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The Creature from Cleveland Depths
Leiber sets the tale in a future when "missiles are on the prowl," and most people live underground. George Gusterson is a writer with crazy ideas -- one being, he still lives on the surface. For another, he imagines a gizmo that would remind him of things like when to turn on the TV. George's mere whim inspires an actual gadget called the Tickler, just a "wire recorder and clock" at first, but then . . . it whispers constantly through an earphone. It instills positive thinking. It injects drugs. It makes decisions. It weights 28 pounds. And it won't get off. Only Gusterson understands what "the little fellow perched on your shoulder" is really saying, one Obey! And only Gusterson knows what to say back, if it's not too late.
76 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
26 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Fritz Leiber
1,191 books1,018 followersFritz Reuter Leiber Jr. was one of the more interesting of the young writers who came into HP Lovecraft's orbit, and some of his best early short fiction is horror rather than sf or fantasy. He found his mature voice early in the first of the sword-and-sorcery adventures featuring the large sensitive barbarian Fafhrd and the small street-smart-ish Gray Mouser; he returned to this series at various points in his career, using it sometimes for farce and sometimes for gloomy mood pieces--The Swords of Lankhmar is perhaps the best single volume of their adventures. Leiber's science fiction includes the planet-smashing The Wanderer in which a large cast mostly survive flood, fire, and the sexual attentions of feline aliens, and the satirical A Spectre is Haunting Texas in which a gangling, exo-skeleton-clad actor from the Moon leads a revolution and finds his true love. Leiber's late short fiction, and the fine horror novel Our Lady of Darkness, combine autobiographical issues like his struggle with depression and alcoholism with meditations on the emotional content of the fantastic genres. Leiber's capacity for endless self-reinvention and productive self-examination kept him, until his death, one of the most modern of his sf generation.
Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー
Used These Alternate Names: Maurice Breçon, Fric Lajber, Fritz Leiber, Jr., Fritz R. Leiber, Fritz Leiber Jun., Фриц Лейбер, F. Lieber, フリッツ・ライバー
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
January 24, 2021
Not one of Leiber's best
This review is of the following free Kindle edition:
ASIN: B004TSB5VC
Publication date: March 24, 2011
Language: English
File size: 182 KB
Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported
Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Not Enabled
Print length: 50 pages
ISBN: 1444459589
Lending: Enabled
A better title than story. Even sci-fi masters must have off days. Horrid little machines, vaguely similar to smart phones and similar devices, take over. Then get out thought by one man and consequently... No. No spoilers.
This review is of the following free Kindle edition:
ASIN: B004TSB5VC
Publication date: March 24, 2011
Language: English
File size: 182 KB
Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported
Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Not Enabled
Print length: 50 pages
ISBN: 1444459589
Lending: Enabled
A better title than story. Even sci-fi masters must have off days. Horrid little machines, vaguely similar to smart phones and similar devices, take over. Then get out thought by one man and consequently... No. No spoilers.
February 3, 2020
This was a twisted little story that involved wetware.
March 3, 2021
Fritz Leiber's "The Creature from Cleveland Depths" --One of my favorite genre is dystopian based stories and ESPECIALLY if they are older books! There are a few favorite modern ones I loved but I prefer to read about what people in the past wrote or thought about these societies. In High School, Orwell's "1984" started it off, but when I started reading again later in life besides reading "1984", I discovered Huxley's "Brave New World" & Yevgeny Zamyatin's "We". I mention the last two books because each had something that reminded me of those books as I read this wonderfully poignant short story.
"Brave New World" had soma, a drug to pacify the population as this story it was The Ticker which had a drug like inducement but not sure if all models had a drug induction, nonetheless the mass were automatons. In "We" the glass buildings were the norm, whereas in this story only for the people who lived above ground, which numbers were miniscule compared to those underground. Why they lived underground, well this was written in 1962, The Cold War and the fear of the Russians which is the reason here. As a kid my father took my brother and myself to the museum in Chicago, that had an underground coal mine of sorts. So like Gus and his family, I would rather take my chance were I could see the heavens, then the claustrophobic below.
This story has to do with two friends, one who lives with his family above and his friend that works for an electronic company below. He comes above to visit his friend for ideas and one idea goes haywire bringing forth a society that has no more thoughts but what they are told. The product that was suppose to help brought a society to its knees, without any escape it seems. Many things mentioned here are products of the future.
As always future societies as well as today's world thinks of new things to invent but do they really think of the effect it will bring. I sure hope that whatever one invents they think twice before bringing to the masses because it might effect their lives too.
