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"August Heat" is a 1910 short story by W. F. Harvey, about two men, unknown to each other, whose glimpses of the other's possible future suggest that one of them will be murdered and the other will be the murderer. On a scorching August day, artist James Clarence Withencroft draws a sketch: "a criminal in the dock immediately after the judge had pronounced sentence", wearing an expression "not so much one of horror as of utter, absolute collapse". That evening, the heat persisting, Withencroft walks for several hours until he wanders into the workshop of a stonemason, Charles Atkinson. Atkinson exactly resembles the drawing which Withencroft is still carrying in his pocket. To both men’s shock, the model headstone Atkinson has just finished carving bears Withencroft's full name, his date of birth, and that very day as date of death. The two men agree that – for fear of runaway carts, banana peels, fallen ladders – Withencroft should stay at Atkinson's place until midnight has passed and the date changed. The story ends with Withencroft writing the day's events as Atkinson sharpens some tools: "It is after eleven now. I shall be gone in less than an hour. But the heat is stifling. It is enough to send a man mad." The story has been adapted for radio three times: twice for the radio series ''Suspense'' in an adaptation by Mel Dinelli and produced/directed by William Spier (on May 31, 1945, starring Ronald Colman as Withencroft and Dennis Hoey as Atkinson, and on March 20, 1948, with Barry Kroeger as Withencroft and Dennis Hoey again as Atkinson) and once for ''Sleep No More'' on November 28, 1956 (with Nelson Olmsted reading an abridged version of the story). DC Comics published "August Heat" as a comic book story in ''Secrets of Sinister House'' #12 (cover-dated July 1973), with E. Nelson Bridwell adapting the story and Alfredo Alcala illustrating; this was reprinted in the 2010 trade paperback collection ''Showcase Presents: Secrets of Sinister House''. == External links == * (Text of "August Heat" ) * (Audio files of "August Heat" on ''Suspense'' (both versions) and ''Sleep No More'' ) * (Audio files of version with Ronald Colman ) * (Information about ''Secrets of Sinister House'' #12 comic book ) *http://www.101bananas.com/library2/augustheat.html Text of "August heat" 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「August Heat (short story)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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