Books with title THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS

In 1951 John Wyndham published his novel The Day of the Triffids to moderate acclaim. Fifty-two years later, this horrifying story is a science fiction classic, touted by The Times (London) as having “all the reality of a vividly realized nightmare.”Bill Masen, bandages over his wounded eyes, misses the most spectacular meteorite shower England has ever seen. Removing his bandages the next morning, he finds masses of sightless people wandering the city. He soon meets Josella, another lucky person who has retained her sight, and together they leave the city, aware that the safe, familiar world they knew a mere twenty-four hours before is gone forever.But to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, one must survive the Triffids, strange plants that years before began appearing all over the world. The Triffids can grow to over seven feet tall, pull their roots from the ground to walk, and kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers. With society in shambles, they are now poised to prey on humankind. Wyndham chillingly anticipates bio-warfare and mass destruction, fifty years before their realization, in this prescient account of Cold War paranoia.

The classic postapocalyptic thriller with “all the reality of a vividly realized nightmare” (The Times, London). Triffids are odd, interesting little plants that grow in everyone’s garden. Triffids are no more than mere curiosities—until an event occurs that alters human life forever. What seems to be a spectacular meteor shower turns into a bizarre, green inferno that blinds everyone and renders humankind helpless. What follows is even stranger: spores from the inferno cause the triffids to suddenly take on a life of their own. They become large, crawling vegetation, with the ability to uproot and roam about the country, attacking humans and inflicting pain and agony. William Masen somehow managed to escape being blinded in the inferno, and now after leaving the hospital, he is one of the few survivors who can see. And he may be the only one who can save his species from chaos and eventual extinction . . . With more than a million copies sold, The Day of the Triffids is a landmark of speculative fiction, and “an outstanding and entertaining novel” (Library Journal). “A thoroughly English apocalypse, it rivals H. G. Wells in conveying how the everyday invaded by the alien would feel. No wonder Stephen King admires Wyndham so much.” —Ramsey Campbell, author of The Overnight “One of my all-time favorite novels. It’s absolutely convincing, full of little telling details, and that sweet, warm sensation of horror and mystery.” —Joe R. Lansdale, author of Edge of Dark Water

When a freak cosmic event renders most of the Earth's population blind, Bill Masen is one of the lucky few to retain his sight. The London he walks is crammed with groups of men and women needing help, some ready to prey on those who can still see. But another menace stalks blind and sighted alike. With nobody to stop their spread the Triffids, mobile plants with lethal stingers and carnivorous appetites, seem set to take control. "The Day of the Triffids" is perhaps the most famous catastrophe novel of the twentieth century and its startling imagery of desolate streets and lurching, lethal plant life retains its power to haunt today.

A stunning new clothbound edition of one of the most famous science-fiction novels of the twentieth century, designed by the acclaimed Coralie-Bickford Smith. When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realizes that he is the only person who can see: everyone else, doctors and patients alike, have been blinded by a meteor shower. Now, with civilization in chaos, the triffids - huge, venomous, large-rooted plants able to 'walk', feeding on human flesh - can have their day...

The night the sky broke out in mysterious green flashes, all but a few people on Earth were blinded. The world went mad. Ordinary folk became animals, turning on one another in terror and desperation. Bill Masen was one of a handful who struggled to preserve a shred of civilization amidst the chaos. But chaos soon became the least of mankind's problems. Walking plants were appearing -- plants that fed on the bodies of their human prey. The triffids had arrived, and it was up to Bill Masen to stop them!

