“Who Goes There?” by John. W. Campbell, Jr. (book version)

"The climax of John W. Campbell Jr's popularity came with the very effective Stuart tale "Who Goes There?" (August 1938 Astounding), a classic sf Horror story about an Antarctic research station menaced by an Alien invader and Shapeshifter, which was first filmed, without the shape-changing aspect, as The Thing (1951), directed anonymously by Howard Hawks (1896-1977), and later, also as The Thing (1982), with the basic premise restored. Several volumes were assembled to take advantage of the success of this tale. Far more famous under its original title – at least within the sf field – than under the film-influenced book retitling, "Who Goes There?" was perhaps the climax of Campbell's fiction-writing career, and came close to its end.

If you are looking for the source material for Carpenter's blockbuster, this is the version you want"