Hell-Fire

For other uses, see Hellfire (disambiguation).

"Hell-Fire"

Author	Isaac Asimov
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction short story
Published in	Fantastic Universe
Publication type	Periodical
Publisher	King-Size Publications
Media type	Print (magazine, hardback, paperback)
Publication date	May 1956

"Hell-Fire" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the May 1956 issue of Fantastic Universe and reprinted in the 1957 collection Earth Is Room Enough. It is one of a number of stories, such as "Darwinian Pool Room" and "Silly Asses", in which Asimov worries about the nuclear arms race of the 1950s.

Plot summary

"Hell-Fire" is an extremely short story, and deals with a journalist, Alvin Horner, who speaks with Joseph Vincenzo, a scientist at Los Alamos, at the first exhibition of a film with super-slow-motion footage of a nuclear explosion, with the footage "divided into billionth-second snaps." Vincenzo is sure that nuclear bombs are hell-fire, and tells the journalist they shall ultimately destroy mankind.

After the scientist's observations, the film starts. For a brief moment, before initiating the full reaction into the infamous nuclear toadstool, the atomic blast resembles a specific shape: the face of the Devil.

External links

Hell-Fire title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Earth Is Room Enough by Isaac Asimov

"The Dead Past" "The Foundation of S.F. Success" "Franchise" "Gimmicks Three" "Kid Stuff" "The Watery Place" "Living Space" "The Message" "Satisfaction Guaranteed" "Hell-Fire" "The Last Trump" "The Fun They Had" "Jokester" "The Immortal Bard" "Someday" "The Author's Ordeal" "Dreaming Is a Private Thing"

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