Francis Flagg is not a name that falls from the lips when people talk about the early Science Fiction writers like E. E. Smith or Edmond Hamilton. And yet he was a contemporary of these men and has much to offer the fan of early SF. Inspired by H. G. Wells, his work is fascinated with the idea of other planes of existence, other versions of our reality, and all the things we do not know about in the universe. Flagg was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1898. By age 20, he had moved to the United States. Later in life he would live in Arizona, and set many of his stories there.
Flagg’s start was prominent, getting the cover with his first story. “The Machine-Man of Ardathia” (Amazing Stories, November 1927) doesn’t have much of a plot but is a glimpse into future human evolution. A sober, elderly man named Matthews, is startled to find a strange child-sized alien inside a glass case in his apartment. The Machine-Man tells how he is from 30,000 years in the future and how humans evolved over the centuries, sealing themselves in their “envelopes”. The future visitor goes forward five years into the future then returns. He explains that the building they are in will be torn down and Matthews will be in a room filled with other men. When someone comes to the door, Matthews tries to show off the alien but it is gone. He ends up in an insane asylum, the room the alien predicted. His apartment building is being torn down for a roadway. This story would be the beginning of Flagg’s only series, with a sequel in 1932 and was supposed to be a vast future history.
If you’d like to read the rest, please check out Monster 2: From the Pages of Dark Worlds Quarterly.