I Classici Americani Fantascienza Horror #7

In "I ricercatori," Captain Scott leads a desperate mission to evaluate a new colony world, driven by the escalating crisis of Earth’s overpopulation—caused by genetically extended lifespans. When their ship is mysteriously brought down to an alien planet, the crew soon finds themselves isolated, hunted, and trapped in a nightmare where the line between observer and specimen begins to blur.

In the year 2963, Jerome Kraft arrives on a distant planet with a mission to catalog life forms and four years of supplies. As he uses his advanced knowledge to heal the sick and feed the hungry, the local people come to revere him as a divine savior. When the high priest denounces his teachings as heresy and demands he serve only the wealthy, Jerome stands firm in his beliefs. Centuries later, a new expedition discovers a civilization transformed by his legacy—its people bearing a sacred symbol tied to the man who once walked among them.

In the year 2152, a group of aliens abduct a man, steal his brain, and study his thoughts to plan Earth’s conquest—only to be misled by his delusions. Believing he is Napoleon Bonaparte, the man’s fragmented mind paints a picture of a primitive, warlike Earth from the early 1800s, which the aliens take as fact. Convinced of Earth’s vulnerability, they launch an attack, but are swiftly destroyed by Earth’s defense forces. The truth emerges too late: the man they studied was a mental patient, and their entire strategy was built on a hallucination.

In "L'ultimo uomo!", Larry, a daring balloonist, aims to break the altitude record—only to witness an atomic explosion that wipes out all life on Earth. After drifting through the skies and descending onto a silent, ruined world, he stumbles upon a single survivor: his sister.

In "Le fanciulle piansero!", Valent and his crew, weary from two years of interstellar scavenging, finally return to Earth—only to land on a planet where radiant women greet them, accompanied by grotesque male counterparts. Drawn in by their beauty, many crew members quickly marry, unaware that these women are, in truth, the planet’s insect life, their allure a dangerous lure in a world where appearances are the deadliest deception.

In "L'androide!", a lonely man named Ronald Martin finds himself captivated by his new secretary, Ellen—so much so that he begins to imagine a life beyond his marriage. When a friend proposes building an android of Ron to take his place at home, allowing him to run away and be with Ellen, the idea seems perfect—until the experiment takes a turn neither man could have foreseen.