Monsters That Once Were Men by Robert Silverberg

They were like creatures painted by a drunken artist, ghastly, utterly repulsive caricatures of humanity! Yet, twisted though they were, they were still human...  Monsters That Once Were Men by Robert Silverberg, that’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.

Our 1st Anniversary week comes to an end with a superb story Silverberg scribbled softly. Okay maybe I went a bit too far looking for words that started with S. So sorry. In the early 1950s, Robert Silverberg was a young science fiction fan who was eager to break into the field as a writer. He started submitting stories to various magazines but was repeatedly rejected.

Undeterred, Silverberg wrote a story called "Gorgon Planet" and it appeared in “Nebula”, Scotland's first science fiction magazine under the name Bob Silverberg in 1954. It was the first of more than 600 paid short stories. As was the case with many sci-fi stories back then, "Gorgon Planet" appeared again. It was published in “Super-Science Fiction” magazine 4 ½ years later with the title “The Fight With The Gorgon.” Same story, different title.

Silverberg’s career took off in 1956 when he sold more than 50 short stories.

Today’s story comes from Super-Science Fiction Magazine in August 1959. The story is credited to one of Silverberg’s pen names, Eric Rodman. Our story can be found on page 18, Monsters That Once Were Men by Robert Silverberg…

Next week on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast… The men of the Norgan System had a tough decision to make concerning the planet in A93. Yet there was no hesitation. Can you blame them? Day of Wrath by Bjarne Kirchhoff. That’s next week on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.

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