Of course, its most basic impression is a frightening one. In the original novel, the alien invaders are merciless and desperate and set about harvesting the population of Surry and London for their blood. Through the proliferation of a “red weed”, the countryside starts to resemble Mars itself. The book famously ends rather abruptly, as the Invaders succumb to one of humanity’s old enemies, namely, the germs we can now co-exist with.