The Invisible Man was the fifth novel by H. G. Wells and the third of his remarkable series of five “scientific romances”. It was serialized in Pearson’s Weekly in 1897 and published in book form that same year. The title character, eventually revealed as Griffin, is a scientist studying optics who discovers a way to change a body’s refractive index to that of air, absorbing and reflecting no light and rendering the body invisible. He successfully tests the invention on a cat, and then on himself. His efforts to reverse the effects fail. He wraps himself in bandages and sets off in a snowstorm, finding lodging at a village inn. Testy, unfriendly and reclusive, he spends his days working to find an antidote, venturing out only at night. He runs out of money and falls behind on his bill. A series of burglaries casts suspicion. When his landlady threatens eviction he partially reveals his invisibility and then escapes apprehension by undressing and taking flight. He enlists a vagrant to help him recover his notebooks and is betrayed. His actions become increasingly desperate. He is shot in a failed attempt to avenge the betrayal and finds refuge in the home of Kemp, a former medical school colleague. He incinerates the boarding house to cover his tracks but finds he cannot manage in the open. He attempts to enlist Kemp in a plan to use his invisibility to conduct a “Reign of Terror” but is foiled, leading to a dramatic, fatal denouement. The premise and the deft portrayal of gradual progression from a gifted obsessive to an insane psychopath have become a staple of the genre and have led to countless productions, adaptations and offshoots.

Play sample: 

Download a PDF datasheet