Before David’s startled gaze the newcomer placed his right hand to his left shoulder and removed the left arm. He then proceeded to dismember himself until only a torso, head and one arm remained. The Artificial Man by Clare Winger Harris. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

A new debut on the podcast today: the first woman to publish science fiction stories under her own name in the pulp magazines. While Francis Stevens—born Gertrude Barrows Bennett—was a trailblazer often credited as the first female science fiction writer, she published under the ambiguous name “G. M. Barrows,” using initials that concealed her gender.

Clare Winger Harris didn’t hide hers. When her first short story, The Runaway World, appeared in the July 1926 issue of Weird Tales, it was credited openly to Mrs. F. C. Harris.

Born in Freeport, Illinois in 1891, Clare came from a distinguished background. Her mother, Mary Stover Winger, was the daughter of D. C. Stover, the town’s wealthiest man, a renowned inventor and industrialist. Her father, Frank S. Winger, was an electrical contractor and a science fiction writer himself, having published The Wizard of the Island; or, The Vindication of Prof. Waldinger in 1917.

Between 1926 and 1933, Harris wrote a dozen science fiction short stories and one novel. In the late 1930s, she moved to Pasadena, California, where she lived modestly and sometimes worked as a switchboard operator to make ends meet.

Remarkably, just a year before her death in 1968, she inherited a quarter of her grandfather’s estate—valued at over two million dollars. Though he had passed away in 1908, the estate had been tied up in court battles for nearly sixty years.

We will find today’s story in the very first issue of Science Wonder Quarterly in the fall of 1929, on page 78, The Artificial Man by Clare Winger Harris…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, When a skeptical professor steps into the mind of a former student’s fiancée, he discovers a surreal landscape shaped by vanity, obsession, and alarming emptiness. A sharp and unsettling exploration of how our inner worlds reveal far more than we intend. The Shoddy Lands by C. S. Lewis.

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A quest for identity meets the shadows of societal perception. As Rosina struggles to be seen, will she reclaim her voice or remain lost in the darkness? The Invisible Girl by Mary Shelley. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

You may be wondering why this episode of The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast took longer to appear than a ghost at a séance. At the end of The Shunned House by H.P. Lovecraft, we promised you this story. And you probably thought, “Hey, Mary Shelley—the woman who gave us Frankenstein and The Mortal Immortal—must’ve written another bone-chilling, brain-bending slice of early sci-fi, right?”

Then you saw the title: The Invisible Girl. Sounds science fiction-y, doesn’t it? Invisibility! Mystery! Possibly lasers!

Yeah… about that.

Halfway through recording, we realized The Invisible Girl is, well… not quite science fiction. It’s more “Victorian drama with a faint whiff of mystery” than “steampunk invisibility ray.” So we had a choice:

1. Stop, confess our literary oopsie, and give you something more sci-fi.

2. Finish the story, release it anyway, and throw ourselves at your mercy.

We chose Option 2. Because, frankly, we’ve gotten good at begging. Would you please rate our podcast wherever you can? Five stars if you think we deserve it. See what I mean!

So please forgive us—and enjoy The Invisible Girl by Mary Shelley…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, and we promise this one is science fiction! Before David’s startled gaze the newcomer placed his right hand to his left shoulder and removed the left arm. He then proceeded to dismember himself until only a torso, head and one arm remained. The Artificial Man by Clare Winger Harris.

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A man and his uncle set out to scientifically investigate a crumbling home steeped in centuries of death and decay. But as night falls, they confront a grotesque, unseen horror feeding on the living—a parasitic evil that may be older than the house itself. The Shunned House by H.P. Lovecraft. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

The Shunned House was penned by H.P. Lovecraft in October 1924 but remained in the shadows until it was published 13 years later, just seven months after his passing! Discover this haunting tale in Weird Tales magazine, October 1937, starting on page 418, The Shunned House by H.P. Lovecraft…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, A quest for identity meets the shadows of societal perception. As Rosina struggles to be seen, will she reclaim her voice or remain lost in the darkness? The Invisible Girl by Mary Shelley.

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$15 Someone, Carolyn Guthleben, Patrick McLendon, Curious Jon, Buz C., Fressie, Anonymous Listener

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.