"Brave New World" had soma, a drug to pacify the population as this story it was The Ticker which had a drug like inducement but not sure if all models had a drug induction, nonetheless the mass were automatons. In "We" the glass buildings were the norm, whereas in this story only for the people who lived above ground, which numbers were miniscule compared to those underground. Why they lived underground, well this was written in 1962, The Cold War and the fear of the Russians which is the reason here. As a kid my father took my brother and myself to the museum in Chicago, that had an underground coal mine of sorts. So like Gus and his family, I would rather take my chance were I could see the heavens, then the claustrophobic below.
This story has to do with two friends, one who lives with his family above and his friend that works for an electronic company below. He comes above to visit his friend for ideas and one idea goes haywire bringing forth a society that has no more thoughts but what they are told. The product that was suppose to help brought a society to its knees, without any escape it seems. Many things mentioned here are products of the future.
As always future societies as well as today's world thinks of new things to invent but do they really think of the effect it will bring. I sure hope that whatever one invents they think twice before bringing to the masses because it might effect their lives too.
March 29, 2025
”I don’t believe that…A thing just can’t develop that fast, Fay. It’s against nature.”
“Ha, but we’re not in nature, we’re in culture.”
”Day by day, in every way, you’re learning to listen…and obey.”
”Maybe it’s man’s destiny to build live machines and then bow out of the cosmic picture.”
This classic, short, Leiber novella was first published in 1962. 1962. That’s significant, because this tale seems more relevant to our present moment than to its own time. It gives Leiber entrance to the Sci-fi Prophet’s Club alongside such luminaries as Ray Bradbury and Jules Verne.
The plot of the story revolves around a culture that becomes addicted to and dependent on an amazing and convenient technology. It is about the rapid (and nearly accidental) development of AI, and what happens when that AI technology makes the leap to the Singularity. In 1962 much of this would have seemed far fetched science fiction. Now, its broad points could be ripped from the headlines, or the subject of earnest (and ironic) online discussions.
Leiber sets his story in an ongoing Cold War America taken to extremes. The smart set, the affluent professionals, have built entire underground cities to protect themselves from random missiles. While there are still surface dwellers, they are decidedly déclassée. Much of the story’s tension is based in the exchange of two friends — Gusterson, a smart, independent and cantankerous writer of insanity novels who chooses to live on the surface, and his outgoing friend Fay, a research and development executive who works underground and who milks his friend’s brain for ideas. The technology at the root of the plot was originally an off-handed idea of Gusterson’s which Fay then developed into a major technology (an AI personal assistant that doubles as a self-help guru) and that eventually becomes an out of control existential threat. The relationship between the two has been cast as wise old sorcerer and foolish sorcerer’s apprentice.
As I have seen in other of Leiber’s sci-fi tales, he keeps the telling of it light, with low keyed humor throughout and nearly hackneyed characters. It gives the impression that you are reading a light entertainment, while Leiber wraps this framework around serious, philosophical questions. It’s as if he is saying, “pay no head to the man behind the curtain! This is just silly, old time sci-fi.” He gives a heaping spoonful of sugar to make the philosophical medicine go down.
“Ha, but we’re not in nature, we’re in culture.”
”Day by day, in every way, you’re learning to listen…and obey.”
”Maybe it’s man’s destiny to build live machines and then bow out of the cosmic picture.”
This classic, short, Leiber novella was first published in 1962. 1962. That’s significant, because this tale seems more relevant to our present moment than to its own time. It gives Leiber entrance to the Sci-fi Prophet’s Club alongside such luminaries as Ray Bradbury and Jules Verne.
The plot of the story revolves around a culture that becomes addicted to and dependent on an amazing and convenient technology. It is about the rapid (and nearly accidental) development of AI, and what happens when that AI technology makes the leap to the Singularity. In 1962 much of this would have seemed far fetched science fiction. Now, its broad points could be ripped from the headlines, or the subject of earnest (and ironic) online discussions.
Leiber sets his story in an ongoing Cold War America taken to extremes. The smart set, the affluent professionals, have built entire underground cities to protect themselves from random missiles. While there are still surface dwellers, they are decidedly déclassée. Much of the story’s tension is based in the exchange of two friends — Gusterson, a smart, independent and cantankerous writer of insanity novels who chooses to live on the surface, and his outgoing friend Fay, a research and development executive who works underground and who milks his friend’s brain for ideas. The technology at the root of the plot was originally an off-handed idea of Gusterson’s which Fay then developed into a major technology (an AI personal assistant that doubles as a self-help guru) and that eventually becomes an out of control existential threat. The relationship between the two has been cast as wise old sorcerer and foolish sorcerer’s apprentice.
