Quatermass

Quatermass by Nigel Kneale. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780099207702.

In space, the Russians and Americans squander billions on pointless projects. On Earth, there is anarchy. Civilisation is breaking down. Gangs of killers roam the rubbish-strewn streets. Fuel and food shortages have made the population desperate. Through the countryside bands of mystics calling themselves the Planet People chant their crazed beliefs. Professor Bernard Quatermass, once a space pioneer himself, is an old man now. Disgusted and appalled by the state of the world, he has one final mission—to find and save his young granddaughter. She may have joined the Planet People. He follows as thousands of them converge on the ancient stone circle of Ringstone Round. It is there that he witnesses an event that defies all sanity. For Quatermass it is the beginning of a long horror—a terrifying paranormal power has begun to afflict the earth.