Yet it clearly has merits, considering how it has inspired so many other works of fiction and served as the source material for numerous adaptations. On its own, this story isn’t overly great. When we finally approach the climax, it is with frenzied enthusiasm that does not live up to the story’s resolution. As far as writing goes, this is hopefully not Campbell at his finest: the prose is serviceable at best, with clunky descriptions and a plodding pace. This quickly reveals the monsters, who begin to fight for survival but find themselves outmatched by the remaining humans. Who is the monster? Who is human? The characters devise a serum test that fails spectacularly, only to come up with a much simpler and seemingly correct test in a much shorter period of time. Who Goes There is a work of suspense, its capacity for horror lying in our need to know what happens next. But maybe this is merely Campbell’s own optimism for the human condition shining through. It’s remarkable, bordering on incredible. Yet, aside from Blair’s breakdown, everyone maintains a sense of calm. To be sure, they recognize the gravity of the situation: several times, one or another of the characters mentions the possibility that they will have to sacrifice themselves rather than allow themselves to be taken over by the monster and let loose upon the world. They see it as merely a challenge to be confronted, an obstacle to be surmounted. Yet Campbell’s characters are, if anything, rather jolly about the whole problem. Most modern adaptations of the monster-within-us plot emphasize the way in which this fear leads to the group of people tearing itself apart through mistrust. What strikes me as most unusual about Who Goes There? is the thread of optimism that runs through the entire story. Suddenly, the protagonists don’t know who to trust: anyone could be the monster. The ingredients are simple: an isolated research station in Antarctica a startling discovery of a frozen alien body its reanimation results in it absorbing life-forms and changing its shape to emulate them perfectly. Science fiction’s ties to its speculative cousin of horror are quite clear here. elucidates this basic horror-story concept for its first, and perhaps best, iteration. In retrospect this isn’t surprising, since it is a novella whose shockwaves continue to be felt throughout science fiction.
I was struck by a feeling of déjà vu while reading Who Goes There?.
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