As I have seen in other of Leiber’s sci-fi tales, he keeps the telling of it light, with low keyed humor throughout and nearly hackneyed characters. It gives the impression that you are reading a light entertainment, while Leiber wraps this framework around serious, philosophical questions. It’s as if he is saying, “pay no head to the man behind the curtain! This is just silly, old time sci-fi.” He gives a heaping spoonful of sugar to make the philosophical medicine go down.
June 12, 2024
This is a novelette that first appeared in the December 1962 issue of Galaxy magazine, about a year after Frederik Pohl had taken over as editor from H.L. Gold. It's an interesting dystopian cold-war tale, in which most of the populace has moved below ground because of the danger of atomic bombs. Leiber made a few somewhat risqué speculations about social mores, but the most prescient prediction herein is that someday there will be cell phones called Ticklers that will turn people into zombies, and they'll take over the world if we're not careful. (The Ticklers, not the people.) Proving that sf is sometimes good at predicting the future...
April 10, 2011
Review from Badelynge
I used to read a lot of Fritz Leiber's work when I was younger. This one's a sharp little novella with the somewhat prescient speculative warning of the dangers of allowing machines to think for us and organize our lives. What is so clever about that, you might say, as you fiddle with your gadget of the week, or take that fifth call of the hour on your mobile/blackberry/pager. Very clever indeed if you consider this was first published in a pre-internet 1962. Leiber doesn't just throw up an idea and leave it hanging though. He makes the reader ask questions and wonder if some ideas change the world too much. Reading the story today is a much different experience than reading it decades ago because human invention has so radically changed the way we exist from day to day already. Back then the story was a mildly disturbing speculative piece, with ideas and gimmickry evolving like a virus or a new form of life. Today, in some respects, we are on the brink of doing just what the story warns against.
I used to read a lot of Fritz Leiber's work when I was younger. This one's a sharp little novella with the somewhat prescient speculative warning of the dangers of allowing machines to think for us and organize our lives. What is so clever about that, you might say, as you fiddle with your gadget of the week, or take that fifth call of the hour on your mobile/blackberry/pager. Very clever indeed if you consider this was first published in a pre-internet 1962. Leiber doesn't just throw up an idea and leave it hanging though. He makes the reader ask questions and wonder if some ideas change the world too much. Reading the story today is a much different experience than reading it decades ago because human invention has so radically changed the way we exist from day to day already. Back then the story was a mildly disturbing speculative piece, with ideas and gimmickry evolving like a virus or a new form of life. Today, in some respects, we are on the brink of doing just what the story warns against.
July 1, 2016
A quaint and hilarious warning about the dangers of smartphone usage. Nothing new here.
November 21, 2024
Light dystopia .
June 13, 2018
Thought this was going to be about some slimy monstrosity crawling its way out of the depths of a murky lake, going by the title. Was surprised to find that it was sci-fi! (I knew nothing of this story before I read it; it was recommended to me as something I might like).
Bit of a rambling beginning, but I'm glad I stuck with it. A dystopian story of people walking around with glazed eyes, wholly dependent on a device to tell them how to live their daily lives and losing the ability to think for themselves... hmmm! With eventual horrifying consequences... As probably one of the last remaining members of humanity that doesn't own a smartphone, does not engage with social media and lives a life of relative isolation compared to the rest of Western society (not to mention being a writer myself! And I quite like the idea of 'Insanity Fiction'!), this was a tale with which I could ironically relate.
But the thing I liked most about this story was the surprisingly positive ending. In this modern world where cynical, relentlessly tragic stories seem to be the main fad, I found it satisfactory and refreshing, and kind of a relief.
This is the first story I have read from Fritz Leiber. I liked it.
Bit of a rambling beginning, but I'm glad I stuck with it. A dystopian story of people walking around with glazed eyes, wholly dependent on a device to tell them how to live their daily lives and losing the ability to think for themselves... hmmm! With eventual horrifying consequences... As probably one of the last remaining members of humanity that doesn't own a smartphone, does not engage with social media and lives a life of relative isolation compared to the rest of Western society (not to mention being a writer myself! And I quite like the idea of 'Insanity Fiction'!), this was a tale with which I could ironically relate.
But the thing I liked most about this story was the surprisingly positive ending. In this modern world where cynical, relentlessly tragic stories seem to be the main fad, I found it satisfactory and refreshing, and kind of a relief.
