Astounding Stories #186

In "The Voice of Doom!" from Astounding Stories #186 (1987), a lone ham radio operator tunes in to strange transmissions he thinks are signals from an alien war—only to discover the eerie voices are not from space, but the collective thoughts of ants. Written with a sharp eye for the uncanny, the story blurs the line between cosmic mystery and the hidden intelligence of the tiny world around us.

In "Black Hood Versus the Karate Master!" from Astounding Stories #186, the Black Hood finds himself ambushed at a charity benefit by a ruthless martial arts expert who drags him into a brutal showdown inside a ring surrounded by a criminal crowd. The fight tests not just strength, but nerve, as the Black Hood faces a foe whose discipline matches his own.

In a tense, isolated outpost on Mars, a lone human unit grapples with paranoia as a hidden Martian infiltrator blends seamlessly into their ranks—only one of the two humans is truly human, and the truth hinges on a single, devastating lie. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, "Only One Is Human!" unfolds with quiet dread, turning a moment of emotional vulnerability into a chilling test of identity.

In "If This Be Earth," a returning astronaut crew lands on a planet that looks exactly like Earth—too exactly, given how much closer it is than their calculations allowed. The more they explore, the more unsettling the familiarity becomes, as the pristine landscape and quiet cities hint at a deliberate, perhaps performative, recreation of home.

In "Worthless World," Earthmen arrive on Venus expecting riches, only to find a planet stripped of resources—no minerals, no energy, no signs of life. As they depart, the Venusians reveal themselves and their hidden cities, having concealed their world to protect it from exploitation.