After King Kong Fell!

King Kong from 1933 is a pivotal movie in pop culture in so many ways. It created for the world a new mythic monster, a creature who was not human but was still able to evoke a sense of tragedy when it fell from the top of the Empire State Building, the symbol of modern mankind's power over nature. It showcased movie-making techniques which quickened the imaginations of creators like Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen and countless others who either saw it when it was first released or during one of its many re-releases. It's been filmed again and again and very recently too, but despite all the improvements in tricking the eyes of moviegoers it has never been equaled in its ability to prick the heart. It's a great movie made by people who knew how to make a movie. But did the events captured so eloquently on screen in King Kong actually happen?

Philip Jose Farmer says yes to that question in his short story "After King Kong Fell". It's a tender tale of a grandfather named Tim Howler tells his impressionable granddaughter the true story of King Kong after the pair watch it on television together. It turns out he was thirteen and the events dramatized on film actually happened the year before the film was made and released and he was in NYC with is parents visiting his Uncle and his favorite Aunt. He was in the theater when Kong broke free and began is rampage through NYC and ultimately climbed to the top of the Empire State Building. His fall brought special tragedy to young Howler, and an unsettling understanding of human nature. 

I'd heard of the story long before I got to read it despite the fact it's been collected many many times over the years since its first publication in Roger Elwood's Omega anthology in 1973. I likely read it the first time in Tales of the Wold Newton Universe from Titan books. The story falls into the Wold Newton fold because after King's tragic descent two mysterious characters are seen by our narrator. One is a mysterious man with flashing eyes and profound nose with a companion named Margot. The other is a bronze giant of a man who dashes to the site of Kong's crushed body riding atop the running boards of a car filled with his five associates. These details give the story a bit of spice but don't in any way detract from its considerable emotional power. 

I read the story most recently in The Big Book of Adventure Stories edited by Otto Penzler. This is a fantastic anthology brimming with stunning classic tales including the full novel Tarzan the Terrible. Here's a handy link to see all the many other collections this story has appeared in. 

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