partly derived from 1977 short story?

There was a story called "In the Hall of the Martian Kings," by John Varley. It was in his anthology of short stories called Persistence of Vision.
http://www.amazon.com/Persistence-Vision-Quantum-Science-Fiction/dp/08 03768664/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378401907&sr=1-8

I'm not saying John Carpenter stole the idea for GoM from that story. I am not a giant fan of Ghosts of Mars anyway, I just think he fumbled the ball in some ways... Anyway, I think he might have been partly inspired by ITHOTMK. In that story, people in an early mission to Mars discover slumbering Martian... not lifeforms exactly, but sort of seeds of life, which have been dormant for thousands of years. The seeds of life germinate, in response to the presence of the astronauts, and give rise to lifeforms that interact with the astronauts in various ways.

It's pretty different from Ghosts of Mars, but when the doctor they found who had locked herself in the cell (Dr. Whitlock) was explaining to Natasha Henstridge's character how the Martian life force had gone dormant, it made me think of the story.

That whole anthology is pretty interesting, if you are looking for something to read.

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