Who Goes There? (Novella Review)

Written by: John W. Campbell Jr., 1938, first appeared in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine

The story has been retold many times. It's set in a cold, remote area, usually Antarctica, in some type of outpost, generally a research station. In the ice near this station, something is discovered. It's always an alien spacecraft, and the alien pilot is always frozen in the nearby ice. The alien creature is always brought back to the outpost in a block of ice, always thawed out, always gets loose, and from that point, is always malicious as he sneaks around the outpost. In one version, he's a plant person, but usually he turns out to be a shapeshifting entity that can possess and absorb anything, and take any living thing's shape. From that point, the people on the base realize that any of their number could be the alien. Paranoia and violence ensues.
John W. Campbell's 1938 novella, "Who Goes There?" is the original form of this story. It may start off with a long-winded stream of 1930's scientific jargon, followed by a long moral argument about whether or not the alien should be thawed, but from that point, the story is as violent and intense as its best adaptation, John Carpenter's 1982 cinematic masterpiece, The Thing.
The amazing thing is, Campbell has done such a great job of crafting a timeless story frame, that themes from any era can apply. In the 1951 film, The Thing From Another World, it's a group uniting against a common, foreign foe, ala Communism/Nazi Germany, etc. In John Carpenter's 1981 cinematic take, The Thing, it could be the paranoia of Russion spies living amongst regular old Americans, distrust of the government, etc. Today, the themes of a virulent foreign entity humans and their science fail to comprehend or properly contain are all too resonant. Who knows how the story will apply to the world in another 20 years.
Once the reader gets past the initial science jargon/moral jargon segments, "Who Goes There?" is a brief and fun page-turner. The violence is surprising considering the age of the story, and the high-octane action also feels like it's been pulled from a modern film. The snappy dialogue also has a modern feel. This aids the timeless story frame to ensure "Who Goes There?" will be inviting adaptations for eras to come. It's quite a tale.