Project Gutenberg 2009-09-12 Public domain in the USA. 102 Harris, Tom W. Becker Goodbye, Dead Man! Produced from Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy April 1958. Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Goodbye, Dead Man!" by Tom W. Harris is a science fiction short story published in the late 1950s. The narrative revolves around themes of superstition, morality, and the repercussions of one's actions in a dystopian setting, specifically a reactor facility overtaken by outsiders. The story follows the conflict between the protagonist Danny Hern and Orley Mattup, a brutish guard who takes a life, illustrating the consequences of power and the interplay of fate. The story unfolds as Danny and his friend witness Orley Mattup murder an innocent technician, Uncle Pete, during a card game. Following this heinous act, Danny seeks revenge by cursing Mattup with a hex connected to eleven cents, claiming that any attempt to spend it will lead to his demise. As the plot develops, Mattup's increasing paranoia and superstition drive him to cling to the cursed money. The climax reveals the dark twist: the money is actually radioactive, making it a literal death sentence for Mattup, who ultimately succumbs to the very fate Danny orchestrated using a clever mix of psychological manipulation and the flaws of his antagonist. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 85.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 37534 2025-08-12T10:00:09.155430 text/html 33372 2021-01-05T13:40:26 text/html 314887 2025-08-12T10:00:12.874389 application/epub+zip 313232 2025-08-12T10:00:10.771440 application/epub+zip 81778 2025-08-12T10:00:09.703407 application/epub+zip 431453 2025-08-12T10:00:14.433403 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 423750 2025-08-12T10:00:12.208436 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 128674 2022-09-14T03:47:47.251960 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 30983 2025-08-12T10:00:08.900422 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 30858 2021-01-05T13:40:26 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 18415 2025-08-12T10:00:14.577382 application/rdf+xml 12604 2025-08-12T10:00:10.197409 image/jpeg 3367 2025-08-12T10:00:09.953402 image/jpeg 244583 2021-01-05T13:40:26 application/octet-stream application/zip 11917 2021-01-05T13:40:26 application/octet-stream application/zip 311703 2025-08-12T10:00:09.170430 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog