Top 50 Classic Short Stories

Every era in history has had its Pop Ganlon's. Along in years and not successful and not caring much anyway. A matter of living out their years, following an obscure path to oblivion. It was that way in ancient Egypt, just as it will be when the Solar System shrinks to our size. And once in a while such men are given an opportunity to contribute to the society that has forgotten them....

I'm convinced that I'm in direct-voice communication with the spirit of a young girl who was killed by Indians in this section about a hundred and seventy-five years ago.

An old veteran walks to the wall of remembrance and remembers. --- A short little piece that I had to get down tonight so it may be a bit rough but I hope people see it for what it says.

Can be very helpful indeed. But of course, it's long been known that God helps those who wisely help themselves....

A thieft was framed. He needed to clear his name or die. It's a fight for life.

A girl goes for a walk in the woods and gets lost, the searchers can't find her, but her destiny does. Some codes have been omitted so as not to give away too much, I promise there's nothing that should upset anyone as this is more a drama with some sex and not a stroke story.

There are lots of things that are considered perfectly acceptable. provided they don't work. And of course everyone knows they really don't, which is why they're acceptable....

A masters student does some research into the Apollo 11 moon landing and the claimed hoax. He has some startling discoveries to announce when he delivers his final paper in an Australian university.

At one time,this was before the Robot Restriction Laws they'd even allowed them to make their own decisions It was a big, coffin shaped plywood box that looked like it weighed a ton. This brawny type just dumped it through the door of the police station and started away. I looked up from the blotter and shouted at the trucker. "What the hell is that?" "How should I know?" he said as he swung up into the cab. "I just deliver, I don't X-ray 'em. It came on the morning rocket from is all I know."

SF writer and editor Harry Harrison explores a not too distant future where robots--particularly specialist robots who don't know their place--have quite a rough time of it. True, the Robot Equality Act had been passed--but so what?

Suddenly the biggest thing in the universe was the very tiniest.

Once again it is up to Jamie Retief to save another diplomatic mission. Terra has recently signed a treaty with the planet Petreac. But revolution threatens and the Terrans must save the Nenni cast or their mission will end in abject failure.

The best way to keep a secret is to publish it in a quite unbelievable form--and insist that it is the truth.

A Tale of revenge in the old west

I smelled the trouble the moment I stepped on the lift and took the long ride up the side of the "Lachesis." There was something wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it but

The authentic account of why cosmic man damned an outlaw world to be, forever, a leper of Space.

When the lies outweigh the truth can revenge and death not follow far behind?

It's hard to ferret out a gang of fanatics; it would, obviously, be even harder to spot a genetic line of dedicated men. But the problem Orne had was one step tougher than that!

Just because a man can do something others can't does not, unfortunately, mean he knows how to do it. One man could eat the native fruit and live. but how?

Sometimes an organizational setup grows, sets its ways, and becomes so traditional that once-necessary jobs become unnecessary. But it is sometimes quite hard to spot just which man is the unnecessary one. In this case. not the one you think!

A ship presumably filling its hold ark-like for a long trip picks up a wub, a filthy creature supposedly tasty but also telepathic and intelligent.

Ordinarily the military least wants to have the others know the final details of their war plans. But, logically, there would be times.

Under normal conditions a whole person has a decided advantage over a handicapped one. But out in deep space the normal may be reversed--for humans at any rate.

He knew the theory of repairing the gizmo all right. He had that nicely taped. But there was the little matter of threading a wire through a too-small hole while under zero-g, and working in a spacesuit!

Some smart people invent a way to dispose of rubbish, and a few other things. The CIA want their technology, and they won't hand it over. Things heat up. Set in Australia.

How far would you go for a lost loved one?

A little known species defends the Galaxy with an ultimate weapon.

There are times when a broken tool is better than a sound one, or a twisted personality more useful than a whole one. For instance, a whole beer bottle isn't half the weapon that half a beer bottle is.

For every beautiful person there is an ugly one. Shadow is ugly, real ugly. Men flinch, women scream, and children have nightmares after meeting him. Happy Harry doesn't believe that ugly is necessarily a life sentence to loneliness.

A story in the Warhammer 40K Universe
Another tale in the 40K Universe. This story is the sequel to a story I have sadly electronically lost and I'm unsure of where the penned rough draft is :( It's also the prequel -of sorts- to 'Tobias'.

The son of one of the first Ashtear and a sidhe queen clone hunts ancient realm gates. When he finds one lost and forgotten he opens a gate. The realm holds dark sidhe and he scouts it until he feels a need to act and help a female slave. After that he discovers their plan to open a gate onto his world to attack.

Being a minor mage and a constable in one of the most difficult zones on the planet means I see a lot. There are no other mages with the constables so I get called for many cases. Sometimes to recreate a crime and others to help with surveillance. Just being a constable on the King's Walk is dangerous. Being a mage constable means everyone knows me and I am always a target for those that hunt us.

The problem of separating the friends from the enemies was a major one in the conquest of space as many a dead spacer could have testified. A tough job when you could see an alien and judge appearances; far tougher when they were only whispers on the wind.

A hayseed Martian among big-planet slickers. of course he would get into trouble. But that was nothing compared to the trouble he would be in if he did not get into trouble!

This is about the best-hated author on Earth. Who was necessarily pampered and petted because of his crime against humanity....

He didn't expect to be last-but neither did he anticipate the horror of being the first!

Was it a wild talent that MacReedy had, or was it just prophetic genius that led him to figure out new, improved ordnance weapons and make models of them--before the armed forces had them? Whichever it was, MacReedy was both valuable and dangerous--and when the general saw MacReedy's final figure, the weapons following the mobile rocket A-missile launcher....

What will the end of the Earth's lifespan look like? What will happen to the humans left on the planet when it fades into obsolescence? These are just a few of the profound questions at the center of science fiction master Poul Anderson's thought-provoking tale The Chapter Ends.

Score one or one million was not enough for the human race. It had to be all or nothing. with one man doing every bit of scoring!

In the jungle the vicious man-killer is king, but what chance would a tiger have in the Times Square traffic.

The robots were built to serve Man; to do his work, see to his comforts, make smooth his way. Then the robots figured out an additional service--putting Man out of his misery.

Achieving immortality is only half of the problem. The other half is knowing how to live with it once it's been made possible--and inescapable!

What is desirable is not always necessary, while that which is necessary may be most undesirable. Perhaps the measure of a man is the ability to tell one from the other. and act on it.

There may be a town called Mars in Montana. But little Mrs. Freda Dunny didn't come from there!

Snow in summer is of course impossible. Any weather expert will tell you so. Weather Bureau Chief Botts was certain no such absurdity could occur. And he would have been right except for one thing. It snowed that summer.

To Thad Allen, meteor miner, comes the dangerous bonanza of a derelict rocket-flier manned by death invisible.

Ships switching from hyper to normal space had to do it in a micro-second--if the crews were to live. But it would take Brad suicidal minutes!

The most dangerous, utterly vicious carnivorous animal the Galactics knew had escaped. to Earth! Because contact with Earth was forbidden, they knew little of Earth. which led to certain false conclusions.

Suppose a strictly one hundred per cent American plague showed up.... One that attacked only people within the political borders of the United States!

Something of the wonder that must have come to men seeking magic in the sky in days long vanished.