THE BLACK ASSASSINS (1934)

SOURCES: "The Sunless World" (Amazing Stories, December 1934)

DESCRIPTION: “...Professor Jameson examined the nearest of the dead creatures, turning the hard, glistening body over and over. It was one of the simpliest built, though strangest, forms of life he had ever seen. A cylindrically shaped body, approximately fusiform, tapering slightly at each end, seemed possessed of no head whatever. In fact, the professor was at a loss as to how to distinguish the position the creature assumed in locomotion, for there appeared to be no up or down. Each end of the body terminated in a pair of double-jointed appendages which were suggestive of upright stature. Queer, bulging knobs at the base of all four appendages appeared to be optics. There were eight of these eyes, four on each side of the body. Both appendages and body were sheathed in black, bony armor which the professor might have mistaken in believing extended clear through, had he not crushed a few of the weird creatures in his metal embrace. That they existed without the use of heat and respiration was quite apparent, living as they were, unprotected in the chill, airless void surrounding the planet. ..” (“The Sunless World” by Neil R. Jones)

NOTES: The Black Assassins or Surface Dwellers on the Sunless World are cylindrical in shape with a set of appendages on either end. They can move quite easily on on either set, switching back and forth without difficulty. These appendages have disc-shaped suckers that also serve as mouths for the creatures. They embrace their victim then apply acid directly onto them then absorb. The black assassins live on the surface of teh planet and in a gigantic cavern filled with piles of bones. The black assassins (also known as the ancient menace) eat the humanoid inhabitants called Omeans. The Omeans send their weak, dying and criminal individuals into the cavern to be sacrificed. This payment keeps the black assassins out of their cities. At first the Zoromes think the black assassins have the ability to turn invisible. This turns out to not be true. They are very quick and have holes they jump into to escape their lights. The black assassin race is doomed after the Sunless World takes the place of the third planet in a new solar system. The cataclysm that shakes the hollow planet closes most of the openings the creatures use for accessing the inner world. That, and the organization of the Omean cities, brings their cruel reign to an end.

HISTORY: An intriguing alien monster that Jones took some time to figure out. If he had been more of a hack he could have simply had them be BEMs or space lizard men.