Robert Silverberg – Monster Writer! Well, for one short year, Bob was a monster writer. By this, I mean, he wrote SF specifically with a chill or a thrill in mind, usually under a pseudonym. His later work features cool aliens, such as the elephant-like Nildoror from Downward to the Earth (1970). But back in 1959, market pressure arranged that the high-production Silverberg would create a dozen monster-oriented tales for us to enjoy.
In Other Spaces, Other Times (2009) he explains that his markets were disappearing at an alarming rate by 1959:
Against this gloomy background the sudden upsurge of monster fiction provided one commercial bright spot. In the late 1950s a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland,which specialized in photo-essays on classic Hollywood horror movies of the “Frankenstein”and “Wolf-Man”sort, had shot up overnight to a huge circulation. A couple of the science fiction editors, desperately trying to 62 find something that worked, experimented with converting their magazines to vehicles for horror fiction. Thus Larry Shaw’s Infinity and Science Fiction Adventures,for which I had been a steady contributor,vanished and were replaced by two titles called Monster Parade and Monsters and Things.(I wrote for them too.) And over at Super-Science Fiction, Scottie concluded that the only way to save his magazine was to convert it to a book of monster stories also. Word went out to all the regular contributors, of whom I was the most productive, that all material purchased thenceforth would have to have some monster angle in it. I didn’t find that difficult,since most of the stories I was doing for him were space adventures featuring fearsome alien beings,and I would simply need to make the aliens a little bigger and more fearsome.
Master Artist, Emsh
All the art on this page, with the exception of one cover and two illustrations were done by Ed Emschwiller, known as Emsh by his signature. So at the same time we get to enjoy a Silverberg Monster moment, we can also appreciate the great work of an artist who excelled at monsters. Emsh’s creepy critters run the gamut from giant towering creatures to Gothic ghostly shapes to traditional space invaders.
Instead of giving plot synopses and ruining all the fun, I have quoted the story blurbs, which give a pretty good idea what you are in for.
First Monster Issue (April 1959)
“A Cry For Help” (as Eric Rodman) : “The strange beings of World 9, System XG could enter into a man’s brain at will and make certain changes in the cells, changes to suit their ruthless purpose.”
“Mournful Monster” (as Dan Malcolm): “It was huge, massive, with a hide of scales, legs like tree trunks and a fanged mouth of utter horror. Yet it was unmistakably intelligent–and filled with sadness.”
“Vampires from Outer Space” (as Richard F. Watson) : “The weird seven-foot purple bats had come to Earth to stay. Terror ran wild over the land when rumors spread that they were vampires who killed to suck human blood.”
Of this story, Silverberg wrote:
I wrote it in September 1958, right after my first visit to San Francisco, which is why the story is set there. (I lived in New York then, the city of my birth, and had not the slightest inkling, then, that thirteen years later I was going to move to the San Francisco area.) The title on the manuscript when I turned it in was simply “Vampires from Space,” but the meaningless phrase “outer space”was just then establishing itself as a cliché, and Scottie stuck it right in. It is, I think, the only place the phrase can be found in all my millions of words of science fiction. (Other Spaces, Other Times (2009)
Second Monster Issue (June 1959)
“The Day the Monsters Broke Loose” (as Robert Silverberg): “People were trampled underfoot, people were crunched by ten-foot teeth in huge, fanged jaws–people died by the hundreds that day–were eaten like tidbits!”
“Beasts of Nightmare Horror” (as Richard F. Watson): “The monsters were far too fantastic, far too weird to be real. They were like evil dreams come to life. Yet they caused real terror, real destruction, real death!’
Third Monster Issue (August 1959)
“The Horror in the Attic” (as Alex Merriman): “It was a horrible moment for the unsuspecting young couple when that hideous THING came down the stairs, thump, thump, thump on its gruesome errand of death.”
“Monsters That Once Were Men” (as Eric Rodman): “They were like creatures painted by a drunken artist, ghastly, utterly repulsive caricatures of humanity! Yet, twisted though they were, they were still human.”
“Planet of the Angry Giants” (a Dirk Clinton): “The inhabitants of Dunhill V were gigantic. They were peaceful and good natured until something happened to upset them — and then their wrath was truly terrific!”
“Which Was the Monster?” (as Dan Malcolm): “You really shouldn’t judge a creature to be a monster just by its appearance. A monster should be judged by its deeds. One who does monstrous things is a monster.”
Fourth Monster Issue (October 1959)
“The Loathsome Beasts” (as Dan Malcolm): “They came from the sea, hideous, horrible and hungry, enormous creatures in incredible numbers. Would they wipe out the peaceful, prosperous colony of Earthmen?”
“The Monsters Came By Night” (as Charles D. Hammer): “They certainly were not dreams! They were all too real for that. They came to torment the man who’d committed the crime. They came in hideous revenge!”
“The Insidious Invaders” ( as Eric Rodman): “One of the greatest dangers of space travel is that humanity as we know it may be swallowed up by larger and more inclusive forms of life–that might exist.”
Bob said of this story:
“The Insidious Invaders” appeared in that final issue under the pseudonym of Eric Rodman.The attentive reader will detect at once the fine hand of W.W. Scott in the story’s title. I called it “The Imitator,” not exactly an inspired title either. The story’s theme — a predatory absorptive alien — is not one for which I can claim any particular originality, but it has, at least, been one that I’ve dealt with in a number of interesting ways over the decades, most notably in my short stories “Passengers” of 1969 and “Amanda and the Alien” of 1983. So “The Insidious Invaders” can be considered an early draft of those two rather more accomplished pieces. (Other Spaces, Other Times (2009)
Ending
All good things must come to an end:
…in March of 1959, Scottie sadly notified me that he would need no more science fiction stories from me after that. Though Trapped and Guilty were going to continue (for the time being), Super-Science had walked the plank. I would miss it. It had supported me in grand style for three years, and the income from it would be hard to replace. (Other Spaces, Other Times (2009)
Super-Science Fiction and Robert Silverberg’s monster-writing career ended after October 1959. (I guess we wanted to get around to all those Hugos and Nebulas!) Happily for monster fans Famous Monsters of Filmland (a several imitators) were only getting started. For Sci-fi/Horror action there was always the movies….
