ไม่สามารถเล่นวิดีโอนี้
ขออภัยในความไม่สะดวก

The Things

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ม.ค. 2014
  • The Things by 2011 Hugo Award Nominee Peter Watts
    The Things - The story of John Carpenters classic Sci-Fi Horror movie as told from the perspective of the creature as it battles to survive.
    Narrated with the permission of Peter Watts..
    Text: clarkesworldmag...
    Peter Watts Official Site: www.rifters.com/
    MP3 Download;
    www.mediafire....

ความคิดเห็น • 552

  • @one1blue
    @one1blue ปีที่แล้ว +123

    “No. I shared my flesh with thinking cancer.”
    Great line to describe a human. Made my skin crawl.

    • @GRasputin91
      @GRasputin91 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      Explains a lot doesn't it
      No wonder we have so many problems..

    • @andrerobertson3151
      @andrerobertson3151 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      By the thing’s definition, all earth animals are thinking cancer@@GRasputin91

    • @nobodyepicz7538
      @nobodyepicz7538 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      was just gonna write the same thing when remembering reading this comment xD who u calling a thinking cancer heh?

    • @markpaterson2053
      @markpaterson2053 หลายเดือนก่อน

      The whole piece is this cool, I think; that point when the Thing contemplates: "...and yet, part of me wanted to stop before it was too late." Brilliant grey zone of the Thing vs its host: who will assimilate who?

    • @jeangove01
      @jeangove01 6 วันที่ผ่านมา

      Wow so deep

  • @phicks7963
    @phicks7963 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +48

    "I have assimilated a thousand worlds stronger than this, but never one so strange." This book is perfect, I know it isn't cannon but it is a perfect addition to Carpenter's film

    • @changvasejarik62
      @changvasejarik62 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thousand stronger worlds but we’re just to strange…
      I’ll have to remember that line when discussing the Fermi paradox.

  • @EdMcStinko
    @EdMcStinko ปีที่แล้ว +74

    The idea that the alien could watch the dreams and nightmares of its host is fascinating

    • @SamuelBlack84
      @SamuelBlack84 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Maybe it can feel the screams of the many still trapped inside it

    • @stevenhetzel6483
      @stevenhetzel6483 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      ​@@SamuelBlack84sure, but it does so much more. If you take a look at some of Peter's other stories you can see the emphasis on how difficult it is to understand a fellow, alien intelligence.
      The Thing *immediately* understands them. It is practically godlike when compared to every single being ever presented in Watts' stories.
      Knowing all of that displays a reverence for The Thing he has one might not initially realize.
      Watts fucking adores this creation, if only in some remote hypothetical closet of his mind that was opened momentarily to realise this work.

  • @crazierthan-u7571
    @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +275

    Okay, let me get this straight. After the alien assumes a man's form, his mind remains intact for a time. At first, the man would be unaware anything had happened, but as the assimilation progressed, he'd realize he ... wasn't alone? Then there'd be a small window of time when the man was aware of the THING within and, if he had enough presence of mind and understanding, might be able to warn everyone else?
    Now, that's an unspeakable state of affairs that had never occurred to me. I love this kind of stuff.

    • @NathanTarantlawriter
      @NathanTarantlawriter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      And during that "window" the alien would probably paralyze him.

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@NathanTarantlawriter
      I don't know. There might not be a need for the alien to do anything, since nobody would know what the unfortunate infected guy was babbling about.
      But wait. Wasn't the guy who bashed up all their radios and stuff acting during the window, and was he the same one who disabled the plane? Or did the creature orchestrate all of that, and if so, why?

    • @NathanTarantlawriter
      @NathanTarantlawriter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@crazierthan-u7571 So many questions. Have you read the original original tale the Thing is based on? It still holds up imho.

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      @@NathanTarantlawriter
      "Who Goes There?" oh, yeah. It's pretty good. Have you seen the first movie they made of it in the '50s? That was a hoot.
      Speaking of books turned movies, I listened to Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" (Bladerunner). I really liked that one.

    • @NathanTarantlawriter
      @NathanTarantlawriter 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@crazierthan-u7571 The original The Thing is one of my all time favs. Still stands up. Hard to believe how far ahead of his time PKD was.

  • @thekingsean92
    @thekingsean92 4 ปีที่แล้ว +317

    It's strange how while reading this excellent short story I almost feel sympathy for the thing. I love how it tries to put you through the thing's point of view and how it conveyes the sense that despite the monster's atrocious behaviour it could not understand why humans were trying to attack it, it was only doing what came natural to it. I find it a very thoughtful representation of how Alien life could think, what is normal for us may be threat to another being and vice versa

    • @joethekinghawk7514
      @joethekinghawk7514 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      Come, take communion with me, for I'm the "THING".

    • @Arwcwb
      @Arwcwb 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      That is hilarious

    • @Arwcwb
      @Arwcwb 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I take that back.

    • @thekingsean92
      @thekingsean92 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Arwcwb XD XD why?

