Authors: David Gerrold
                                                                         Â
Come...
run
run
                                                           Â
Come...
run
run
                                               Â
Come...
run
run
run
run
run
                                         Â
It calls with ten thousand thou-
                                               Â
sand voices.
run
                                                           Â
Too many voices
run
                                                     Â
that I know too well.
run
run
                                                                           Â
C o m e. . .
run
                                                           Â
C o m e. . .
run
run
                                                     Â
It is not a call
run
                                                     Â
It is not a beckoning.
run
                                                     Â
It is not even a warning.
run
run
                                     Â
The deadlands is not calling me
                                                           Â
to come to it...
run
run
                                     Â
No.
                                            Â
It is saying it will come to me.
run
run
                                           Â
Run.
run
                                           Â
Run for your life,
run
                                     Â
for your soul.
run
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
But run.
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Something
run
run
                                     Â
lives in the deadlands.
run
run
                                     Â
Something
run
run
                                     Â
big.
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Some day
run
run
                                     Â
it's going to get tired
run
run
                                     Â
of all the
run
run
                                     Â
little sacrifices
run
run
                                     Â
that we keep
run
run
                                     Â
making
run
run
                                     Â
to it.
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Some day
run
run
                                     Â
that
something
run
run
                                     Â
is going
run
run
                                     Â
to
run
run
                                     Â
come out of the deadlands.
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Some day
run
run
                                     Â
something
run
run
                                     Â
is coming out of the deadlands.
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Something is coming out of the
run
                                     Â
deadlands.
run
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Run
run
run
run
run
run
run
                                     Â
Run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
run
AFTERWORD:
Harlan Ellison had challenged the community of science fiction authors to come up with stories that broke the boundaries, stories that other editors would publish. The result was a literary earthquake, the
Dangerous Visions
anthology. With that one book, Ellison up-ended the entire field. He inspired every writer within wordshot to reach for higher goals. It was the seed crystal, the catalyst, the moment that science fiction stopped seeing itself as pulp fiction and became a true literary genre.
A year later Harlan Ellison began reading stories for
Again, Dangerous Visions.
I submitted “In the Deadlands.”
In my eyes, it was something that could not be published anywhere else.
He rejected it and bought “With a Finger in My I” instead.
I didn't mind the rejection. I did mind that in his introduction to “With a Finger in My I,” he spent several paragraphs savagely describing the story he hadn't bought and why.
The story took on a certain notoriety as it made its way across the desks of various editors. I believed in it. They didn't. They all rejected itâa couple of them vehemently.
So I put it back in the drawer. It was an experiment. It broke the rules. It didn't fit anywhere. I didn't care. Most stories are written from the headâthis one had been written from the heart and from the gut and from a place that still hasn't been named.
Eventually, I was living in New York for a while and I put together a collection of stories for Ballantine Books, some published, most not. I don't remember the title I wanted to give it, but Betty Ballantine renamed it
With a Finger in My I.
(This book includes all the stories from that collection, plus everything else I wrote around that same time.)
I showed Betty Ballantine “In the Deadlands” and asked her if we should include it. She was adamant that it was the most important piece in the book. She also said, “I won't make any money off your collection, but I'm buying it to keep you loyal, so I'll have your next bestseller.” (I gave her two bestsellers and a Hugo and Nebula nominee.)
As we moved toward production Betty Ballantine said we had a design problem. The standard design of a paperback book was to put the author's name at the top of every even page and the title of the book at the top of every odd pageâbut this would confuse the layout for “In the Deadlands.” In my youthful naiveté, I suggested that we leave those out and only have the page numbers. It would add to the desolate feeling of the story. She agreed and that was how the story was printed.
With a Finger in My I
was published in early 1972 and the following year “In the Deadlands” was nominated for the Best Novelette Nebula award. I didn't expect it to win, and it didn't, but I do admit to a small satisfying lump of validation.
A few years after that, Harlan Ellison grudgingly admitted that he probably should have bought “In the Deadlands” for
A,DV
instead of “With a Finger in My I.” That was another
good moment. (For the record, I love Harlan like a brother. Someday soon, I will tell the tale of how he saved my life.)
For a time, I had an idea that there might be more to the deadlands storyâthat I might follow the unnamed narrator in his flight back toward life. I even started writing what I thought might be the next part. But it wasn't coming from the same place, and when I got to the point where I had to look and see what might be coming out of the deadlands, I saw how much that story wouldn't work. It didn't build on the mood of the original. It diminished it. I threw the pages away.
Horror only terrifies when it's unknown.
When you stop and look it in the face, it's no longer unknown. Then it's only a thing to understandâ¦
And something else as well.
When I left the deadlands, I left my bleak period behind.
Far behind.
âDavid Gerrold
9781939529565
The complete story of one of
Star Trek
's most popular episodes:
   Â
â¢
 Â
From first draft to final shooting script
   Â
â¢
 Â
The how and why of TV writing
   Â
â¢
 Â
Three previously unpublished episodes
   Â
â¢
 Â
Working on the
Star Trek
lot
   Â
â¢
 Â
Personal stories of the stars
   Â
â¢
 Â
32 pages of photos
   Â
â¢
 Â
Original illustrations by Tim Kirk
   Â
â¢
 Â
MORE! MORE! MORE!
9781935251514