Short Stories - 1930s

Before the Asteroids
Harl Vincent
Science Wonder Stories (March 1930)
Purporting to be a translation of records found on Mars, a tale of a war between Arin (Mars) and another planet, called Voris. The balance of power changes when an Arinian scientist develops an energy beam that can be used as a weapon. Cover art!
A. Hyatt Verrill
Amazing Stories (July 1930)
A Martian comes to Earth


A Rescue in Space
Lowell Howard Morrow
Wonder Stories (September 1930)


Monsters of Mars
Edmond Hamilton
Astounding Stories (April 1931)
"Three Martian-duped Earth-men swing open the gates of space that for so long had barred the greedy hordes of the Red Planet."


The Man from Mars
P. Schuyler Miller
Wonder Stories Quarterly (Summer 1931)
Morally superior Martian runs afoul of the vagaries of human behavior.


The Doom from Planet 4
Jack Williamson
Astounding Stories (July 1931)
"A ray of fire, green, mysterious, stabs through the night to Dan on his ship. It leads him to an island of unearthly peril."


Seedling of Mars
Clark Ashton Smith
Wonder Stories Quarterly (Fall 1931)


Mutiny on Mercury
Clifford D. Simak
Wonder Stories (March 1932)
Hero Tom Clark destroys Martian and Selenite mutineers.


The Voice in the Void
Clifford D. Simak
Wonder Stories Quarterly (Spring 1932)
A sacred tomb on Mars believed to contain the relics of the Messiah is discovered.
John B. Harris (John Beynon Harris)
Amazing Stories (April 1932)
“Psychologists—and others—are greatly concerned about the effects—possible and assured—of machines and the machine age, on human life and endeavor. But who has ever stopped to consider the possible reactions—or thoughts—of the advanced machine of the future?”
Touching tale: Martian robot named Zat commits suicide after being stranded on Earth.


The Martian Cabal
Roman Frederick Starzl
Astounding Stories (May 1932)
"Sime Hemingway, of the I. F. P., strikes at the insidious interests that are lashing high the war feeling between Earth and Mars."


The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis
Clark Ashton Smith
Weird Tales (May 1932)
A weird SF/F-horror first person account of Rodney Severn, the one surviving member of a tragic human expedition to the ruined Martian city of Yoh-Vombis.


Vulcan's Workshop
Harl Vincent
Astounding Stories (June 1932)
"Mighty Luke Fenton swaggers defiantly in Vulcan's Workshop, most frightful of Martian prisons."


Thia of the Drylands
Harl Vincent
Amazing Stories (July 1932)
A former space pilot with a mysterious Martian disease travels to the Red Planet for a cure, only to become enmeshed in a complex series of intrigues involving Terrestrial secret service men, gangster-like Martians who want to kill him, and the beautiful Princess Thia.


Exiles of Mars
Frank K. Kelly
Wonder Stories Quarterly (Summer 1932)
“Lone protectors of a planet, they faced the thirst-maddened desert hordes...”


In Martian Depths
Henrik Dahl Juve
Wonder Stories (September 1932)
The human desire to explore and conquer leads pioneers to Mars, where they find an unfriendly and hostile planet.


The First Martian
Eando Binder
Amazing Stories (October 1932)
“Our continued experiments in radio and television may play a much more important part in the eventual realization of successful interplanetary travel than we can possible conceive of right now. But if we stop a moment to think about it, the possibilities of such closely allied work between radio, television and rocket travel tale on vast proportions—one phase of which is vividly portrayed in this short science fiction gem.”
A story of first contact and commerce with a friendly Martian civilization.
Raymond Z. Gallun
Wonder Stories Quarterly (Winter 1932)
"From afar gathered the space men, at the Martian’s call... but then came revolt..."


The Martian
A. Rowley Hilliard and Allen Glasser
Wonder Stories Quarterly (Winter 1932)
"The water was evaporated by the ever-shining sun until there was none left for the thirsty plants. Every year more workers died in misery."
A moving story of a lonely, stranded Martian on Earth who is treated as a circus freak.


