Phantoms (novel)

It is discovered that the town was built over the hibernating place of a monster referred to as the Ancient Enemy, an amoeboid shapeshifter. The Enemy consumes other life forms to increase its mass and is able to perfectly mimic other creatures. It can create small 'probes' imitating consumed life forms to go forth and hunt more prey, obeying the orders of its "hive mind;" in addition the creature absorbs the mental capacity of those it consumes. Its only vital organ is a nucleus located in the center of its main body. The creature's cells are similar in molecular structure to fossil fuels; upon discovering this the scientists use oil eating bacteria to destroy the Enemy's core. In the book it was theorized that the Enemy either caused or aided in the extinction of the dinosaurs as well as many of the great mysterious mass vanishings: Mayan civilization, Jamestown, Roanoke, Ghost ships, etc.

The creature's abilities and form greatly resemble John Carpenter's version of The Thing, the movie monster The Blob and the "shoggoths" envisioned in the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Throughout the book the creature came to think of itself as Satan, due to the minds of the humans it absorbed (notably a devil worshiper). This absorption changed the creature from predatory to sadistic; it engages in a number of non-predatory evils including torture, psychological warfare, blasphemy, profanity, bigotry, rape, and overall cruelty.

Phantoms was adapted into a movie in 1998 starring Peter O'Toole, Rose McGowan, Liev Schreiber, Ben Affleck and Joanna Going. It was directed by Joe Chappelle and produced by Joel Soisson, Michael Leahy and Bob Pringle. It is available on video rental and is rated R. The film is a cult classic and received overall good reviews. Part of its success as an adaptation is due to the screenplay being written by the books original author.