invading aliens put humanity to sleep

[howlermonkey]

This is a story (novel, novella?) I read in the 1970's as a teenager, so pub date is 1979 or before. Looking for title & author.

Invading aliens put humanity to sleep using, I believe, plant spores. A small group of freedom fighters who are immune due to previous exposure to the spores fight back and re-take earth. One of the freedom fighters has a hunting rifle with a telescopic sight. One of the the methods they use to fight back is to take advantage of the extreme superstitions of the rank-and-file foot soldier aliens. (I seem to recall that they made the aliens believe they were seeing ghosts of some sort...)

Any ideas?

 

[CassFrank]

This is Sleeping Planet by William Burkett Jr. (1965). Plants cause humans to sleep, some rebel.

Synopsis: “As long as "The Unaffected" fought the Llralans, Earth would not die in its sleep! Lulled into a coma by the exotic fumes from a strange plant, the people of Earth experienced terrible dreams while orange-skinned invaders quietly began taking control. But even as the planet slumbered to its downfall, a few Terrans miraculously remained awake. These were "The Unaffected" - men like Brad Donovan and Jimmy Rierson who battled the invaders with every weapon of technology and psychology at their disposal to prevent Earth from becoming a land of the living dead.”

Title: Sleeping Planet

www.isfdb.org