Its title would also be applicable to “The Story of the Late Mr Elvesham,” but its themes are far less nefarious and far more action-packed. “The Stolen Body” is no misnomer: the plot concerns what we may (with tongue in cheek) call grand theft body. A man has toyed recklessly with his metaphysical condition by leaving his corporeal-self unoccupied and unlocked, and is left stranded in the spiritual world. Part comedy, part thriller, and part parable, Wells responds to the qu

When H. G. Wells first published “The Invisible Man” in 1897, the title alone ensured its success. Invisibility fascinates, attracts, and terrifies. It’s allure rests in the ability to escape notice (and with it criticism, self-consciousness, and the power of the other’s gaze), to be freed from social pressures (to be pretty, dress well, be polite, stay put, etc.), and to have the freedom to enter any unlocked space without challenge. An invisible person can eavesdrop and lea

The canon of science fiction follows a very direct descent. From Thomas More to Johannes Kepler, Francis Godwin, and Cyrano de Bergerac, thence to Swift, off to Mary Shelley, handed to Hoffmann, then on to Poe, who is followed by the first absolute master, Jules Verne. Verne’s natural heir would become perhaps the most influential contributor to the genre. Herbert George “Gip” Wells would make monumental strides in the subjects of interplanetary war, space voyaging, undersea

As with “The Stolen Body,” “The Inexperienced Ghost” (perhaps Wells’ most anthologized ghost story after “The Red Room” – with good reason, for it is a masterpiece of speculative fiction) is designed to caution anthropocentric hubris. Men plumb the seas, reach into the heavens, bore through the earth, comb through the forests, and plow through the snow, eager and confident in the prospects of discovery. So too do they reach out into the intangible ether to make fleeting conta

H. G. Wells continues to be exulted as the grandsire of modern science fiction. Alongside Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe, he enjoys a very keen degree of respect in that genre. The pity is that he has not been nearly as well received by horror aficionados. Perhaps they view him as taken goods – the sci-fi folks have him and he’s their territory. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that the few horror stories that he is famous for dabble so deeply in science and technology. “The War

The Victorian Age brings with it a tremendous amount of associations, baggage, and stereotypes that make it one of the most colorful periods in British history (or at least filmable; I myself am partial to the Georgian period, the Enlightenment, and the Civil War -- but that's my cross to bear). The Victorians are known -- someties unfairly -- for their saccharine sentimentalism, sexual repression, and jingoistic nationalism, and -- more or less fairly -- for a great thirst f