John W. Campbell, Jr. wrote one of the classic Science Fiction horror stories, “Who Goes There?”, and it was first published in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Later, Campbell’s story was adapted three times as a film: the first in 1951 as The Thing from Another World; the second in 1982 as The Thing, directed by John Carpenter; and most recently as a prequel to the Carpenter version, also titled The Thing, released in 2011.
Alec Nevala-Lee, while researching Campbell and Astounding Science Fiction for his best-selling Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, Nevalo-Lee found an early draft of “Who Goes There?” at the Houghton Library at Harvard University where John W. Campbell, Jr.’s papers are kept. Nevalo-Lee discovers that the first 20 pages of what would be published as “Who Goes There?” were cut along with additional material. Now, the fully restored story with 45 addition pages has been released by Wideside Press with an INTRODUCTION by Robert Silverberg and a dandy wrap-around cover by Bob Eggleton. If you enjoyed the original story, you’l enjoy this restored edition even more! GRADE: A
Sounds like my kind of must-read. and I wouldm’t have known about it without your excellent Heads-Up — Thanks!
Dan, I first saw FROZEN HELL mentioned on BLACKGATE.COM. I immediately ordered the book. You’ll like it.
Can’t wait to read this one.
(I understand there’s another — unpublished — version where the Thing came to Earth using the Dean Drive, with the intent of proselytizing Dianetics.)
Jerry, any mention of Diabetics is likely to set Cap’n Bob off!
.Cool. The original was one of the iconic stories, so it would be quite interesting to see which version is better. I take it you didn’t find this version padded,
Jeff, this version supplies more backstory. I’m guessing the story was “cut” to get to the action faster.
Who goes there – fantastic and so different from the usual tech stuff!
When I started reading/buying SF mags in the 60s, Campbell was already deep in Dianetics – what a shame.
But at least he published Dune … 🙂
Wolf, Campbell had his faults, but he recognized a masterpiece like DUNE when he saw it.
It’s become fashionable to slam Campbell not only for his connection to Hubbard’s Dianetics, but also for his “sexist pig” attitudes. I thought he did a good job of separating that from Astounding, other than his editorials. I do like this short story, and would like to read this version. By the way, the original movie was on TCM just a few days ago.
Rick, I agree with you. Campbell gets slammed a lot. But, he was the best SF editor for a couple of decades. And he’s an underrated writer.
I don’t much care for the cover.
Rick, I suspect the cover is supposed to capture the lurid aspects of FROZEN HELL. It is sort of eye-catching.
It’s a shame Campbell allowed his devotion to Dianetics to lead him astray, but at least he wised up and abandoned it! Alas, the damage was done and he let the public be exposed to that disgusting con game!
Bob, you’re right about Campbell giving Dianetics a platform. Even though he abandoned it, Campbell will always be linked to it.