    • @nicosmind3
      @nicosmind3 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@joethekinghawk7514 Catholics and the Thing have lots in common

  • @SirGrimLockSmithVIII
    @SirGrimLockSmithVIII 2 ปีที่แล้ว +119

    While I prefer the "Childs isn't the Thing" interpretation for the ending of the OG film, I do like how Watts includes that bit where Childs's dying consciousness straight-up calls The Thing a soul-stealing rapist. One last act of rebellion that makes The Thing actually question why it does what it does.

    • @None38389
      @None38389 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      Also where the thing learned the word "rape", I wonder if what it thinks the word means is different from what we think it means.

    • @therealmanguyman
      @therealmanguyman 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@None38389 Doesn't it talk about understanding all the stuff it assimilates?

  • @GRasputin91
    @GRasputin91 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +25

    The way it describes human loneliness is scary accurate--"unable to communicate except through grunts and tokens." The Thing doesnt communicate--it can see and feel exactly how other lifeforns can. Impossible to comprehend but so incredibly fascinating to think about

  • @freakyold
    @freakyold 6 ปีที่แล้ว +227

    This explains why the Thing attacked so openly and clumsily in the Norwegian camp. It didn't yet realize that humans feared "communion" and it was better to assimilate them when they were alone and unseen - one by one by one...

    • @notinspectorgadget
      @notinspectorgadget 4 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      Ohhhhh interesting! And here I thought it was because the remake was an unnecessary, poorly written, incompetently shot, dumpster fire of a movie.

    • @pogothepurple3826
      @pogothepurple3826 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      I like both of these theories!

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      It's a good demonstration of how truly alien the motives of aliens might be.

    • @derpymcderpster3447
      @derpymcderpster3447 3 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      @@notinspectorgadget It was still an unnecessary, poorly written, incompetently shot, dumpster fire of a movie. LoL

    • @melbaelba5706
      @melbaelba5706 3 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Oh come on....it was a good movie. Worth a watch anyway.

  • @sadsalamander9651
    @sadsalamander9651 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    I love how the thing consider the world to not be the planet itself but the life on it and refers to it as such.

  • @duchessarcher66
    @duchessarcher66 6 ปีที่แล้ว +227

    the best reading of this piece out there. the narrators voice is dead on for this alien, so self absorbed and arrogant, "they. attacked. me."

    • @sebas8225
      @sebas8225 6 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      A radical Self-defense bigot villain

    • @derpymcderpster3447
      @derpymcderpster3447 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      So it's a liberal alien thing? LoL

    • @bruceli9094
      @bruceli9094 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@derpymcderpster3447 Kung flu fighting

    • @benthomason3307
      @benthomason3307 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      It's not arrogant, just otherworldy and confused.

    • @a.jherbert5436
      @a.jherbert5436 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@derpymcderpster3447 I bet you have a lot of friends...

  • @joethekinghawk7514
    @joethekinghawk7514 2 ปีที่แล้ว +97

    "I was once so much more, spreading across the cosmos and taking communion with different lifeforms, a solder, fighting against entropy itself making the unfit fit". The thing speak as if it's a god of some sort. Wow!

    • @livingbeing1113
      @livingbeing1113 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Well, it is some sort of supernatural being, close to unbeatable and very op.
      Travelling accross the universe assimilating the shape and knowledge, consuming every kind of lifeform.

    • @jonathanrayne
      @jonathanrayne 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Not a god, but a celestial soldier toiling away planet after planet, world after world...with a single purpose: 'Make the unfit, fit. Shore up the interstellar beach against erosion. Deny entropy with constant innovation.'
      Sounds like the life of a slave, shackked and harnessed by nature's programming...not a god.

    • @joethekinghawk7514
      @joethekinghawk7514 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@livingbeing1113 deep, very deep.

    • @SamuelBlack84
      @SamuelBlack84 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      I wonder how it got off the planet it originally came from? Perhaps an alien visitor landed on its planet, and it took the opportunity

    • @somerandomboi8239
      @somerandomboi8239 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      ​@@SamuelBlack84 Or perhaps it figured out physics and built its own ship

  • @matthewfels7134
    @matthewfels7134 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Amazing! I noticed that as the story progresses, we(the humans) are referred to as “the things”. An individual existence, one separate from the whole is unthinkable for it.

  • @CHALETARCADE
    @CHALETARCADE 3 ปีที่แล้ว +91

    The difference between fan fiction and the dedicated work of an actual writer is really immense! This was brilliant and engrossing. Loved it!

    • @GigaBoost
      @GigaBoost ปีที่แล้ว +7

      This IS fanfiction, buddy.

    • @CHALETARCADE
      @CHALETARCADE ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@GigaBoost Obviously, but by a professional writter and I think it makes all the difference.

    • @GigaBoost
      @GigaBoost ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@CHALETARCADE so what you mean to say is that there's a difference between a great writer and an amateur

    • @stevenhetzel6483
      @stevenhetzel6483 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@GigaBoostyes. That was the initial point. One that you chose to miss, purposefully, to show some retarded sense of grandeur.
      It's strange, watching people's minds evolve through YT comments. Like you can't do it on your own, you need to peacock and pretend.

