Sometimes the most diligent and loyal thing an old man can do is fumble, drink beer, and let a young man get into trouble.... A classic tale from the golden age of science fiction, edited by the legendary John W. Campbell, Jr.

This text from the golden age of science fiction originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction Stories, April 1955. Editor John W. Campbell, Jr.'s introduction: "A Playboy is someone with power, too much time on his hands, and too little sense of a goal worth achieving. And if the Playboy happens to belong to a highly advanced culture...."

It's 1945 on Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, "The coast of Hollywood." Yachts and fishing boats bob in water clearer than crystal, sunbathers bask on the white sand beaches, and from the legendary Avalon Ballroom, the music of Freddy Martin's Orchestra fills the air. Three beautiful young women prepare to embark upon their life's journeys:Gerri will be an actress, everyone is sure of that; and Maria a big band singer; and Maggie, the most beautiful of them all, will "wed," not just marry, but tri... more info>>

In 1944 the boy Walter Buehl encounters a grisly scene: his mother lies stabbed to death on the kitchen floor, with his teenaged brother Tony crouching beside her, bloody knife in hand. Forty-one years later Tony escapes from the state psychiatric hospital where he's been held in the interim, and Walter, now a prominent businessman, presses the Philadelphia Police Department for action. But Lt. Asher Lowenstein isn't convinced of Tony's guilt, and he asks his friend, psychic Tam Westington, to ... more info>>

This book's for YOU--if you own a boat and are looking for enjoyable on-board eating that's not just another typical hamburger or hot dog, and is still quick and easy to prepare. The authors provide invaluable tips for truly great menu alternatives, requiring very little fuss, muss, or bother--whether afloat, pool-side, or in the backyard. Stay hungry!

When a French secret service operative is murdered on a lonely Alpine highway, a womanizing CIA agent must find the killer and terminate ... with Extreme Prejudice. Back in the states, the same agent discovers ... The Only Good Red. Three years after a bank robbery goes bad, a convict on the verge of parole learns that his partner's wife really knows how to set up a ... Con Job. When an attractive young woman borrows money for a new car, it's the loan manager who learns never to trust the ... Fi... more info>>

The computer seemed to work as it should. The speed was within acceptable limits. He gave up trying to see the ground and was forced to trust the machinery designed for amateur pilots. The flare bloomed, and he yanked down on the little lever. It could have been worse. They hit the ground, bounced twice, and turned over. The ship was a mess when Feldman freed himself from the elastic straps of the seat. Chris had shrieked as they hit, but she was unbuckling herself now. He threw her her spacesui... more info>>

Ellie Bernstein is still a fan of the TV series M*A*S*H. So are a lot of other people in Colorado Springs. In fact, years ago at a M*A*S*H bash to watch the show's finale, everyone came as their favorite character. Now, after having lost fifty-five pounds, Ellie sure looks a lot more like Hot Lips. But that claim to fame might be dangerous. There's a killer on the loose, and the show's look-alikes are being murdered. What twisted motive lies behind the killings? Ellie's dying to see the ending o... more info>>

Here are eleven stories of science fiction and fantasy by a master writer of the fantastic, including four pieces published for the first time. Contents: "Beyond the Colors of Darkness," "An Offer of Oblivion," "Enlightenment," "The Dragons Yetzirah and Alziluth," "A Saint's Progress," "Mens Sana in Corpore Sano," "Black Nectar," "Nephthys," "Plastic Man," "Aphrodite and the Ring," and "Danse Macabre." Brian Stableford has written and edited over 100 volumes of science fiction, horror, fantasy, ... more info>>

Classic Space Opera! Racing through the vast depths of space in a vehicle larger than the universe itself--a fantastic concept, and one that only the mind of a master pioneering science fiction talent could conceive and then translate into a classic tale of exciting trans-cosmic adventure!

When George Randolph first caught sight of Orena, he was astounded by its gleaming perfection. Here were hills and valleys, lakes and streams, glowing with the light of the most precious of metals. And, more astonishing than that, it was a world of miniature perfection--an infinitely tiny universe within a golden atom! But for Randolph it was also a world aglow with danger. Somewhere in its tiny vastness were the friends he had to rescue. Captives of a madman, they had been reduced to native Ore... more info>>

Edwin Baird--an accomplished Chicago pulp writer in the early part of the 20th century--was hired in 1923 to edit a new type of fiction magazine, also being published out of Chicago. That magazine was the classic Weird Tales, and with its launch history was made. Baird's assistants were fellow writers Farnsworth Wright and Otis Adelbert Kline. Baird's greatest discovery was the hot new horror writer of the 1920s, H.P. Lovecraft! Here is one of Baird's own tales ... a tale of starving artists, a ... more info>>

"Had the king lived, there had been no murder of womenfolk; but Bedfort had shot down the king from behind and fled to Mackinac, untouched of the law, and the kingdom had fallen into hands weaker and more cruel. Therefore had come voyageur, lumberjack, fisherman, bearing with them retribution." Here in two sentences is the setting of this, the latest of H. Bedford-Jones' remarkable romances, which is also his best. The proof of the story is in the reading. Part of the Wildside Pulp Classics seri... more info>>

DEEP IN THE PERUVIAN JUNGLE! It's a new metal detected by the Spaceborn Imaging Satellites (SIS), who've labeled it the blood-red resolution matrix. The problem for Dayklan Inc. is that The Mentlic Group has already reached and fortified the site--possession being nine-tenths of the law. Is the new discovery worth a corporate war? United Courier Service's Dave Wilcox must transport three hard-won specimens from the ancient Incan stronghold of Machu Picchu to Cuzco, little suspecting that death a... more info>>

El Hassan, would-be tyrant of all North Africa, was on the run. His followers at this point numbered six, one of whom was a wisp of a twenty-four year old girl. Arrayed against him and his dream, he knew, was the combined power of the world in the form of the Reunited Nations, and, in addition, such individual powers as the United States of the Americas, the Soviet Complex, Common Europe, the French Community, the British Commonwealth and the Arab Union, working both together and unilaterally...... more info>>

"Mark Phillips" was the pseudonym of two well-known science fiction writers: Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. Their joint pen-name, derived from their middle names (Philip and Mark), was coined soon after their original meeting, at a science-fiction convention. Both men were drunk at the time, which explains a good deal, and only one ever sobered up. A matter for constant contention between the collaborators was which one. They collaborated for some years, and devised an interesting meth... more info>>

Is it Manna from Heaven when your helium-powered loaf of bread can fly? A "half-baked" science fiction tale from grand master Fritz Leiber, author of the Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser series and many other classics of fantasy and science fiction!

The ship was proof against any test, but the men inside her could be strained and warped, individually and horribly. Unfortunately, while the men knew that, they couldn't really believe it. The Aliens could--and did.

Gregg Haljan was aware that there was a certain danger in having the giant spaceship Planetara stop off at the moon to pick up Grantline's special cargo of moon ore. For that rare metal--invaluable in keeping Earth's technology running--was the target of many greedy eyes. But nevertheless he hadn't figured on the special twist the clever Martian brigands would use. So when he found both the ship and himself suddenly in their hands, he knew that there was only one way in which he could hope to sa... more info>>

As every thinking man knows, every slave always yearns for the freedom his master denies him.... Originally published in "Astounding Science Fiction," edited by the legendary John W. Campbell, Jr. (July 1959)

Look down into the streets, the buildings, the parks. There is your battleground. Down there is the enemy--an enemy who wears no uniform. He walks behind you in the street, sits with you when you eat and perhaps swims beside you in a public pool. He may ask you for a light, sell you a flyer, or in another form, leave the smell of perfume on your pillow. The enemy is young and old, male and female and he is everywhere. Could such a situation arise ... or has it already arisen? In this exciting st... more info>>

Set during the reign of the Emperor Commodus, here is Talbot Mundy's tale of palace intrigue, the brutalities and debaucheries of Rome, and a man who would make himself ruler of the civilized world! Features an introduction by scholar Darrell Schweitzer.

Six tales of Carnacki the Ghost Finder--tales of the outré, the unexpected, and the unexplained from a renowned master of the macabre, William Hope Hodgson.

A WORLD OF "WHAT-IF"s... Had Albert Einstein and Arsenio Hall lived at one and the same time, could it have been something the latter said--"Jack Sajak, as an emcee, is square!"--to provide the former with the breakthrough for his now world-renowned equation, E=mc2? Had The Beatles and Adolf Hitler met, the latter commenting off-handedly, "Yes, I did once get Meyer Rothschild's attention by screaming, 'Hey Jude!'"--could the idea for the former's famous song have taken root, right then and there... more info>>

In a future not so long from now, but a lot funnier, Chap Foey Rider sets up relations between Mankind and the 27,000 member worlds of the faster-than-light Galactic Postal Union. In his spare time, he rids the world of smog and pollution and brings peace on Earth. Chap Foey even gets rid of income tax. But now, he faces his most serious challenge ever. Not his numerous sons, not the Galactic Postal Union, and no interstellar trader, no matter how many arms or eyes the creature has, can help Cha... more info>>