My letter “I” pick for the A to Z Challenge was THE INVISIBLE MAN by H. G. Wells. I was determined this year to work a few more classics onto this list, and this one is certainly iconic. First published in 1897, and a National Book Award winner in 1953, it’s spun off dozens of stories, TV shows, and movies that feature characters with the power of invisibility, and these generally focus on the mayhem and sexual hijinks that this particular power can bring about.

However, in the OG story, we concentrate on Griffin, a man who researched the qualities of light and found a concoction then bends light in such a way as to render one invisible. Of course, he tries it on himself and get stuck that way, and we witness his misery with being swathed in bandages and being forced to wear a prosthetic nose. He can’t even acquire the books he needs without bribing a tramp to carry them so they don’t appear to be floating through the air. His experiments to restore himself begin to cost more and more, and he resorts to robbery in order to fund them. Eventually, he enlists the help of an old colleague – a decent guy named Kemp – who offers to help him but quickly realizes that Griffin has gone mad and plans to use his invisibility for a “reign of terror” once he can figure out how to switch it off and on. Kemp turns him in to the police, but Griffin gets away, then vows to murder Kemp in retaliation. He goes on a rampage and murders an innocent bystander before he chases Kemp into town, where the townspeople intervene, beating him to death. He finally becomes visible as he’s slowly dying.

Yes, this is a study of one man’s morality in the face of a superpower, and the easy way a mob can turn hateful and dangerous out of fear, but does it still hold up 127 years later. It does, mostly. But I did find Griffin a shallow madman character, and the supporting characters weren’t much more than stereotypes there to hold space in the story. It was clear Wells intended for Griffin to be a sympathetic character, but I found him manipulative. My sympathies were with Kemp, who really was trying to help his old friend, and then made the difficult choice to do the right thing. This is still a good book, and a trailblazer of horror/thriller fiction in its day. I’m giving it four stars.