    • @welpimf0cked654
      @welpimf0cked654 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      ​@@stevenhetzel6483unessesarily rude comment is unessesarily rude.

  • @crazierthan-u7571
    @crazierthan-u7571 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    It was cool how horrified the Thing was by the human brain, regarding it as a cancer. It was sickened by the thought it had been communing with cancer.

  • @terriblelizardden410
    @terriblelizardden410 3 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    Ahahah, the way it explains the brain. " I felt sick."
    I enjoyed this a lot. I did always imagine the Thing being very predatory as well.

  • @ethantaylor9613
    @ethantaylor9613 2 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    Based on my interpretation of some of the background information the thing gives on some of its previous interstellar travels I’ve come to an interesting conclusion. This is more speculation and hearsay than explicit text, but it says that it’s been to other planets before and taken communion but it’s never encountered anything like humanity. To me this seems to imply that it’s only ever encountered two types of lifeforms. Animals, which it seems to regard as useful but not particularly interesting, and other sapient life which is also similar to itself. If this is true then the default form that Apex sapient life on any given plan it takes might be gestalt absorbing consciousness. Humanity may be an incredibly rare exception or even unique surrounded on all sides by other planets that all evolved different versions of the same entity.

    • @user-pc7ef5sb6x
      @user-pc7ef5sb6x 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Humans do assimilate, but not in the way that the Thing does. We have sex, bare children and we live in immortality that way by passing on our genes. That is a form of communion. The alien doesn't understand or doesn't know about reproductivity, which maybe exclusive to Earth from the rest of the universe.

    • @SamuelBlack84
      @SamuelBlack84 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      It's similar to the theory that sapient life might be either incredibly rare or a one-off that occurred only on our planet, and all other alien lives are nothing but simple microscopic life

    • @YuhBoiiiii
      @YuhBoiiiii 9 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

      It’s also interesting when the thing is taking over the body he says he’s looking for the hive mind but there is none and realizes every human is unique and sentient all on their own.

  • @gabriellen.2886
    @gabriellen.2886 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    How wickedly ironic the tone is throughout! "Take Communion" indeed LOL. This is some expertly-written character development; the being becomes more arrogantly human than the humans he rides--THEY are the Things, not he himself. I loved it all! Bravo to the writer and voice actor!

  • @MyrdinAnnoth
    @MyrdinAnnoth 4 ปีที่แล้ว +93

    This an amazing 53 minutes. Both the narration was great and the story as well. It was fascinating seeing a being like this, or better to say a fragment of being like this, and how it at first struggled to comprehend the life forms on this planet (the dogs and humans). Going through different theories just to in the end sympathize and feel sorry for us, as from its point of view we were trapped in a singular form, unable to adapt, evolve and change. This work puts out so many questions and yet it also has some interesting answers to offer. Fascinating, truly it was. Thank you Peter for sharing this audio narration of "the Things" with us!

    • @andy-the-gardener
      @andy-the-gardener 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      only the thing was wrong. very wrong. we are incredible shape shifters. have been shifting for aeons. constantly morphing. imperceptibly. subtly. remorselessly. and. and, we actually, yes, exist!

    • @stevenhetzel6483
      @stevenhetzel6483 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      ​@@andy-the-gardenerthat is so far and beyond the point I feel like we didn't just listen to the same story..
      We HAVE been shifting for eons. But.. it's taken eons. The Thing shifts and adapts *immediately*, how else does it conquer, rather, assimilate 1,000 worlds so easily?
      The fact that we are so incredulously slow to change and adapt, down to our most basic workings, is what confused the everloving shit out of it.
      It is implying other life shifts far quicker in environments. Not only that, it implies it's presence and wealth of evolutionary ability and information is practically *welcomed* by *every* alien form it has assimilated, every one but us. Us, who are so distant and combative to even the thought of change.
      This isn't just some evolutionary take on Humans, it's a deeply philosophical one. Watts is trying his best to show how stubborn we are in spite of dumbfounding odds, and your comment hilariously only serves to prove it.

  • @1DoctorMoo
    @1DoctorMoo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    This is an amazing short story. Reading through the comments I am amazed that some people cannot see its point. It's a counter narrative. Clever. Insightful. Poignant.

  • @joses1018
    @joses1018 6 ปีที่แล้ว +55

    This narrator is easily the best I've ever heard

  • @jonathanrayne
    @jonathanrayne 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Damn, this makes want to be a better writer!
    This is just the pure definition of excellent writing.

  • @SamuelBlack84
    @SamuelBlack84 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

    I find it inreresting how despite the countless lifeforms its assimilated over the millenia it still retains its own yhoughts, personality, droves and desires. It doesn't just absorb the flesh, it also completely overrules their minds so only its own is dominant

    • @ShadeUnderTheSoul
      @ShadeUnderTheSoul หลายเดือนก่อน

      I think that The Thing actually absorbs the minds of the flesh. Notice how it only refers to "rape" after Childs calls it out as a rapist? Because The Thing is now part of Childs, and Childs is part of the Thing

  • @pavlovvi
    @pavlovvi 6 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Peter Watts is amazing! Thank you, Peter Reynolds, for excellent delivery!

