The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories
Episodes
One-Shot by James Blish
28 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A decision has to be made before the clock runs out, and every method designed to produce certainty keeps failing. With millions of lives in the balan...
The Long Question by David Mason
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A quiet accountant accepts a game-show challenge that promises a fortune if he can predict the world’s headlines after months cut off from civilizat...
The Gate to Xoran by Hal K. Wells
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A brilliant alien intelligence has quietly crossed impossible distances, and Earth has no idea it has already been chosen. When one man uncovers the t...
Death of a Spaceman by Walter M. Miller Jr.
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
An old spaceman lies dying while a rocket prepares for launch nearby. As the final countdown approaches, he fights for one last moment that proves his...
The Body-Masters by Frank Belknap Long
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a future where emotion is engineered and desire is regulated, a respected surgeon begins to sense a flaw in the system he helps enforce. When doctr...
The Crowded Colony by Jerome Bixby
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Human explorers believe they’ve conquered a fading Martian village and are reshaping its future. But inside one quiet back room, a different group s...
When the Moon Turned Green by Hal K. Wells
15 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The night the moon turns an eerie green, every living creature on Earth falls into a silent paralysis—except one scientist who stumbles onto the sec...
Failure on Titan by Robert Abernathy
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A powerful man on a lonely Saturnian moon believes he has found the key to ruling the Solar System. But when control slips for a single moment, the mo...
Murder Beneath the Polar Ice by Hayden Howard
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Beneath the Arctic ice, a diver obsessed with life finds himself forced to choose who deserves to live when machines and men collide in silence. When ...
Old Friends are the Best by Jack Sharkey
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Earth’s greatest scientific curiosity becomes a harmless garden plant—until its quiet growth begins to tilt the world itself. As gravity shifts an...
The Man From 2071 by Sewell Peaslee Wright
08 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A brilliant mind steps beyond his own century and discovers that knowledge itself can become the most dangerous weapon imaginable. When ambition outru...
Salvage in Space by Jack Williamson
07 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A lone meteor miner risks everything to board a drifting interplanetary liner, only to find blood on the deck and something unseen stalking the corrid...
The Last Letter by Fritz Leiber
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a world where machines process every thought and feeling into profitable noise, one young man risks catastrophe for a message meant for one pair of...
The Next Time We Die by Robert Moore Williams
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Pinned down on a barren world, two humans fight to survive while unseen enemies stalk them across the sand. With no safe path forward and nowhere left...
Strange Exodus by Robert Abernathy
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Earth has already been stripped bare, and one exhausted scientist discovers that survival may require a change no one ever imagined making. To live, h...
Patch by William Shedenhelm
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
An automated giant is crippled in space, and the only man who can save it swore he would never touch a liner again. To keep hundreds alive, Pop Gillet...
A Long Way Back by Ben Bova
01 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He was sent into orbit to assemble the machine that would save what was left of civilization—but finishing the job may mean never coming home. With ...
Quixote And The Windmill by Poul Anderson
28 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a world where machines have ended hunger and hardship, two men discover that being unnecessary can hurt more than being poor. When they confront th...
Castaway by A. Bertram Chandler
27 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He escapes drowning only to discover that the island holding him is not as empty as it seems. When he finds a machine that might change more than his ...
The Man Who Knew Everything by Randall Garrett
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A man once dismissed as harmless suddenly becomes the most dangerous intelligence asset on Earth. When every secret he speaks could ignite a war, he m...
Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A single mind reshapes the future in silence—until power attracts the wrong kind of attention. When creation accelerates beyond control, the price o...
The Hounds of Tindalos by Frank Belknap Long
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He wanted to look beyond time and prove that history was still alive, waiting in hidden dimensions. What answered him from those angles was patient, h...
The Ultimate Problem by Victor Rousseau
22 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A brilliant physician risks his own life to force open the border between body and soul, determined to correct what he believes nature has failed t...
The Ultimate World by Bryce Walton
21 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A civilization that has solved every problem sends one man into the far future to decide whether life itself should continue. What he discovers forces...
The Ultimate Paradox by Thorp McClusky
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A retired physicist triggers an experiment he knows he cannot reverse, forcing him to choose between unchecked growth and deliberate disappearance. As...
The Ultimate Wish by E. M. Hull
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A woman is offered one wish, but every choice comes with a price that can’t be escaped or softened. As the clock runs down, she must decide whether ...