The Wreck of the Asteroid
Laurence Manning
Wonder Stories (December 1932 to February 1933)
On an expedition to Mars, the spaceship Asteroid crashes and the crew has to fight for its survival in a hostile environment.


Invasion
Murray Leinster
Astounding Stories of Super-Science (March 1933)
"The whole fighting fleet of the United Nations is caught in Kreynborg's marvelous, unique trap."


The Forgotten Man of Space
P. Schuyler Miller
Wonder Stories (April 1933)
A human explorer survives on Mars for 20 years, befriending local rabbit-like inhabitants and living amongst them. When more Earthmen come to exploit the planets rich mineral deposits, he kills himself and them rather than endanger his Martian friends.


Shambleau
C. L. Moore
Weird Tales (November 1933)
A retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Medusa, set on Mars and starring interplanetary hero Northwest Smith.
Lord Dunsany
Avon Fantasy Reader #7 (1948; first published 1934)
A Jorkens tale in which a man goes back to Mars, never to return.
Sequel to "Our Distant Cousins" (1929).


Terror Out of Space
H. Haverstock Hill
Amazing Stories (February, March, April, and May 1934)
A slow-moving story that tells of the coming of the Martians to Earth on a friendly mission. They take two Earth couples back to Mars and we learn of a “terror” that menaces both planets from an unknown world called Ados.


Martian Madness
P. E. Cleator
Wonder Stories (March 1934)
A story of a disastrous trip to Mars and an encounter with its hostile life-forms, from which only one member of the expedition returns. Charge of plagiarism!
W. P. Cockroft
Scoops (April 28, 1934)
"Armageddon! The world goes mad, wars, revolts, lawlessness bring the Earth to the brink of destruction. Finally, the sinister spectre of the plague walks abroad and the end is nigh. A gallant band sets out to colonise the Red Planet."
W. P. Cockroft
Scoops (June 16, 1934)
"A sequel to one of the most popular stories we have ever published — "Cataclysm." From a dead world, the last survivors of mankind have come to Mars, and this is the epic story of the colonisation of the Red Planet, of war with the Martians, and of the great peace that came to the world."


Scarlet Dream
C. L. Moore
Weird Tales (May 1934)
A weird tale set on Mars featuring a scarlet scarf and space opera hero Northwest Smith.


A Martian Odyssey
Stanley G. Weinbaum
Wonder Stories (July 1934)
Humorous story of a human expedition to Mars, the first to present an alien (Tweel) as fully equal in intelligence to humans, but who does not think like a human.


Famine on Mars
Frank K. Kelly
Astounding Stories (September 1934)
Portrays a dying Martian civilization in its struggle to survive. A tale about altruism versus greed.


Dragon’s Teeth
Wallace West
Astounding Stories (September 1934)
A humorous story in which the gods of ancient Greece were really members of an expedition from Mars.


Valley of Dreams
Stanley G. Weinbaum
Wonder Stories (November 1934)
Further adventures on Mars with Tweel, the unforgettable bird-like alien, and the deadly, insidious dream-beasts that trap and kill by illusion. Sequel to the classic A Martian Odyssey.


Old Faithful
Raymond Z. Gallun
Astounding Stories (December 1934)
A Martian scientist in a dying civilization seeks communication with Earth and sets out to cross the space.


The Titan
P. Schuyler Miller
Marvel Tales (Winter 1934), Marvel Tales of Science and Fantasy (March-April 1935), Marvel Tales (Summer 1935)
Considers an advanced but decadent civilization on Mars, told from the viewpoint of the Martians. Includes passages about sexual relations between female aristocracy and male worker-slaves. The fourth part of the serial wasn’t published until 1954!


Martian Gesture
Alexander M. Phillips
Wonder Stories (October 1935)
Account of philanthropic Martians to save surviving Earthlings from the consequences of the catastrophic war that has destroyed their civilization.