  • @user-yk7dc9hu2k
    @user-yk7dc9hu2k 6 ปีที่แล้ว +114

    It's kinda funny to hear it talk shit about our anatomy, especially the brain lol

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Yeah -- "thinking cancer"? Was that it?

    • @derpymcderpster3447
      @derpymcderpster3447 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@crazierthan-u7571 Among other things. LoL

    • @joethekinghawk7514
      @joethekinghawk7514 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      It has a great disdain for the human brain and nerves system.

    • @axelwulf6220
      @axelwulf6220 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      It was more on morphology than static ability

  • @MagicE13
    @MagicE13 2 ปีที่แล้ว +70

    This was EPIC.
    Recommended by RLM's Rich "Oh My God!!" Evan's.

    • @BlackReaper2O1
      @BlackReaper2O1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      also here on Rich's recommendation, insane i didn't know this story existed

    • @DavidFrancis24824
      @DavidFrancis24824 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Rich!!!!!!!!!!!

    • @MHDebidour
      @MHDebidour ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks to him I get here too

  • @BlueVenom9
    @BlueVenom9 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    this just makes the situation even sadder

  • @ScooBdont
    @ScooBdont 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    I just came across this after watching a version of the Dark Horse Alien 3 comic. It was in the links of that video and I’m very happy I clicked it. I wasn’t aware, before hearing this, the story had been told from the “Things” perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for making this available ✌️🙂👍
    Edit: I thought the title “The Things” referred to the separate alien entities but finally realized it referred to the separate humans as alien had trouble understanding life being/having individual and separate thoughts and existence from each other and not a collective like itself. F’n brilliant writing.

  • @Noone-qw2xs
    @Noone-qw2xs ปีที่แล้ว +11

    This is very interesting. As a biology student. Something like a creature like this explained? IT could come to our planet and literally just take over on a cellular level

  • @duchessarcher66
    @duchessarcher66 7 ปีที่แล้ว +94

    you had me at "I am being Blair"

    • @sebas8225
      @sebas8225 6 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      The Thing would be great at acting.

  • @johndetheshape3095
    @johndetheshape3095 7 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    This was epic really cool to know how the thing thinks

  • @matthewcrane4578
    @matthewcrane4578 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Very impressive, I loved how the Thing described everything from it's perspective until it learn what we called it. Lends a whole new perspective on watching the movie again.

  • @nicosmind3
    @nicosmind3 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I linked this in the RLM video... Probably no one will see that comment lol

  • @dustyboi8975
    @dustyboi8975 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    This is such good sci fi. It’s rare that you get such a good POV from a truly alien creature

  • @handsomestik
    @handsomestik 6 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    it is funny that the Thing doesn't understand that we don't like being connected, well some of us but not all. Some of us hate the idea of sharing all. Thing doesn't understand this.

    • @joethekinghawk7514
      @joethekinghawk7514 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Communion (assimilation) is the thing's only driving force, it can't see anything outside of that.

  • @mjkb-dy6qf
    @mjkb-dy6qf 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    This was amazing. I've wondered when exactly did Blair become an imitation of himself? The situation with Child's has always been a mystery. We see him leave the facility. We don't see him for a while. Then he pops back up after the whole facility and seemingly the thing is destroyed. It would make anyone wonder if Child's is really who he is. That's what makes some movies great, the mystery/suspense that leaves you trying to guess what has occurred. This was an entertaining and creepy perspective from the aliens' point of view.

  • @Xeorboom
    @Xeorboom หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    this does fit The Thing! it's not evil, it's just a being that's only goal is to survive

  • @blankfrancine
    @blankfrancine 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    From 1938's "Who Goes There?" to film adaptations in the 50s and 80s to this story, it never gets old. Thanks for posting.

  • @GenericProtagonist7
    @GenericProtagonist7 6 ปีที่แล้ว +169

    "They. Attacked. Me. First."
    Sure thing buddy, sure thing.

    • @teflonmagnet
      @teflonmagnet 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Generic Protagonist it’s a counterpuncher, like Trump

    • @GlaciusTS
      @GlaciusTS 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      I would say it was right if not for the fact that I’ve seen the prequel and the monster definitely attacked first.

    • @thekingsean92
      @thekingsean92 4 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      @@GlaciusTS the thing says the humans attacked when it tried to take communion with them. So basically what the humans perceived as an attack was actually the assimilation wich was a natural process for the thing hence why it was surprised by the fact that humans didn't understand it's logic. The story shows how truly alien the thing was, not just in biology but even in it's way of thinking

    • @povertychef46
      @povertychef46 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@thekingsean92 Thank you. I didn't think this needed clarification.

