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Phantoms (novel)
Encyclopedia
Phantoms is a novel written by best-selling author Dean Koontz
, first published in 1983.
Together, the girls and the police are able to request help from the military Biological Investigations Unit. The police managed to find only one clue as to what was causing the town's disappearances and deaths. A victim of whatever was trying to kill him managed to write the name Timothy Flyte, on a mirror moments before he was killed. Flyte is a British
academic and author of a book, The Ancient Enemy. His book catalogs and describes various mass vanishings of people in different parts of the world over the centuries.
It is discovered that the town was built over the hibernating place of this creature, an amoeboid
shapeshifter
. The Ancient Enemy rarely feeds, but when it does, the effects are devastating. It was theorized that the Enemy either caused or aided in the extinction of the dinosaurs, as well as many of the great mysterious mass vanishings: Mayan civilization, Roanoke
, ghost ships, etc.
The creature consumes other life forms to increase its mass and is able to perfectly mimic other creatures. It can create small "probes" or "phantoms" imitating consumed life forms to go forth and hunt more prey, obeying the orders of its "hive mind;" in addition the creature absorbs the mental capacity of those it consumes.
Its only vital organ is a nucleus located in the center of its main body. The creature's cells are similar in molecular structure to fossil fuels; upon discovering this the scientists use oil-eating bacteria to destroy the Enemy's core or brain. (The genetically-modified bacteria are the real-life creations of Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty
)
's version of the "Thing" from The Thing, the movie monster The Blob
, the creature in the short story "Slime" by Joseph Payne Brennan
, the monstrous It
from the novel of the same name by Stephen King
and the "shoggoth
s" envisioned in the works of H. P. Lovecraft
. Its shape shifting and probing abilities also resemble those of the planetary creature in Stanislaw Lem
's Solaris
.
The Snowfield survivors discover that the creature consumes other life forms as sustenance, and is able to perfectly mimic any creature it consumes. It can create small "probes" or "phantoms," imitating consumed life forms, to go forth and hunt more prey, obeying the orders of its "hive mind." In addition, the creature absorbs the mental capacity and memories of those it consumes, so its mind grows more powerful, intelligent and self-aware over time. (In fact, the creature initiates contact with the survivors and personally requests Flyte to come to Snowfield, referring to him as its "biographer.") Besides being able to mimic real animals and people, the creature can also form phantoms based on mental images from its victims; it takes sadistic delight in creating phantoms in the shape of religious demons and monsters to terrorize its victims before killing. The creature also apparently emits subtle psychic vibrations that its prey can sense. It is unknown if this is part of its biology or just another way of tormenting its victims.
The shapeshifting Ancient Enemy can contort its body into the smallest of spaces (through keyholes, air ducts, etc.), which is how it managed to kill and eat people who locked themselves inside rooms and cars. It also possesses extremely keen sensory organs and extremely fast speed, which explains why even the animals around Snowfield didn't escape its predation. Conventional weapons and firearms cause no damage to its gelatinous body. It feeds by completely enveloping its victims (hence the universal bruising seen earlier) and then secreting a digestive enzyme
, thus leaving no biotic
traces of its victims. Toward the end of the novel the monster declares that it considers all other life forms, including humans, to be intellectually "inferior" to itself, nothing more than cattle to be consumed when it is hungry. It keeps Flyte and a few others alive as "pets" for its own amusement.
The creature discloses to Flyte and the other survivors that it has come to think of itself as Satan
, due to thoughts acquired from the minds of past humans it consumed (notably a devil worshiper). The absorption of these thoughts changed the creature over time from merely predatory to overtly sadistic; it engages in a number of intentional, non-predatory evils, including torture
, psychological warfare
, blasphemy
, profanity
, bigotry
, attempted rape
, and overall cruelty.
Ultimately, the Ancient Enemy's arrogance and human-derived ego prove to be its downfall. It "donates" a sample of its own tissue to the survivors and allows them to study it, confident that nothing they discover can be used against it. The characters not only discover what they need to kill the creature, but they also play its own ego against it to stall for time. The survivors use this time to acquire the weapons they need. In the end, the Ancient Enemy dies feeling the same fear and despair its victims experienced.
