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The Flying Eyes
Linc Hosler was sitting in a packed football stadium when the Flying Eyes appeared and cast their hypnotic power over half the crowd. Thousands of people suddenly began marching zombie-like into the woods where they vanished into a black pit.
Linc used every resource of the Space Research Lab and the National Guard to destroy the Eyes. But nothing could stop them, for they proved immune to bullets and bombs.
In desperation, Linc captured an Eye and found a way to communicate with it through his mind. He learned that radiation was fuel for the creatures' lives. And when they issued their terrible ultimatum: Explode a series of atom bombs to supply them with radiation or they would turn the world's population into mindless robots!
It gave the world two harrowing choices---self-destruction via fallout from the bombs or annihilation via the sinister Flying Eyes...
Linc used every resource of the Space Research Lab and the National Guard to destroy the Eyes. But nothing could stop them, for they proved immune to bullets and bombs.
In desperation, Linc captured an Eye and found a way to communicate with it through his mind. He learned that radiation was fuel for the creatures' lives. And when they issued their terrible ultimatum: Explode a series of atom bombs to supply them with radiation or they would turn the world's population into mindless robots!
It gave the world two harrowing choices---self-destruction via fallout from the bombs or annihilation via the sinister Flying Eyes...
- GenresScience FictionHorror
140 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1962
2 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
J. Hunter Holly
21 books17 followersJoan Carol Holly was a science fiction author who wrote under the pseudonym J. Hunter Holly in the late 1950s until the mid-1970s. Joan Holly also contributed stories for Roger Elwood's series of books and sci-fi magazines, under both her real name(Joan C. Holly) and her pseudonym (Joan Hunter Holly).
Joan died of lung cancer in 1982.
Joan died of lung cancer in 1982.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 16, 2022
3.5 stars. An adorable little B movie-type sci-fi adventure! I had a feeling it would probably end up being ridiculous fun, though, because freakin Grady Hendrix only gave it 1 star. He never seems to enjoy the super pulpy shit, so I was pretty sure I’d be in luck with this one. And it turns out I was right, because this was some damn entertaining, so-bad-it’s-hilarious cheese! The title pretty much says it all, so if you’re ever in the mood for 150 pages of humans vs. giant flying eyeballs (and the radioactive aliens who sent them out to do their highly evil, highly radioactive bidding), definitely give this a try!
April 15, 2020
This one really felt like one of those cheesy sci-fi/horror flicks I used to watch, as a kid.
Goofy fun!
Goofy fun!
May 2, 2015
While the threat of hypnosis by flying eyeballs is quite silly, this short novel has surprising depth of characters with strengths and faults that make them feel real. The main character goes through a lot of growth especially after he loses someone to the eyes. The eyes are not the true threat and whats behind the eyes is even more monstrous. How do you fight a enemy that teleports, can phase through objects and heal itself from any wound instantly. Read this to discover how one man figures out how to beat this seemingly unstoppable force. The eyes motivation is a interesting one, a food they need that only humans can produce. But to give the eyes what they want will destroy us all, to refuse will also be the end. I liked it, but hadn't expected to.
January 1, 2020
2.5 stars. This one is really entertaining for anyone who genuinely enjoys B-rate sci-fi. If you're looking for originality, a deep plot and compelling characters, look someplace else. The protagonist is kind of a douche, the love interest is shallow, and the third point of the love triangle doesn't even play much of a role until he dies. I'm giving this book a fairly decent rating because I love the concept of giant, floating, disembodied eyeball monsters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2019
It’s a strange idea that the author plays dead straight, even when you kind of want to laugh at giant floating eyeballs she does manage to make them somewhat intimidating. However it’s not as good as some of her other books; her main character is an utter dick and a lot of the plot is held up by good luck and enemy stupidity. A disappointment compared to the Mind Traders.