Death Wish by Robert Sheckley
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Three men realize their ship will never slow down, and the silence between them grows more dangerous than empty space. When a final option appears, it...
Helen O'Loy by Lester Del Rey
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
They built a machine to handle chores, not to wait by the door or feel the sting of being left behind. When affection stops being programmable, someon...
World's End by Henry Kuttner
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When a glimpse of tomorrow reveals how the world is undone, a scientist is given a narrow window to act. The risk isn’t failure—but coming back un...
Welcome to Paradise by Allyn Donnelson
14 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A factory worker wakes up far from Earth after a routine job triggers something no one warned him about. What he learns there forces a choice between ...
Final Exam by Sam Merwin Jr.
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Earth’s most powerful leader discovers that the counsel he trusted most may soon be gone—just as the stakes become irreversible. When guidance dis...
Seller of the Sky by Dave Dryfoos
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A wandering old man keeps selling something no one believes can still exist, and two children decide it’s time to demand proof. What follows forces ...
Wainer by Michael Shaara
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a future that prizes engineered clarity and measurable usefulness, one man lives with a body and mind that refuse to fit. When the reason for his d...
Citizen Jell by Michael Shaara
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
He has the power to fix what everyone else must endure, yet every use of that power risks ending the quiet life he has built. When the cost of doing n...
Up For Renewal by Lucius Daniel
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a future where youth is enforced and aging is treated like a moral failure, one man faces a decision that could cost him everything he values. Love...
Zeritsky’s Law by Ann Griffith
08 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What if time itself could be paused—bought, sold, and exploited by anyone with enough money and nerve? Zeritsky’s Law explores the terrifying soci...
The Age Of Kindness by Arthur Sellings
07 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a future that has perfected compassion, one man discovers that kindness can be its own kind of cruelty. When humanity finally reaches for the stars...
Peacemaker by Alan E. Nourse
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A lone envoy risks everything to stop a quiet expansion that could ignite a catastrophic war. When fear replaces curiosity, survival depends on whethe...
The Big Tick by Ross Rocklynne
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A man becomes convinced that time itself is counting him down, and every decision suddenly feels fatal. When certainty collides with control, survival...
Thompson's Cat by Robert Moore Williams
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A routine exploration turns into a test of leadership when unseen danger begins claiming lives without warning. What follows is a tense struggle to un...
The Worlds of Joe Shannon by Frank M. Robinson
01 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What if the people who feel out of place aren’t broken — but simply living in the wrong world? One man’s brilliant solution promises escape, ful...
Some Like It Cold by Dave Dryfoos
31 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Across unimaginable scales of time and space, a young explorer risks everything to prove that intelligence can bloom in the most unlikely conditions. ...
Time Trap by Frank Belknap Long
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A lone explorer confronts a force that fractures identity, memory, and destiny itself. In a place where time refuses to behave, survival depends on fa...
The Invader by Alfred Coppel
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
An intelligence from beyond Earth arrives convinced it has found salvation for its dying race. What follows is a terrifying collision between certaint...
Electronic Landslide by Clyde Hostetter
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When technology enters politics, human instincts collide with inhuman logic. What begins as a clever shortcut toward power escalates into a reckoning ...
Keepers of the House by Lester Del Rey
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Drawn by a summons he does not understand, a solitary wanderer follows an old path back into forgotten places. What he finds there tests instinct, loy...
We're Off to Mars! by Joe Gibson
24 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A mysterious delivery brings Joe Linger a device that can reshape reality itself — and suddenly the universe feels wide open. But with limitless pow...
Last Resort by Stephen Bartholomew
23 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Far from help and beyond certainty, a returning astronaut confronts a problem that logic cannot solve. Survival depends on a forbidden experiment that...
They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
They took years to build the rocket and minutes to launch it, sending two ordinary men where others had vanished forever. Officially, it was a simple ...
Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm
18 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On the deadly sands of Mars, a grieving pioneer turns survival into a ruthless game of patience, grit, and vengeance. As the desert closes in, every m...
An Eye for the Ladies by Milton Lesser
17 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A down-on-his-luck private detective takes the strangest case of his life when an alien asks him to track down his missing wife. What follows is a whi...
The Wounded by Philip José Farmer
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A violin-carrying stranger moves quietly through glittering parties, leaving invisible wounds that only a rare few can truly see. But when someone fin...
The Vegans Were Curious by Winston Marks
10 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A curious Sirian pauses on his journey to investigate strange, nuclear-playing creatures on a small blue planet. What begins as a casual study becomes...
