A Handful of Darkness - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A Handful of Darkness is a collection of science fiction

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...

and fantasy stories by Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick

Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...

. It was first published by Rich Cowan in 1955 and was Dick's first hardcover book.

The stories originally appeared in the magazines Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...

, Astounding Stories, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...

, Fantastic Universe
Fantastic Universe
Fantastic Universe was a U.S. science fiction magazine which began publishing in the 1950s. It ran for 69 issues, from June 1953 to March 1960, under two different publishers. It was part of the explosion of science fiction magazine publishing in the 1950s in the United States, and was moderately...

, If
If (magazine)
If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...

, 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...

, Imagination
Imagination (magazine)
Imagination was an American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in October 1950 by Raymond Palmer's Clark Publishing Company. The magazine was sold almost immediately to Greenleaf Publishing Company, owned by William Hamling, who published and edited it from the third issue,...

, Fantastic Story Magazine
Fantastic Story Magazine
Fantastic Story Magazine was a 1950-55 science fiction pulp magazine which merged pulp reprints with new stories.It was published on a quarterly schedule by Best Books, a subsidiary imprint of Standard Magazines. Initially priced at 25 cents, the 160-page debut issue was titled Fantastic Story...

, Science Fiction Stories, Beyond Fantasy Fiction
Beyond Fantasy Fiction
Beyond Fantasy Fiction was a US fantasy fiction magazine edited by H. L. Gold, with only ten issues published from 1953 to 1955. The last two issues carried the cover title of Beyond Fiction, but the publication's name for copyright purposes remained as before.Although not a commercial success, it...

and Fantasy Fiction
Fantasy Fiction (magazine)
Fantasy Fiction was a fantasy and science fiction magazine published in the United States in 1953. It was published by Future Publications out of New York. Between February 1953 and November 1953 they released a total of four issues in the digest format.-Famous contributors:Fantasy Fiction...

.

"Colony
Colony (short story)
"Colony" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. It was first published in Galaxy magazine, June 1953. The plot centers on an expedition to an uncharted planet, on which the dominant, predatory life form is capable of precise mimicry of human technology.-About the story:Accompanying the...

"
"Impostor
Impostor (short story)
"Impostor" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. It was first published in Astounding magazine in June, 1953. Impostor, a feature film based on the story, was released in 2002 starring Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe and Vincent D'Onofrio...

"
"Expendable
Expendable (short story)
"Expendable" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. It was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1953...

"
"Planet for Transients
Planet for Transients
"Planet for Transients" is a 1953 science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. The story is set in a future where humans of the original variety wear lead-lined spacesuits and take other precautions against the lethal levels of surface radiation on Earth. Other varieties of human have evolved to...

"
"Prominent Author"
"The Builder"
"The Little Movement"
"The Preserving Machine"
"The Impossible Planet"
"The Indefatigable Frog"
"The Turning Wheel
The Turning Wheel
The Turning Wheel is an 8,400 word science fiction novelette by Philip K. Dick. The Scott Meredith Literary Agency received the submission on July 8, 1952 and it was published in Science Fiction Stories No. 2, 1954....

"
"Progeny"
"Upon the Dull Earth
Upon the Dull Earth
"Upon the Dull Earth" is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in November 1954 in Beyond Fantasy Fiction.-Plot summary:...

"
"The Cookie Lady
The Cookie Lady
The Cookie Lady is a short story by Philip K. Dick.Bernard "Bubber" Surle is a young boy who enjoys visiting Mrs. Drew, a lonely old widow who bakes him cookies. He visits her after school every day, and reads to her after eating cookies. Mrs. Drew, who has almost no company, enjoys having him. One...

"
"Exhibit Piece
Exhibit Piece
Exhibit Piece is a 1954 science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. The story is an early exploration of the concept of shifting realities, so common in the writer's fiction later on. The protagonist is a future historian of the 20th century and finds himself shifting in time from the future to...

"

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