FEATURE BY CHRIS BENTLEY
The concept of human miniaturisation, whether by fantastical or science-based means, has fascinated writers for centuries and become one of the most frequent devices in speculative fiction – notably in novels such as Barry N Malzberg’s The Men Inside (1973), Lindsay Gutteridge’s Cold War in a Country Garden (1971) and Richard Matheson’s The Shrinking Man (1956). The last of these was memorably filmed the same year as The Incredible Shrinking Man, but, for many, the 1966 feature Fantastic Voyage offers the definitive screen representation of scientifically induced miniaturisation.