“The Knock” is another “short-short story” by writer Fredric Brown (1906-1972) and is almost certainly the shortest one of them all. Possibly the shortest science fiction story ever written!

Brown expanded his original two-sentence work to a more conventional short story format which significantly altered the narrative and tone of the original. This was published in the December 1948 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. You can listen to the extended version of the story by clicking here: "Knock" by Fredric Brown.

We’re building a digital archive of short fiction forms from the classic, golden age, and pulp fiction era of science fiction and fantasy: a central repository of out-of-print stories of three thousand words or less.

You can read Brown's original story on our website, along with the rest of the flash fiction and short stories featured in our videos. For more information, go to www.cyborgink.com.

Fredric Brown (1906-1972) was an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery fiction writer, who was well known for his use of humour and his mastery of the so-called “short-short” form of story-telling. His short-short story, “Answer”, was first published in 1954 in the collection Angels and Spaceships.

We’re building a digital archive of short fiction forms from the classic, golden age, and pulp fiction era of science fiction and fantasy: a central repository of out-of-print stories of three thousand words or less.

You can read Brown's original story on our website, along with the rest of the flash fiction and short stories featured in our videos. For more information, go to www.cyborgink.com.

Fredric Brown (1906-1972) was an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery fiction writer, who was well known for his use of humour and his mastery of the so-called “short-short” form of story-telling. “Sentry” is one of his shortest and best-known examples of the form, and was first published in the February 1954 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

We’re building a digital archive of short fiction forms from the classic, golden age, and pulp fiction era of science fiction and fantasy: a central repository of out-of-print stories of three thousand words or less. 

You can read Brown's original story on our website, along with the rest of the flash fiction and short stories featured in our videos. For more information, go to www.cyborgink.com.