Editing The Puppet Masters (section)

== Influence ==
''[[The Body Snatchers]]'' by [[Jack Finney]] (1954) takes up a similar premise of extraterrestrials taking over the bodies of humans. Also in the plot of the 1956 ''[[What Mad Universe]]'' by [[Fredric Brown]]—as in that of ''Puppet Masters''—police and vigilantes ruthlessly shoot down anyone suspected of being controlled by the book's invaders from space.

Kenneth Von Gunden's novel ''Star Spawn''<ref>Kenneth Von Gunden, ''Star Spawn'', Ace Books, New York, 1990, {{ISBN|0-441-46992-2}}</ref> takes up the basic premise of ''The Puppet Masters'' and transfers it to a medieval setting.  Extraterrestrial parasites able to take over the bodies of humans and control them invade Medieval England and embark on conquering it, castle by castle—and are eventually foiled by the highly resourceful Friar Gregory and his friend Sir Morrough the Knight.

N. K. Jemisin's short story "Walking Awake," included in her short story collection ''How Long 'til Black Future Month?'',<ref>N. K. Jemisin, "How Long 'til Black Future Month", Orbit Books, 2018, {{ISBN|978-0316491341}}</ref> is a response to Heinlein's novel. The story follows Sadie, a caregiver who is complicit in a system that raises human hosts for alien parasitic beings (beings we later learn are not aliens, but were created by humanity in the distant past).<ref>Tasha Fierce, "Together, we are the future: Going from here in N.K. Jemisin’s Walking Awake", "Medium", https://medium.com/@TashaFierce/together-we-are-the-future-going-from-here-in-n-k-jemisins-walking-awake-8257ab8eda9a</ref>