SOURCE: "What Was It?" by Fitz-James O'Brien (Harper’s Magazine, March 1859) .

DESCRIPTION: "While I was lying still as a corpse, hoping that by a perfect physical inaction I should hasten mental repose, an awful incident occurred. A Something dropped, as it seemed, from the ceiling, plumb upon my chest, and the next instant I felt two bony hands encircling my throat, endeavoring to choke me." ("What Was It?" by Fitz-James O'Brien)

NOTES: The narrator is able to wrestle the invisible creature then tie it up. With a careful examination he determines it is humanoid but with rough features. He is not sure what to do with his captive and keeps it tied up until it starves to death.

HISTORY: One of the very earliest invisibility stories, pre-dating H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man by almost 40 years. May have inspired Ambrose Bierce's Damned Thing as well.

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