Who Goes There?: The Novella That Formed The Basis Of "The Thing" [Paperback]

John W Campbell (Author), William F Nolan (Author, Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

"Who Goes There?": The novella that formed the basis of "The Thing" is the John W. Campbell 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. With a new Introduction by William F. Nolan, author of Logan's Run, and his never-before-published, suspenseful Screen Treatment written for Universal Studios in 1978, this is a must-have edition for scifi and horror fans!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the finest science fiction novellas ever written." --Science Fiction Writers of America

Review

"An expert in the art and science of scaring the hell out of people." On William F. Nolan, author of Who Goes There? SCREEN TREATMENT, included in the Rocket Ride Books edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Rocket Ride Books (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982332203
• ISBN-13: 978-0982332207
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #80,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "ESSENTIAL SCI-FI READING", May 18, 2009

By 

Timothy P. Butler - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Who Goes There?: The Novella That Formed The Basis Of "The Thing" (Paperback)

John W. Campbell's classic tale of isolation and paranoia is the literary equivalent of 50 year old scotch (in this case, 70 years.) It just keeps getting better with age. If your only familiarity with this story is the cinematic adaptations, this your big chance. From the first paragraph, Campbell establishes a sense of foreboding and crushing claustrophobia that just doesn't translate to film. As a bonus, you get William F. Nolan's 1978 screen treatment. I thought it had a quirky 70's vibe. Sort of, Philip Kaufman's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" meets Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain."

A quick note on the cover art. Too much of today's science fiction is jacketed in cluttered, over painted, or just repetitive imagery. However, Rocket Ride Books took the high road with a restrained, well balanced, but still eye-catching cover piece that captures the essence of the story. In fact, they've done an all together first rate job with this re-issue. I look forward to whatever they have planned next.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all fans of The Thing, March 17, 2011

By 

Brandon Ennals (South Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Who Goes There?: The Novella That Formed The Basis Of "The Thing" (Paperback)

Who Goes There? is a novella written by John W. Campbell that was first printed in 1938. It is the book that was later adapted for The Thing From Outer Space and The Thing. I was eager to read this since The Thing is one of my top 5 horror movies of all time. I immediately noticed that a lot of the characters have the same name which was great since I felt like I could put a face with the characters. One small difference is there are more characters at the research facility. One of the things I loved about the movie is the feeling of isolation. Since you have more characters the isolation terror is not as pronounced, but that does not take away from the book at all. One other difference is the novella seems to focus most of its attention on the physiology of the alien. You get a lot of focus on the researchers debating on what they should do with the recently discovered alien.

There are more little differences in the book, but I am not going to get into all of them since I think fans of the movie should read this novella. The main story is only a little over 100 pages, so it doesn't take that long to read. I'm glad I read it because it changed my mind about calling The Thing a remake of The Thing From Outer Space. I'm sure when talking to other horror fans, I will reference The Thing as a remake just for conversations sake, but I don't think that's quite accurate. If anything, it's more of a re-imagining of the story. When you compare the movies, I would say The Thing is a more faithful adaptation to Who Goes There? Obviously, some situations and tools had to be adapted since technology and science had advanced, but the changes were minimal. So, is The Thing really a remake since it is more faithful to the original story? I'll leave that for you to decide.

After reading the novella, there is a 36 page screenplay written by William F. Nolan, which is his take on the Who Goes There? novella. As many people may know, William Nolan was the author of Logan's Run. This screenplay definitely has the same feel as those old, classic sci fi movies. There is not much in the way of horror in this screenplay. If a movie was created from this screenplay, it would probably be rated PG-13 since most of the scenes where aliens convert humans seem to be cut aways. If there was to be another movie based on the Who Goes There? novella, I hope it would be more of a sci fi movie than a horror movie since I think The Thing still holds up and would be hard to improve on.

So from reading the novella and the screenplay in this book, I really have an appreciation for the original source material. It truly is an incredible piece of writing considering here we are, over 70 years later, and people can still find ways to take the original story and put a modern spin on it. I am amazed at how flexible and influential Who Goes There? is. It has influenced so many of the movies we have seen over time. I would recommend this novella to sci fi movie and book fans so they can appreciate how influential this story is for themselves.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Edition of Campbell's Masterpiece, April 19, 2010

By 

The Abominable Doctor Phibes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Goes There?: The Novella That Formed The Basis Of "The Thing" (Paperback)

Campbell's masterpiece finally gets the royal treatment in this new edition. What really sets it apart is the added material - a new Introduction by William F. Nolan of Logan's Run fame, and the inclusion of his Screenplay (1978) as an added bonus. Nolan's treatment is NOT the basis of the Carpenter film, so it offers yet a third cinematic prism through which to see Campbell's situation and characters realized - a satisfying way to round out this offering. SF Signal calls it the definitive edition. There's also an AUDIO edition available from this publisher.