Shot in the Dark
Edited by Judith Merrill
Bantam
Published January, 1950
1st Printing
As the pulp magazines were dying out, the paperback book publishers found a ready market for, among other genres, science fiction (Editor Judith Merrill thought this anthology a collection made for those who hadn't yet "discovered science-fantasy", a term Bantam seems to have embraced.). Although novels were the the major stock and trade of the paperback houses, numerous collections of short stories were produced in the 1950s in an attempt to introduce a new generation to science fiction.
What makes this collection so special is the wide range of authors that it covers, many of whom prominent in the world of "straight" fiction. Alongside such standbys as Frederic Brown, Robert Heinlein, Murray Leinster, and H.G. Wells are works by Gerald Kersh, Edison Marshall, James Thurber, and Philip Wylie.
H. E. Bishoff's cover painting was based on a scene from "The Halfling" by Leigh Brackett, a story contained in the anthology.