Dressed-Up Mundanes

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

Hackwork in which fantastic elements could be replaced with non-fantastic ones without changing the plot essentially. Horace Gold ran a lethal takeoff on this sort of thing in the first Galaxy, printing in parallel columns a tale with such equivalent substitutions as: "Jets blasting, Bat Durston came screeching down through the atmosphere of Bbllzznaj, a tiny planet 1,000 light years the other side of Sirius...." "Hoofs drumming, Bat Durston came galloping down through the narrow pass at Eagle Gulch, a tiny town 1,000 miles north of Tombstone...."

From Fancyclopedia 2 Supplement, ca. 1960

The parody of H. L. Gold's was later made the subject of a takeoff on a takeoff: Sturgeon actually wrote a story (in Fantastic Adventures) that began with Bat Durston screeching down thru the atmosphere.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

Hack stories in which non-fantastic elements could be substituted and the plot remain substantially unchanged.

See also: Call a Rabbit a Smeerp, Space Opera, You'll Never See it in Galaxy!

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