Because I can’t say I really know exactly what happened, or why, or just how it began, how it ended, or if it has ended and I’ve been right in the thick of it. It will not be neatly tied up at the end, everything resolved and satisfactorily explained. I warn you that what you’re starting to read is full of loose ends and unanswered questions. Set in the late 1970s (at that time the far future), Bennell struggles to describe and explain the events that quietly devastated the town some time past. Miles Bennell, a doctor in the small town of Mill Valley, California. But what of the original novel, and how does it compare to the films? Let’s take a look! Three other adaptations followed, in 1978, 19. One of these that I believe almost everyone on the planet must have heard of at one point or another is Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers (1955), later revised to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.įirst edition cover via Wikipedia, which actually accurately depicts a scene in the book.įinney’s book was an immediate sensation, and was quickly turned into the instant classic 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Growing up, I was completely unaware that many of the films I watched on Sunday afternoon “Creature Features” were based on novels, but now I find it fascinating to go back and see how the movies compare to their original inspirations. Not only was the genre at the height of its popularity, but its novels were readily tapped for screen adaptations. The 1950s and 1960s must have been a wonderful time to be a science fiction writer. Campbell’s Who Goes There? In this post I consider an equally iconic novel that was adapted into four movies so far, and likely more to follow! Years past, I talked about John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos and The Day of the Triffids, as well as John W.

This post continues a long-neglected series of posts about classic novels of science fiction and horror that were adapted into movies of the 1950s and 1960s.

Invasion of the body snatchers book