It is implied in the story that there may be more of these creatures scattered throughout the world.
was adapted into a movie in 1998 starring Peter O'Toole
, Rose McGowan
, Liev Schreiber
, Ben Affleck
, and Joanna Going
. It was directed by Joe Chappelle
, produced by Neo Art & Logic
, and released by Dimension Films
. It was filmed in Colorado
.
The film is referenced heavily in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
, including once by Affleck himself.
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
, first published in 1983.
Plot summary
Jenny and Lisa Paige, two sisters, return to Jenny's hometown of Snowfield, California, a small ski resort village nestled in the Sierra-Nevada Mountains where Jenny works as a doctor, and finds no one alive. The few bodies they find are either mutilated, or reveal some strange form of death. Finally, after growing more alarmed by the town's mysterious and alarming situation Jenny manages to call police in a neighboring town to come help.Together, the girls and the police are able to request help from the military Biological Investigations Unit. The police managed to find only one clue as to what was causing the town's disappearances and deaths. A victim of whatever was trying to kill him managed to write the name Timothy Flyte, on a mirror moments before he was killed. Flyte is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
academic and author of a book, The Ancient Enemy. His book catalogs and describes various mass vanishings of people in different parts of the world over the centuries.
It is discovered that the town was built over the hibernating place of this creature, an amoeboid
Amoeboid
Amoeboids are single-celled life-forms characterized by an irregular shape."Amoeboid" and "amœba" are often used interchangeably even by biologists, and especially refer to a creature moving by using pseudopodia. Most references to "amoebas" or "amoebae" are to amoeboids in general rather than to...
shapeshifter
ShapeShifter
ShapeShifter is an Application Enhancer plugin for Mac OS X developed by Unsanity that allows the user to make system-wide modifications to the appearance of the operating system's graphical interface by applying GUI skins through “injection” into running code and without modifying system files,...
. The Ancient Enemy rarely feeds, but when it does, the effects are devastating. It was theorized that the Enemy either caused or aided in the extinction of the dinosaurs, as well as many of the great mysterious mass vanishings: Mayan civilization, Roanoke
Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...
, ghost ships, etc.
The creature consumes other life forms to increase its mass and is able to perfectly mimic other creatures. It can create small "probes" or "phantoms" imitating consumed life forms to go forth and hunt more prey, obeying the orders of its "hive mind;" in addition the creature absorbs the mental capacity of those it consumes.
Its only vital organ is a nucleus located in the center of its main body. The creature's cells are similar in molecular structure to fossil fuels; upon discovering this the scientists use oil-eating bacteria to destroy the Enemy's core or brain. (The genetically-modified bacteria are the real-life creations of Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty
Diamond v. Chakrabarty
Diamond v. Chakrabarty, , was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with whether genetically modified organisms can be patented.-Background:...
)
The Ancient Enemy
The creature's abilities and form greatly resemble John CarpenterJohn Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
's version of the "Thing" from The Thing, the movie monster The Blob
The Blob
The Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania...
, the creature in the short story "Slime" by Joseph Payne Brennan
Joseph Payne Brennan
Joseph Payne Brennan was an American writer of fantasy and horror fiction, and also a poet. He lived most of his life in New Haven, Connecticut, and worked at the Yale Library for over 40 years....
, the monstrous It
It (novel)
It is a 1986 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The story follows the exploits of seven children as they are terrorized by the eponymous inter-dimensional predatory life-form that exploits the fears and phobias of its victims in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey. "It"...
from the novel of the same name by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
and the "shoggoth
Shoggoth
A shoggoth is a fictional monster in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being was mentioned in passing in sonnet XX of H.P...
s" envisioned in the works of H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. Its shape shifting and probing abilities also resemble those of the planetary creature in Stanislaw Lem
Stanislaw Lem
Stanisław Lem was a Polish writer of science fiction, philosophy and satire. He was named a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. He is perhaps best known as the author of the 1961 novel Solaris, which has...
's Solaris
Solaris (novel)
Solaris is a 1961 Polish science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem. It is about the ultimate inadequacy of communication between human and non-human species....
.
