Title: Count Szolnok’s Robots

Author: D. Scott-Moncrieff

Date of First Publication: 1948

Place of Publication: Not For the Squeamish (collection)

Type: Short Story

Characters: No Characters

Themes: ANDROID; POSTHUMAN; MAD SCIENTIST/MONSTER; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER

Critical Summary: In “Count Szolnok’s Robots” we are introduced to Imre Nagy, a writer and reporter who moves to the remote city of Manaoes in order to avoid death, war, and nukes. There he hears the tale of a young and brilliant engineer who becomes a count and the beautiful woman he marries. On their wedding day, the bride is disfigured by another woman, and she is so ashamed of her looks that the young count moves her north of the Amazon. Imre also hears about the mysterious appearance and disappearance of a number of ships. His curiosity sufficiently piqued, he sets out in search of the count. Upon arriving, he discovers a massive property populated by dark-colored robots without faces. He is afraid but intrigued. Imre makes his way into the property and finds no sign of the count or his wife, but he does find the count’s journals, which contain detailed entries about the robots and his reasons for building them. The count’s wife, it seems, had become so disturbed by her appearance that she wanted no one to see her except for her husband. Hoping to bring joy back to her life, the count hired men from around the world to build him a massive home and a staff of faceless robots to cater to their every need. After the project was complete, he kept around a maintenance man named Pretzlik, who eventually disappeared. The last journal entry, dated five years before the time of Imre’s reading, states that the count and countess had both fallen ill but were still being cared for by the robots. The count, however, feared that the robots may bury them alive, and he worried about Pretzlik’s continued absence. Increasingly wary, Imre takes a walk around the property and discovers a church-like structure; inside, the robots are singing before caskets containing the bodies of the count and countess, which show signs of having been buried alive. Imre is disturbed by the scene, but even more so by the countess’ disfigurement. That night, he decides that Pretzlik’s room would be the safest place to sleep, but he wakes to the robots pulling him from the bed and taking him to Pretzlik’s coffin, where he is buried alive, screaming and clawing. The story presents Imre as an innocent bystander who becomes an accidental casualty of Count Szolnok’s creation, much like the victims of Victor Frankenstein’s Creature. The count is neither condemned nor celebrated; he comes across as a brilliant man driven to help his wife, but his inventions end up destroying their creator and the one he loves.

Administrative Notes:  Giselle Castro, CSUF; Alex Goodman, CSUF (edit)