Who Goes There? – John W. Campbell Jr. (4/5)
Otherwise known as the novella that inspired the movie The Thing.
Like a lot of lovers of horror – both written and cinematic, The Thing has always held a spot as one of my favourite movies. It really speaks to what I try and accomplish in my own writing – isolation, extreme situations and something wrecking havoc.
I can’t remember if I’ve actually read this before. That’s one of the problems when you’ve read so much, but only started putting your reads on Goodreads last year haha! I feel like I have, but decided to jump back in for one very special reason! Last year I actually supported a Kickstarter project called Frozen Hell. Apparently Who Goes There? was originally from a longer manuscript that had been unknown for some time. Then it was unearthed and a Kickstarter was made to get the book released.
Overall I loved Who Goes There? The story is very similar to the movie The Thing and from Campbell’s descriptions and sense of dread, John Carpenter was provided with a solid source material. The way he portrays the fear and anxiety the men have, while barely using the thing is amazing and shows why’s he considered a master of science fiction writing. As the men spiral further into madness, realizing they’ll have to die in order to protect the rest of the world from being overtaken by this unknown creature was truly gripping.
My only negative/only annoyance was sometimes the dialogue felt like it went on and on. Tedious passages of a character saying something and saying the exact same thing in the next paragraph. But it was a minor thing.
4/5 crazy stars for this classic piece of literature. Now I can’t wait to dive into Frozen Hell and see what Campbell had originally had in store for us!
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