Winston K. Marks 22 min read

A misanthrope who wants nothing to do with his fellow men lives alone in a windowless cash-vault, alone, that is, except for John.

Winston K. Marks's 1955 story sits with the sour, dust-caked recluse Erd Neff in his 12-by-12 fortress of currency and filth, hinting at the strange companion he keeps. Wry, character-driven social SF with a dark undercurrent. Read it for an unsettling golden-age tale about isolation and what a hermit chooses for company.

In its time

Published in 1955, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

22 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).