When we see or hear the word “bikini,” we tend to think of--well, not death and destruction, certainly. However, it was upon the Bikini atoll, in the Pacific Ocean, that the first several nuclear bombs were tested. After detonating the bomb, the U. S. government relocated natives back to the atoll, from which they’d been evacuated, but the levels of radioactivity within their bodies suggested that they should be relocated again, so they were moved to Kili island, where they remain, wards of the federal government.
It was a Bikini atoll test that awakened the Japanese monster Godzilla. However, the U. S. was involved in far more sinister activities than those precipitated by the awakening of the fictitious Godzilla.
One of these activities was Project 4.1, a medical experiment that the government conducted in secret upon Marshall Island residents who had been exposed to radioactive fallout as a result of the government’s Castle Bravo nuclear test, which took place upon the Bikini atoll. The experiment, which began within a week of the Castle Bravo test, was known, officially, as “Study of Response of Human Beings Exposed to Significant Beta and Gamma radiation due to Fall-Out from High Yield Weapons.” (The powers of many of the Marvel Comics characters, including the Hulk and Spider-man, are results of radioactive experiments. Perhaps Stan Lee knew more than he’s saying?)
The Department of Energy stated the threefold purpose of the project: “(1) evaluate the severity of radiation injury to the human beings exposed, (2) provide for all necessary medical care, and (3) conduct a scientific study of radiation injuries to human beings.” The study showed significant effects from the Marshallese’s exposure to the radioactive fallout, including hair loss, skin damage (“raw, weeping lesions”), miscarriages, stillbirths, cancer, and neoplasms.
As bad as the fate of the test site’s human guinea pigs was, that of the Japanese at Nagasaki and Hiroshima were even worse. Those victims of the atomic bombs designated as Little Boy (which took out Hiroshima on August 6, 1945) and Fat Man (which took out Nagasaki on August 9, 1946), who survived the attack experienced severe burns, radiation sickness, and a variety of diseases, including cancer. As many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki were killed by the explosion of the bomb. The cities themselves were leveled, with only a few, burned-out structures remaining. Had Japan not surrendered, ending World War II, the U. S. had planned to drop several more atomic bombs on the island nation, as more of the weapons were in production and were expected to be completed during the next few months.
The atomic bomb was the product of the Manhattan Project, headed by J. Robert Oppenheimer.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s, many B horror films were made that featured monsters (often Bug-eyed Monsters) created by the effects of the atomic bomb or radiation in general, including:
- Amazing Colossal Man, The
- Attack of the Giant Leeches
- Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The
- Bride of the Monster
- Creature from the Black Lagoon, The
- Damnation Alley
- Day the Earth Caught Fire, The
- Day the earth Ended, The
- Fiend without a Face
- Godzilla
- Hills Have Eyes, The
- Incredible Shrinking Man, The
- It Came from Beneath the Sea
- Killer Shrews, The
- Omega Man, The
- Rocket Ship X-M
- Them!
- Airship Nine
- Alas, Babylon
- Amnesia Moon
- Arc Light
- Ashes Series
- Brother in the Land
- Canticle for Leibowitz, A
- Children of the Dust
- Chrysalids, The
- Commander-1
- Dark Tower Saga, The
- Dark December by Alfred Coppel
- Dark Mirrors
- Day They H-Bombed Los Angeles, The
- Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomn
- Domain
- Doomday Wing
- Down to a Sunless Sea
- Dune
- Earthwreck!
- End of the World, The
- Farnham's Freehold
- Gate to Women's Country, The
- Hostage
- Last Children of Schewenborn, The
- Last Ship, The
- Level 7
- Light's Out
- Long Mynd, The
- Malevil
- Not This August
- On the Beach
- Outward Urge, The
- Postman, The
- Red Alert
- Resurrection Day
- Riddley Walker
- Pre-Empt
- Pulling Through
- School for Atheists, The
- Seventh Day, The
- Small Armageddon, A
- Solution T-25
- Swan Song
- Systemic Shock
- Road, The
- This Is the Way the World Ends
- This Time Tomorrow
- Tomorrow!
- Triton Ultimatum, The
- Warday
- When the Wind Blows
- Wild Shore, The
- World Set Free , The
- World Next Door, The
- Worldwar
- Z for Zachariah
- Zone, The
However, when one considers the U. S. government’s irresponsible testing and use of human guinea pigs, to say nothing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the films featuring monsters pale in comparison to the horrors unleashed by the feds. It’s as is, in seizing the power of God, humanity has become not divine, but demonic, a destroyer rather than a creator.
More horrible yet may be the proliferation of atomic weapons around the world. According to the Federation of American Scientists, these nations have nuclear weapons capabilities:
- China
- France
- India
- Israel
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Russia
- United Kingdom
- United States
“Everyday Horrors: The Atomic Bomb” is the first in a series of “everyday horrors” that will be featured in Chillers and Thrillers: The Fiction of Fear. These “everyday horrors” continue, in many cases, to appear in horror fiction, literary, cinematographic, and otherwise.