Knock (short Story)
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Knock (short Story)
"Knock" is a science fiction short story by American writer Fredric Brown. It begins with a piece of Flash fiction Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also kn ... based on the following passage by Thomas Bailey Aldrich: Fredric Brown condensed this text into "a sweet little action story that is only two sentences long". "Knock" then goes on to elaborate on those two sentences and build a more complete plot around them. It was published in the December 1948 issue of '' Thrilling Wonder Stories''. There have been three different radio adaptations (''Dimension X (radio program), Dimension X'', ''X Minus One'' and Syfy, Sci Fi Channel's ''Seeing Ear Theatre''). The story was reprinted in ''The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949''Everett F. Bieler & T. E. Dikty, eds., ''The Best ...
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Thrilling Wonder Stories (1948 --Dec)
''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stories'', when his media company Experimenter Publishing went bankrupt. Within a few months of the bankruptcy, Gernsback launched three new magazines: ''Air Wonder Stories'', ''Science Wonder Stories'', and ''Science Wonder Quarterly''. ''Air Wonder Stories'' and ''Science Wonder Stories'' were merged in 1930 as ''Wonder Stories'', and the quarterly was renamed ''Wonder Stories Quarterly''. The magazines were not financially successful, and in 1936 Gernsback sold ''Wonder Stories'' to Ned Pines at Beacon Publications, where, retitled ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', it continued for nearly 20 years. The last issue was dated Winter 1955, and the title was then merged with ''Startling Stories'', another of Pines' science fiction magazines. ' ...
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Short Story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, Myth, mythic tales, Folklore genre, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables, and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century. Definition The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella, novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques. The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story remains problematic. A classic definition ...
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Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown (October 29, 1906 – March 11, 1972) was an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer.D. J. McReynolds, "The Short Fiction of Fredric Brown" in Frank N. Magill, (ed.) ''Survey of Science Fiction Literature'', Vol. 4. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, 1979. (pp. 1954–1957). He is known for his use of humor and for his mastery of the " short short" form—stories of one to three pages, often with ingenious plotting devices and surprise endings. Humor and a postmodern outlook carried over into his novels as well. One of his stories, " Arena", was adapted into to a 1967 episode of the American television series ''Star Trek''. Life and works Fredric Brown was born in Cincinnati.Introduction to ''Rogue in Space''
Italian edi ...
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Flash Fiction
Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also known as "twitterature"); the "dribble" (also known as the "minisaga", 50 words); the "drabble" (also known as "microfiction", 100 words); "sudden fiction" (up to 750 words); "flash fiction" (up to 1,000 words); and "microstory".Christopher Kasparek, "Two Micro-Stories by Bolesław Prus", ''The Polish Review'', 1995, no. 1, pp. 99-103. Some commentators have suggested that flash fiction possesses a unique literary quality in its ability to hint at or imply a larger story. History Flash fiction has roots going back to prehistory, recorded at origin of writing, including fables and parables, notably ''Aesop's Fables'' in the west, and Panchatantra and Jataka tales in India. Later examples include the tales of Nasreddin, and Zen koans such as ...
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Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Thomas Bailey Aldrich ( ; November 11, 1836 – March 19, 1907) was an American writer, poet, critic, and editor. He is notable for his long editorship of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', during which he published writers including Charles W. Chesnutt. He was also known for his semi-autobiographical book '' The Story of a Bad Boy'', which established the "bad boy's book" subgenre in nineteenth-century American literature, and for his poetry. Biography Early life and education Thomas Bailey Aldrich was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on November 11, 1836, to Elias T. Aldrich and Sara Aldrich, née Bailey. When Aldrich was a child, his father moved to New Orleans, but after 10 years, Aldrich was sent back to Portsmouth to prepare for college. This period of his life is partly described in his semi-autobiographical novel ''The Story of a Bad Boy'' (1870), in which "Tom Bailey" is the juvenile hero. Early career Aldrich abandoned college preparations after his father's death in 1849. ...
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Wonder Stories
''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stories'', when his media company Experimenter Publishing went bankrupt. Within a few months of the bankruptcy, Gernsback launched three new magazines: ''Air Wonder Stories'', ''Science Wonder Stories'', and ''Science Wonder Quarterly''. ''Air Wonder Stories'' and ''Science Wonder Stories'' were merged in 1930 as ''Wonder Stories'', and the quarterly was renamed ''Wonder Stories Quarterly''. The magazines were not financially successful, and in 1936 Gernsback sold ''Wonder Stories'' to Ned Pines at Beacon Publications, where, retitled ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', it continued for nearly 20 years. The last issue was dated Winter 1955, and the title was then merged with '' Startling Stories'', another of Pines' science fiction magazines ...
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Dimension X (radio Program)
''Dimension X'' was an NBC Radio Network, NBC radio program broadcast mostly on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950, to September 29, 1951. The first 13 episodes were broadcast live, and the remainder were prerecorded. Fred Wiehe and Edward King were the directors, and Norman Rose was heard as both announcer and narrator, opening the show with: "Adventures in time and space... told [or transcribed] in future tense..." For two months, beginning on July 7, 1950, the series was sponsored by Wheaties. Overview Preceded by Mutual's ''2000 Plus'' (1950–52), ''Dimension X'' was not the first adult science fiction series on radio, but the acquisition of previously published stories immediately gave it a strong standing with the science fiction community, as did the choice of established writers within the genre: Isaac Asimov, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Fredric Brown, Robert A. Heinlein, Murray Leinster, H. Beam Piper, Frank M. Robinson, Clifford D. Simak, William Tenn, ...
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X Minus One
''X Minus One'' is an American half-hour science fiction radio drama series that was broadcast from April 24, 1955, to January 9, 1958, in various timeslots on NBC. Known for high production values in adapting stories from the leading American authors of the era, ''X Minus One'' has been described as one of the finest offerings of American radio drama and one of the best science fiction series in any medium. Overview Initially a revival of NBC's '' Dimension X'' (1950–51), the first 15 episodes of ''X Minus One'' were new versions of ''Dimension X'' episodes, but the remainder were adaptations by NBC staff writers, including Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts, of newly published science fiction stories by leading writers in the field, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Robert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl and Theodore Sturgeon, along with some original scripts by Kinoy and Lefferts. Included in the series were adaptations of Robert Sheckley's "Skulking P ...
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1949
Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico. * January 11 – The first "networked" television broadcasts take place, as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, goes on the air, connecting east coast and mid-west programming in the United States. * January 16 – Şemsettin Günaltay forms the new government of Turkey. It is the 18th government, last One-party state, single party government of the Republican People's Party. * January 17 – The first Volkswagen Beetle, VW Type 1 to arrive in the United States, a 1948 model, is brought to New York City, New York by Dutch businessman Ben Pon Sr., Ben Pon. Unable to interest dealers or importers in the Volkswagen, Pon sells the sample car to pay his ...
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