ABSTRACT – JOHN WYNDHAM – THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS. (1957) Penguin Books. The book is sometimes issued as THE VILLAGER OF THE DAMMED, after the two film versions made of the classic science fiction-horror story. The original
title is much more appropriate. The sleepy English village of Midwich is subjected to a terrifying alien invasion without warning. One morning, everyone in Midwich falls unconscious in the streets and houses. Those operating machinery or cars are injured, but most of them just fall asleep. As outsiders approach the village they too fall unconscious. The
military arrive, and work out how close they can get with some safety, and from there, they prevent unauthorised access beyond the barrier, which even affects aircraft. The recovery of the people of Midwich is as sudden as the collapse into temporary coma. Everyone wakes up, oblivious of what knocked them out. The men of the village remain unchanged, but for the women of Midwich, there is a new development – they are all pregnant. Most know full well that their husbands or lovers have not impregnated them. This is the
CUCKOO factor behind the title. Cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. Some alien race has done the same with humanity. When the
children are born, they are all identical, as if they were twins or clones, though there are girls as well as boys. They all have strange glowing eyes. As they grow, it becomes clear that they also have a powerful telepathic bond with one another. They can tell each other anything that they see from great distances. As one
learns something, so do the rest. Worse, if someone frightens them or hurts them they can make that person injure or kill him or herself. A
professor in the village learns that there have been
similar cuckoo communities established abroad, which the military have stopped by bombing the villages to wipe out everyone in them, human or cuckoo alike. The fear of similar attacks on Midwich leads the professor to lock him and the children in the schoolhouse, which he then blows up, taking his own life as well as theirs.