Oh, Rats! by Miriam Allen DeFord Episode #266

Oh, Rats! by Miriam Allen DeFord Episode #266

OH, RATS!

Episode #266 · Written by Miriam Allen DeFord · Narrated by Scott Miller

A super-intelligent laboratory rat named SK540 discovers he wants far more than freedom—he wants power. When he and his followers escape into an old mansion occupied by a young couple, the uneasy balance between species collapses into something far more dangerous.

Oh, Rats! by Miriam Allen De Ford is a gripping, atmospheric, and darkly clever piece of vintage science fiction that pushes a simple “what if” to its most unsettling extreme. When SK540—a laboratory rat engineered for extraordinary intelligence—begins to understand his captivity, his fears, and especially his hunger for power, his instincts evolve into strategy. He chooses not just to escape, but to lead. And once free, he brings with him only the meekest followers, the most obedient subordinates, and the most useful mates. His goal isn’t chaos. It’s control.

Philip and Norah Vinson, newly settled into a decaying old mansion, have no idea their home lies between SK540 and his vision of a new order. De Ford skillfully escalates tension through subtle signs: vanishing food, strange noises, and then the impossible—white laboratory rats acting with discipline and purpose. The suspense grows as the couple realizes they’re not facing vermin. They’re facing a coordinated mind whose intelligence rivals their own, and whose motives are hidden beneath twitching whiskers and silent communication.

The story sits at the crossroads of science, ethics, and fear. What happens when a creature gains human-level intelligence but retains animal instinct? What is morality to a mind shaped entirely by survival, opportunity, and hierarchy? De Ford never resorts to spectacle; instead, she demonstrates how power shifts quietly, and how human certainty can crumble under the weight of something small, numerous, and relentlessly strategic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Miriam Allen De Ford (1888–1975) was a remarkable and versatile American writer whose career spanned more than half a century. A lifelong journalist, political activist, and prolific short-story author, she navigated effortlessly between genres—publishing science fiction, fantasy, detective stories, social commentary, and true crime with equal skill. Her stories appeared in many of the leading magazines of the era, including Fantasy & Science Fiction, If, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and numerous anthologies edited by legends such as Groff Conklin and Anthony Boucher.

A keen observer of human behavior, De Ford often explored themes of responsibility, unintended consequences, and the collision between humanity’s ambitions and its blind spots. Her science-fiction tales frequently feature ordinary people confronting extraordinary forces—scientific breakthroughs gone wrong, psychological unraveling, or strange intelligences that challenge our assumptions about dominance and empathy. Her clarity of style and her precision of thought made her a standout voice among mid-century speculative writers.

Though she never sought fame, De Ford contributed a substantial and influential body of work to American science fiction. Today, readers rediscover her for the very qualities that made her distinctive in her own time: curiosity, intelligence, and a fearless willingness to imagine what happens when human beings lose control of the world they thought they mastered.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to Oh, Rats! by Miriam Allen De Ford — a vintage science fiction tale of a super-intelligent rat whose rise to power threatens humanity. A gripping classic sci-fi twist.