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It's Alive!
Lenore and Frank Davis and their young son were a devoted loving family looking forward eagerly to the new baby. Then one night the baby arrived - a grotesque mutation - a tiny rampaging aberration that, in the moment of its birth, slaughtered all the doctors and nurses in the delivery room and disappeared into the dark. Death followed death in a wave of bloody terror. Somewhere in the streets of the city a baby was trying to find its mother.
156 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 12, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 5, 2023
Frank and Leonore Davis expect their second child. But on its birthday the horror breaks loose. Doctors and nurses are killed. What is going on here. Why is the newborn evil? What about the media? Can the newborn be found or what is it going to do? What about the parents? Page turning eerie baby monster story with an interesting twist at the end. The cover strongly reminded me on The Pram by Joe Hill. Did he have that book in mind? Anyway, classic horror from the past that will keep you the lights on. There is also a movie to be watched. Really recommended!
August 25, 2024
Novelization of the 1974 horror movie about a killer mutant baby. Not as bad as I thought it would be and even better than the film. Lots of fears about pollution and chemicals and their effect on the development of children. I read this for the Garbaugust 2024 reading challenge, as seen on the You Tube channel CriminOlly.
October 17, 2017
I read this book for a #spookathon 2017 reading challenge "Read a book based on a childhood fear". When I was 7 yrs old, my Mom took us to the drive-in and this was the late show. She thought we were asleep in the back seat but nope I saw the whole movie and for years I was scarred. I would never sleep with my hand hanging off the bed and always had to be facing the door. Babies scared me to death. I was so happy to find this book as an adult and knew this was the perfect read for this event. The story follows a family that has a baby that is not quite right to say the very least. Lots of blood, killings and gore. A perfect 70's classic to read during the Halloween season. I believe this is a creeper that will scare your socks off. I would recommend this to everyone that loves horror, creepy babies, a retro chiller BUT never for the kids!
October 27, 2014
Proof that books, even adaptations of schlock like this screenplay, are superior to films. In the film, the little monster baby is shown for a total of six seconds and looks unconvincing in every shot, whereas in this novel, my imagination comes to life and the mutant baby is freakishly disturbing.
August 13, 2017
I love a good novelisation. I read Alan Dean Foster's (the King of this particular, under-appreciated genre) take on Alien long before I saw the film and, rather than spoiling anything for me, it added to the experience by elaborating and expanding on characters' inner thoughts that aren't captured so easily on screen as on the printed page. Richard Woodley's adaptation of Larry Cohen's 1974 horror screenplay It's Alive doesn't exactly measure up to Foster's standards.
It's Alive - an odd little 70s shocker about a mutant baby on a kill-crazy-rampage isn't exactly Ridley Scott's claustrophobic space horror either but still, the novelisation feels - like the worst of them - pedestrian and unable to capture what's good about the film. It has it's good points, a little more time spent on the PR career of the creature's unfortunate father Frank helps to flesh out his character and there's at least some attempt to explain what might have happened to create the mutant infant but that's about it.
As ludicrous as the concept is, the onscreen special effects aren't bad. The book does very little to convey what the mutant looks like (unsurprising since, as these things are, it was written from the script, not the finished film) and there's very little sense of dread on the page. Worse, during a discussion on what might have caused the mutation, two characters drop a hint about the story's climactic 'shocking' line of dialogue that's about as subtle and heavy as an anvil dropped from a great height.
But worst of all, the film's surprisingly emotional final scenes where Frank finally realises his child deserves some compassion and protection, feel like they were written in a rush and crammed to fit a pre-determined page count, leaving them completely lacking. The narrative is rammed full of unexplained holes and questions - why does no one, at any point (aside from the utterly hysterical mother) consider they're dealing with a human baby? How does it know where it's going as it seeks out it's parents and it's home? - but again, those weaknesses were already there in the script.
Not exactly a good representation of Cohen's final film, or the novelisation in general, this one is hard to recommend.
It's Alive - an odd little 70s shocker about a mutant baby on a kill-crazy-rampage isn't exactly Ridley Scott's claustrophobic space horror either but still, the novelisation feels - like the worst of them - pedestrian and unable to capture what's good about the film. It has it's good points, a little more time spent on the PR career of the creature's unfortunate father Frank helps to flesh out his character and there's at least some attempt to explain what might have happened to create the mutant infant but that's about it.
As ludicrous as the concept is, the onscreen special effects aren't bad. The book does very little to convey what the mutant looks like (unsurprising since, as these things are, it was written from the script, not the finished film) and there's very little sense of dread on the page. Worse, during a discussion on what might have caused the mutation, two characters drop a hint about the story's climactic 'shocking' line of dialogue that's about as subtle and heavy as an anvil dropped from a great height.
But worst of all, the film's surprisingly emotional final scenes where Frank finally realises his child deserves some compassion and protection, feel like they were written in a rush and crammed to fit a pre-determined page count, leaving them completely lacking. The narrative is rammed full of unexplained holes and questions - why does no one, at any point (aside from the utterly hysterical mother) consider they're dealing with a human baby? How does it know where it's going as it seeks out it's parents and it's home? - but again, those weaknesses were already there in the script.
Not exactly a good representation of Cohen's final film, or the novelisation in general, this one is hard to recommend.
December 17, 2021
Frank and Lenore will give birth to a mutant, razor sharp claws, big bald headed baby who massacres all the doctors and nurses in the birthing room spraying blood over the walls as the mutant baby hacks their throats before escaping and throwing the community into panic with more bodies. A combination of birth control and fertility pills are to blame and Frank will try to eradicate his baby before finally displaying compassion, love and protection to his mutant kid.
November 4, 2020
It's Alive is one of my favorite horror movies. I saw it as a teen, and loved the mix of pathos -- yes pathos! -- and gore. Unfortunately, this novelization does very little to draw on the subtext of parental unconditional love for a child. However, I did enjoy the read on a nostalgic level.
January 9, 2022
IT'S ALIVE! is an utterly garbage movie. What Richard Woodley did for this story with the novelization is akin to taking that old canned ham, stale taco shells, and soy sauce packets left in the cupboard and turning them into something not only edible, but tasty.
November 6, 2023
Short horror story is ideal for dark November evening. I enjoyed it really very much. The small creature was born, but is not too cute. It is rather kind of baby monster.
But could parents not love their own child?
But could parents not love their own child?
November 3, 2021
Not great but fun to read. The movie is actually better!
July 26, 2023
Mutant bloodthirsty baby, great
I knew about but have never seen the film of this book.
Not a bad read, easy and quick
I knew about but have never seen the film of this book.
Not a bad read, easy and quick
May 24, 2025
It seriously lacks any type of description when it comes to the horror aspect of the book. If the segments surrounding the attacks were better it could be a four star book even with the ridiculous plot.
October 14, 2016
Okay, killer babies is where I draw the line. I had seen the movie and wanted to read the book in case it was better. It was not! I read this and was disgusted by it. Do NOT waste your time.
February 17, 2014
I remember when my older sister saw this in the theater and was totally grossed out.
February 9, 2015
Whoa. That's all I have to say. Whoa.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews