The Things

by Peter Watts, Todd Thyberg (Illustrator)

The Things is a horrifying story about an alien creature, thawed from the ice, who tries to understand the limitations and violent nature of the humans it experiences upon awakening.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Science Fiction

36 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2024

Reviews

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Note that I did not read the hardcover print of this short story, it is simply the only mention of its form on Goodreads.*

Ever wondered how the alien in The Thing felt? Read this short story, it's quite good!

The story is hosted on Clarkesworld Sci-fi and Fantasy Magazine You can find an audio reading there as well.

[Aoife Bagnall]

The last line fuckin blows lmao.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

To no one's surprise, it's a 5-star short story.

What I like best about The Things is how Watts manages to make us humans seem just as alien and strange to the Thing as it is to us. It's just a unique take on first contact stories that I've never seen before.

You can read or listen to it for free on Clarkesworld :D

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

like overall fine, the depiction of it being like a the blob like hivemind is fun. yea the last line blows though lmao

[Ethan Westerfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two possibilities, we are either completely alone in the universe or we are not. Both inspire some level of dread.

I liked this because of just how alien the POV was and how it posits that maybe our individualistic selves are the outlier in the cosmos. The Thing doesn't view its assimilation and conversion as an assault on another, but as a beautiful communion. The fact that humanity resists against it so fervently is a flaw on our part, not its.

4/5 because while the POV is fascinating, this is really just a retelling of the movie. It does take the stance of "Childs is a Thing," which I found cool.

That last line was chilling as all get out.

[Luke Game · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heard that a short story based on Carpenter's The Thing had won a bunch of prizes about a decade ago and decided to take a look. But fuck I wasn't expecting it to be this good. The story starts hard to follow but by the time you've worked out what's happening its already too late for everyone involved. The sense of paranoia the film so effectively creates is turned into a ironic twist here - by the time the things decide to panic they've already lost, they were always going to lose. Really interesting little unofficial companion to the film.

[Ada Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so interesting. It was like the movie the thing but from the thing’s perspective. I read it online after I saw it mentioned in a video I watched of the thing. It was very intriguing to see how the thing thought and made me think deeper about the end of the movie and new potential theories. The last sentence of the book gave me chills. I recommend if you love the movie as much as me.

[Lasha Khojanashvili · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Carpenter-ის გენიალური The Thing ხომ გახსოვთ? John W. Campbell-ის Who Goes There? მიხედვით გადაიღეს. პიტერმა კი "არსების პერსპექტივიდან" შეაფასა ფილმში/წიგნში მიმდინარე მოვლენები. ავტორს PhD აქვს ზოოლოგია/ეკოლოგიის მიმართულებით და მისი ყველა წიგნი არა ფანტაზია არამედ მეცნიერული ინტერპრეტაციაა. პატარა მოთხრობაა მაგრამ კარგი.

[Faase · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder if Peter Watts has been taken over by The Thing.

[max! · Rating 4 out of 5]

That final line... Yeah, that's why you're an alien parasite and not a friendly visitor.

[ATS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love The Thing so I enjoyed this