The R a Lafferty Fantastic Megapack Read online

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  The MEGAPACK® Ebook Series

  ALOYS

  ADAM HAD THREE BROTHERS

  SEVEN-DAY TERROR

  DAY OF THE GLACIER

  SODOM AND GOMORRAH, TEXAS

  THROUGH OTHER EYES

  THE WEIRDEST WORLD

  THE SIX FINGERS OF TIME

  TRY TO REMEMBER

  McGONIGAL’S WORM

  THE POLITE PEOPLE OF PUDIBUNDIA

  IN THE GARDEN

  ALL THE PEOPLE

  DREAM

  THE WAGONS

  OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON

  THE UGLY SEA

  SATURDAY YOU DIE

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The R.A. Lafferty Fantastic MEGAPACK® is copyright © 2016 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved. Cover art © Adimas / Fotolia.

  * * * *

  The MEGAPACK® ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

  * * * *

  “Aloys” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, August 1961.

  “Adam Had Three Brothers” was originally published in New Mexico Quarterly Review, Fall 1960.

  “Seven-Day Terror” was originally published in If, March 1962.

  “Day of the Glacier” was originally published in Science Fiction Stories, January 1960.

  “Sodom and Gomorrah, Texas” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, December 1962.

  “Through Other Eyes “ was originally published in Future Science Fiction, No. 47, February 1960.

  “The Weirdest World” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, June 1961.

  “The Six Fingers Of Time,” by R. A. Lafferty” was originally published in If, September 1960.

  “Try to Remember” was originally published in Collage Magazine, December 1960/January 1961.

  “McGonigal’s Worm” was originally published in If, November 1960.

  “The Polite People of Pudibundia” was originally published in If, January 1961.

  “In the Garden” was originally published in If, March 1961.

  “All the People” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, April 1961.

  “Dream” was originally published in Galaxy Magazine, June 1962.

  “The Wagons” was originally published in New Mexico Quarterly Review, Spring 1959.

  “Other Side of the Moon” was originally published in Husk Magazine, March 1960.

  “The Ugly Sea” was originally published in The Literary Review, Fall 1960.

  “Saturday You Die” was originally published in Artesian Magazine, Spring 1960.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Raphael Aloysius Lafferty was born on November 7, 1914, in Neola, Iowa to Hugh David Lafferty, a broker dealing in oil leases and royalties, and Julia Mary Burke, a teacher. He was the youngest of five siblings. His first name, Raphael, derived from the day on which he was expected to be born—the Feast of St. Raphael.

  When Ray (as he was called) was 4 years old, his family moved to Perry, Oklahoma. He graduated from Cascia Halland later attended night school at the University of Tulsa for two years starting in 1933, mostly studying math and German, but left before graduating. He then began to work for a Clark Electric Co. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and apparently a newspaper as well; during this period (1939–1942), he attended the International Correspondence School.

  Lafferty lived most of his life in Tulsa, with his sister, Anna Lafferty. Lafferty enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. After training in Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and California, he was sent to the South Pacific Area, serving in Australia, New Guinea, Morotai and the Philippines. When he left the Army in 1946, he had become a 1st Sergeant serving as a staff sergeant and had received an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. He never married.

  He did not begin writing until the 1950s, but he wrote thirty-two novels and more than 200 short stories, most of them at least nominally science fiction. His first published story (included here) was “The Wagons” in New Mexico Quarterly Review in 1959. His first published science fiction story was “Day of the Glacier” (also included here) in The Original Science Fiction Stories in 1960, and his first published novel was Past Master (1968).

  Until 1971, Lafferty worked as an electrical engineer. After that, he spent his time writing until around 1980, when his output declined due to a stroke. He stopped writing regularly in 1984. In 1994, he suffered an even more severe stroke. He died 18 March 2002, aged 87 in a nursing home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. His collected papers, artifacts, and ephemera were donated to the University of Tulsa’s McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections and University Archives. Other manuscripts are housed in the University of Iowa’s Library special collections department.

  Lafferty’s funeral took place at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tulsa, where he regularly attended daily Mass. He is buried at St. Rose Catholic Cemetery in Perry

  Without a doubt, he was one of the most quirky and unusual authors every to work in science fiction. I only met him once, at a World Science Fiction Convention (we were on a panel together, along with Jack Chalker and several others). He was a quiet but knowledgable on the subject—small press publishing—because small presses had long championed his work. He had a small but dedicated following.

  Enjoy!

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  ABOUT THE SERIES

  Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK® ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The MEGAPACK® ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, Bonner Menking, Sam Cooper, Helen McGee and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)

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  TYPOS

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  The MEGAPACK® Ebook Series

  If you enjoyed this ebook, check out Wildside Press’s MEGAPACK® series…

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