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The Alchemist, v.1, issue 3, Summer 1940

Page 27

  THE ALCHEMIST   Page 27
accurate. I state that in case someone may detect a minor error, and label me a liar or deliberate falsifier. Cautious gook, ain’t I?
    The story deals with immortality, an old theme in science and fantasy fiction, but in a highly unorthodox manner, which makes difficult
yet interesting reading. The author, Tiffany Thayer—of whom I never heard before or since, uses a more or less modern style, with the characters using minor cuss words occasionally. 
    Just all of a sudden, and for no reason at all that I could determine, nobody dies. Not
even by accident, drowning, shooting, stabbing, a blow with a blunt instrument, electrocution, or what have you. It was by electrocution that the strange immortality was first discovered. A criminal was burned to a crisp in the electric chair, but declined to kick the bucket for any amount of juice, although they tried hard.
    Following this, a wave of attempted killings swoops the world, but no soap. A man was
even put in a meat grinder and successfully made into hash, but the human hamburger still pulsated with a horrible sentience. After that, everybody gave up trying to kill one another, except in wars, which strangely enough still raged from time to time, and millions wore condemned to eternal agony, as pain continued to do a rushing business at the same old stand.
    Unlike most stories of this type, the population keeps increasing until the earth is literally covered with people. There is nothing to eat, and starvation is no exception to the immortality curse, but ravenous hunger still persists. Cannibalism of course develops, and to be eaten alive seems to be the only sure way to welcome oblivion. But not enough succumb to this either way to put more than a slight dent in the ever ’’rising" amount of people covering

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THE ALCHEMIST Page 27 accurate. I state that in case someone may detect a minor error, and label me a liar or deliberate falsifier. Cautious gook, ain’t I? The story deals with immortality, an old theme in science and fantasy fiction, but in a highly unorthodox manner, which makes difficult yet interesting reading. The author, Tiffany Thayer—of whom I never heard before or since, uses a more or less modern style, with the characters using minor cuss words occasionally. Just all of a sudden, and for no reason at all that I could determine, nobody dies. Not even by accident, drowning, shooting, stabbing, a blow with a blunt instrument, electrocution, or what have you. It was by electrocution that the strange immortality was first discovered. A criminal was burned to a crisp in the electric chair, but declined to kick the bucket for any amount of juice, although they tried hard. Following this, a wave of attempted killings swoops the world, but no soap. A man was even put in a meat grinder and successfully made into hash, but the human hamburger still pulsated with a horrible sentience. After that, everybody gave up trying to kill one another, except in wars, which strangely enough still raged from time to time, and millions wore condemned to eternal agony, as pain continued to do a rushing business at the same old stand. Unlike most stories of this type, the population keeps increasing until the earth is literally covered with people. There is nothing to eat, and starvation is no exception to the immortality curse, but ravenous hunger still persists. Cannibalism of course develops, and to be eaten alive seems to be the only sure way to welcome oblivion. But not enough succumb to this either way to put more than a slight dent in the ever ’’rising" amount of people covering