Wikihistory

by Desmond Warzel

A Hitler killing short story…

Since we’re all still abuzz about the latest Hitler-killing episode of Doctor Who, we here at Tordotcom thought we’d point our readers’ attention to one of the most entertaining Hitler-killing short stories we’ve ever seen. Enjoy!

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Alternate History

6 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

2022: In the light of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in the planned blitzkrieg style, reading stories about going back in time to kill a dictator before he becomes a dictator is strangely tempting.

Thanks to Dennis for sharing this lovely spoof of Mercedes Benz ad “Recognizing danger before it happens”. It’s perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEME9...

——————

2021: Ok, this is genuinely funny. Short and hilarious. And brilliant!

What would you do if you were able to travel back in time? I guess a popular option would be - kill Hitler, and in doing so make the world a better place. Right? Right?

“…Everyone kills Hitler on their first trip.”

Imagine the future where such time travel trips are common enough — and welcome to the Time Travelers Forum, or to be more precise, “International Association of Time Travelers: Members’ Forum; Subforum: Europe – Twentieth Century – Second World War; Page 263”.

This is found on the brilliant Randall Munroe xkcd site here: https://xkcd.com/1063/
If you spend the next 4 hours clicking through the comics, I cannot be held responsible.

It’s just like your usual comments thread — but dedicated to continuous attempts to kill Hitler by forum noobs, thwarted for the sake of maintaining the fabric of our reality by a pretty strict moderator. We are on page 263 of the forum - yes, by now moderator exasperation is really setting in. Fixing timelines is a thankless and exhausting job.

Also, dear time travelers, please make an effort to post in the correct sub-forum. It’s not that difficult!

“READ BULLETIN 1147, PEOPLE!”

—————
Read it free here: https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

Recommended by: chvang

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5 stars *


Amusing little tale of the rights and wrongs, and rules and regulations of time travel, according to the International Association of Time Travelers chat forum.
https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

How fun! This Hitler-killing time travel SF short has got to be one of the funniest I've read in a long time... however the Scalzi one in Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi comes very very close. :)

This one feels like a never-ending comments page on any kind of internet post, of course, but with a much stricter moderator. :) Totally hilarious.

Check it out here: http://www.abyssapexzine.com/wikihist...

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOL. Forum format and time travelling. Very unique! This very short story cracks me up. I don't remember the last time I laugh this hard. 🤣🤣

👉 https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bwahahahahaha! This is a really short short story but it's hilarious!

We have a Time Travel Association that even has an online forum and through the discussions of members we get to see what a mess they can make. This was BRILLIANT! :D

P.S.: You can find the story here: http://www.abyssapexzine.com/wikihist...

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha! I laughed. Could flesh out a bit to really make it hard-hitting. As it is, it makes a couple of solid points but than blows away in the wind. But a solid 2011 comedic take on the reddit forum.
https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual problems of the ordinary time traveler that is trying to kill Hitler.
Who hasn't experienced something like this before?!

Fortunately there's the International Association of Time Travelers Members’ Forum. They are here to help you. And make sure you post in the correct thread. Lol.

A quick and fun read that really made my day.

You can read it here.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

When it comes to attempting to rewrite history, one should always remember . . . .



Unless you’re a keyboard commando, that is . . . .



Read this one for free HERE. It only takes about 5 minutes.

[Jokoloyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short hilarious read, blending time travel theme with storytelling on forum discussion chat form. Maybe the story oversimplify the time travel logic, but it is surely fun. I love the moderator postings. It really gave the atmosphere that time travel is common, and people could manage to kill Hitler but still too dumb to chat on the correct sub-forums

I wonder, is forum discussion storytelling included as epistolary?

[Bernhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

“11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl’s cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!”

This short story was written as an excerpt directly taken from an online Subforum of the “International Association of Time Travelers: Members’ Forum”. It’s set in the future and related to some kind of time travel to the past. It features many of the typical kinds of members usually found in online forums and it’s funny, if also not very silly, taking into account some of the most typical ideas involving time travel, such as the famous “What if we went back in time and killed baby Hitler?”

You can read it here: https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

[Anna [Bran. San. Stan] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read because Brandon Sanderson recommended this epistolary story told through forum entries (time traveler forum) in one of his lectures explaining how to write good dialogue. Well worth reading!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is pretty clever and very funny!

Check it out here: http://www.abyssapexzine.com/wikihist...

[droogie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time-traveler ever: I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Hitler: Good Luck!

It's a quick and a light read.
Read it here: Wikihistory

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mildly amusing piss-take on Wikipedia and what you would do first, if you could time travel, in the form of forum posts.

International Association of Time Travelers: Members’ Forum
Subforum: Europe – Twentieth Century – Second World War
Page 263

11/15/2104
At 14:52:28, FreedomFighter69 wrote:
Reporting my first temporal excursion since joining IATT: have just returned from 1936 Berlin, having taken the place of one of Leni Riefenstahl’s cameramen and assassinated Adolf Hitler during the opening of the Olympic Games. Let a free world rejoice!

Can be read for free here: https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...
Or here: https://www.abyssapexzine.com/wikihis...

[Hasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ BULLETIN 1147, PEOPLE!

Bwahahahaha... This is brilliant!! Kudos SilverFox316, can't imagine how exasperated you must be by page 263. I would have just lost it by now haha. You're one patient moderator.

Read this people, it would take just 5 mins. Here is the link to this short story. It's fun, it's short. You'll love it :)

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 18:06:59, BigChill wrote:
Take it easy on the kid, SilverFox316; everybody kills Hitler on their first trip. I did. It always gets fixed within a few minutes, what’s the harm?

This is a hilarious short story in the form of a thread on a time traveler’s forum. Thanks, for the link, Nataliya :)

https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

[Asya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time travel + humour -> of course I loved it.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Short Short. Found this very funny in a folksie way! I do think AsianAdvenger was correct but turns out the ignorance of history and your ancestry has the reward of muting oneself in this case. A paradox indead. You can read it here on Tor's website for free:
https://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihi...

[Nick Sakkas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite short story. It combines history, science fiction, time travel, online forums, time paradoxes and humor. Oh and Hitler. What's not to love? Besides Hitler. Don't love him. He is bad.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wikihistory-Desmond Warzel

Loved it! Quick read, worth your time. Made me smile. Thank you.

[Ritika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noice! 😂

[Charlotte (The Writers' Crown) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughed out loud, then passed it to my partner to read and he also laughed out loud.

[Maca]

I need so much more of this, i want to read the whole 200 pages on the forum. This was hilarious and too short

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost a 4. Funny! Similar to some stories I've read on Daily Science Fiction.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not stop chuckling when I finished this adorable little sci-fi tale.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, clean fun. "Let's Kill Hiltler!", brought up to date. There are consequences. First rate story.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still relevant, as the best short fiction is.

[Nicole Hidalgo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny, witty time-travel short story available online that doesn't take 15 minutes to read. Recommended for all those who already dreamed of going back in time to kill Hitler!

[Naya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious short story

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed a good laugh this morning. This delivered! I could’ve kept on reading more. I want more!! 😄