May 16, 2024
It sports one of the most famous covers in sci-fi paperback history; a piece of art so iconic that I have seen it reproduced in the form of refrigerator magnets! I am referring here to the first edition of J. Hunter Holly's "The Flying Eyes," the cover of which depicts a man and a woman fleeing in abject terror from the onslaught of several dozen--you guessed it--self-propelled, levitating eyeballs! Yes, I know that you just cannot judge a book by its cover alone, and the same surely goes for its title, but really, who could not be intrigued by that double-punch combo? Thus, this was a book that I'd wanted to read for years, despite my sneaking suspicion that the novel would turn out to be the veriest junk. But just recently, I chanced to read one of Holly's other works, "The Assassination Affair" (1967), Book #10 in the 23-novel Man From U.N.C.L.E. series, and it wound up being one of my favorites of those nearly two dozen titles. (I hope, by the way, to share some thoughts here on all 23 of those books in the near future.) That Book #10 was very well written, tough and violent, so I was somewhat taken aback when, after doing a little research, I discovered that J. Hunter Holly was a woman...and with a dozen sci-fi novels to her credit, including "The Flying Eyes"! A quick Internet search netted me a very reasonably priced copy of that first edition, and to my great delight, the book has turned out to be anything but a piece of junk!
"The Flying Eyes" was originally released in June 1962 as a 35-cent Monarch Books paperback, and featuring that now-classic cover by Jack Schoenherr. Despite its many fine qualities, the novel would only see one more English-language edition (from the British publisher Priory Books, date unknown) before vanishing for decades. Fortunately for readers today, the good folks at Armchair Fiction rereleased the novel in 2012; a double volume paired with Philip Jose Farmer's "Some Fabulous Yonder," and sporting that same great Schoenherr cover. Oh...as for Holly herself, she was born Joan Carol Holly in Lansing, Michigan in 1932, and sadly passed away in 1982, at the age of 50; a genuine loss to the world of fiction, I might add, based on my first two experiences of her.
"The Flying Eyes," Holly's fourth novel (following 1959's "Encounter," 1960's "The Green Planet," and 1962's "The Dark Planet"), introduces the reader to one Linc Hosler, who works as a troubleshooter of sorts at the Space Research Lab in an unnamed, small American town. This research installation is equipped with not only an antigravity room but also a full-scale nuclear reactor, both of which become crucial elements as the story proceeds. But I'm getting ahead of myself. As Holly's story begins, Linc, his crush Kelly Adams, and Wesley Rowe, Linc's coworker and the closest thing to a friend that he has, are attending a college football game...a game that is dramatically interrupted when eight flying eyeballs--each of them a full foot long but expanding rapidly--suddenly soar over the field and begin turning people into hypnotized zombies! Our trio manages to escape the resultant pandemonium, but matters only grow worse in the following days. Many more of the Eyes appear, luring their mesmerized victims down into a great pit outside of the town. The National Guard is called in, but it is soon learned that the Eyes can instantly repair their bullet wounds; when blown apart by mortar fire, their fragmented bits simply reunite! As one of the armed townspeople puts it, "They heal themselves. They congeal and heal, repeal the hole and make it whole"! When one of the reactor technicians is himself abducted and brought down into the pit, only to later return and then attempt to make the nuclear pile go blooey, Linc and Wes decide to take some highly risky initiatives on their own.
First, they resolve to capture one of the Eyes, if possible, to study it and possibly even establish some sort of communication. Next, the two decide to attempt an entry into the pit itself to learn what is being done to all those hundreds of captured townsfolk. Both of these courses of action are extremely hazardous, of course, with the risk of being transformed into one of the mindless undead a constant factor when one is in the presence of the Eyes. But the necessity of doing something is a dire one, as both Linc and Wes' boss--the elderly gravity researcher Jan Iverson--and a visiting brass hat from the Army, Col. Stanley, have just decided that the only solution to this threat is the nuclear option...an A bomb dropped directly into the great pit, killing all the prisoners as well as--hopefully--the alien invaders....
As you might have discerned, "The Flying Eyes" is very much indebted to those wonderful sci-fi films of the 1950s, with which it shares a lot of DNA. Thus, here we find a husky blonde hero who happens to be a man of science; a galpal with whom he constantly bickers, the relationship between the two being up in the air until the final reel...I mean, pages; horrendous, Earth-menacing alien monstrosities; a military man who wants to resort to extreme measures; and the suspenseful salvation of our world at the 11th hour. I can almost picture, oh, Richard Denning in the lead here as Linc Hosler, and perhaps Mara Corday as Kelly Adams. But of course, a motion picture featuring realistically depicted flying eyeballs was probably impracticable even in the early '60s. Today, however, the book would certainly be ripe material for a fantastic big-screen experience. Are you listening, Hollywood?