    • @thekingsean92
      @thekingsean92 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      @@povertychef46 it does need clarification if you only watch the movie. In the movie the thing just appears to be malevolent, while the short story reveals how much more of a personality it possesses, with feelings and a full conscience

  • @DAV1979
    @DAV1979 5 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    I'm a huge fan of Carpenter's film and all the mythos about the Thing, so I found this story fascinating. I loved hearing a story from the Thing's POV.

  • @turdzilla1675
    @turdzilla1675 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    This is super cool. I always thought the Thing to be the reason the ship crashed. Perhaps an escaped experiment turned against the ones who created the space ship. Kind of how the Shoggoth turned on the great old ones in "The Mountains of Madness".

    • @SamuelBlack84
      @SamuelBlack84 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I think the official theory is that it was taken by the crew of the ship as a specimen for study

  • @BigHosMan
    @BigHosMan 9 ปีที่แล้ว +84

    WOW!! I stumbled across a pdf version of this brilliant movie tie-in story and was literally blown away....NOW I find an audio version! The Gods are smiling on me today.
    Mr. Watts crafted an exceptionally tight,well-written and very believable piece of fiction;managing to make it within the JC Thing canon. Some serious consideration,thought and extrapolation went into this jem. No...I`m not the guy`s agent,brother or bookie either! LOL I`m just a huge JC`s THE THING fan (love the Campbell story,50`s film...even that 'red-headed step-child' prequel from 2011) and appreciate the author`s gift of the Thing`s Side view. Have turned on many people to "The Things" over the past years,now it`ll be easier thanks to this audiobook version.
    Much obliged,Mr.Peter Reynolds!

    • @PeterReynoldsVA
      @PeterReynoldsVA  9 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      O.G. BigHosMan Glad you liked it, and thanks! The Thing is one of my all time favorite Sci Fi movies so, after Watts gave his blessing, I had to do it :)

    • @kittycatour1232
      @kittycatour1232 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Peter Reynolds Why is this version making the alien dumb? I read the original story, who goes there? The thing simply built a means of escape. It creates a power supply and antigravity. Why is this version making the alien dumb and pitiful? A creature that can travel the universe can get out of a well with ease. Why is this not mentioned in the story. It was a dangerous and intelligent alien not a pitiful creature in a well. What about the nuclear power? Antigravity? You should have followed the original message and story not John carpenter, he has no imagination and I think he messed up the original story, because you clearly just wanted a quick rating. People truly have no idea

    • @kittycatour1232
      @kittycatour1232 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Peter Reynolds You should have went by the original story not John carpenter version. It took too much intelligence from the alien

    • @kittycatour1232
      @kittycatour1232 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      Peter Reynolds Raping, really sad to describe such an ancient creature communication skills. SMH. I am truly disappointed

    • @PeterReynoldsVA
      @PeterReynoldsVA  7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Are you blind? Did neglect to see this at the very top of the description? "The Things by 2011 Hugo Award Nominee Peter Watts" - Note the author PETER WATTS. Well known Sci Fi Author. You don't like the story? Then go talk to Peter Watts and John Carpenter.

  • @litote9
    @litote9 7 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Thanks for narrating this. You did it well. Great take on a classic story, I wouldn't have come across it if not for your effort.

  • @the3rdreichneverdied758
    @the3rdreichneverdied758 7 ปีที่แล้ว +62

    thinking cancer now that is a great line

    • @k9cobra728
      @k9cobra728 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Damn, i realized a long time ago that the thing and cancer ain't that different

    • @conor3361
      @conor3361 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@k9cobra728 both destroy you on a cellular level.

  • @charlesd.mercuryii9963
    @charlesd.mercuryii9963 6 ปีที่แล้ว +64

    Brilliant job, man. The aesthetic of your voice is somehow perfect for the creature, and the pacing is perfect as well.

    • @stevenhetzel6483
      @stevenhetzel6483 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I agree. Between this and "Troika" is a unanimous tie for me for the best-narration-with-regards-to-story award.
      You can find it on YT rather easily.

  • @bartacomuskidd775
    @bartacomuskidd775 7 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    This is pretty brilliant.. and some very awesome thought experiments. I like the 3rd person flow.. of a single, yet legion organism.

  • @unopine
    @unopine ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I enjoyed this narration as much as I enjoyed reading The Things about a decade ago. I was only 11 when I saw John Carpenter's The Thing, but I recognized it to be a masterpiece decades before the critics realized they'd not given the movie half a chance. Watt's take on the psychology of "communion" from the Thing's perspective is brilliant, especially when contrasted against the loneliness of the human condition... Just WOW. And the Thing's ultimate decision to relieve our suffering by evolving human consciousness beyond its terrible condition of isolation- by raping it into us- is horror and humor perfectly complimenting one another.

  • @MAnuscript421
    @MAnuscript421 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    The Thing sounds like the Borg from Star Trek. Both trying to reshape every life form to conform to it's own physiology. The Thing declares we are unadaptable and claims it is trying to perfect our species, just like the Borg. Kinda gives new light to this creature. Maybe I should take this short story the next time I watch the movie.

  • @markpaterson2053
    @markpaterson2053 หลายเดือนก่อน

    A million light years away from fan-fiction, this is simply brilliant; a real writer who gives a genuinely ingenius take on the background of this classic horror.

  • @billbaggins7355
    @billbaggins7355 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    This is one of the best short stories and a take on The Thing I've ever seen. Hugo Award Nominee indeed.

  • @kevindeantonio5582
    @kevindeantonio5582 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    This was really, really good! Never felt those 53 minutes pass, but wanted more! I wish I would've known about this story years ago. Thank You and your effort!

  • @Northern5tar
    @Northern5tar 8 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    Ha another twist to the story. Very well narrated. Deep, somewhat raw, sound, very fitting. Thank you.

    • @kittycatour1232
      @kittycatour1232 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      NorthernStar This version makes the alien dumb.Why? the original story of the thing it creates a power supply and antigravity, so why is this version making a intelligent alien pitiful alien dumb? It makes no sense

    • @roryscott2941
      @roryscott2941 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@kittycatour1232 They mentioned Thing/Blair's DIY space ship somewhere around 2:10 so it retained some knowledge.

  • @tomatowarfare849
    @tomatowarfare849 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Nothing like excellent story that is excellently read. So well done mr Reynolds. Had chills down my spine at times.

  • @benthomason3307
    @benthomason3307 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    This thing talks so much about being the essence of adaptation, but if you think about it, a world this thing has taken over couldn't even have anything _like_ an ecosystem. Why would a dog bother trying to eat a rabbit if they're both offshoots of the same person, after all? Once every thing is a thing, you might as well turn everything into a plant and just... sit there. Forever. There wouldn't even be a point in having thought anymore, for what is there to think about?

  • @somethingbanter
    @somethingbanter 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    this is one of my all time sci fi stories ever

  • @sebas8225
    @sebas8225 6 ปีที่แล้ว +64

    Of course it attacked you Thing! In our PoV you are a evil bio weapon whose thoughts match a megalomaniac like The Master from Fallout 1!

    • @jamesburke3413
      @jamesburke3413 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Great point.

    • @midshipman8654
      @midshipman8654 5 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      Sebas G yah but the thing doesn’t have a human frame of reference. It’s a completely Alien Being who didn’t even know humans had individuality. To it, what it did was the equivalent to a handshake. That’s why I like this story so much, it if from a completely eldrich mindset looking in on human behavior!

  • @chasenip2
    @chasenip2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I’m glad the YT gods finally brought this to me. U did an excellent job. I suggest to those who have not done so to read the short story yourself. The 2 together make for a more complete experience.

  • @jeremydeetz3593
    @jeremydeetz3593 6 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    this was a really cool perspective.

  • @CastlesForEyes
    @CastlesForEyes 3 ปีที่แล้ว +44

    I love this! Don't love the idea of Child's being a Thing, but I still love it. Can't believe its taken me so long to discover it. Perfect reading too. No other reading comes close.

    • @joethekinghawk7514
      @joethekinghawk7514 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Childs wasn't the thing.

    • @CastlesForEyes
      @CastlesForEyes ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@joethekinghawk7514 ~ He was in this story.

    • @joethekinghawk7514
      @joethekinghawk7514 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@CastlesForEyes I hear you, but child's was human at the end according other cannons.

    • @CastlesForEyes
      @CastlesForEyes ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@joethekinghawk7514 ~ Definitely. I only go by the film, this short story is just a "what if" sort of thing, and I love it. But as far as cannon goes, I only go by the film. I always imagined that they were both still human, but Childs just showing up like that at the end was suspicious as hell and started the paranoia all over again.
      Helluva film, one of the best.

    • @justin3415
      @justin3415 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      In the comics which is considered a sequel childs was the thing.check them out very interesting.

  • @JakeHkd2
    @JakeHkd2 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Linked here from a forum, great story and great narration. Just like in the movie where the Thing is completely alien and unknowable, from the Thing's perspective it views us the same way. Liked how the Thing went from not understanding, to horror and revulsion, to finally sympathy and pity.

    • @Null257
      @Null257 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      The best villains always think they're the good guys.

    • @lordfatcock
      @lordfatcock ปีที่แล้ว

      Yeah... until it says "I will r*pe it into them" but it genuinely thinks it's doing good. As it claims to want to evolve us. But I think it just wants to gather every piece of knowledge and learn pratically everything.

  • @-MrFozzy-
    @-MrFozzy- 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Came here via RedLetterMedias video. Looking forward to this!

  • @markwalker4823
    @markwalker4823 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    That was blood brilliant. Hats off to the narrator and author 👏

  • @badmeatbrowniesthoughts1327
    @badmeatbrowniesthoughts1327 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Freaking awesome..I'm completely floored..
    Just an absolutely brilliant slant on a classic .. love it!!