Martian Homecoming by Frank Belknap Long
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A restless ex-boxer on Mars is haunted by memories of Earth and tempted by impossible dreams. When a deadly Martian creature invades the colony, he mu...
The Tunnel Under the World by Ferderik Pohl
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Guy Burckhardt wakes from a violent dream to find his town subtly—but profoundly—wrong. As June 15th repeats itself, he begins to realize that rea...
The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A routine emergency mission becomes an unforgiving test of physics, law, and human conscience. When one hidden mistake is discovered, a pilot must fac...
The Shambler From the Stars by Robert Bloch
21 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A struggling writer’s obsession with forbidden knowledge leads him to a discovery no human mind was meant to grasp. One reckless act opens a doorway...
The Grip of Death by Robert Bloch
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A young man plots a quiet inheritance in a decaying waterfront mansion haunted by whispers, rituals, and an uncle who knows far too much. When murder ...
Day of Reckoning by Morton Klass
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Roggs have finally surrendered, and an old freedom fighter sits across the table from the alien who once held his life in a whip’s shadow. On hu...
The Homesteader by James Blish
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A hard-nosed troubleshooter arrives on the Moon to investigate vanished rocketships, only to stumble onto a secret no human was ever meant to find. Am...
The Last Evolution by John W. Campbell
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a future where humanity has grown soft, only their self-evolving machine descendants stand between Earth and an unstoppable alien force. As the las...
The Curious Experience of Thomas Dunbar by Francis Stevens
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A man awakens in the home of a mysterious scientist after a violent accident, only to discover extraordinary strength coursing through his body. But t...
First Landing by Roger D. Aycock
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Caught in the fog-choked wilds of Venus, Castle stumbles into a mystery far stranger than the hostile “natives” stalking him through the gloom. Hi...
Bonus Episode - A Musical Thank You
30 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is not a regular episode of The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.It’s a fun bonus episode, a sci-fi themed musical thank-you we made just for YOU.Your regul...
Conquest Over Time by Michael Shaara
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A desperate Contact Man races to secure a planetary trade contract, only to discover a world ruled entirely by astrology and fear. When a disastrous l...
The Holes by Michael Shaara
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A routine survey of an unremarkable planet spirals into dread as two explorers discover a network of perfectly round holes that seem to defy nature, p...
The Last Weapon by Robert Sheckley
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A desperate treasure hunt on the frozen surface of Mars turns explosive when three men uncover the legendary weapons of a vanished civilization. But t...
The Nine Billion Names Of God by Arthur C. Clarke
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A team of engineers travels to a remote Tibetan monastery to install a computer meant to complete a centuries-long sacred task. But as the machine nea...
Know Thy Neighbor by Elisabeth R. Lewis
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a rundown San Francisco apartment building, Ellen begins to suspect something monstrous is hiding behind her neighbors’ polite smiles. When the c...
The Meteor Girl by Jack Williamson
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A screaming meteor tears out of the sky and leaves more than a crater in its wake—inside it lies a mystery that bends the laws of physics. When Char...
The Other One by A. H. Gibson
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A routine bank delivery turns into a night of sinister secrets when a young clerk visits a wealthy recluse in the lonely hills of West Virginia. What ...
Shadow World by Ray Cummings
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two men cross into a mysterious fourth-dimensional world in search of a rare element that could save their own civilization — or destroy another. Bu...
What’s He Doing in There? By Fritz Leiber
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An unsuspecting family hosts Earth’s first Martian visitor… only to discover he’s been locked in their upstairs bathroom for hours. Curiosity tu...
The Man Without A Body by Edward Page Mitchell
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A brilliant but reckless scientist unlocks the power to transmit matter through electricity—only to find himself reborn as a talking head in a museu...
The Horror in the Hold by Frank Belknap Long
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A mutinous Spaniard slithers into the shadow-soaked hold of an English ship with powder, vengeance, and heresy on his tongue. But in the stinking dark...
The Monsters Came by Night by Robert Silverberg
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
They came to torment. They Came in Revenge. The Monsters Came by Night by Robert Silverberg. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.It’s Halloween...
Transformation by Mary Shelley
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A proud young exile meets a storm-working dwarf on a desolate Genoese shore — and in a single Faust-like bargain barters more than he understands. A...
