Type: Rural American town
Environment: Somewhere in the United States of America (see comments)
Usual means of access: The town's main roadway
Dominant life form: Extraterrestrial plant creatures in the duplicated forms of previous town residents (including Mr. Bondy, Phil Ketchum, Sid Malin, Bill Mitchel, Charley Simms, Carl Strubel, unidentified others)
Significant Inhabitants: Fred Ames (briefly)
First Appearance: Mystery Tales#47/5 (November, 1956)
Features: Previously a beautiful, well-maintained small town, it had fallen into a state of disrepair after the human residents abandoned it and the extraterrestrials took their place.
History:
(Mystery Tales#47/5 (fb) - BTS) - "Millions of years ago," the home planet of sentient
plant-like beings was dying; to survive, the aliens transformed
themselves into tiny seeds. The seeds drifted out into space for
millions of years, eventually came into the gravitational field of
Earth, and came down in Smithtown. The seed aliens sent telepathic
"feelers" into the minds of the residents of the small town, commanding
them to leave.
With all the town's human population gone, the aliens reproduced the impressions left by the humans who lived there and became them, complete with the former residents' appearances and memories. Being able to survive in Earth's environment for only about a year, the aliens destroyed the main road leading into town, so they could live in isolation from any human contact; because of their brief lifespans, the imitations neglected to maintain Smithtown's upkeep, thus the once beautiful little town fell into ruins.
(Mystery Tales#47/5) - While in Allentown, far from Smithtown, traveling salesman Fred Ames was surprised to see hardware store owner Mr. Bondy, a former Smithtown resident, had relocated there. Bondy explained that he moved to the new location because he--and most Smithtown folks he knew of--had suddenly felt an impulse to leave ("It was like something whispered in our brains saying 'Get out! Get out!'"). Ames inquired if his friend Phil Ketchum had moved out as well, but Bondy didn't know and refused to talk any more about it.
Having last passed through Smithtown six months earlier, Ames decided to make it his next stop, because the little town was always good for a block of orders, and he was curious to learn what was going on. But just as his car was about four miles away from his destination, he found the town's sign knocked down and defaced, so that the name was no longer legible--this was strange, because the townsfolk always kept the sign painted and clean, because they had a lot of pride in everything connected with Smithtown; worse yet, Ames found the road ahead impossible to drive on ("Looks like an earthquake hit it!"). Leaving his car behind, Ames took only his briefcase and order book, then began walking into town. But as he approached Smithtown, he noticed how much things had changed--the town's baseball diamond was overgrown with weeds, and Smithtown itself looked like a deserted "ghost town," although Ames had a feeling there were people in the houses.
When Ames finally came into contact with some of the town's inhabitants, he found them to be dull and listless, with sad expressions upon their faces, and they spoke in emotionless voices. Then at sundown, Ames noticed all the townsfolk--including what appeared to be Phil Ketchum and Mr. Bondy--gathered in the town's square and looking up into the sky. After confronting the group, Ames learned that the citizens were aliens, and they told him of their origin, then explained that they were looking up to see if anymore of their kind were arriving, but there were no others.
Then one of the aliens with Phil Ketchum's form told Ames that he would not be allowed to leave, because the rest of the world could not learn what was happening in Smithtown; he further explained to Ames that his captivity would not be for long, because the aliens could only survive in Earth's environment for about a year.
But unwilling to endure a year of captivity with the alien creatures, Ames broke away and ran back to his car--the aliens didn't chase him far, because they didn't seem to have the energy and strength.
As he drove away from Smithtown, Ames resolved that he wouldn't tell anyone about what he found--who would believe the truth anyway? He decided he'd let the apparently harmless aliens live out their year of life in peace.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Joe Certa.
And after all the aliens died, I wonder if any humans ever returned to repopulate the town.
It was unrevealed exactly where in the United States that Smithtown was located--I'll guess that maybe it was in the state of Kansas.
The total population of the aliens who dwelt in Smithtown is unrevealed, but I counted as many as fourteen.
The natural appearance of the plant-aliens was never shown, and they were only depicted in their human forms.
This 4-page story--Something Strange About Smithtown!--had certain plot elements from the earlier-released 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Smithtown has no known connection to:
The extraterrestrial plant-like beings who imitated the people of Smithtown have no known connection to:
Fred Ames has no known connection to:
Mr. Bondy has no known connection to:
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He was a traveling hardware salesman for Metropolitan Pots and Pans; his territory included Allentown and Smithtown, where his friend Phil Ketchum lived. While in Allentown, he learned from Mr. Bondy (a former Smithtown resident) that the citizens of Smithtown had suddenly abandoned their village. Ames drove his car there and eventually learned that the "people" in Smithtown were actually extraterrestrial plant creatures who were impersonating humans. He confronted a group of the creatures (including duplicates of Phil Ketchum and Mr. Bondy) and learned that the creatures would only live for a year. After escaping from the creatures, Ames drove away in his car and decided to keep what he learned in Smithtown a secret--perhaps feeling pity for the seemingly harmless aliens, he decided to let them live out their brief lives in peace. --Mystery Tales#47/5 |
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Ketchum and Bondy--like the other inhabitants of Smithtown--were actually extraterrestrial plant-like beings who had duplicated the appearances and memories of the town's former human residents. They had telepathic abilities which could influence the minds of humans, but they only had a lifespan of about one year in Earth's environment. When they arrived in Smithtown in the form of seeds, they commanded the small town's residents to leave; they then apparently grew themselves into the forms of the town's human inhabitants, including Fred Ames' friend Phil Ketchum, and hardware store proprietor Mr. Bondy. Having only a brief time left to live, they let Smithtown fall into a state of disrepair. When traveling salesman Fred Ames came to town, the Ketchum and Bondy duplicates eventually told him of their alien origins; they refused to let him leave, so as to prevent him from telling the rest of the world about them. But Ames did manage to escape, and since the creatures seemed harmless and would be dead within a year, he decided to let them live out their brief lives in peace. --Mystery Tales#47/5 (Comment: The original Mr. Bondy relocated his store to Allentown; the fate of the original Phil Ketchum is unrevealed.) |
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images: (without ads)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p2, pan7 (Fred Ames walks into seemingly deserted Smithtown)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p3, pan4 (Fred Ames watches inhabitants of Smithtown gather in town's square)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p3, pan5 (Fred Ames approaches inhabitants of Smithtown)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p3, pan7 (Fred Ames)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p4, pan5 (Fred Ames flees from inhabitants of Smithtown)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p3, pan6 (Fred Ames between duplicates of Phil Ketchum and Mr. Bondy)
Mystery Tales#47/5, p4, pan1 (Fred Ames between duplicates of Phil Ketchum and Mr. Bondy)
Mysteryl Tales#47/5,p4, pan4 (duplicate of Phil Ketchum)
Appearances:
Mystery Tales#47/5 (November, 1956) - unidentified writer, Joe Certa (pencils/inks), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 04/25/2025
Last updated: 04/25/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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