John W. Campbell Jr.

"Who Goes There?" is the novella that formed the basis of John Carpenter's film "The Thing." John W. Campbell's classic tells of an antarctic research base that discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien -- with terrifying results!

Who Goes There? (Filmed as The Thing)

John W. Campbell, Jr.

This is a classic about an Antarctic research camp that discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien. The creature revives with terrifying results, shape-shifting to assume the exact form of animal and man, alike. Paranoia ensues as a band of frightened men work to discern friend from foe, and destroy the menace before it challenges all of humanity The story, hailed as one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written by the SF Writers of America, is best known to fans as THE THING, as it was the basis of Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World in 1951, and John Carpenter's The Thing in 1982.

The Novella that Formed the Basis of "The Thing"

Who Goes There?

Wynter

A: We found an unknown monster frozen in ice for 20 million years.
B: Let's defrost it!
A: Wouldn't the thing come to life or some unknown pathogen wipe out us all?
B: Nah, worked for the snakes.
C: Not on my kitchen table!
A: Okay.

*monster comes to life and rampages*

B: Hit it with human-immune rabbit blood!
A: AAARGH! *dies*
C: How do you know that the blood is a good indicator if one of us is a monster?
B: I'm a scientist, it will work.
C: Isn't assuming things about alien life what got us into this mess in the first place?

*everyone dies*

Tobias V. Langhoff

Tina Rawls

Mark Anderson

Ewan

Micke Newcomb

Maja Pestka

John Wood Campbell (Jr.)

"Elimination" is the story of the effect of a gadget on the human character of the inventor. The other stories are based on the premise "What if a man invented a time-viewer which? ..." "Who Goes There" is the story of an alien, a non-mechanical gadget, who provokes a special mood-reaction in the reader.

Who Goes There? (Filmed as The Thing)

Reviews