In all seriousness, though, "The Flying Eyes" is hardly the shlockfest that you might reasonably be expecting. Quite the opposite, actually. Despite its outrageous central conceit, the book is unfailingly intelligent and increasingly suspenseful, and boasts a gaggle of aliens (from the planet Zine) the likes of which you have never encountered before. Hint: The Eyes are just the removable tips of the proverbial iceberg, and the less said about those aliens, the better for prospective readers, I suppose. Indeed, Holly's book contains so many startling developments that any reviewer of it must be necessarily hamstrung, for fear of ruining the experience for others. What I can tell you is that the author has a wonderfully readable style of writing, and a sure hand at rendering realistic-sounding dialogue. Like that "Man From U.N.C.L.E." book of hers, this novel is also surprisingly violent, even gruesome at times, and the body count is a very high one. Even some of the book's main characters prove to be tragic casualties of the merciless Eyes, as the events unreel...I mean, proceed.
Holly here treats the reader to any number of bravura sequences. Among them: the initial attack by an octet of the Eyes at that football game; the scene in which dozens of the townspeople, led by Linc, make their first armed foray against the Eyes; the attempt made by that zombified reactor worker to blow up the pile; Linc and Wes endeavoring to capture one of the Eyes, and subsequently learning how to withstand its hypnotic gaze; Linc's infiltration of that subterranean lair, and his discovery of what has been going on underground; Linc's establishing communication with one of the Eyes, and learning of the aliens' background...and needs; and the absolutely bonkers finale, as jaw-dropping a denouement as any you've ever come across. And during that final scene, in which Linc tries desperately to keep his conspiratorial thoughts from being read by the telepathic aliens, I couldn't help being reminded of the ultimate scene in the 1960 British film "Village of the Damned," in which the George Sanders character faces a very similar dilemma.
"The Flying Eyes," far from being a goofball experience, is absolutely levelheaded, with a bare minimum of humor. So much so, indeed, that when Linc shoots one of the Eyes with a gun and shouts "Bull's-eye"--a potentially laughable moment--the reader does not even feel like giggling. There are no unintentionally risible moments, and the author maintains a very straight face throughout. Pleasingly, Linc's experiences during the course of the book change him for the better. He goes from being a nearly friendless man--a man who’s never felt the need for friendship, and whom even Wes calls "an overbearing, swaggering egotist"--to something much more mature; a person ready to both give and receive love. Holly's book is a very satisfying one; the kind of book that makes you want to read more--much more--of the given author's work.
I should add here that I did have a few small problems with Ms. Holly's novel. Although her writing is usually very fine (for example, I liked when she said of the book's aliens "They were obscenities in the forest, for they were not of earth, and it was impossible to believe that they were even of God...."), her punctuation at times can be a bit...strange. Take these three sentences, for example: "If my company is that dampening, I'll remove it," Linc stood. "No," Collins was fast with his refusal. "You've forgotten me, all of a sudden," Wes stood up. I ask you: Is that any way to punctuate a sentence? Too, in the scene in which Linc and others are forced to manhandle the aliens, whose touch disgusts them...uh, have they never heard of these things called work gloves? And those aliens, who are capable of building starships to visit other worlds...is it credible that they would require our help to...but again, I'd better break off before giving away too much. Still, these quibbles pale into insignificance when stacked against the many fine attributes to be found in "The Flying Eyes." The bottom line, I suppose, is that this book is just flat-out fun! I find myself now hearing the siren call of several other books by J. Hunter Holly. "The Green Planet," for example, looks particularly interesting to me, and that is where I hope to be heading soon....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of vintage sci-fi!)
"The Flying Eyes" was originally released in June 1962 as a 35-cent Monarch Books paperback, and featuring that now-classic cover by Jack Schoenherr. Despite its many fine qualities, the novel would only see one more English-language edition (from the British publisher Priory Books, date unknown) before vanishing for decades. Fortunately for readers today, the good folks at Armchair Fiction rereleased the novel in 2012; a double volume paired with Philip Jose Farmer's "Some Fabulous Yonder," and sporting that same great Schoenherr cover. Oh...as for Holly herself, she was born Joan Carol Holly in Lansing, Michigan in 1932, and sadly passed away in 1982, at the age of 50; a genuine loss to the world of fiction, I might add, based on my first two experiences of her.