The Tree of Life
C. L. Moore
Weird Tales (October 1936)
"A gripping tale of the planet Mars and the terrible monstrosity that called its victims to it from afar—a tale of Northwest Smith."
Leslie F. Stone
Amazing Stories (October 1936)
Martians land on a golf course at Haines Point, Washington, D.C., and capture a small group of humans, transporting them back to Mars, where they are kept as pets.


Space Station No. 1
Manly Wade Wellman
Argosy (October 10, 1936)
Reprinted in the anthology My Best Science Fiction Story (1954)
Author's reflection: "The brief adventure at the utilitarian artificial planetoid is simple and small, compared to what adventure could be in the thirtieth century, but it deals rather decisively with the fates of several persons; and not the least of them is a Martian of the Martians I have written about so often that I have almost convinced myself and a number of readers that they are what Martian..."


Via Etherline
Otto Binder
Thrilling Wonder Stories (October 1937)
Radio bulletins from the first manned expedition to the Red Planet tell the terrors of huge Martian insects.


A Summons from Mars
John Russell Fearn
Amazing Stories (June 1938)
"In a weird message from Mars, Eric Sanders is told that he has been betrothed to Yana. Torn between his duty to science and tradition, and his love for Sonia Benson, Sanders makes a momentous decision."


Rule 18
Clifford D. Simak
Astounding Science Fiction (July 1938)
A story about a Martian-Earth football game.


Escape Through Space
Ross Rocklynne
Amazing Stories (June 1938)
"The Martian dynasty overthrown, the ex-princess is exiled to Earth under escort of Larry Sharon. Pursued by treacherous revolutionists, the unhappy pair face the deadly "Boiling Zone" of the sun."


The Thing from Mars

Ray Cummings
Thrilling Wonder Stories (August 1938)
"Laboratory science produces an incredible form of matter!"


Ghost of Mars
Festus Pragnell
Amazing Stories (December 1938)
"Trapped by mutinous miners, Don Hargreaves and Elsa Thorwaldson found themselves facing a grim Martian ghost deep within the tunnels of Mars."
Jack Williamson
Argosy Weekly (February 25, 1939)
“Here is the record of Lucky Leigh’s incredible flight; how he piloted his ancient ship through the thunder between two worlds—to become the first Robinson Crusoe of Space.”
Hubert Mavity (Otto Binder)
Dynamic Science Stories (February 1939)
“Mutual misunderstanding between Mars and Earth because of two factors in the abstract beyond their comprehension!”


The Raid from Mars
Miles J. Breuer
Amazing Stories (March 1939)


Martian Avenger
Polton Cross
Amazing Stories (April 1939)
"A baby born of two worlds was this Martian, but even after thousands of years he remembered that revenge was his mission on Earth."


Madness from Mars
Clifford D. Simak
Thrilling Wonder Stories (April 1939)
A small, lonely Martian brought back to Earth unwittingly causes madness in humans and animals.
Fredric Arnold Kummer Jr.
Dynamic Science Stories (April-May 1939)
"Instead of a space-trip from Venus to Earth, Jim Weston found himself a shanghaied member of a slave-crew, Mars-bound on Saturnian Slane's rocket ship. And when they crashed on the red desert of Mars, this Earthman showed a Saturnian bully that on any planet its, guts, not size, that makes the man!"


The Foreign Legion of Mars
Frederic Arnold Kummer Jr.
Amazing Stories (May 1939)
"Hard-bitten legionnaires, a mercenary Earthman, and a fervent missionary didn't mix with the Martians."


Where is Roger Davis?
David V. Reed
Amazing Stories (May 1939)
"Weird, invisible Martians come to New York. Discovering their secret, Roger Davis is faced with an awful responsibility to Earth."


Hermit of Mars
Clifford D. Simak
Astounding Science Fiction (June 1939)
Cover story!
Amelia R. Long
Astounding Science-Fiction (July 1939)
"The Martian had a fine idea for capturing trade: be a god. The native Venusians, though, had an infallible test…"