The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune by Robert E. Howard
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A weary King Kull gazes into the forbidden mirrors of Tuzun Thune, seeking wisdom beyond mortal grasp. But in those shifting reflections lies a peril ...
The Scientific Pioneer by Nelson S. Bond
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Horse-Sense Hank could answer all the problems of science. He could even apply logic to love. But turnips…! The Scientific Pioneer by Nelson S. Bond...
The Transition Of Juan Romero by H. P. Lovecraft
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Beneath the desolate desert lies a chasm that breathes ancient dread. When two men hear the earth itself stir, their world teeters on the brink of a h...
The Genius of Lancelot Biggs by Nelson S. Bond
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lancelot Biggs was an unpredictable quantity, but nobody aboard the Saturn thought he'd ever turn traitor! The Genius of Lancelot Biggs by Nelson S. B...
The Abominations of Yondo by Clark Ashton Smith
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Banished from civilization, a weary wanderer stumbles into the cursed desert of Yondo—a realm where nature itself seems possessed by madness. Beneat...
The Velvet Glove by Harry Harrison
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New York was a bad town for robots this year. In fact, all over the country it was bad for robots…. The Velvet Glove by Harry Harrison. That’s nex...
No Evidence by Victoria Lincoln
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A man begins to sense that part of himself has slipped away—only to reappear in Ireland, where he was born. What unfolds is a haunting tale of divid...
Shandy by Ron Goulart
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shandy was a teddy bear, a lion, an ape, a rival for Nancy Tanner’s affections.... But what else was he? Shandy by Ron Goulart. That’s next on The...
The Dream Snake by Robert E. Howard
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On a still night under a rising golden moon, a man begins to reveal the strange vision that has haunted him since childhood. What follows is a chillin...
The Man Who Was Pale by Jack Sharkey
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
She was just a sweet, kind-hearted old landlady who couldn't keep her nose out of other people’s business. This was very unfortunate for Mr. Thobal....
Don’t Look Now by Henry Kuttner
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
That man beside you may be a Martian. They own our world, but only a few wise and far-seeing men like Lyman know it! Don’t Look Now by Henry Kuttner...
The Secret Flight of Friendship Eleven by Alfred Connable
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Behind closed doors and under the cover of night, a spacecraft rises. Conceived in confidence and launched in silence, this is the unforgettable tale ...
Process by A. E. van Vogt and Dear Nan Glanders by Beta McGavin
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An ancient intelligence stirs, locked in a struggle for survival against forces both familiar and alien. But when outsiders arrive with their own secr...
Poor Little Warrior! by Brian W. Aldiss
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A man flees his tedious modern life by traveling back to the age of dinosaurs, convinced he’ll find freedom in prehistoric adventure. But his dream ...
Thirty Degrees Cattywonkus by James Bell
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It doesn't take a heap of leaving to make any house a nightmare. One vanishing door will do nastily. Thirty Degrees Cattywonkus by James Bell. That’...
Cosmic Tragedy by Thomas S. Gardiner
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Humanity’s reach for the stars promised glory, but destiny had other plans. In the vast silence of space, triumph and tragedy walk side by side. Cos...
Gambler's Asteroid by Manly Wade Wellman
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Patch Merrick and Zaarrgon Try to Win a Stake in Order to Escape the Vengeance of a Dazzling but Dangerous Beauty! Gambler's Asteroid By Manly Wade We...
The Incredible Aliens by William Bender Jr.
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Narant's personal problem seemed of more importance than his mission as an interstellar investigator. But they combined when he met—The Incredible A...
The Day the Monsters Broke Loose by Robert Silverberg
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People were trampled underfoot, people were crunched by ten-foot teeth in huge, fanged jaws - people died by the hundreds that day were eaten like tid...
Guaranteed—Forever! By Frank M. Robinson
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Manning had spent his life exposing mail order frauds. But Forsythe's outfit topped them all. Its products were too good to exist—yet! Guaranteed—...
Later Than You Think by Fritz Leiber
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's much later. The question is ... how late? Later Than You Think by Fritz Leiber. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.We have some amazing new...
The Broken Axiom by Alfred Bester
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Laws of Physics State That Two Bodies Cannot Occupy the Same Space at the Same Time-but Dr. Halday Finds a Loophole! The Broken Axiom by Alfred Be...
The Old Timer by Richard R. Smith
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shakish was the last of his kind. If the insulting Earthmen had only bothered to find out why he was a rare being they would have lived a whole lot lo...