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Geezettes?? (:

And a bunch of old geezers who've been reading sci-fi (and other literature) for decades and have l-o-o-o-ng memories!

Did any of the stories listed include Our Hero climbing the emergency staircase up the beanstalk to get to a way station part way up?

It wasn't a space elevator, but a space conveyor. A continuous loop of ?metal?synthetic? rotated from ground level to orbit. And, there was an accident-- the belt was broken, and crashed down into a lake that was supposed to be in case of emergencies. I believe it was a story/serial in Analog...

There was another story... Our Hero is a kid growing up, with several playmates. As he grew, however, his playmates grew in jumps-- all of a sudden, their bodies were bigger, but their heads only grew occasionally. IIRC, this wasn't just a father's doing. Turns out our hero is (I think)...

Alan Dean Foster also published "With Friends Like These." In the title story, Earth has been sequestered behind a 'shield,' which prevents them from leaving the planet (including our moon). They are sequestered because they were too good at fighting-- too good to allow to roam freely! And...

The novels of Mercedes Lackey include several re-tellings of popular fairy tales, as well as stories in her own universe. Several cats appear, but not a lot as primary characters.

True-- but the humans split into at least 3 camps-- Tuf, learning how to clone a cat (and run the ship); and the others in 2 groups, aiming for each other (so to speak). And aren't humans the most alien of all? (: Tuf does set some of the stored creatures free-- I seem to remember a...

The book is Tuf Voyaging by George R R Martin. Tuf is the name of the 'hero.'

The ship has similarities to the "Ecological Service" ships in the stories by good ol' what's-his-name.

Something Homer & Jethro performed? Maybe Andy Griffith-- he had done a story about a back-woods type at his first football game...

Not a narcotic gas, but there was a story about everyone living in a virtual reality overlay on top of reality. Our Hero convinced his family to turn off the VR, and reality was the dilapidated, poorly maintained world. The family turned their VR back on.

I found this interesting article, talking about the underpinnings of the Hawaiian volcanoes--- https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/12/22/hawaii-volcanoes-magma-chambers/ . No spaceship drives, however...

I remember a story in a similar vein-- crashed spaceship on Earth, its hyperdrive partially active. Mission from the home world arrives to shut it down fully. One officer makes a comment, "Their science is built on the effects caused by the drive. Shutting it down will mean their science will...

Colossus: The Forbin Project - No robots, but supercomputers take over. The Adolescence of P-1 - No robots either, but computers link together and take over.

Crude oil is lighter than seawater?? Welll... maybe (spilled oil forms a slick on the surface). Maybe get some more earthquakes...

There was a story I once read-- town in the middle of a severe drought. In the midst of this, a new store opened, selling shoe laces. All sorts. Plain, fancy, multi-colored... Things were going well until the drought broke, and the rains came... and all the new shoelaces melted. Owner of...

Not a story, but maybe a storyline and recurring character in Al Capp's "L'il Abner" comic strip:

I know specialist in mercenary soldiers was The Dorsai... from Wikipedia: Dorsai! is the first published book of the incomplete Childe Cycle series of science fiction novels by American writer Gordon R. Dickson. Later books are set both before and after the events in Dorsai!. The novel was...

The movie "The Beast Master" had a group of super soldiers. They weren't zombies, but were tortured to become "berzerkers--" almost unstoppable warriors.