This is the first story I have read from Fritz Leiber. I liked it.
June 3, 2018
The cold war is hot, and most of United States' society has moved underground to be safe and free from snooping. A few people remain above ground where a quirky writer, Gusterson, and his wife fend off suggestions from friends to move underground. Gusterson comes up with ideas for his books and his closest friend, who is a mole, gives them to his employer who in turn uses these ideas as concepts for new products. One idea is a TICKLER, a 1962 version of a personal digital assistant (PDA) or smartphone that can provide a user with is his schedule for the day, and more. As the technology advances, the moles become addicted to their TICKLERS. This story might be a harbinger of things to come or maybe a horror that is already here. The story is very humorous and an easy listen. Phil Chenevert narrates the Librivox version.
May 23, 2018
Terrifyingly relevant
June 22, 2020
Okay
His other book I read (can’t remember title) was worlds better. This was a nice silly story that promised more than it delivered. Fay is compared to an ant at the beginning and I was hoping for something more exotic in his anatomy than a little thin chested man. Daisy’s eroticism was well matched with her down to earth pragmatism. Food on the table and shoes for the kids. But the horror of the ticklers turn her into an instant revolutionary. The ticklers drift away in their silver submarine bodies to become someone else’s problem and the story ends somewhat lamely.
His other book I read (can’t remember title) was worlds better. This was a nice silly story that promised more than it delivered. Fay is compared to an ant at the beginning and I was hoping for something more exotic in his anatomy than a little thin chested man. Daisy’s eroticism was well matched with her down to earth pragmatism. Food on the table and shoes for the kids. But the horror of the ticklers turn her into an instant revolutionary. The ticklers drift away in their silver submarine bodies to become someone else’s problem and the story ends somewhat lamely.
January 7, 2025
An amusing short science fiction tale written long before we all started carrying smartphones and worrying about AI, and raising some interesting questions.
Some humor and horror show up along the way.
Some humor and horror show up along the way.
May 18, 2018
Librivox
February 13, 2019
The creature isn't LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2020
See ya later Fritz?
February 21, 2021
A cautionary tale of personal electronics in future Cleveland.
May 1, 2021
Wow
This story serves as a sort of prophetic tale. It is an interesting look at dawning AI and man’s quick dependence on new technology.
This story serves as a sort of prophetic tale. It is an interesting look at dawning AI and man’s quick dependence on new technology.
May 26, 2021
Fantasy listiing 🎧
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
An interesting fantasy Sc-Fi adventure of how technology rules people and the world. Enjoy the adventure of reading 2021 🎉😎✨
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
An interesting fantasy Sc-Fi adventure of how technology rules people and the world. Enjoy the adventure of reading 2021 🎉😎✨
September 26, 2021
A cautionary tale about technology and being depended on it too much. You could almost replace the "Tickler" with a "smart" phone.
May 16, 2025
great story
June 26, 2022
Aside from exploring 'plastic piping' two decades before that was common, and 24/7 'cellphones' a half century before that happened-- the later half as the ticklers upgrade predicts Sladek's Mechasm 6 years before that was published.
August 12, 2024
This was a nice little read. Scary that you can see a little paranoia of today's tech in its paragraphs'...
November 26, 2019
Frightening cautionary tale. The combination of smartphones, AI and ubiquitous surveillance is already close to this scenario in real life.
June 3, 2012
This is a light-hearted story about a serious theme. It's somewhat prescient, considering that it was first published in 1962,except for the fact that Leiber did not foresee the miniaturization revolution in computing. Consequently, he envisions a scenario where something a bit like our cell-phones (but in some ways beyond them) begins to take control of homo sapiens -- except that the device weighs something like 23 pounds and must be worn on one's shoulder (under a cape, to keep it fashionable). Leiber's Quasimodo jokes add to the levity of the story.
The title is quite misleading. "The Creature" is actually a borg-like entity of networked devices called "ticklers," which initially were "worn" by humans to remind them of their goals and tasks. While the terminology comes from office lingo, these "ticklers" actually prod their masters to varying degrees, all the way from a tickle to a serious kick. As their sophistication increases, the ticklers eventually administer pharmaceuticals to their wearers in order to regulate their moods and, ultimately, take control of them altogether.
"The Depths" refers to the fact that most humans are dwelling underground. The central character, a writer of "insanity novels," has, in contrast, chosen to remain above-ground. His buddy (who works for an R&D company) lives underground and develops the "tickler," based on the main character's novelistic imaginings.
At any rate, keep an eye on cell phone technology. It's already got you under surveillance (GPS), while cookies are steering your browser and Google knows all your personal preferences. What next? Will the cell phone eventually take over? Is the cell phone where the "singularity revolution" will happen? (IF it happens -- I'm skeptical, but after reading this story I'm definitely spooked.)
Note: I read the original printing of Leiber's story in an issue of Galaxy Science Fiction (a digest-sized magazine) from 1962. Wally Wood's illustrations added to the enjoyment!
The title is quite misleading. "The Creature" is actually a borg-like entity of networked devices called "ticklers," which initially were "worn" by humans to remind them of their goals and tasks. While the terminology comes from office lingo, these "ticklers" actually prod their masters to varying degrees, all the way from a tickle to a serious kick. As their sophistication increases, the ticklers eventually administer pharmaceuticals to their wearers in order to regulate their moods and, ultimately, take control of them altogether.
"The Depths" refers to the fact that most humans are dwelling underground. The central character, a writer of "insanity novels," has, in contrast, chosen to remain above-ground. His buddy (who works for an R&D company) lives underground and develops the "tickler," based on the main character's novelistic imaginings.
At any rate, keep an eye on cell phone technology. It's already got you under surveillance (GPS), while cookies are steering your browser and Google knows all your personal preferences. What next? Will the cell phone eventually take over? Is the cell phone where the "singularity revolution" will happen? (IF it happens -- I'm skeptical, but after reading this story I'm definitely spooked.)
Note: I read the original printing of Leiber's story in an issue of Galaxy Science Fiction (a digest-sized magazine) from 1962. Wally Wood's illustrations added to the enjoyment!
December 20, 2023
An interesting dystopian short read
August 29, 2024
🖍️ This is not a horror science fiction story. Or is it? Written in 1962, The Creature from Cleveland Depths is a glimpse into the future of social media, smartphones, and brainless social interaction. I was delighted to see the underlying message – a warning of the future! – from this short tale from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
📙Published in Galaxy, December 1962.
•̩̩͙How I happened upon this book: I enjoy short stories.
🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
🚀˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚💫🪐💫˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚🚀
📙Published in Galaxy, December 1962.
•̩̩͙How I happened upon this book: I enjoy short stories.
🟢The e-book version can be found at Project Gutenberg.
🟣 Kindle.
🚀˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚💫🪐💫˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚🚀
April 25, 2013
Loved it. This is definitely one of Leiber's gems. The only flaw is his experiment in "future" jargon. It causes some of his sentences to be very... awkward given current American English slang. Also of note is that the antagonists are rather Dalek-like, despite this novel appearing a year before Doctor Who went on the air. Leiber's exploration of our increasingly problematic relationship with our gadgets and with the ways in which they open us up to manipulation by government and corporation alike is prophetic. The realization that this book was written fifty years comes as quite a shock. This book describes something very much like the Singularity promoted by Ray Kurzweil and his fellow travelers.
December 31, 2015
Interesting story by SF master, Fritz Leiber, from 1962. The Creature from Cleveland Depth is humorous in tone, but less so in content. It might be best read as a cautionary tale about the dangers of technology, logical advances in design and purpose, and unintended consequences. Not exactly unique themes for those long ago times (or for current times, for that matter).
The spring-board piece of technology is a device to help people remember important things. The device is called a tickler, after tickler files.
I couldn't help but think of smart phones the whole time I was reading it. Not half bad for a story written the early sixties...
The spring-board piece of technology is a device to help people remember important things. The device is called a tickler, after tickler files.
I couldn't help but think of smart phones the whole time I was reading it. Not half bad for a story written the early sixties...
May 12, 2016
As with Leiber's other works, this story takes place in the nearish future when something dramatic has happened to the population. In this case, a large percentage of the population now lives underground. The story chronicles the rise of "the tickler", which started as what amounts to a mechanical personal assistant. Eventually, the ticklers become sentient and try to take over the world.
I really like this story because Leiber pretty much nails the modern rise of the cell phone. Where people will blankly stare at their phones nowadays, Leiber's characters would stare blankly into thin air while their ticklers were talking to them through earpieces. Many other parallels can be drawn between smartphones and the tickler, which makes this story surprisingly poignant.
I really like this story because Leiber pretty much nails the modern rise of the cell phone. Where people will blankly stare at their phones nowadays, Leiber's characters would stare blankly into thin air while their ticklers were talking to them through earpieces. Many other parallels can be drawn between smartphones and the tickler, which makes this story surprisingly poignant.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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