So, this is going to be a quick follow-up blahg to my previous blahg, THE SLY BUNGERHOP ET AL where I talked about the science fiction author, William Morrison. I detailed how Morrison was an unsung science fiction author who is all but forgotten today. He wrote 79 short science fiction stories and 3 longer, novel length science fiction stories. I had set myself a goal to start reading everything in the science fiction category penned by Morrison. I decided to start off by reading the short stories and I’m happy to say I’ve passed the half-way mark. This blahg will highlight my efforts and my impressions of some of these stories.
I originally had started by reading “The Sly Bungerhop” again. I once set out to read all of the short science fiction stories of Clifford Simak and had purchased a number of anthologies that carried different stories by Simak. One of those anthologies, “Mind Partner,” carried the short story “The Civilization Game” by Simak. I had owned my copy for a number of years and the only story from that anthology that I had read was a story called “The Sly Bungerhop” by William Morrison. That’s where my Morrison interest began. So, I started compiling the list of stories by Morrison and that list can be found in my previous blahg. From that list, I began to read by alphabetical title and then switched to reading by publication date. Here are the stories I have read so far with the year of publication and the pulp magazine in which they were published:
1941:
Bad Medicine – Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1941
Plastic Pigskin Daze – Thrilling Wonder Stories – March 1941
Crossroads of the Universe – Startling Stories July 1941
Masters of Chance – Thrilling Wonder Stories August 1941
The Barbarians – Future Fiction August 1941
Undersea Snatch – Captain Future – Fall 1941
Christmas on Mars – Thrilling Wonder Stories December 1941
1942:
The Lion-Hearted – Captain Future – Summer 1942
The Man in the Moon – Startling Stories July 1942
Two Worlds To Save – Startling Stories Sept 1942
1943:
Forgotten Past – Startling Stories January 1943
Garments of Doom – Super Science Stories February 1943
The Great Invasion Startling Stories – March 1943
The Invincible Wrestler – Thrilling Wonder Stories – April 1943
The Wheezers – Captain Future – Summer 1943
Light in Darkness – Thrilling Wonder Stories, Fall 1943
The Monkey and the Typewriter – Startling Stories Fall 1943
The Treasure – Captain Future – Winter 1943
1944:
Get Your Extra Here! – Startling Stories Summer 1944
1949:
Free Land – Thrilling Wonder Stories August 1949
Skin Dupe – Thrilling Wonder Stories December 1949
1950:
Hop O’ My Thumb – Super Science Stories May 1950
Disappointment – Startling Stories, July 1950
The Ancient – Fantastic Story Quarterly – Fall 1950
The Sack – Astounding Science Fiction, September 1950
The Strangest Bedfellows – Thrilling Wonder Stories – June 1950
1951:
Star Slave – with Harry Nix Super Science Stories – June 1951
Monster – Planet Stories July 1951
Vermin – Fantastic Story Magazine, Fall 1951
The Cupids of Venus – Startling Stories, November 1951
The Dark Dimension – Marvel Science Fiction – November 1951
The Joker – Fantastic Adventures – December 1951
1953:
Divinity – Space Science Fiction March 1953
Date of Publication, 2083 A.D. – Fantastic Universe Oct/Nov 1953
Country Doctor – Star Science Fiction Stories, 1953, edited by Frederic Pohl
1954:
Battleground – Amazing Stories, November 1954
Bedside Manner – Galaxy May 1954
No Star’s Land – Fantastic Universe July 1954
1955:
Dead Man’s Planet – Galaxy v09n05 February 1955
Dark Destiny – Startling Stories Spring 1955
1957:
The Sly Bungerhop – Galaxy Science Fiction, September 1957
1958:
A Feast of Demons – Galaxy, March 1958
The switch to reading by publication date has made for more interesting reading as I noticed changes in the way Morrison wrote. I won’t talk about all the stories I’ve read but I’ll highlight some I enjoyed and possibly others that didn’t work for me.
“Bad Medicine” from 1941 is, I believe, Morrison’s first published science fiction story. Here’s the art that was published with the story when it appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, February 1941:
This was a very fun story. It’s about two hucksters who, like the old medicine shows of old, sell phony elixirs to the locals. This time the locals are slow-witted aliens on another planet and the potion guarantees an intelligence boost. What happens when it really works and the aliens become suddenly smarter than the hucksters? A fun idea that works well and is an enjoyable read.
