The Stolen Body

Summary

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of science fiction stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction.

"The Stolen Body" tells the story of two men who are experimenting with mind over matter. On pre-arranged evenings they sit in their own rooms, two miles apart, and attempt to make themselves apparate in the room of the other. One evening, one of the men, Mr. Bessel succeeds in making himself visible to his friend. The friend rushes across town to discuss the success of the experiment - but to his amazement, Mr. Bessel's rooms are in disarray and the man himself has disappeared. Later that evening he finds Bessel on a London street attacking passers, using his cane as a club. Mr. Bessel attacks and injures him, before continuing his reign of terror along the streets of London. Yet within a short time, Mr. Bessel has disappeared completely, and the mystery is complete? But where is he? And what has brought about this terrible change in him?