The manner in which readers are imbedded in the minds of the characters draws the horror closer and makes the impossible quite plausible as Miles goes through a logical progression of thought and asks the questions that we, as readers, wonder, further building that sense of great storytelling which has put The Body Snatchers into classic status.ġ956 – By trailer screenshot (Walter Wanger Prod.) (Invasion of the Body Snatchers trailer), via Wikimedia CommonsThe story is largely dialogue driven with vivid descriptions of the pods themselves and those small differences in their chosen victims, the dimming behind the eyes of the converted. The self-delusions, explanations, fears, and eventual acceptance of the pods provide an explanation for the outbreak around town of psychiatric disturbances: people claiming that their relatives are not really who they seem and then, days later, calmly stating the opposite. A chance encounter by Miles’ friend with a pod forming a duplicate leads to the revelation of the sinister invasion, spawning questions and a story of paranoia based on the half seen and half understood which heightens the sense of realism and draws the readers into the characters’ own questioning of what they have seen and of what is actually possible. Many people know, or at least think they already know, the classic story of alien invasion: a race of space parasites travel over millenniums pushed by the sun’s rays from planet to planet until landing, by happenstance, in Mill Valley where they attempt to survive.

As the sentient pods begin to spread and transform the once human inhabitants of Mill Valley, it’s a race against time for Miles and his friends to seek outside help before the town closes down and the pods spread further. Giant plant pods, discovered on the outskirts of town, are like nothing anyone has ever seen before and these pods are able to duplicate, exactly, all life forms they come in contact with.

The town is beginning to deteriorate and beneath the placid surface, something cold and unfeeling is infecting and transforming the citizens. Everyone seems the same – and yet not themselves.

Miles Bennell, the woman he loves, and his two close friends are seemingly the only people in the sleepy town of Mill Valley who are aware of the subtle changes around them. The classic 1955 novel that spawned two major motion pictures and a vast cult following, Invasion of the Body Snatchers focuses on the creeping horror of the barely perceptible. A Timeless, Chilling Science Fiction Classic

The body snatchers by jack finney