"The Flying Eyes," Holly's fourth novel (following 1959's "Encounter," 1960's "The Green Planet," and 1962's "The Dark Planet"), introduces the reader to one Linc Hosler, who works as a troubleshooter of sorts at the Space Research Lab in an unnamed, small American town. This research installation is equipped with not only an antigravity room but also a full-scale nuclear reactor, both of which become crucial elements as the story proceeds. But I'm getting ahead of myself. As Holly's story begins, Linc, his crush Kelly Adams, and Wesley Rowe, Linc's coworker and the closest thing to a friend that he has, are attending a college football game...a game that is dramatically interrupted when eight flying eyeballs--each of them a full foot long but expanding rapidly--suddenly soar over the field and begin turning people into hypnotized zombies! Our trio manages to escape the resultant pandemonium, but matters only grow worse in the following days. Many more of the Eyes appear, luring their mesmerized victims down into a great pit outside of the town. The National Guard is called in, but it is soon learned that the Eyes can instantly repair their bullet wounds; when blown apart by mortar fire, their fragmented bits simply reunite! As one of the armed townspeople puts it, "They heal themselves. They congeal and heal, repeal the hole and make it whole"! When one of the reactor technicians is himself abducted and brought down into the pit, only to later return and then attempt to make the nuclear pile go blooey, Linc and Wes decide to take some highly risky initiatives on their own.
First, they resolve to capture one of the Eyes, if possible, to study it and possibly even establish some sort of communication. Next, the two decide to attempt an entry into the pit itself to learn what is being done to all those hundreds of captured townsfolk. Both of these courses of action are extremely hazardous, of course, with the risk of being transformed into one of the mindless undead a constant factor when one is in the presence of the Eyes. But the necessity of doing something is a dire one, as both Linc and Wes' boss--the elderly gravity researcher Jan Iverson--and a visiting brass hat from the Army, Col. Stanley, have just decided that the only solution to this threat is the nuclear option...an A bomb dropped directly into the great pit, killing all the prisoners as well as--hopefully--the alien invaders....
As you might have discerned, "The Flying Eyes" is very much indebted to those wonderful sci-fi films of the 1950s, with which it shares a lot of DNA. Thus, here we find a husky blonde hero who happens to be a man of science; a galpal with whom he constantly bickers, the relationship between the two being up in the air until the final reel...I mean, pages; horrendous, Earth-menacing alien monstrosities; a military man who wants to resort to extreme measures; and the suspenseful salvation of our world at the 11th hour. I can almost picture, oh, Richard Denning in the lead here as Linc Hosler, and perhaps Mara Corday as Kelly Adams. But of course, a motion picture featuring realistically depicted flying eyeballs was probably impracticable even in the early '60s. Today, however, the book would certainly be ripe material for a fantastic big-screen experience. Are you listening, Hollywood?
In all seriousness, though, "The Flying Eyes" is hardly the shlockfest that you might reasonably be expecting. Quite the opposite, actually. Despite its outrageous central conceit, the book is unfailingly intelligent and increasingly suspenseful, and boasts a gaggle of aliens (from the planet Zine) the likes of which you have never encountered before. Hint: The Eyes are just the removable tips of the proverbial iceberg, and the less said about those aliens, the better for prospective readers, I suppose. Indeed, Holly's book contains so many startling developments that any reviewer of it must be necessarily hamstrung, for fear of ruining the experience for others. What I can tell you is that the author has a wonderfully readable style of writing, and a sure hand at rendering realistic-sounding dialogue. Like that "Man From U.N.C.L.E." book of hers, this novel is also surprisingly violent, even gruesome at times, and the body count is a very high one. Even some of the book's main characters prove to be tragic casualties of the merciless Eyes, as the events unreel...I mean, proceed.
Holly here treats the reader to any number of bravura sequences. Among them: the initial attack by an octet of the Eyes at that football game; the scene in which dozens of the townspeople, led by Linc, make their first armed foray against the Eyes; the attempt made by that zombified reactor worker to blow up the pile; Linc and Wes endeavoring to capture one of the Eyes, and subsequently learning how to withstand its hypnotic gaze; Linc's infiltration of that subterranean lair, and his discovery of what has been going on underground; Linc's establishing communication with one of the Eyes, and learning of the aliens' background...and needs; and the absolutely bonkers finale, as jaw-dropping a denouement as any you've ever come across. And during that final scene, in which Linc tries desperately to keep his conspiratorial thoughts from being read by the telepathic aliens, I couldn't help being reminded of the ultimate scene in the 1960 British film "Village of the Damned," in which the George Sanders character faces a very similar dilemma.