First published in 1951, John Wyndham's classic novel of man's struggle in a besieged world became a classic, and is dramatized by Giles Cooper in this classic 1968 Full Cast BBC Classic Radio Sci-Fi audio theater recording. This six-part adaptation stars Gary Watson, Barbara Shelley, and Peter Sallis, with appearances from Doctor Who names Peter Pratt, Christopher Bidmead, and David Brierley. [This CD also includes a detailed sleeve note written by Andrew Pixley - recounting the making of the radio serialization.] The Day of the Triffids is perhaps the most famous catastrophe novel of the twentieth century, and its startling imagery of desolate streets and lurching, lethal plant life retains its power to haunt today. Divided by blindness and societal breakdown, humanity is at the mercy of the carnivorous Triffids. Bill Masen wakes in his hospital bed, eyes bandaged. Something is wrong: it's unusually quiet, and no one has come to his room. When he removes his bandages, he finds a world that has changed utterly. Most of the population are completely blind - only those who didn't watch the night sky can still see. And as law and order break down, a new menace appears - triffids, walking carnivorous plants that can kill a human with their lethal sting. For Bill and the other survivors, it's now a battle to stay alive. Gary Watson stars as Bill, with Barbara Shelley as Josella in these six stirring episodes. Also among the cast are Peter Sallis, Marjorie Westbury (Steve in the Paul Temple radio series) and some names familiar to Doctor Who aficionados: Peter Pratt, Christopher Bidmead, and David Brierley. Cast & Credits: Bill Masen: Gary Watson / Josella Playton: Barbara Shelley / Coker: Peter Sallis / Elspeth Cary, Mary: Freda Dowie / The Managing Director: Ralph Truman / Umberto Palanguez, Hawker: Garard Green / Bill as a boy, Mac, Second Man (ep.3): Michael Deacon / Mr. Masen: Peter Pratt / Walter Lucknor: Peter Baldwin / Nurse, Lucy: Jan Edwards / Commentator, Stephen Brennell: John Pullen / House Surgeon: Rolf Lefebvre / Publican, Torrence: Haydn Jones / Young Man: Christopher Bidmead / Child, Miss Durrant: Hilda Kriseman / Mother: Pauline Letts / Blind Man: John Wyse / Second Man (ep. 2), Archer: Anthony Jackson / Michael Beadley: Michael McClain / Ivan Simpson: Nigel Graham / Miss Berr: Marjorie Westbury / Alf, First Man (ep. 3): James McManus / Vorless: Victor Lucas / Woman, Girl: Ann Murray / Vera: Rosalind Shanks / Susan: Jill Cary / Dennis: David Brierley / Joyce: Margaret Roberston / First Man (ep. 6): Alexander John / Second Man (ep. 6): Leonard Fenton / Announcer: Colin Doran / Theme music by David Cain, BBC Radiophonic Workshop Written by John Wyndham; Dramatized by Giles Cooper; Produced by John Powell; First broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on June 20, 1968; Last broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on July 25, 1968; Number of episodes: six

It was on Tuesday, May 7, that Earth's orbit passed through a cloud of comet debris. At least that's what millions of people believed at the time. News bulletins reported that odd bolts of bright green light had been seen in the skies of California the night before. From all over the Pacific came accounts of brilliant green meteor showers. And the spectacle lost none of its intensity as the night line moved westward; in London the flashes of green became visible even before dark. Stuck in a hospital, William Masen listened ruefully as the man on the news advised everyone not to miss the phenomenon. With his eyes bandaged, he felt as if there were a party for the whole world going on, and he was the only person not invited. But by morning the party was over. Masen knew that something catastrophic had happened almost as soon as he awoke. Instead of street noise there was silence outside his window. Nurses should have been by with breakfast. . the doctor was due in to take off his bandages-but no one came. He waited nervously, then finally removed the bandages himself and went to investigate. It didn't take long to learn the truth: everyone who'd seen the mysterious firereworks-95% of Earth's population-was now stone blind! Sightless men and women groped through the streets or milled in terrified contusion. A few located food-and fought with those who tried to tear it fron their hands. And there were the triffids. Bizarre products of biological engineering, triffids were huge carnivorous plants that could pick up their roots and walk. They had been farmed for years-their economic value compensating for less desirable traits-and various methods had been employed to control them. Those controls were gone now. Trifrids roamed freely - showing disconcerting signs of intelligence as they sought out prey and killed it with perfectly aimed strikes of their whiplike, poison stingers. The blind had no defense against them: even those who could see did not always escape. It see