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StoryPDFThe Invisible ManHG Wells

The Invisible Man

HG Wells

Complete text
NovelEnglish

A heavily wrapped stranger takes rooms at an inn and insists on privacy for his experiments. His odd behavior strains the villagers' patience, and the discovery behind his concealed appearance turns local curiosity into a dangerous contest over the uses of an extraordinary scientific power.

29 sections48,538 wordsAbout 3 h 41 min
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About The Invisible Man

Wells begins with the comic friction of an unwelcome guest before widening the consequences of his experiment. Invisibility creates practical problems as well as apparent freedom, and the narrative repeatedly tests fantasies of power against hunger, weather, and other people. The scientist's explanations also reveal how isolation distorts his expectations of cooperation.

Reading focus

Follow a scientific mystery that moves from village comedy to a tense examination of isolation, power, and the practical limits of invisibility.

This reading edition contains 48,538 words in 29 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.

Author: HG Wells. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.

Opening excerpt

The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself against his shoulders and chest, and added a white crest to the burden he carried. He staggered into the “Coach and Horses” more dead than alive, and flung his portmanteau down. “A fire,” he cried, “in the name of human charity! A room and a fire!” He stamped and shook the snow from off…

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Contents

All sections
  1. CHAPTER I. THE STRANGE MAN’S ARRIVAL10 min
  2. CHAPTER II. MR. TEDDY HENFREY’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS8 min
  3. CHAPTER III. THE THOUSAND AND ONE BOTTLES9 min
  4. CHAPTER IV. MR. CUSS INTERVIEWS THE STRANGER10 min
  5. CHAPTER V. THE BURGLARY AT THE VICARAGE4 min
  6. CHAPTER VI. THE FURNITURE THAT WENT MAD7 min
  7. CHAPTER VII. THE UNVEILING OF THE STRANGER13 min
  8. CHAPTER VIII. IN TRANSIT1 min
  9. CHAPTER IX. MR. THOMAS MARVEL9 min
  10. CHAPTER X. MR. MARVEL’S VISIT TO IPING5 min
  11. CHAPTER XI. IN THE “COACH AND HORSES”5 min
  12. CHAPTER XII. THE INVISIBLE MAN LOSES HIS TEMPER8 min
  13. CHAPTER XIII. MR. MARVEL DISCUSSES HIS RESIGNATION4 min
  14. CHAPTER XIV. AT PORT STOWE9 min
  15. CHAPTER XV. THE MAN WHO WAS RUNNING3 min
  16. CHAPTER XVI. IN THE “JOLLY CRICKETERS”6 min
  17. CHAPTER XVII. DR. KEMP’S VISITOR12 min
  18. CHAPTER XVIII. THE INVISIBLE MAN SLEEPS6 min
  19. CHAPTER XIX. CERTAIN FIRST PRINCIPLES9 min
  20. CHAPTER XX. AT THE HOUSE IN GREAT PORTLAND STREET16 min
  21. CHAPTER XXI. IN OXFORD STREET9 min
  22. CHAPTER XXII. IN THE EMPORIUM11 min
  23. CHAPTER XXIII. IN DRURY LANE16 min
  24. CHAPTER XXIV. THE PLAN THAT FAILED7 min
  25. CHAPTER XXV. THE HUNTING OF THE INVISIBLE MAN4 min
  26. CHAPTER XXVI. THE WICKSTEED MURDER8 min
  27. CHAPTER XXVII. THE SIEGE OF KEMP’S HOUSE14 min
  28. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE HUNTER HUNTED10 min
  29. THE EPILOGUE4 min

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This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 29 sections and 48,538 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.

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