The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories

A young researcher risks his career, his freedom, and his sanity to prove that madness can be reversed with a single injection. But when the only way to demonstrate the cure is from inside a locked ward, he must decide whether to stake his life on the very drug that put him there. Open All Doors by Harry Harrison and Hubert Pritchard. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Harry Harrison is one of my favorite authors. His spacefaring sci-fi, The Stainless Steel Rat and The Misplaced Battleship are two of my favorites. And I enjoy his robot stories too, Arm of the Law, The Robot Who Wanted to Know and others.

However, this Harry Harrison story isn’t like the others. Perhaps that’s because of his co-author Hubert Pritchard. This is the first Pritchard story on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast and there won’t be many more, if any. Hubert Pritchard wrote only two science fiction stories that were published.

So how did he and Harry Harrison team up? They were friends in high school and reconnected in New York after World War II. As the story goes Pritchard was training to be a doctor but ill health prevented him from continuing his medical education.

However, he put that education to good use in this story which was published in the February 1958 issue of Fantastic Universe magazine on page 4, Open All Doors by Harry Harrison and Hubert Pritchard…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A routine first contact becomes far more complicated when two spacefaring expeditions discover they have misunderstood almost everything about one another. Just as genuine friendship begins to replace suspicion, a far more dangerous question demands an immediate answer: who actually lives in the abandoned city around them? The Contact Point by Jack Sharkey.

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A quiet man spends decades chasing an impossible invention, only to discover that success carries a responsibility far greater than wealth or fame. When the future reveals a disaster that has not happened yet, one ordinary bartender must decide whether he is willing to become the man history needs. Probability by Louis Trimble. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Louis Preston Trimble makes his debut on the podcast today and it’s probably the only time he will be here. Born in Seattle Washington in 1917 Trimble wrote more than 60 novels, some sci-fi, mostly westerns and mysteries but only one science fiction short story.

This is the fourth story we’ve featured from the April 1954 issue of If, following The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick, Breeder Reaction by Winston Marks, and Way of a Rebel by Walter M. Miller Jr.

We will find our story on page 99, Probability by Louis Trimble…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A young researcher risks his career, his freedom, and his sanity to prove that madness can be reversed with a single injection. But when the only way to demonstrate the cure is from inside a locked ward, he must decide whether to stake his life on the very drug that put him there. Open All Doors by Harry Harrison and Hubert Pritchard.

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A scientist condemned to a punishment unlike anything ever devised watches centuries slip past while every civilization around him rises, changes, and disappears. As the world transforms beyond recognition, only one question remains: what will finally bring his endless sentence to an end? Pendulum by Ray Bradbury and Henry Hasse. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

You can never have too many 5-star reviews. Never.

Every one reminds us why we do this, but some hit a little differently. This one from Apple Podcasts Canada absolutely made our day.

wethesheep-not wrote:

“Delightful. Best narrator ever! Hands down best audiobook podcast! You can’t compare this podcast with any other.”

Wow.

To everyone who has taken a minute to leave a rating or review, thank you. Those reviews help more listeners discover The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, and they remind us that these classic stories are still finding new fans all over the world.

And to wethesheep-not—thank you for such incredibly kind words. We truly appreciate you listening and taking the time to share your thoughts.

Ray Bradbury and Henry Hasse joined forces on just three stories. We featured one of them, Final Victim, about two and a half years ago.

From the November 1941 issue of Super Science Stories on page 102, Pendulum by Ray Bradbury and Henry Hasse…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A quiet man spends decades chasing an impossible invention, only to discover that success carries a responsibility far greater than wealth or fame. When the future reveals a disaster that has not happened yet, one ordinary bartender must decide whether he is willing to become the man history needs. Probability by Louis Trimble.

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A world that should have bloomed again instead slips beyond reach, leaving one visitor to wonder whether the greatest mistake was made long before humans ever arrived. As forgotten clues begin to fit together, an unsettling possibility emerges that no one is prepared to face. Translator’s Error by Charles Dye. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

Author Charles Dye makes his second appearance on the podcast just over 10 months after his first story, Momentum was heard.

Let’s travel to Mars through the pages of the December 1952 issue of Dynamic Science Fiction. Our martian tale begins on page 111, Translator’s Error by Charles Dye…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A scientist condemned to a punishment unlike anything ever devised watches centuries slip past while every civilization around him rises, changes, and disappears. As the world transforms beyond recognition, only one question remains: what will finally bring his endless sentence to an end? Pendulum by Ray Bradbury and Henry Hasse.

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A dying patient speaks of impossible places no uneducated man should be able to imagine, pushing one young doctor toward an experiment that could shatter everything he believes about the sleeping mind. What answers await beyond ordinary consciousness—and what might still be searching the night sky when the experiment is over? Beyond the Wall of Sleep by H. P. Lovecraft. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the stories, the pacing, and giving each character a distinct voice. So this review on Apple Podcasts US from “California listeners” really hit home:

“Perfectly narrated science fiction stories! Wonderful range of voices that bring each character to life, narrator with clear enunciation and pleasant resonance.”

Thanks California!! It’s gratifying to know those details are noticed. Thank you for listening!

We hadn’t planned to deliver any H. P. Lovecraft stories on the podcast, but you’ve made your voices heard. The requests just keep coming, so we’re happy to bring you more of the Lovecraft tales you’ve been asking for.

This story was first published in the amateur publication Pine Cones in October 1919 just a few months after it was written. Almost 20 years later it appeared in the March 1938 issue of Weird Tales magazine on page 331, Beyond the Wall of Sleep by H. P. Lovecraft…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A world that should have bloomed again instead slips beyond reach, leaving one visitor to wonder whether the greatest mistake was made long before humans ever arrived. As forgotten clues begin to fit together, an unsettling possibility emerges that no one is prepared to face. Translator’s Error by Charles Dye.

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$25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener

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$10 David, Anonymous Listener

$5 Every Month Eaten by a Grue

$5 Tammy, Owen, Bruce, Someone, TLD, David, Denis Kalinin, Timothy Buckley, Andre'a, Martin Brown, Ron McFarlan, Tif Love, Chrystene, Richard Hoffman, Anonymous Listener

Listen without commercials and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/

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