Back Before The Moon by S. Omar Barker episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 12, 2026 · 29 MIN

Back Before The Moon by S. Omar Barker

from The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast - Vintage Sci-Fi Short Stories · host Scott Miller

This episode of the podcast is dedicated to my Mom who passed two days ago at the age of 86. Thank you Mom, for everything A desperate father races through flooded mountain wilderness toward a village chapel, convinced only a sacred symbol can save his fever-stricken daughter before nightfall. But every mile costs him time, and the strange stranger he keeps rescuing may be the very reason he returns home too late. Back Before The Moon by S. Omar Barker. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast. Today’s author lived an amazing life. Squire Omar Barker was born on a small mountain ranch in Beulah, New Mexico in 1894. He was the youngest in a family of eleven children. Barker worked as a Spanish teacher, high school principal, forest ranger, sergeant of the 502nd Engineers in France in World War I, trombone player in Doc Patterson's Cowboy Band, and newspaper correspondent. From 1924 to 1926 he was a member of the New Mexico house of representatives. Although the story you are about to hear is his only science fiction short story he estimated he wrote more than 1,500 short stories and novellas and more than 2,000 poems. His work appeared in pulp magazines and prestigious publications too, including the Saturday Evening Post. Perhaps his best known work was "A Cowboy's Christmas Prayer," which has been printed more than one hundred times, and recorded by Tennessee Ernie Ford and Jimmy Dean. It’s not sci-fi but we will record it too in a few months and put it on our Facebook page. He won the Western Writers of America Spur Award twice, in 1978 he was the first living author to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Great Westerners in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. He often signed his books with his initials and trademark brand, "Lazy SOB.” S. Omar Barker lived to be 91. Today’s story was published in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror in March 1932 on page 102, Back Before the Moon by S. Omar Barker… Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Sidney Davidson can hear his friends in England, feel the furniture beneath his hands, and yet his eyes insist he is somewhere impossibly far away. As the vision refuses to fade, one question becomes harder to dismiss: what if the impossible scene before him is not a dream at all? The Remarkable Case of Davidson’s Eyes by H. G. Wells. Lost Sci-Fi Premium - https://lostscifi.supercast.com/ Buy Me a Coffee - https://lostscifi.com/coffee Newsletter - https://lostscifi.com/free/ Facebook - https://lostscifi.com/facebook YouTube - https://lostscifi.com/youtube X - http://Lostscifi.com/x Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lostscifiguy Merchandise - https://lostscifi.creator-spring.com/ Thanks to Our Listeners Who Bought Us a Coffee $200 Someone $100 Tony from the Future $75 James Van Maanenberg $50 James Van Maanenberg, MizzBassie, Anonymous Listener $25 Fintan Quigley, Curious Jon, David Bell, Steve, Miriam, Someone, Someone, Eaten by a Grue, Jeff Lussenden, Fred Sieber, Anne, Craig Hamilton, Dave Wiseman, Bromite Thrip, Marwin de Haan, Future Space Engineer, Fressie, Kevin Eckert, Stephen Kagan, James Van Maanenberg, Irma Stolfo, Josh Jennings, Leber8tr, Conrad Chaffee, Anonymous Listener $15 Every Month Someone $15 Steve, Someone, SueTheLibrarian, Joannie West, Amy Özkan, Someone, Carolyn Guthleben, Patrick McLendon, Curious Jon, Buz C., Fressie, Anonymous Listener $10 David, Anonymous Listener $5 Every Month Eaten by a Grue $5 Tammy, Owen, Bruce, Someone, TLD, David, Denis Kalinin, Timothy Buckley, Andre'a, Martin Brown, Ron McFarlan, Tif Love, Chrystene, Richard Hoffman, Anonymous Listener Listen without commercials and enjoy exclusive bonus episodes every month with Lost Sci-Fi Premium—start your free 7-day trial today. https://lostscifi.supercast.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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A desperate father races through flooded mountain wilderness toward a village chapel, convinced only a sacred symbol can save his fever-stricken daughter before nightfall. But every mile costs him time, and the strange stranger he keeps rescuing may be the very reason he returns home too late. Back Before The Moon by S. Omar Barker. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

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This episode was published on August 12, 2026.

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