SFTB 6.3: “The Bubbles” (“Les Bulles”) by Julia Verlanger (Eliane Grimaître)

Out of the entire oeuvre of this respected—even beloved—author, only her first story, “Les Bulles”/“The Bubbles,” has been translated into English, and this story provides the subject for the current installment of Stories from the Borderland. Granted, it’s a goddamn corker,

SFTB 6.2.: "The Botticelli Horror" by Lloyd Biggle, Jr.

“Little deal coming up for you: you’re going to write a novelet [sic] called I think THE BOTTICELLI HORROR for…Fantastic…they’ve got the cover already…shows a gal busting out of a shell or something…a touch of horror and fantasy is effective; science fiction is not ruled out.” Thus, Biggle wrote this novelette to match a preexisting title and cover art—which probably helps to explain why it stands out in his oeuvre for its atypically deep horror elements.

SFTB 6.1: “Greenface” by James H. Schmitz

Many readers fondly remember Schmitz for his monsters, of which “Greenface” was only the first of many, though to be sure most of the others occupy realms of outer space, and as bizarre as Greenface appears in the story, Schmitz never suggests that this creature is of extraterrestrial origin.