographical Note

  By HENRY KUTTNER

  Author of “When New York Vanished”

  SOMEHOW the life of a writer is seldom as interesting or adventurous as the stories he writes. I know that’s true with me, even though I’ve spent most of my life in California, where practically anything can happen. I was born in Los Angeles, to my intense satisfaction, and as a moppet spent most of my time sleeping under the counter of my father’s bookshop. I absorbed sunshine and orange juice in vast quantities. Then I moved to San Francisco and absorbed fog, which I have loved ever since.

  I attended the toughest school in Frisco, near Hayes Valley, and acquired several medals for various useless things, as well as a great many black eyes. Returning southward, I finished high-school and decided to join the Navy. I was persuaded not to do so. Instead, I went to work.

  I’ve worked in a hardware store, on a cement gang (which has nothing to do with a chain gang), in a book-shop and in a literary agency. At present I’m a free-lance writer, and have given up the sunshine of California for the so-called climate of New York.

  Habits? I dislike neckties and prefer scarfs. I like big, roomy shoes. I’m a chain smoker when I’m writing, and once I’ve started a yarn I seldom halt till it’s finished. Other stimulants slow down my work, though black coffee is helpful sometimes. I am passionately fond of peanut-butter and bacon sandwiches. And I like overstuffed chairs.

  I dislike driving, but nevertheless go on long, arduous jaunts in my jaloppy. I seldom am able to sleep until I’ve read at least one book a night.

  Writing “When New York Vanished” was a lot of fun, and I hope it will give the readers of Startling Stories a few pleasurable moments!

  Originally appeared in Startling Stories, March 1940

  MEET THE AUTHOR

  Time-Traveling

  By HENRY KUTTNER

  Author of “A Million Years to Conquer” and Many Other Scientifiction Novels and Stories

  TIME-TRAVELING stories have always interested me, since the days of Eando Binder’s “Dawn to Dusk” and Francis Flagg’s “Machine Men of Ardathia.” Wonder how many readers can remember those tales, published in the not-so-very-long-ago when science-fiction was still new?

  I can, very well. I read my first s-f magazine on a ferry crossing San Francisco Bay—and still recall the wallop I got out of it. The ferries aren’t running any longer. The Bay Bridges have supplanted them. Similarly, science-fiction has changed in fifteen years, and, for my money, I’d say that it has improved. At first it depended chiefly on a single fantastic idea, to which characterization, atmosphere, and suspense were too often sacrificed.

  Editors have become more hard-boiled in the last few years. They’re apt to tell a writer, “This might have gone over in the Twenties, but readers expect something more nowadays—a complete, well-rounded story.” That’s true, and I think it’s all to the good.

  In my opinion, Wells’ “Time Machine” remains the best time-traveling yarn ever written. Nevertheless, I’ve written stories on this theme in the past, and shall in the future. “A Million Years to Conquer” is such a tale. In it I tried to do several things.

  First, to contrast the science of the future with the color and glamor of the past—to mingle inextricably cold science and naturally-developed milieux, just as they are mingled in real life. It seemed to me that a story set entirely in the future is two-dimensional and somewhat pallid unless it has its roots in the past. It is difficult to create a new world and make it convincing if the reader has the feeling that the place was made out of nothing by the author. Cities and civilizations must grow, and people must build them,
live in them, and die in them. If we were set down in a metropolis of a thousand years to come, we would certainly have the feeling of a background of centuries—a tradition.

  Secondly, I wanted to contrast two men of varying types, both with giant intellects, but one—Ardath—with a tradition and a civilization behind him, the other Terrestrial in origin, but lacking in humanity because he developed abnormally through mutation. And that, perhaps, is the theme of “A Million Years to Conquer.” The roots of the future are in the past. We are too apt to forget that. Though we may look forward, we should remember to look behind us as well, for we can learn much by the pattern of history. So my thesis, I think, is that growth, to be most effective, must be normal. If this be true, not even the gap of light-years in space and a million years in time need cause alienage. Ardath, the being from—Outside—was to me as warmly human as any Earthman.

  I guess that’s all. This is supposed to be an autobiographical note, but I’ve given my life history more than once in these pages, so I shall refrain from going into detail again. I might mention briefly that my favorite hobby is beating dogs and small children, that I type with my toes, and that whenever I reread my stories in print I get sick. Nevertheless, I hope readers will enjoy “A Million Years to Conquer.”

  Originally appeared in Startling Stories, November 1940

  Meet the Author

  WITH characteristic modesty, author Keith Hammond, whose brilliant novel, VALLEY OF THE FLAME, takes up the bulk of this issue, attempts to state that there is little which is novel in the yarn. We, the editors, do not agree nor, we hope sincerely, will any of you readers.

  While there is no such thing as a new idea, novelty should be ever present in development and presentation of any story to enable it to avoid the damnation of staleness or triteness. Certainly, VALLEY OF THE FLAME contains enough original thought and style to make it a standout in scientification. For fantastic concept and logical explanation—the bases of all good tales, Hammond’s story is tops.

  I always feel that a writer’s story should be more interesting than his life. However—here’s the dope. I’m Eurasian; born in Soerabaya; American citizen now; San Francisco is my headquarters; I’m an antiquarian. Write as a hobby. I own sixteen cats, or, rather, they own me. I’m five feet ten inches, weigh a hundred and sixty odd, dark hair, and a silver plate in my skull under it, relic of some work I did in the Near East about five years ago.

  When E. Hoffman Price and I get together we either play bridge or go duck hunting in the tulle marshes toward Sacramento. Or else we talk writing. As I said, I write as a hobby, and prefer fantasy to any other type. My favorite authors are Ed Hamilton, Murray Leinster, and Henry Kuttner. And that’s enough about Keith Hammond, I think.