The Snowfield survivors discover that the creature consumes other life forms as sustenance, and is able to perfectly mimic any creature it consumes. It can create small "probes" or "phantoms," imitating consumed life forms, to go forth and hunt more prey, obeying the orders of its "hive mind." In addition, the creature absorbs the mental capacity and memories of those it consumes, so its mind grows more powerful, intelligent and self-aware over time. (In fact, the creature initiates contact with the survivors and personally requests Flyte to come to Snowfield, referring to him as its "biographer.") Besides being able to mimic real animals and people, the creature can also form phantoms based on mental images from its victims; it takes sadistic delight in creating phantoms in the shape of religious demons and monsters to terrorize its victims before killing. The creature also apparently emits subtle psychic vibrations that its prey can sense. It is unknown if this is part of its biology or just another way of tormenting its victims.
The shapeshifting Ancient Enemy can contort its body into the smallest of spaces (through keyholes, air ducts, etc.), which is how it managed to kill and eat people who locked themselves inside rooms and cars. It also possesses extremely keen sensory organs and extremely fast speed, which explains why even the animals around Snowfield didn't escape its predation. Conventional weapons and firearms cause no damage to its gelatinous body. It feeds by completely enveloping its victims (hence the universal bruising seen earlier) and then secreting a digestive enzyme
Digestive enzyme
'Digestive enzymes' are enzymes that break down polymeric macromolecules into their smaller building blocks, in order to facilitate their absorption by the body. Digestive enzymes are found in the digestive tract of animals where they aid in the digestion of food as well as inside the cells,...
, thus leaving no biotic
Biotic component
Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. A biotic factor is any living component that affects another organism, including animals that consume the organism in question, and the living food that the organism consumes. Each biotic factor needs energy to do work and food for...
traces of its victims. Toward the end of the novel the monster declares that it considers all other life forms, including humans, to be intellectually "inferior" to itself, nothing more than cattle to be consumed when it is hungry. It keeps Flyte and a few others alive as "pets" for its own amusement.
The creature discloses to Flyte and the other survivors that it has come to think of itself as Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
, due to thoughts acquired from the minds of past humans it consumed (notably a devil worshiper). The absorption of these thoughts changed the creature over time from merely predatory to overtly sadistic; it engages in a number of intentional, non-predatory evils, including torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
, blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
, profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
, bigotry
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
, attempted rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, and overall cruelty.
Ultimately, the Ancient Enemy's arrogance and human-derived ego prove to be its downfall. It "donates" a sample of its own tissue to the survivors and allows them to study it, confident that nothing they discover can be used against it. The characters not only discover what they need to kill the creature, but they also play its own ego against it to stall for time. The survivors use this time to acquire the weapons they need. In the end, the Ancient Enemy dies feeling the same fear and despair its victims experienced.
It is implied in the story that there may be more of these creatures scattered throughout the world.
Film adaptation
PhantomsPhantoms (film)
Phantoms is a 1998 American horror film adapted from the 1983 novel Phantoms by Dean Koontz. Joe Chappelle directed the film, and Koontz wrote the screenplay. The film takes place in the peaceful town of Snowfield, Colorado, where something evil has wiped out the community...
was adapted into a movie in 1998 starring Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
, Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan
Rose Arianna McGowan is an actress and singer. She is known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB Television Network supernatural drama series Charmed. She played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS mini-series Elvis...
, Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...
, Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, and Joanna Going
Joanna Going
Joanna C. Going is an American actress.-Early life and education:Born in Washington, D.C., she is the oldest of six children of Lorraine M...
. It was directed by Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle is an American film and television director and producer. Chappelle was a Co-executive producer and regular Director for the HBO crime drama The Wire...
, produced by Neo Art & Logic
Neo Art & Logic
Neo Art & Logic is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company. Founded by producers Joel Soisson, W.K. Border and Michael Leahy, the company has an ongoing relationship with Miramax and Dimension Films.-Neo Art & Logic films:...
, and released by Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
. It was filmed in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
The film is referenced heavily in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a 2001 American action adventure comedy film written, directed by, and starring Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, the fifth to be set in his View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of his cult favorite Clerks...
, including once by Affleck himself.