{"id":7133,"date":"2025-11-19T04:50:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T22:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=7133"},"modified":"2025-11-19T20:21:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T14:21:33","slug":"william-morrison-again-not-done-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=7133","title":{"rendered":"WILLIAM MORRISON AGAIN…NOT DONE YET"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Picture<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0A couple of blahgs back,\u00a0WILLIAM MORRISON…HALF-WAY THERE<\/a>, I posted an update on my attempt to read all 79 short science fiction stories written by Morrison.\u00a0 At that point, I had read 43 stories and provided a bit of a review for some of them.\u00a0 I had read up to “The Joker” that had been published in Fantastic Adventures, December 1951.\u00a0 As I had noted in that previous blahg and the one before that, THE SLY BUNGERHOP ET AL<\/a>, that very few of Morrison’s short science fiction stories had been published in anthologies and the only other place to read them was by tracking down the original publication, like the Fantastic Adventures from December 1951.\u00a0 That’s what I’ve been doing.\u00a0 I’ve found a few online sources to download and read the stories and this is an update on my progress to finish reading the remaining 36 stories.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The title of this blahg should explain that I’m not quite finished reading the rest of the stories.\u00a0 As of the writing of this blahg, I have read 69 of the 79 short science fiction stories.\u00a0 Here’s a list of what I’ve read in the past few weeks:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1944:
\nThe Companions of Sirius – Captain Future, Winter 1944<\/h4>\n

1952:
\nThe Addicts — Galaxy, January 1952
\nAsylum — Marvel Science Fiction, May 1952
\nThe Luckiest Man Alive! — Science Fiction Quarterly May 1952
\nShipping Clerk — Galaxy Science Fiction June 1952
\nNew Universe — Startling Stories July 1952
\nTemptation — Fantastic Adventures – July 1952
\nRunaway — Galaxy Science Fiction November 1952
\nScent Of Danger — Science Fiction Quarterly – November 1952
\nDragon Army — Fantastic Adventures, November 1952
\nRevenge — Space Stories December 1952<\/h4>\n

1953:
\nForgotten Danger — Science Fiction Adventures February 1953
\nThe Hunters — Space Science Fiction – February 1953
\nThe Gears Of Time — Space Stories – April 1953
\nThe Haters — Rocket Stories, April 1953
\nLong Life to You, Albert! — Science Fiction Adventures July 1953
\nTask of Kayin — Planet Stories July 1953
\nThe Weather on Mercury — Galaxy July 1953
\nThe Model of a Judge — Galaxy – October 1953<\/h4>\n

1954:
\nSplit Personality — Fantastic Story – Winter 1954
\nG’rilla — Beyond Fantasy Fiction January 1954
\nPlayground — The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1954
\nThe Inner Worlds — The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1954
\nHeads You Lose — Beyond Fantasy Fiction May 1954
\nMessenger — Imagination July 1954
\nThere Ought to Be a Lore — Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction – September 1954<\/h4>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I should note that I had missed “The Companions of Sirius” from the pulp magazine Captain Future, Winter 1944\u00a0<\/em>when I had first started reading the stories.\u00a0 I had to loop back and read that one and that’s where I will start off.\u00a0 I’ll admit that I didn’t remember much of this one because it was the first of 26 stories I read this time around.\u00a0 The earlier stories by Morrison from the early to mid-1940s are very rough and tumble with a dash of romance thrown in for the hero.\u00a0 The tag line is the best description:\u00a0 Trapped Aboard a Spaceship by Three Ferocious Criminals, Ross Jameson and Lora Page Struggle to Balk a Sinister Scheme!\u00a0 <\/em>By the way, Sirius is the name of the spaceship they’re all on.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Moving back to the correct chronological order, I started in with seven stories from 1952.\u00a0 The first of these was “The Addicts” from Galaxy, January 1952.\u00a0 Not a lot of humour in this one but an interesting story nonetheless of a couple on an asteroid running out of supplies with hostile creatures outside.\u00a0 The husband is also addicted to a drug that makes him happy and calm and the wife wants him off his addiction.\u00a0 The solution?\u00a0 Drug the beasts!\u00a0 Interesting story but not enough of the Morrison humour for my liking.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I won’t go through all of the stories in depth but will highlight where I can.\u00a0 “Asylum” from Marvel Science Fiction, May 1952 dealt with another form of addiction:\u00a0 Analysis.\u00a0 Not much meat to this one.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“The Luckiest Man Alive!” published in Science Fiction Quarterly, May 1952 is chock full of the Morrison wit.\u00a0 \u00a0What’s the prize waiting in store for the winner of the ‘Mister Earth’ contest and is it worth what one entrant has to go through to ensure he wins?\u00a0 Short but very enjoyable.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

“Shipping Clerk” from Galaxy Science Fiction, June 1952 is another humorous story.\u00a0 A homeless person who is always hungry eats something that makes him even more hungry.\u00a0 He’s swallowed a shipping mechanism and it plays havoc with his digestion!\u00a0 Of course there’s aliens behind it all.\u00a0 Add this to the Morrison funny stories I liked.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“New Universe”\u00a0 from Startling Stories, July 1952 was another short but interesting story but without the humour.\u00a0 If you’re a God who is bored with ruling this universe, what makes you so sure the next universe will be even better?\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"New<\/a><\/p>\n

In “Temptation”, Fantastic Adventures, July 1952, an alien race wants to know if absolute power corrupts absolutely.\u00a0 One earth scientist is their experiment but sometimes the love of a good woman can ground you.\u00a0 Interesting story but only average on the Morrison spectrum.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Runaway” from Galaxy Science Fiction, November 1952 is another fascinating story told from the viewpoint of a child.\u00a0 This had worked so well in Morrison’s 1943 story “The Great Invasion.”\u00a0 In “Runaway” a boy at a boarding school\/orphanage dreams of going to the stars and sets out to make it happen.\u00a0 Does he get there?\u00a0 Is he even really a boy?\u00a0 All good questions that are answered in this gentle short story.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Scent of Danger” published in Science Fiction Quarterly, November 1952 didn’t really work for me.\u00a0 A scientist with an advanced sense of smell on an alien world can sense more than danger.\u00a0 Weaker entry.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"scent<\/a><\/p>\n

The next entry from 1952, “Dragon Army” from Fantastic Adventures, November 1952, was one of the longer stories that Morrison had published during his lifetime.\u00a0 This one clocked in at 28,000 words and took up 44 pages in the magazine.\u00a0 The previous long story of Morrison’s that\u00a0 I had read was “Two Worlds To Save” published in Startling Stories, September 1942 and it ran 70 pages in that pulp.\u00a0 “Dragon Army” was more interesting about a scientist trying to prevent his colleague from taking over a planet and causing catastrophe.\u00a0 There were no Dragons in this one but the reference is to seeds that sprout up as walking trees who do the bidding of the evil colleague.\u00a0 Middle of the pack type of story but at least it gets a mention on the cover:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dragon<\/a><\/p>\n

The last story from 1952 is “Revenge” which was published in Space Stories, December 1952.\u00a0 This is a very dark entry.\u00a0 A Martian mother wants revenge on the people who killed her two sons…and gets it.\u00a0 No humour in this one!\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0William Morrison’s output in 1953 was significant in that he published one more than he did in the previous year.\u00a0 In 1952 there were ten published stories and Morrison published eleven in 1953. Previously, when I had been reading the Morrison stories in alphabetical order, I had read “Divinity,” “Date of Publication, 2083 A.D.,” and “Country Doctor.”\u00a0 I reviewed those in my previous blahg,\u00a0WILLIAM MORRISON–HALF-WAY THERE<\/a>.\u00a0 I’ll now speak about the remaining eight stories from 1953.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In “Forgotten Danger”, Science Fiction Adventures, February 1953, Morrison revisits the homeless\/hobo theme he used in “Shipping Clerk” from 1952.\u00a0 The main character has also lost his memory.\u00a0 That’s another theme that occurs in Morrison stories.\u00a0 Aliens, tramps, and danger.\u00a0 Again, middle of the road.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Forgotten<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“The Hunters,” Space Science Fiction, February 1953, is Morrison back again with his wit and charm.\u00a0 This time it’s aliens versus school girls.\u00a0 No contest…put your money on the school girls.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up, “The Gears Of Time,” from Space Stories, April 1953 is another lengthy story by Morrison.\u00a0 It is described as a “complete novel” and runs 76 pages of the Space Stories magazine.\u00a0 There’s a lot going in this one with different types earthlings and martians moving at different speeds.\u00a0 I found it overlong and overly confusing in parts.\u00a0 Again, however, it gets mentioned on the cover…even if the image has nothing to do with the story:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Gears<\/a><\/p>\n

“The Haters,” Rocket Stories, April 1953 is all about criminals who are space explorers.\u00a0 Their hatred for everyone and everything may be the only thing that saves them in the end.\u00a0 Again, I rank this somewhere in the middle.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My William Morrison kick started out with the very funny story “The Sly Bungerhop.”\u00a0 The next story “Long Life to You, Albert!”, Science Fiction Adventures, July 1953 ranks up there as one of Morrison’s funniest and best.\u00a0 A woman sets out through various means to kill her husband but nothing works.\u00a0 He ends up invincible and immortal.\u00a0 Scientists study the husband to find out what causes his gifts.\u00a0 The wife could tell them but then she’d be admitting to her guilt!\u00a0 Track this one down and read it.\u00a0 You won’t be disappointed.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Long<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kayin, the main character from “Task of Kayin” Planet Stories, July 1953, understands the dangers of the scientific discoveries that an earthling scientist is putting to work.\u00a0 After all, being an alien where these discoveries destroyed his home planet, shouldn’t he know better than anyone else?\u00a0 What’s an alien to do with such knowledge?\u00a0 A good story of a stranger in a strange land.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn’t really enjoy “The Weather on Mercury” from Galaxy, July 1953.\u00a0 It was a throwback to 1940s type adventure stories.\u00a0 The science and the deception were typical in some of Morrison’s stories from a decade before but I expected better from something published in 1953.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Morrison redeems himself with “The Model of a Judge” from Galaxy, October 1953.\u00a0 The tagline for this story is “Should a former outlaw become a judge–even if he only need pass sentence on a layer cake?”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>A reformed carnivore alien gets to judge a bake-off but will everyone trust his decision and will he trust his instincts?\u00a0 Very pleasing and comical story.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0William Morrison’s published stories in 1954 reached the amazing tally of 13 stories!\u00a0 He would never again publish that many stories in one year.\u00a0 I had previously read “Battleground,” “Bedside Manner” and “No Star’s Land.”\u00a0 I have since read seven more stories from 1954 and have three more to read.\u00a0 I’ll dedicate the last part of this blahg to those seven stories I read most recently.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There’s something about psychiatry and analysis that keeps popping up in Morrison’s stories.\u00a0 I mentioned the analysis theme in “Asylum” from May 1952 and I believe there was another one from the 1940s as well but the title escapes me.\u00a0 In “Split Personality,” Fantastic Story, Winter 1954, Morrison explores the difficulty of treating the mental health of an alien with two heads and two distinct personalities.\u00a0 Again, the humour comes through in this one.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“G’rilla”, Beyond Fantasy Fiction, January 1954, is another Morrison story told from the viewpoint of a child.\u00a0 A very sweet story about a little girl and her littler brother who encounter an alien in their bathroom and no one believes them.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"G'rilla\"<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Playground”, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1954 is a cross between Lost In Space meets Land of The Giants.\u00a0 A family crash lands on a world of giant creatures and must fix their ship.\u00a0 Dad’s constantly trying to fix everything and mom’s keeping the kids entertained on an alien planet.\u00a0 Has the same kind of cuteness as “G’rilla” but the adults learn a thing or two in this one. For some reason, the magazine decided to add overlong introductions to its stories.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Playground\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The next entry was another story published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.\u00a0 “The Inner Worlds” from the April 1954 edition is about a symbiotic relationship of organisms inside an alien creature on a distant planet.\u00a0 It had an interesting premise when humans showed up but not one of Morrison’s best.\u00a0 It too, received a long introduction.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Inner<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Morrison was back again with another child narrated story called “Heads You Lose” in Beyond Fantasy Fiction, May 1954.\u00a0 Every child’s mother has always said you’d forget your head if it wasn’t screwed on or attached to your body or some other variation of that theme.\u00a0 What happens when a child can roam around with just his head and leaves his body behind?\u00a0 Another cute and funny story from a child’s viewpoint.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Messenger” from Imagination, July 1954 features another character who has lost his memory.\u00a0 He’s on a mission to set something right but he can’t remember what that something is or where the somewhere is he’s supposed to be going.\u00a0 Enjoyable and the ending is worth the read alone.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, this time around, we end up with “There Ought to Be a Lore” published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,\u00a0 September 1954.\u00a0 Another henpecked husband story who thinks he knows better than his wife what’s going on with the population on this strange world.\u00a0 His knowledge will ultimately get him into trouble and will his wife tell him ‘I told you so’ or will he live long enough to tell her he was right after all? Another comical story from Morrison.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"There<\/a>
\nThat’s it for now.\u00a0 I have ten stories left to read from the 79 short science fiction stories by William Morrison.\u00a0 Let the countdown begin!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0A couple of blahgs back,\u00a0WILLIAM MORRISON…HALF-WAY THERE, I posted an update on my attempt to read all 79 short science fiction stories written by Morrison.\u00a0 At that point, I had read 43 stories and provided a bit of a review for some of them.\u00a0 I had read up to “The Joker” that had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4,312,3,329],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7133"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7133"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7165,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7133\/revisions\/7165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}