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CREATURES FROM BEYOND Edited by Terry Carr No character in this book is intended to represent any actual person; all the incidents of the stories are entirely fictional in nature. Copyright @ 1975 by Terry Carr All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Conventions. Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers, and simultaneously in Don Mills, Ontario, by Thomas Nelson & Sons (Canada) Limited. Manufactured in the United States of America. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THE WORM by David H. Keller. Copyright 1927 by, E. P. Company, Inc. From Amazing Stories, by permission of Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 58o Fifth Ave., New -York, N.Y. 10036. MIMIC by Donald A. Wollheim. Copyright 1942 by Fictioneers, Inc. From Astonishing Stories, by permission of the author. IT by Theodore Sturgeon. Copyright 1940 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. From Unknown, by permission of the author. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST by Henry Kuttner. Copyright 1940 by Better Publications, Inc. From Thrilling Wonder Stories, by permission of the Harold Matson Co., Inc. SOME ARE BORN CATS by Terry and Carol Carr. Copyright 1973 by Rand McNally & Co. From Science Fiction Tales, by permission of the authors. FULL SUN by Brian W. Aldiss. Copyright © 1967 by Damon Knight. From Orbit 2, by permission of the author. THE SILENT COLONY by Robert Silverberg. Copyright 1954 by Columbia Publications, Inc. From Future Science Fiction, by permission of the author and his agents, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 58o Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10036. THE STREET THAT WASN'T THERE by Clifford D. Simak and Carl Jacobi. Copyright 1941 by H-K Publications, Inc. From Comet Stories, by permission of Robert P. Mills Ltd. DEAR DEVIL by Eric Frank Russell. Copyright 5950 by Clark Publishing C.. From Other Worlds, by permission of the author and his agents, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 58o Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10036. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE WORM David H. Keller MIMIC Donald A. Wollheim IT Theodore Sturgeon BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Henry Kuttner SOME ARE BORN CATS Terry and Carol Carr FULL SUN Brian W. Aldiss THE SILENT COLONY Robert Silverberg THE STREET THAT WASN'T THERE Clifford D. Simak and Carl Jacobi DEAR DEVIL Eric Frank Russell INTRODUCTION Human imagination has always been captured by the idea of what strange creatures may lie in waiting, somewhere beyond our ken—in the dark outside our caves, in the uncharted depths of the seas, in the infinite reaches of space. After all, the history of humanity hasn't always been one of brave, inquisitive explorers making discoveries—sometimes it was we who were discovered, by powerful predatory beasts forced to range beyond their former hunting grounds, or by strange birds like explosions of color in the air as they migrated to winter quarters. The unexpected is always dramatic, the unknown always fascinating. And so our literature from the earliest times is filled with tales of dragons, rocs, unicorns, and sea serpents. In modern times, science fiction has looked out into space for strange beings, whether deadly marauders like the Martians of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds or mysterious, almost godlike beings such as in Clarke and Kubrick's zoo. We still wonder: Are there creatures somewhere who are watching us? What might their purpose be? And what if they come to Earth? Here is a collection of stories about such Creatures from Beyond, as imagined by some of the top writers of modern fantasy and science fiction. —Terry Carr THE WORM David H Keller We pride ourselves on having explored our planet, but at best we've only scratched the surface— quite literally, for the vast interior of Earth is still almost wholly unknown to us. What creatures might dwell there, burrowing inexorably through ancient rock? And if one of those creatures should come up to the surface, what then? David H. K