Cadet George Hanlon stood stiffly at attention. But as the long, long minutes dragged on and on, he found his hands, his spine and his forehead cold with the sweat of fear. He tried manfully to keep his eyes fixed steadily on that emotionless face b…

Her hot, demanding eyes swept the group; a group whose like, except for physical perfection, could be found in any nudist colony. No one except Tula had felt a thing. via Pocket

When Randolph Carter was thirty he lost the key of the gate of dreams. via Pocket

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"Let the red dawn surmise What we shall do, When this blue starlight dies And all is through. via Pocket

He sits not a dozen yards away. If I glance over my shoulder I can see him. And if I catch his eye--and usually I catch his eye--it meets me with an expression---- It is mainly an imploring look--and yet with suspicion in it. via Pocket

It was a dark, starless night. We were becalmed in the northern Pacific. via Pocket

Glamour by Seabury Quinn Let us be honest about it, is not love something of a witchcraft? And has not each sex its own particular brand of witchery, so that man and woman may join hands in marriage and be contented with each other even though the o…

Frank Owen confides to us that he himself has never been in China, that his vision of China is a poetic dream of his own. via Pocket

Nelson Bond, who made his start in the regular pulp magazines, rapidly graduated from that class to star his fine fantasies in the pages of the better popular magazines. via Pocket

The test of existence is the ability of a species to adapt itself to a changing environment. The first law of existence would seem to be therefore the ability of each type of creature to combat the obstacles of nature successfully. Humanity is as su…

THEY WHO LIVED during that terrible time will never forget it—twenty-five years ago, when the lights went out. It was in 1956. via Pocket

Even when dealing with the perilously stereotyped modern interplanetary story, the devilish pen of Ray Bradbury achieves that originality of concept, that special spark of subtle pin-pricking that has made him outstanding. via Pocket

via Pocket

On Miss Hee’s first day as a trainee TEPO, Time Escape Prevention Officer, her teacher was a man. That was aju scary in itself. He seemed old, although looking back on it he was probably only middle-aged. He shooed her to a waiting set of chairs, in…

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

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Manhattan smells like rain. The last drops fall from the sky or else the rooftops, drifting down through the high air. With every step, her dress shoes throw out splashes from the thin, oily puddles. It’s ruining the leather, and she doesn’t care. v…

Allpa received the magic sword from his grandmother, as she lay dying. “No, nor do you deserve it,” she snapped at him. She was a fierce old woman with a nose like a hawk’s beak and skin falling away in folds from her cheekbones. “You’re a farmer, n…

My father’s stables were the most important part of his holdings. By the time I had ten summers, I could soothe a panicked stallion and help birth a breech foal. via Pocket

Well, this would have been about three years ago now, just before my stepdaughter went into first grade. She was still in the process of getting used to me back then. There’s nothing quite like having a five-year-old girl think you’re the anti-Chris…

There weren’t many three-bedroom houses that a single woman could afford. 1532 Lachmont Drive was an exception. Built in the 1930s from masonry block, it sat in the middle of a line of houses that had once been very similar to it. via Pocket

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The skimmer is on the roof waiting for him, but he cannot help but pause to take a few deep breaths when he first enters all that open space. via Pocket

With the thunderclap, I dropped my spoon. Sinigang soup bled into my jeans, spreading in darkness, like the shadow covering us all. Everyone looked up. From the spacecraft, a creature emerged. via Pocket

Chenguang hikes up her sleeves before vaulting over the pile of fuzzy moss and greets Lukas with a nod. The chloropolyurethane fabric flaps in the slight breeze and the double suns beat down onto her arms. via Pocket