I’ll breeze through the other 1941 stories. “Plastic Pigskin Daze” was about football and technology. I didn’t find it all that interesting. The next chronological story, “Crossroads of the Universe” also wasn’t as good. It was more a hard-fisted crime story of Mercurian criminals and human smuggling. It didn’t benefit from the exotic locale or the use of aliens and spaceships. “Masters of Chance,” published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1941 was a better story.
A robot learns to gamble, but he’s needed elsewhere to keep a factory going. Human insight is the only thing that can defeat the robot’s winning streak. This story was another of those “fun to read” entries. “The Barbarians” is about war between two factions on a remote colony in space. How they wage war and why it’s considered barbaric makes it worth reading. The other two 1941 entries, “Undersea Snatch” and “Christmas On Mars” were just so-so. Both stories were better suited to be on land or on Earth. The science fiction adds no real value to the stories.
William Morrison’s output in 1942 was less than the previous year with only three stories published. “Two Worlds To Save” was extremely long. I’m not sure of the word count but of the 132 pages of Startling Stories, September 1942, “Two Worlds To Save” takes up 70 pages. It’s clearly a novella and, for me, it ran on for too long. In the July 1942 edition of “Starling Stories,” Morrison had his short story, “The Man In The Moon” published.
This is a first-contact story that has a twist at the end. The science fiction really complements the story but humanity gets in the way. “The Lion-Hearted” is about a movie producer who is turned into a human-lion hybrid. It was just okay.
1943 was a more prolific year for science fiction stories by Morrison. The two best stories were “Garments of Doom” and “The Great Invasion.” The “Garments of Doom” is about an invasion that goes horribly wrong because of diapers. If that doesn’t intrigue you then nothing will. “The Great Invasion” is told from the viewpoint of children. I don’t even think adults could have handled it better.
The other stories from 1943 were of the so-so variety. None much better than the rest, although I still enjoyed reading them.
1944 only saw the publication of “The Companions of Sirius” and “Get Your Extra Here!” Somehow, I missed reading “The Companions of Sirius” so I’ll have to circle back to it. In “Get Your Extra Here!” a hen-pecked earth man starts receiving a newspaper from the future and then ends up travelling there. Yes, the only entry for 1944 but very enjoyable.
William Morrison did not publish for the next 5 years. In 1949 he published “Free Land” and “Skin Dupe.” Both were published in Thrilling Wonder Stories with “Free Land” in the August edition and “Skin Dupe” coming out in September.
“Free Land” is the better of the pair. Earthlings are offered free land on Mars. “Simply complete in twenty-five words or less, the following sentence —I’d like to live on Jupiter because— That’s all! Send your completed sentence along with ten units entrance fee, to the following address—”. The problem is that the soil won’t grow anything. The lead character is an ‘aeroponic engineer’ and he figures things out for the better. “Skin Dupe” was less interesting. It was cosmetics in the future. Yep, that’s as exciting as it gets.
There were six stories from Morrison published in 1950 in five different science fiction magazines. “Disappointment” was the best one of the year.
“You just can’t stop Horton Perry, the salted nut king, from complaining about that ultra-scientific son-in-law of his!” Despite all the scientific breakthroughs discovered by his son-in-law, Horton Perry cannot forgive him for not solving the problem of salt ratio in the packages of Perry’s salted nuts. The other stories were good but “Disappointment” has the humour that puts this story over the top. “Stars Over Santa Claus,” Startling Stories, January 1950 was another one I missed the first time around. Having finally read it, I will say it was a minor delight. Stuck on another planet with invading armies, what you really need is a materializer that works. You could materialize guns or supplies or even a decent turkey dinner. Of course, if your materializer doesn’t work then it’s looking to be a dismal Christmas unless someone can fix it. Fun.
1951 saw six stories from Morrison in six different magazines. “Monster,” “Vermin,” and “The Joker” are the highlights. “Monster” is about dangerous critters on an earth colony and how importing a dog from Earth to deal with things has its advantages and disadvantages. Great ending on this one. “Vermin” is like a Land Of The Giants world where the humans are considered as “vermin.” How can they improve their lot in life and deal with their giant problem? If you’re a Star Trek Next Generation fan you’ll know about “Q.” He’s an omnipotent being who plays with the lives of what he sees as lesser beings. That’s like “The Joker” in Morrison’s story.
Incidentally, “The Joker” is the most recent story I have read as I progress through these stories chronologically.
Two years would pass before there were more Morrison science fiction stories. In 1953 he published “Divinity” in Space Science Fiction, March 1953, and “Date of Publication, 2083 A.D” in Fantastic Universe Oct/Nov 1953. There were eleven stories in total published by Morrison in 1953 but I have only read these two plus “Country Doctor” which was first published in the anthology “Star Science Fiction Stories” released in February of 1953. Clearly, “Date of Publication, 2083 A.D.” and “Country Doctor” are the better stories. “Divinity” is about an escaped criminal who sets himself up as a god on an alien world. His change into a respectable and respected person is the not result he expected. “Date of Publication, 2083 A.D.” is about a book from the future that lands in 1950s suburbia and changes everything to humorous consequences. Morrison’s science fiction stories with this type of humour are always a pleasurable read. “Country Doctor” is just as enjoyable as a homespun country doctor, like the story title suggests, has to diagnose a giant space cow by going on the inside of the beast. “Country Doctor” is the only Morrison science fiction story not to be published in a pulp magazine.
I’m not sure what was the best story by Morrison of those published in 1954 that I have read. This was Morrison’s most prolific year with thirteen science fiction stories published. The three that I have read are “Battleground,” “Bedside Manner,” and “No Star’s Land.” Both “Battleground” and “Bedside Manner” had medical themes. Neither was better than the other. Here’s he tag for “Battleground”:
Snatching an appendix neatly and efficiently was Doctor Verner’s dish, so the operation appeared to be entirely routine. But this particular patient was constructed along strange lines, he needed his appendix very badly!
And here’s the tag for “Bedside Manner”:
Broken, helpless, she had to trust an alien doctor to give her back her body and mind—a doctor who had never seen a human before!
“No Star’s Land” was about a couple who are trapped in a “no man’s land” or “no star’s land” in this case between two warring planets. Not any better or any worse than the other two stories published in 1954
Morrison’s output was definitely slowing down moving into the mid 1950s. He would only publish eleven more stories between 1955 and 1958. From 1955 I have read “Dead Man’s Planet” and “Dark Destiny” The latter story is about castaways having to survive on an inhospitable planet. Not as good as you’d think. “Dead Man’s Planet” was definitely more interesting. A Father and Son who are grieving discover a dog on a planet where nothing else lives. Why is the dog there and what is the dog grieving? This is a good solid story.
In 1956 and 1957, Morrison published two stories in each of those years. The only one I have read is from 1957 and was the inspiration for my previous blahg and this one. “The Sly Bungerhop” was published in Galaxy Science Fiction in their September 1957 issue. It even rated a mention on the cover:
What do I say about this story? It’s got that Morrison humour that works so well in some of his stories. It’s about a science-fiction author who pays a visit to a publishing-house editor who has just rejected the author’s latest story about the thirty-first century. There’s an altercation and the author breaks his glasses and he can hardly see a thing. He stumbles away and inadvertently summons and boards an elevator that takes him to the distant future…but he can hardly see or understand a thing. Check out the humorous artwork for the story (click on it for a larger version):
Late in his career and Morrison was still knocking out great stories. If you only check out one of Morrison’s stories then I suggest this one.
Finally, 1958, and Morrison publishes his last science fiction story, “A Feast Of Demons” published in Galaxy Science Fiction in March 1958. This one, I have also read. It’s full of that Morrison wit and is well written. The story also received a mention on the cover:
A scientist discovers the secret to eternal life but what does this mean for Earth if no one ever dies? A couple of old college buddies hatch the scheme at a reunion. One’s the scientist and the other is a schemer who should have kept his mother shut! Not a bad way to end off a science fiction career. I only wish there had been more. Well, at least there are for me. There’s nothing after 1958 but I have the other half of the stories I’ve yet to read in chronological order. Can’t wait!