Passengers

Form: Short story

Year: 1968

Publication history:

• ???? : Kindred Spirits (pb) ,
• ???? : Monsters (pb) , Signet
• 1968 : Orbit 4 (hc) , Putnam
• 1970 : The Cube Root of Uncertainty (hc) , Macmillan
• 1970 : Nebula Award Stories 5 (hc) , Doubleday
• 1971 : The Cube Root of Uncertainty (pb) , Signet, 239 pp.
• 1971 : Moonferns and Starsongs (pb) , Ballantine, 244 pp., ISBN 345-02278-5
• 1975 : The Best from Orbit (pb) , Berkley
• 1976 : The Best of Robert Silverberg (pb) , Pocket, 258 pp., ISBN 671-80282-8
• 1977 : The Best of Robert Silverberg (pb) , Pocket, 258 pp., ISBN 0-671-83497-5
• 1977 : The Best of Robert Silverberg (hc) , Sidgwick & Jackson
• 1977 : Dertien Dwaalwegen () , Meulenhoff (Netherlands), 320 pp., ISBN 90-290-0667-6 (in Dutch "Passagiers")
• 1978 : Science Fiction Special #30 (pb) , Sidgwick & Jackson
• 1978 : The Best of Robert Silverberg (pb) , Orbit (UK), 258 pp., 7950-3
• 1978 : The Best of Robert Silverberg, Volume 1 (hc) , Gregg, 288 pp., 2445-9
• 1979 : Robert Silverberg Reads Passengers & To See the Invisible Man (lp) , Pelican
• 1981 : Science Fiction Hall of Fame [UK] Volume 4 (hc) , Gollancz (UK)
• 1981 : The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural (tpb) , Arbor House
• 1982 : Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 3 (pb) , Avon
• 1985 : Great Tales of Horror and the Supernatural (pb) , A&W/Galahad
• 1986 : The Best of Robert Silverberg (pb) , Baen, 277 pp., ISBN 0-671-65586-8
• 1989 : The Best of the Nebulas (pb) , Tor
• 1991 : The Giant Book of Horror Stories (pb) , Magpie
• 1992 : Foundations of Fear (pb) , Tor
• 1993 : The Ultimate Zombie (tpb) , Dell
• 1994 : Shadows of Fear (pb) , Tor
• 1996 : Les Eléphants d'Hannibal (pb) , Denoël (France), ISBN 2-207-30579-1, 573 (in French "Passagers")
• 1997 : Ringing the Changes (The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume 5) (tpb) , HarperCollins UK (UK), 359 pp., ISBN 0-586-21373-2
• 1998 : The Greatest Horror Stories of the 20th Century (acd) , Dove Audio
• 2000 : Fictionwise (ol) , Fictionwise
• 2001 : Masterpieces (pb) , Ace
• 2001 : Les Eléphants d'Hannibal (pb) , Gallimard (France), 365 pp., ISBN 2070417298, 63 (in French "Passagers")
• 2002 : Le Chemin de la nuit: Nouvelles au fil du temps, tome 1, 1953-1970 (tpb) , Flammarion (France), 727 pp., ISBN 2080682350, 32 (in French "Passagers")

Winner of the Nebula Award for best short story, 1969. And a Hugo Award nominee.

Nasty telepathic aliens have taken over the Earth! At unpredictable times, they seize control of a person's mind and force them to do sometimes bizarre things they might not normally do. Society has sort of adjusted to this: "Just ignore him, he's being ridden." (Ridden in the way a voodoo loaspirit rides a human host.) The main character breaks a taboo and contacts a woman he had sex with while ridden. The aliens' motives and capabilities are never explained.

The vinyl LP listed above contains a recording of Silverberg reading this story along with "To See the Invisible Man".

Another audio adaptation, narrated by a professional actor, is available from Audible.com.