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Harlan Ellison: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” is a science fiction horror short story written by Harlan Ellison, published in March 1967 in If magazine, and winner of the Hugo Award in 1968. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the story tells of the desperate existence of five human survivors trapped in the bowels of a sentient supercomputer called AM. The machine, created by humans during the war, has exterminated almost all of humanity and keeps these five alive to torture them relentlessly. In this underground hell, there is no longer any trace of hope.

Robert Bloch: The Eyes of the Mummy

“The Eyes of the Mummy,” a short story by Robert Bloch published in Weird Tales in April 1938, tells the story of a man fascinated by ancient Egypt who embarks on a secret expedition with an archaeologist to plunder the tomb of a priest of the god Sobek. After discovering the mummy, they come across mysterious gems that have replaced the corpse’s eyes. These jewels possess hypnotic and supernatural properties related to ancient Egyptian beliefs about resurrection. What begins as a simple treasure hunt turns into a terrifying experience that challenges the protagonist’s understanding and pits him against dark forces beyond his comprehension, threatening his sanity and his very existence.

Ray Bradbury: The Dwarf. Summary and analysis

In The Dwarf (1954), Ray Bradbury tells the story of a man with dwarfism who visits the mirror maze at an amusement park every night to reach a secret room where a mirror makes him look tall and elegant. That moment of illusion is his only refuge from a life of humiliation. Aimee, a young woman who works at the park, watches him with sympathy and, upon discovering that he is also a writer, decides to help him by having a mirror just like the one in the park sent to his home. Before the gift arrives, Ralph, the maze’s manager, driven by jealousy and a desire to mock him, replaces the mirror in the park with a distorting one that shrinks and distorts the figure. When the dwarf enters that night expecting to see himself transformed, he is met with a grotesque image that leaves him in shock. He flees in terror and, shortly after, is discovered to have stolen a gun. Aimee, feeling guilty, runs out to look for him.

Shirley Jackson: The Witch

“The Witch” (The Witch) is a short story by Shirley Jackson, published in 1949 in the collection The Lottery or The Adventures of James Harris. The story takes place inside a train carriage, where a boy is traveling with his mother and baby sister. While the mother tries to remain calm by reading a book, the boy watches the landscape, talks to the passengers, and lets his imagination run wild, populated by witches and fantastical creatures. The atmosphere changes when a stranger sits down next to the boy and begins to tell him a disturbing story.

Ray Bradbury: The Long Years

In “The Long Years,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published on September 15, 1948, in Maclean’s and later collected in The Martian Chronicles (1950), Mr. Hathaway and his family are the only inhabitants of a desolate Mars. Twenty years ago, the Great War on Earth left the red planet a tomb. When Mars was evacuated, Hathaway and his family, who were engaged in archaeological studies in the mountains, were left behind. Since then, they have lived in a state of waiting, hoping for the return of a rocket to take them back to civilization. One day, a light in the sky seems to herald the end of their long wait, offering them renewed hope of rescue and a return home.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Black Cat. Summary and analysis

In Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat,” a man condemned to death recounts his progressive moral decline. An animal lover in his youth, his character is corrupted by alcoholism, becoming violent and cruel. After mutilating and finally hanging his black cat, Pluto, his house mysteriously burns down. Sometime later, he finds another black cat, almost identical to the previous one, with a peculiar white spot that gradually takes the shape of a gallows, increasing his paranoia and fear. The obsessive presence of the new animal fuels his mental instability. During a fit of rage, he tries to kill the cat, but his wife stops him, and he brutally murders her. He decides to hide the body by walling it up in the basement. After several days, the police inspect the house without finding any evidence of the crime, but when the protagonist, in a gesture of arrogance, hits the wall where the body lies, a bloodcurdling scream is heard from inside. When they knock down the wall, the officers discover the corpse of his wife with the cat still alive on top of her, revealing the murder and sealing his fate.