BOOK REVIEW

The Mist. Stephen King. New York: Viking Press, 1985. 230 pp.

The Mist is a suspenseful, mind blowing, and spectacular book written by Stephen King. It was first a sequel of the book “Dark Forces”, but later published as a standalone book. The setting of the story is in a small town called Bridgton, Maine. Revolving around the character named David Drayton, the book lets the readers grasp the spooky and terrifying monsters that were never seen before in claustrophobic environments as the story progress.

      Stephen King managed to make the setting very isolated and scary, making the atmosphere even more horrifying. And as usual, the story is an exploration of the human mind more than it is a story about monsters. The characters were unique and distinct from each other. The weird but authentic lady manipulated the majority and used her power of speech in overthrowing the main character. The town is near a military base, which might caused the unexplainable turn of events that led to the coming of the Mist and the unknown creatures behind it.

The story started in a hot day, perfect for a social event, then strange dark clouds form up in the skies. The town was devastated by a strong storm. David Drayton went to a supermarket nearby with his son to get supplies. After a while, noise covered the area as injured people started appearing from the east wing. Without an explanation, a mist slowly covered the whole town. The supermarket was locked and isolated to protect the survivors inside. The survivors faced many unfortunate events that lost nearly half of the population inside the supermarket. As time passes by, resources and supplies ran out. Desperate measures were taken and a small group of men formed up to make an attempt in to asking for external assistance. As expected, they faced a tentacle monster that ate all of them, letting none escape.

Another attempt was done, but this time, the main character joins the operation. Many of the people inside are sick and weak. They have to get medicine from the pharmacy nearby. They were able to get medicine and supplies from the pharmacy, but some were killed and eaten in the process.

As disagreements arise, people ran out of hope to survive. David Drayton, his son, and 3 more associates decided to leave the supermarket and take the car of a friend that got eaten during the past events. Mrs. Carmody, a religious zealot disagrees. She manipulated the minds of the remaining population. She wants everyone to wait for help. She believes that what the escapists were attempting, will only give them more problems and disagreements. These events turned out really bad. David Drayton pulled out his gun and shot Mrs. Carmody in the head to cut the fight. The population was quiet and the escapists were able to escape.

They were able to cross the town, but the mist was unexpectedly vast that it even reached the neighboring towns. Eventually, the car ran out of gas and they were left stranded. Having no food to eat and water to drink, the only thought that’s in their head was to end this struggle by ending their lives. They all agree to this, but David’s pistol only had four bullets inside, which means that there will be one left alive. They were all certain of their future. David used the remaining four bullets in shooting the three associates and his son, leaving him alive. After the dreadful killing he was really depressed and frustrated. Clever though, he went outside and looked for the monsters lurking, but later he knew, that the monsters were all terminated by the US Military. A huge army with tanks and biological weapons were marching by. This made him insane and wild, questioning his stupid decision of ending his comrades’ and son’s life.

I’ve seen the movie adaptation of the book and what surprised me was that, the creatures in the movie look scarier and more realistic than what I’ve imagined in the book. The team behind the movie did a great job in being consistent with the book. The effects were realistic and it scared me a lot.

Enough about the movie, the book is covered with unexpected plot twists and realizations. Once again, Stephen King made another wonderful book. I’ve heard a lot of him from film adaptations, but this one really grabbed my attention. What motivated me from ready this book was because of the movie experience. I don’t really watch horror movies or read horror books, but this one is probably the only horror book and movie I was able to. It’s scary and filled with gore, and the ending was the worst of all. By worst, I mean the saddest.

The book is great, although there are little things that I think, will make the book even better. During the storm, I was quite confused of their conversation, since King used a third person’s view, I cannot really distinguish if David was the one talking or his son. King addressed both using the pronoun “he”.  Nevertheless, I commend King for thoroughly describing the events happening during the storm without over exaggerating the like.

Also, something critical I noticed when they were about to gather supplies and medicine in the pharmacy, they had a little conversation before doing the operation. David explained how dangerous and risky it is. “The Bridgton Pharmacy had been doing business when we drove in yesterday. Not the laundromat, but the drugstore had been wide open, the doors chocked with rubber doorstops to let in a little cool air-the power outage had killed their air conditioning, of course.” he said. What caught my attention was how detailed David was able to describe and remember the situation in the pharmacy yesterday before the mist. I find it not realistic since who can even remember that kind of detail considering the life-threatening events that happened. Nobody would even observe the door of a building and how it is widely opened. Even in the past pages, it was not explained that David observed the characteristics of the Pharmacy.

Lastly, I have two feelings about the ending. It made me hate and love King for it. I commend King for making a very frustrating ending. He made it phenomenal and unique to other stories. Nobody was expecting that kind of ending, which made it unique. It might be a sad one, but it left a mark in our hearts as readers. That is probably the reason Stephen King is the King. I just noticed, he made too much foreshadowing, which ruined the suspense. Instead of being shocked, I was able to predict the next thing that will happen, which killed the suspense. Limiting it would probably make it better, but the effect might also be extremely opposite. It might lead into confusions and the like.

                Overall, the experience was out of this world and unique. Every story has a happy ending, but not this one. What I like in the book is that the horror and suspense is not from the creatures behind the mist. I agree that they’re terrifying, but the thing that also scared me is how the people betray others for their primary instincts. As organisms, we forget about others when our primary needs are not satisfied.

King delivered a great story. After reading this, the book brought me to tears especially the unexpected ending. I recommend this to people like me that does not want horror stories. It is more of a suspense than a horror to me. The way King developed David’s character was quite impressive. From a father, to a leader, then to a lone survivor, this character is easily the best character developed in the book. I hope King will make a second  sequel of The Mist.

Zedec Pacaldo
XI STEM - MENDELEEV