  • @jeremyallen492
    @jeremyallen492 3 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    You know, for being a hyper intelligent being that traveled the stars and found a way to transcend death the creature sure had its fair share of dumb ass attacks

    • @themaus1799
      @themaus1799 2 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      It was hyper intelligent before the crash. Afterwards when the majority of it was destoryed it only had around a human level of intellect and it was on an alien planet confused out of its mind leading to it making bad/ignorent assuptions.

  • @HeathcliffBlair
    @HeathcliffBlair 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    First rate reading of a fascinating text. New life given to a classic.Thanks.

  • @duchessarcher66
    @duchessarcher66 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    this is the best reading, the story alone is great but the way its read is what pulled me in.

  • @markpaterson2053
    @markpaterson2053 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I love how there's no malice whatsoever in the alien.

  • @elektrozil9728
    @elektrozil9728 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    This leaves me feeling like Ive listened to back to back joy Division records. It leaves a great space left inside to ponder and reflect upon the meaning of... my god yes, we are together all alone.

  • @snarfscream
    @snarfscream 6 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Amazing thank you for taking the time to narrate this!

  • @residentgrigo4701
    @residentgrigo4701 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Thx RLM.

  • @Johny40Se7en
    @Johny40Se7en หลายเดือนก่อน

    48:57 "Everything here is walking dead, and yet it fights so hard to keep going a little longer". Bloody LOVE that symbolism, it's even better than "a thinking tumour" 😊🥰
    This is Incredibly well written. And it's so bizarre, wonderful and eerie to hear The Thing's thoughts and account almost as if it's some sort of genetic diary being deciphered and played back by way of tape recording 🙃
    Also, 49:33 is so sad because for the most, and all too often, it's true. "I will have to rape it into them", talk about tough "love", Ooof! 😅
    Have to say, this should be official cannon, it's just so well done and thought out, fair play.

  • @gertrudelaronge6864
    @gertrudelaronge6864 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Love this!
    It's an interesting thought experiment, trying to imagine our species from the veiw point of an organism so unlike us.
    It reminds me a little of "Wittgenstein's Lion."

  • @dhoffman4994
    @dhoffman4994 6 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Great job!!! Loved it!
    Very believable. The Things thoughts and ideas made complete sense.
    More of this with other stories please!!!
    Monsters point of view is great.
    How about the point of view of the Cenobite “Pinhead”???

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Yikes, I'm not sure I want to hear Pinhead's POV!

  • @misterRDF
    @misterRDF 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    This was awesome, stumbled onto this by sheer luck.

  • @StrangeloveTheDoctor
    @StrangeloveTheDoctor 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Very enjoyable story, and narration. It's tone and perspective is something special. I have listened to it a good few times today.

  • @will7254
    @will7254 6 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    Sounds like a twisted version of the Borg.

    • @TheCorrodedMan
      @TheCorrodedMan 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Will Not really twisted. The Borg are completely computer based, their philosophy forged by a computer and written in binary. The thing is, at least, organic and capable of emotion in its own way.

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@TheCorrodedMan Ah, but the Borg are capable of emotion when separated from the collective. Remember Hugh, aka Third of Five?

  • @atilax6452
    @atilax6452 6 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    If u guys liked this story, the style, the deeper concepts, the intelligent view of the situation, I suggest reading MORE Peter Watts baby!
    Start with Blindsight, onto Echopraxia, then The Colonel.
    The night before u begin Blindsight, get a good night of sleep. Eat a good meal. Watch some meaningless tv. Gaze upon your humble, safe surroundings and smile.
    Then, begin your journey. In the weeks to follow, as u read, as u ponder, as u question and read again, u may have to ask people around u, to please, b patient. Tell them that u r "working on a project" and u have a lot on your mind.
    When u return from your trip to the future, u may need a good, stiff drink. And a hug.

    • @natsones1374
      @natsones1374 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Ah brilliant I've heard this story a few times before but never got hold of any of his other fiction. He has done I think a talk at Google a few years ago. Thanks!

    • @lpg12338
      @lpg12338 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The Blindsight audiobook was outstanding. 👍😁

    • @richardspillers6282
      @richardspillers6282 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I'd heard of Echopraxia, didn't realize it was the same author. Thank you!

    • @atilax6452
      @atilax6452 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lpg12338 - I have read it a few times and enjoy the Audible version. This book is in my top 5 favorites. "The Colonel" is a short story that takes place before "Blindsight" and "Echopraxia" is after. I wish he would explore that universe a little more. I think he is giving us a fairly accurate glimpse of our future world. Unfortunately.

    • @atilax6452
      @atilax6452 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@richardspillers6282 - This us a great read as well. Same universe, but dives farther into themes, predictions and technologies hinted at in "Blindsight".

  • @TheSorrowOfTheReaper
    @TheSorrowOfTheReaper 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Astonishing writing and reading. I had a great time listening!

  • @lilpimp994
    @lilpimp994 4 ปีที่แล้ว +51

    Damn Childs was infected long before the ending according to this.

    • @atilax6452
      @atilax6452 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      - No man!! Don't believe it.
      It's trying to pit us against each other!!

