THE GREAT C 7/31/52. Cosmos Science Fiction and Fantasy, Sept 1953. [Parts of this story were adapted for the novel DEUS IRAE.]
OUT IN THE GARDEN 7/31/52. Fantasy Fiction, Aug 1953.
THE KING OF THE ELVES (“Shadrach Jones and the Elves”) 8/4/52. Beyond Fantasy Fiction, Sept 1953.
This story, of course, is fantasy, not sf. Originally it had a downbeat ending on it, but Horace Gold, the editor who bought it, carefully explained to me that prophecy always came true; if it didn’t ipso facto it wasn’t prophecy. I guess, then, there can be no such thing as a false prophet; “false prophet” is an oxymoron. (1978)
COLONY 8/11/52. Galaxy, June 1953.
The ultimate in paranoia is not when everyone is against you but when everything is against you. Instead of “My boss is plotting against me,” it would be “My boss’s phone is plotting against me.” Objects sometimes seem to possess a will of their own anyhow, to the normal mind; they don’t do what they’re supposed to do, they get in the way, they show an unnatural resistance to change. In this story I tried to figure out a situation which would rationally explain the dire plotting of objects against humans, without reference to any deranged state on the part of the humans. I guess you’d have to go to another planet. The ending on this story is the ultimate victory of a plotting object over innocent people. (1976)
PRIZE SHIP (“Globe From Ganymede”) 8/14/52. Thrilling Wonder Stories, Winter 1954.
NANNY 8/26/52. Startling Stories, Spring 1955.