Later described as "the lost giant of American science fiction," Edward Page Mitchell wrote many science fiction and fantasy short stories in the 1870's to 1890's, nearly all of which were published anonymously in the The Sun daily newspaper of New York. Mitchell was editor-in-chief of The Sun and was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board for many years.Mitchell introduced many technological and social predictions which were daring for the time, prior to similar pr...

Science Fiction is usually thought of as a modern genre, something that could only be ‘invented’ in these more modern times where technology and imagination combine to bring us thrilling stories. That, of course, is true, but these authors in the 19th Century were far ahead of their own times, and perhaps, still of ours.

An author’s talents may seem obvious and indisputable as they move words and ideas into gathered phrases and stories.But where do these ideas and stories come from? A lonely thought that suddenly gathers form? An inspiration from a Muse? A suggestio

There is something about the number 3.The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two.Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these mo

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...

To know the future is perhaps the most fabled of wishes.In this volume we present a roll-call of classic authors including H P Lovecraft, H G Wells, Mary Shelley, Lewis Carroll, Jack London and many others who short story by short story establish much of what today is science fact. From space travel, the Internet, robots and cyborgs to voice control, organ transplants, mobile phones, these are just a few of the amazing and bewildering predictions that together bring a unique yet in...

This early work by Edward Page Mitchell was originally published in 1878 and we are now republishing it as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'The Devilish Rat' is a short story about flesh stripping rodents. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fan...

Later described as "the lost giant of American science fiction," Edward Page Mitchell wrote many science fiction and fantasy short stories in the 1870's to 1890's, nearly all of which were published anonymously in the The Sun daily newspaper of New York. Mitchell was editor-in-chief of The Sun and was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board for many years.Mitchell introduced many technological and social predictions which were daring for the time, prior to similar predictions by famou...

If you had a time machine for when would you go? To travel through time as if it were a highway is an ancient dream of mankind. The first stories of time travelers go back to the beginning of civilizations, being found in Hindu, Jewish and Japanese mythologies. But it was with science fiction that the concept became popular and began to inhabit the dreams of all of us. In this book you will find seven classics of time travel specially selected by the critic August Nemo. For more books with...

Edward Page Mitchell was born in Bath, Maine on 24th March 1852 into a wealthy family. When he was eight the family moved to a house on New York’s famed Fifth Avenue.In 1863 he witnessed the Draft Riots and in the aftermath Mitchell's father moved the family to Tar River, North Carolina. It was there, at the age of fourteen, that his letters were first published in the local newspaper The Bath Times.In 1872, at age twenty, whilst on a train journey to Bath, Maine, a hot cin...

The human mind has many amazing characteristics. It is logical and creative and able to make great leaps of imagination and turn many of its ideas into physical reality.In this volume our authors, including Ambrose Bierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Winifred Holtby, Bernard Capes and many others bring forth creations and contraptions that are both amazing and abstract as well as diabolical and delightful.1 - Inventions - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction2 - The A...

Science has brought us many benefits for our health, our understanding, and our quality of life in all sorts of positive ways. We are all the better for it. But there is also a darker side when science reaches into the shadows. It claims that a fuller knowledge would benefit everyone, it must investigate. But, let’s be honest, some in science have lost their true calling and their ideas and notions come from these darker impulses. Their thoughts become muddled, their path more for themselv...