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The Shrinking Man
The Shrinking Man is a science fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson, published in 1956. The novel was retitled The Incredible Shrinking Man in some later editions.
The novel has been adapted into a motion picture three times : in 1957 as The Incredible Shrinking Man; in 1981 as The Incredible Shrinking Woman; and a 2025 French-language version entitled L'Homme qui rétrécit. The first two adaptations were produced by Universal Pictures, and the 2025 version was directed by Jan Kounen.
In 2012 it was included (under the original title) in the Library of America two-volume boxed set American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s, edited by Gary K. Wolfe.
While on holiday, Scott Carey is exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray shortly after he accidentally ingests insecticide. The radioactivity acts as a catalyst for the bug spray, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1⁄7 inch (3.6 mm) per day. A few weeks later, Carey can no longer deny the truth: not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter than he was and deduces, to his dismay, that his body will continue to shrink.
The abnormal size decrease of his body initially brings teases and taunting from local youths, then causes friction in his marriage and family life, because he loses the respect his family has for him because of his diminishing physical stature. Ultimately, as the shrinking continues, it begins to threaten Carey's life as well; at seven inches (18 cm) tall, he is driven outdoors, where he is attacked by a sparrow in his garden; the conflict drives him through a window into the cellar of his house. He has to survive on tiny scraps of food and bits of water. At one point he has to try and jump to reach a hanging spar of wood one-half inch (13 mm) away—a leap whose distance seems over four feet (1.2 m) away to him. A cat goes after him when he is about 4⁄7 inch (15 mm) tall. He is forced to engage in a victorious battle with a black widow spider that towers over him, which Carey ultimately kills.
As Carey continues shrinking, he realizes that his original fear that he would shrink into non-existence is incorrect; that he will continue to shrink, but will not disappear as he originally feared, his epiphanic thought being, "If nature existed on endless levels, so also might intelligence."
The story is told in a fractured timeline style, beginning with Carey's exposure to radiation and then shifting between his minuscule form trapped in the cellar of his home and looking for food while battling the spider; and the time and events leading up to his finding himself there. The novel is arranged in 17 chapters, with occasional segments documenting Carey's shrinking, using subheads describing height: 68", 64", etc., ultimately leading to 7" in Chapter 15, wherein the entrapment in the cellar is finally described.
Author Richard Matheson says he was initially inspired to write the story from a scene in the comedy film Let's Do It Again. "I had gotten the idea several years earlier while attending a movie in a Redondo Beach theater. In this particular scene, Ray Milland, leaving Jane Wyman's apartment in a huff, accidentally put on Aldo Ray's hat, which sank down around his ears. Something in me asked, 'What would happen if a man put on a hat which he knew was his and the same thing happened?' Thus the notion came."
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The Shrinking Man
The Shrinking Man is a science fiction novel by American writer Richard Matheson, published in 1956. The novel was retitled The Incredible Shrinking Man in some later editions.
The novel has been adapted into a motion picture three times : in 1957 as The Incredible Shrinking Man; in 1981 as The Incredible Shrinking Woman; and a 2025 French-language version entitled L'Homme qui rétrécit. The first two adaptations were produced by Universal Pictures, and the 2025 version was directed by Jan Kounen.
In 2012 it was included (under the original title) in the Library of America two-volume boxed set American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s, edited by Gary K. Wolfe.
While on holiday, Scott Carey is exposed to a cloud of radioactive spray shortly after he accidentally ingests insecticide. The radioactivity acts as a catalyst for the bug spray, causing his body to shrink at a rate of approximately 1⁄7 inch (3.6 mm) per day. A few weeks later, Carey can no longer deny the truth: not only is he losing weight, he is also shorter than he was and deduces, to his dismay, that his body will continue to shrink.
The abnormal size decrease of his body initially brings teases and taunting from local youths, then causes friction in his marriage and family life, because he loses the respect his family has for him because of his diminishing physical stature. Ultimately, as the shrinking continues, it begins to threaten Carey's life as well; at seven inches (18 cm) tall, he is driven outdoors, where he is attacked by a sparrow in his garden; the conflict drives him through a window into the cellar of his house. He has to survive on tiny scraps of food and bits of water. At one point he has to try and jump to reach a hanging spar of wood one-half inch (13 mm) away—a leap whose distance seems over four feet (1.2 m) away to him. A cat goes after him when he is about 4⁄7 inch (15 mm) tall. He is forced to engage in a victorious battle with a black widow spider that towers over him, which Carey ultimately kills.
As Carey continues shrinking, he realizes that his original fear that he would shrink into non-existence is incorrect; that he will continue to shrink, but will not disappear as he originally feared, his epiphanic thought being, "If nature existed on endless levels, so also might intelligence."
The story is told in a fractured timeline style, beginning with Carey's exposure to radiation and then shifting between his minuscule form trapped in the cellar of his home and looking for food while battling the spider; and the time and events leading up to his finding himself there. The novel is arranged in 17 chapters, with occasional segments documenting Carey's shrinking, using subheads describing height: 68", 64", etc., ultimately leading to 7" in Chapter 15, wherein the entrapment in the cellar is finally described.
Author Richard Matheson says he was initially inspired to write the story from a scene in the comedy film Let's Do It Again. "I had gotten the idea several years earlier while attending a movie in a Redondo Beach theater. In this particular scene, Ray Milland, leaving Jane Wyman's apartment in a huff, accidentally put on Aldo Ray's hat, which sank down around his ears. Something in me asked, 'What would happen if a man put on a hat which he knew was his and the same thing happened?' Thus the notion came."