"The Flying Eyes," far from being a goofball experience, is absolutely levelheaded, with a bare minimum of humor. So much so, indeed, that when Linc shoots one of the Eyes with a gun and shouts "Bull's-eye"--a potentially laughable moment--the reader does not even feel like giggling. There are no unintentionally risible moments, and the author maintains a very straight face throughout. Pleasingly, Linc's experiences during the course of the book change him for the better. He goes from being a nearly friendless man--a man who’s never felt the need for friendship, and whom even Wes calls "an overbearing, swaggering egotist"--to something much more mature; a person ready to both give and receive love. Holly's book is a very satisfying one; the kind of book that makes you want to read more--much more--of the given author's work.
I should add here that I did have a few small problems with Ms. Holly's novel. Although her writing is usually very fine (for example, I liked when she said of the book's aliens "They were obscenities in the forest, for they were not of earth, and it was impossible to believe that they were even of God...."), her punctuation at times can be a bit...strange. Take these three sentences, for example: "If my company is that dampening, I'll remove it," Linc stood. "No," Collins was fast with his refusal. "You've forgotten me, all of a sudden," Wes stood up. I ask you: Is that any way to punctuate a sentence? Too, in the scene in which Linc and others are forced to manhandle the aliens, whose touch disgusts them...uh, have they never heard of these things called work gloves? And those aliens, who are capable of building starships to visit other worlds...is it credible that they would require our help to...but again, I'd better break off before giving away too much. Still, these quibbles pale into insignificance when stacked against the many fine attributes to be found in "The Flying Eyes." The bottom line, I suppose, is that this book is just flat-out fun! I find myself now hearing the siren call of several other books by J. Hunter Holly. "The Green Planet," for example, looks particularly interesting to me, and that is where I hope to be heading soon....
(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ... a most ideal destination for all fans of vintage sci-fi!)
April 23, 2022
Exceptional classic sci-fi
What I thought would be a barmy idea for a story turned out to be brilliant! This is the second book I've read by this author, the other book being, The Running Man. Both brilliant books. Earth is invaded by aliens that can transport parts of their bodies (eyes) and make them grow and hypnotize people turning them into zombie like people. A team of scientists led by Linc try everything they can to destroy the aliens to save the world from extinction. Excellent indeed.
What I thought would be a barmy idea for a story turned out to be brilliant! This is the second book I've read by this author, the other book being, The Running Man. Both brilliant books. Earth is invaded by aliens that can transport parts of their bodies (eyes) and make them grow and hypnotize people turning them into zombie like people. A team of scientists led by Linc try everything they can to destroy the aliens to save the world from extinction. Excellent indeed.
May 12, 2022
Fun breezy sci fi read like most of these pulp novels are.
July 29, 2025
Book concepts don't get much wilder than this in imagination terms. My edition was published in 1962 and predates ISBN numbers so was glad to see it came up in a search here.
It's one of two books my dad gave me a concerned WTF are you reading kind of look.
It's a story of paranoia, with good reason, for the eyes really are watching. These days we have CCTV but cameras are quite as intimidating as a huge human-looking eye, complete with eye-lashes, coming to watch you.
Ground breaking. Love it.
It's one of two books my dad gave me a concerned WTF are you reading kind of look.
It's a story of paranoia, with good reason, for the eyes really are watching. These days we have CCTV but cameras are quite as intimidating as a huge human-looking eye, complete with eye-lashes, coming to watch you.
Ground breaking. Love it.
May 29, 2020
It's a solid science fiction book about an alien invasion of giant eyes. Good characters and plot.
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June 12, 2020
Like a 50s b-movie in book form. Although by no means a good book, it is entertaining, in the way bad horror movies tend to be, so it gets an extra star for that.
October 3, 2021
Read this as a kid and the underlying message of it is pretty cool
November 15, 2021
It’s sort of a mix of Ernest Hemingway and H.P. Lovecraft. The monsters are maybe the Star Spawn of Chthulu.
December 22, 2021
The premise is ridiculous and it's written in a way typical of its era. But it's fun and even horrifying at times.
November 27, 2014
1986 grade D+
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews