| Title | I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream |
| Author | Harlan EllisonGenre |
| Year of Publication | 1967 |
| Genres | Science fiction |
| Language | English |
| File Format | |
| Number of Pages | 213 |
| Rating | Click to rate this post! [Total: 1 Average: 5] |
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is a post-apocalyptic science fiction tale by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction.
It won a Hugo Award in 1968. The name was also used for a collection of short stories from Ellison’s work, featuring this story. The Library of America reprinted it, compiled in volume two (Terror and the Uncanny, from the 1940s to Now) of American Fantastic Tales (2009).
Table of Contents
Summary
Ellison showed the first six pages of “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” to Frederik Pohl, who paid him in advance to finish it. Ellison finished writing the story in one night in 1966, making no changes from the first draft. Later, Pohl edited this draft, modifying part of the character of Ted and Benny. Ellison derived the title of the story, as well as the inspiration for this story, from the legend of his friend William Rotsler from a cartoon of a mouthless rag doll.
Review
In a post-apocalyptic world, four men and one woman are all that remains of the human race, nearly extinct by artificial intelligence. Programmed to wage war on behalf of its creators, the AI became self-aware and turned against humanity. The five survivors are prisoners, kept alive and subjected to brutal torture by the hateful and sadistic machine in an endless cycle of violence.
This story and six other groundbreaking and inventive tales that explore the depths of mortal experience demonstrate why science fiction Grandmaster Harlan Ellison has earned them many accolades under his belt and remains one of the most original voices in American literature.
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream also includes “Big Sam Was My Friend”, “Eyes of Dust”, “World of the Myth”, “Lonelyache”, the Hugo Award finalist “Delusion for a Dragon Slayer” and Hugo and Nebula. Finalist for the “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” award.
About the Author
Harlan Ellison (1934–2018), in a career spanning more than fifty years, wrote or edited one hundred fourteen books; more than seventeen hundred stories, essays, articles, and newspaper columns; two dozen teleplays; and a dozen motion pictures. He won the Hugo Award eight and a half times (shared once); the Nebula Award three times; the Bram Stoker Award, presented by the Horror Writers Association, five times (including the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996); the Edgar Allan Poe Award of the Mystery Writers of America twice; the Georges Melies Fantasy Film Award twice; and two Audie Awards (for the best in audio recordings); and he was awarded the Silver Pen for Journalism by PEN, the international writers’ union. He was presented with the first Living Legend Award by the International Horror Critics at the 1995 World Horror Convention. Ellison is the only author in Hollywood ever to win the Writers Guild of America award for Outstanding Teleplay (solo work) four times, most recently for “Paladin of the Lost Hour,” his Twilight Zone episode that was Danny Kaye’s final role, in 1987. In 2006, Ellison was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the documentary chronicling his life and works, was released on DVD in May 2009. He passed away in 2018 at the age of eighty-four.
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream PDF
