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Seventh Victim

Robert Sheckley

First published April 1953
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story
Series Victim

Synopsis

It is common and legal to murder someone if you want. The only catch is that if you want to kill someone, you must later be a voluntary victim, and it is up to you survive the murder attempt and be able to eliminate the would-be murderer. A man who has already done six murders (and survived six attempts against his own life) gets a name of his seventh victim, and it is a woman!

Awards

YearAwardCategoryStatus
2004 Retro Hugo Award Best Short Story Nominee/Finalist

Publications (33)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
April 1953 Galaxy Science Fiction, April 1953 Galaxy Publishing Corporation MAGAZINE 38
March 1954 Untouched by Human Hands Ballantine Books Collection 138
March 1954 Untouched by Human Hands Ballantine Books Collection 138
1955 Untouched by Human Hands Michael Joseph Collection 217
January 1955 Argosy, January 1955 The Amalgamated Press MAGAZINE 69
November 1960 Untouched by Human Hands Ballantine Books Collection 138
December 1965 Man Against Tomorrow Avon Anthology 113
December 1965 Man Against Tomorrow Avon Anthology 113
April 1967 Untouched by Human Hands Four Square Books Collection 113
December 1967 Untouched by Human Hands Ballantine Bal-Hi Collection 138
1972 Above the Human Landscape: A Social Science Fiction Anthology Goodyear Publishing Anthology 300
1972 Above the Human Landscape: A Social Science Fiction Anthology Goodyear Publishing Anthology 300
1974 Introductory Psychology Through Science Fiction Rand McNally & Company Anthology 262
April 1974 Introductory Psychology Through Science Fiction Rand McNally & Company Anthology 262
1977 Introductory Psychology Through Science Fiction Rand McNally College Publishing Co. Anthology 382
March 1979 Untouched by Human Hands Ace Books Collection 174
November 1979 The Wonderful World of Robert Sheckley Bantam Books Collection 1
1980 The Wonderful World of Robert Sheckley Sphere Collection 1
April 1980 The Best of All Possible Worlds Ace Books Anthology 232
June 1984 Philosophy and Science Fiction Prometheus Books Anthology 278
August 1984 Is That What People Do? Holt, Rinehart and Winston Collection 191
September 1991 The Collected Short Fiction of Robert Sheckley Pulphouse Publishing Omnibus 1-109
September 1991 The Collected Short Fiction of Robert Sheckley: Book One Pulphouse Publishing Collection 109
July 1992 The Collected Short Fiction of Robert Sheckley: Book One Pulphouse Publishing Collection 109
August 2005 The Masque of Mañana NESFA Press Collection 61
December 2005 The Masque of Mañana NESFA Press / SFBC Collection 61
August 2008 The Masque of Mañana NESFA Press Collection 61
June 2011 "The Perfect Woman" and Other Stories Armchair Fiction Collection 5
May 2012 Store of the Worlds: The Stories of Robert Sheckley New York Review of Books Collection 14
March 2015 Untouched by Human Hands Ballantine Books Collection |138
June 2021 Untouched by Human Hands Penguin Books Collection |100
June 2021 Untouched by Human Hands Penguin Books Collection |100
February 2022 Masters of Science Fiction: Robert Sheckley Centipede Press Collection 153