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Sneak Preview
First Published: 1971 Publisher: Paperback Library Format: Paperback |
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Summary: In the future, violence is outlawed, and no form of entertainment can depict killings, torture, or antisocial aggression occurring on Earth. Graham, a script writer is bored. Bored of writing Space Operas, preaching the same message: that space travel is dangerous, the hero is handsome, and Bug-Eyed Monsters are violent. As a result, in his spare time he makes a “Realie,” where people, rather than BEMs, are engaged in violence. His boss considers the work subversive. Before long, Graham finds himself in the presence of the Psycho Chief, where there are only two outcomes—brainwashing or death.
Bloch: “Sneak Preview was originally written in 1959, at a time when alarm over the possibility of population explosion was not yet widespread. I wanted to voice my own concern about what I felt was a soon to be a major problem. When I came to expand the story, a dozen years later, the dangers of overpopulation had become common knowledge; consequently, instead of amplifying that element of the story, I decided to add a series of flashbacks which emphasized some of the factors which led to the formation of the society of the future as I envisioned it.”—The Robert Bloch Companion
Bloch: “Sneak Preview was originally written in 1959, at a time when alarm over the possibility of population explosion was not yet widespread. I wanted to voice my own concern about what I felt was a soon to be a major problem. When I came to expand the story, a dozen years later, the dangers of overpopulation had become common knowledge; consequently, instead of amplifying that element of the story, I decided to add a series of flashbacks which emphasized some of the factors which led to the formation of the society of the future as I envisioned it.”—The Robert Bloch Companion
Bibliography
US: Amazing Science Fiction Stories magazine (shorter version); Nov-59
US: Paperback Library; pb 1971
Canada: Paperback Library; pb 1971
Germany: Heyne ("Das Regime der Psychos"); pb 1974
Japan: Hayakawa; pb 1981
US: Wonder Audiobooks; eBook 2009
Germany: Heyne ("Fiese Aussichten") Heyne Science Fiction Jahresband; pb 1987 - anthology also includes entries by Robert Silverberg, Larry Niven, Frank Herbert, and others
US: Paperback Library; pb 1971
Canada: Paperback Library; pb 1971
Germany: Heyne ("Das Regime der Psychos"); pb 1974
Japan: Hayakawa; pb 1981
US: Wonder Audiobooks; eBook 2009
Germany: Heyne ("Fiese Aussichten") Heyne Science Fiction Jahresband; pb 1987 - anthology also includes entries by Robert Silverberg, Larry Niven, Frank Herbert, and others