The Runaway Skyscraper
Encyclopedia
"The Runaway Skyscraper" is a science fiction
short story
by Murray Leinster
that first appeared in the February 22, 1919 issue of Argosy
magazine. Although Leinster had been appearing regularly in The Smart Set
and pulp magazines such as Argosy and Short Stories
for three years, "The Runaway Skyscraper" was his first published science fiction story (or more accurately, scientific romance
, since Hugo Gernsback
had yet to coin the phrase "science fiction"). Gernsback would reprint the story in third issue of his science fiction pulp magazine Amazing Stories
in June 1926.
office building called the Metropolitan Tower. When the sun suddenly begins moving backwards in the sky, setting rapidly in the east, he is the only one to realize what is actually happening: a flaw in the rock beneath the building has caused it to subside, but instead of moving in space, the building is falling backwards into the past. When the subsidence finally ends, the building is located several thousand years in the past, and its 2000-odd inhabitants find themselves stranded in pre-Columbian Manhattan.
Chamberlain also realizes that the same seismic forces that caused the building to drop back into the past can also be used to return it to the present, but that doing so will require several weeks of intensive work by the building's inhabitants, and in the meantime they must concentrate on feeding themselves. Chamberlain convinces the president of a bank on the first floor that he can return them to the present, and together they are able to organize the other inhabitants into hunting and fishing parties.
Two weeks later, Chamberlain is ready to implement his plan. He forces a jet of soapy water into an artesian well beneath the building, and this allows the pressure that has built up in the rock to be released. The building travels forward in time again, returning to the exact moment when it began to travel into the past.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster
Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history...
that first appeared in the February 22, 1919 issue of Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
magazine. Although Leinster had been appearing regularly in The Smart Set
The Smart Set
The Smart Set was a literary magazine founded in America in March 1900 by Colonel William d'Alton Mann.-History:Mann had previously published Town Topics, a gossip rag which he used for political and social gain among New York City's infamous elite known as "The Four Hundred." With The Smart Set,...
and pulp magazines such as Argosy and Short Stories
Short Stories (magazine)
-Origin of Short Stories:Short Stories began its existence as a literary periodical, carrying work by Rudyard Kipling,Emile Zola, Bret Harte, Ivan Turgenev and Anna Katharine Green. The magazine advertised...
for three years, "The Runaway Skyscraper" was his first published science fiction story (or more accurately, scientific romance
Scientific romance
Scientific romance is a bygone name for what is now commonly known as science fiction. The term is most associated with early British science fiction. The earliest noteworthy use of the term scientific romance is believed to have been by Charles Howard Hinton in his 1886 collection...
, since Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback
Hugo Gernsback , born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourgian American inventor, writer, editor, and magazine publisher, best remembered for publications that included the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with H. G...
had yet to coin the phrase "science fiction"). Gernsback would reprint the story in third issue of his science fiction pulp magazine Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
in June 1926.
Plot summary
"The Runaway Skyscraper" concerns Arthur Chamberlain, an engineer who works in a midtown ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
office building called the Metropolitan Tower. When the sun suddenly begins moving backwards in the sky, setting rapidly in the east, he is the only one to realize what is actually happening: a flaw in the rock beneath the building has caused it to subside, but instead of moving in space, the building is falling backwards into the past. When the subsidence finally ends, the building is located several thousand years in the past, and its 2000-odd inhabitants find themselves stranded in pre-Columbian Manhattan.
Chamberlain also realizes that the same seismic forces that caused the building to drop back into the past can also be used to return it to the present, but that doing so will require several weeks of intensive work by the building's inhabitants, and in the meantime they must concentrate on feeding themselves. Chamberlain convinces the president of a bank on the first floor that he can return them to the present, and together they are able to organize the other inhabitants into hunting and fishing parties.
Two weeks later, Chamberlain is ready to implement his plan. He forces a jet of soapy water into an artesian well beneath the building, and this allows the pressure that has built up in the rock to be released. The building travels forward in time again, returning to the exact moment when it began to travel into the past.
Publication history
- Argosy, February 22, 1919
- Amazing, June 1926
- Amazing, February 1956
- Amazing, February 1966
- The Best of Amazing, edited by Joseph Ross, Doubleday, 1967
- The Best of Amazing, edited by Joseph Ross, Belmont Books, 1969
- Fantastic, January 1980
- New Horizons: Yesterdays Portraits of TomorrowNew Horizons (book)New Horizons is an anthology of science fiction stories edited by the famed August Derleth . It was released posthumously by the specialty house publisher Arkham House in an hardcover edition of 2,917 copies. While the title page gives the date of publication as 1998, the book was not actually...
, edited by August DerlethAugust DerlethAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
and Joseph Wrzos, Arkham House, 1998 - Wondrous Beginnings, edited by Steven H SilverSteven H SilverSteven H Silver is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer ten times and Best Fanzine three times without winning....
& Martin H. GreenbergMartin H. GreenbergMartin Harry Greenberg was an American speculative fiction anthologist and writer.-Biography:Dr. Martin H. Greenberg was born March 1, 1941, to Max and Mae Greenberg in South Miami Beach, Florida...
, DAW, 2003 - The Runaway Skyscraper and Other Tales from the Pulps, Wildside Press, 2007