    • @willb5571
      @willb5571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@atilax6452 Trump's game plan...👀 sorry couldn't resist 🤔🤨😏😉☮️

    • @johnjaleco5683
      @johnjaleco5683 3 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@willb5571 BIDEN IS the Thing 😋

    • @kman314wastaken
      @kman314wastaken 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Then how did he test negative in the blood test?

    • @byronlivingstone8320
      @byronlivingstone8320 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@kman314wastaken The power of positive thinking

  • @michaelmorris6406
    @michaelmorris6406 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I thought it was well known that Childs was the thing at the end. Even I knew that as a kid. But the thing didn't want to assimilate McGreedy he doesn't like McGreedy. It doesn't want anything to do with assimilating with him. He's a loner. The creature is not a loner. It doesn't want to assimilate with a loner. McGreedy knows that Child's is the thing. And he is not going to let him get away.

  • @axelwulf6220
    @axelwulf6220 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The beat is the Thing's heart beating

  • @anthonyfleming2227
    @anthonyfleming2227 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Loved it, level 10, top shelf. 👌

  • @daleanderson1727
    @daleanderson1727 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Incredibly well written and the reading voice was superb. Fantastic!

  • @CBBeresford
    @CBBeresford 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    Can we get Keith David to read this?

    • @av3sta480
      @av3sta480 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      CB Buddha Jesus Christ that would be amazing!...

  • @MHDebidour
    @MHDebidour 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Now let's watch it again with that point of view in mind !

  • @JammyGuns
    @JammyGuns 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    This is superbly done, a fantastic concept.

  • @geothor1
    @geothor1 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The thing with Russel was one of my all time scariest movies. It was awesome, perfectly done but it was traumatic when I first saw it. This I can’t listen too. Good. Luck

  • @djr1943
    @djr1943 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Very well thought out and nicely recorded. Thanks!

  • @chuckyb3211
    @chuckyb3211 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This was really good! I enjoyed this listen

  • @JashariRilind
    @JashariRilind 7 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    I like to see it from the things perspective. It wants to help us on one side but doesn't respect our desire to stay who we are on the other. It didn't understand that every single human is an entity until the end. What I don't understand is how does it want to bring us salvation if it assimilates us humans? I mean Childs stops existing. His consciousness disappears. He's gone! He won't experience salvation so every other human being won't do it as well. It kinda plays god with us.

    • @NickonPlanetRipple
      @NickonPlanetRipple 7 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      I think the Thing just fails to recognize the consciousness inside the "searchlights" as souls in their own right to even be incorporated. Childs was as bizarre and alien to it, being an individual, as it was to us. To the thing, a soul is spread throughout the entire body, every nerve and cell feeling and thinking and communicating at once. What we call the soul is just a figment to it, something pretending to be someone.
      What really fascinates me is the idea that across the universe, all life lives and acts as the thing does, and it being abnormal and weird for life forms like us to exist.

    • @VincentVega93
      @VincentVega93 6 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      It's typical communists.

    • @midshipman8654
      @midshipman8654 5 ปีที่แล้ว

      Nick on Planet Ripple I have to agree with you

    • @crazierthan-u7571
      @crazierthan-u7571 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@NickonPlanetRipple I got a hint of an impression that perhaps this was the state of affairs on a very ancient Earth as well, then life evolved from the one to the many. Probably a misunderstanding on my part. At any rate, we're cast as a deviation from the "norm."

  • @chumorgan443
    @chumorgan443 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I've no idea how it could be implemented but I would love to see this made into a sister movie to the original.
    Perhaps like a directors commentary over the footage.

  • @chuckmalone8873
    @chuckmalone8873 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    What the thing never gets is that we are part of the greater societal whole and what a collection of individuals working together can achieve I.E. the idea to use flamethrowers for snow removal

  • @randallpetroelje3913
    @randallpetroelje3913 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very Lovecraftian and a excellent sequel/ prequel to the original film

  • @JohnSmith-2koolaid
    @JohnSmith-2koolaid 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    It didn’t come here to be a dog.. it wants to be us!

  • @stingray2001
    @stingray2001 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I recommend rewatching the film after listening to this. It really gives it a whole nother dimension, putting Child's in a new light and knowing what The Thing might be thinking.

  • @Claythargic
    @Claythargic 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    This Guy, ONE VIDEO IN 10 YEARS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?? and its effing fantabulous!

  • @bobrobson3397
    @bobrobson3397 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Excellent. Reminiscent, at points,
    of Lovecraftian cosmic horror.
    The mutagenic plasticity, a form
    of boundless, interstellar
    consciousness yet expressive
    of its multiplicity in singular,
    individuality, is most impressive!

  • @phoenixjames6126
    @phoenixjames6126 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    This is an amazing concept.

  • @boxmanatee
    @boxmanatee 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    2:05 "The world has found Meowth."

  • @Octoshark1
    @Octoshark1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Rich Evans sent me 👍

  • @1SeanBond
    @1SeanBond ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Absolutely amazing Beautifully done Ty for posting this awesome story!🙂✌🏼