Book Review: The Mist

The Mist by Stephen King
Release Date: 1980;1985;2007
Publisher: Signet
Audience: Everyone
Pages: 240
Buy the Book: Amazon
Book Rating: 4/5









Stephen King week! Why? Because I can!!! :)

Admittedly, I turned to this novel after watching the movie adaptation and the fact that my friend mentioned that the book ended differently than the movie. In short, The Mist follows David and his son as they becomed trapped in a grocery story with a number of other patrons. They soon find they cannot leave the store as strange creatues abound in the mist, killing those who venture forth from the store. Soon, the patrons, a la The Lord of the Flies or The Drive-In, begin to socially break down. Most end up following a prophet who emerges from the group, a prophet who believes a child sacrafice is needed to save them all: David's son. David, to save his son, must brave the mists.

The Mist is one of those books that, upon completion, you kind of get that 'I hate humans' feeling. In this book, Stephen writes a number of visceral characters that naturally rub against the reader and do a good job of making you hate them. Further, I enjoy the ambiguous nature of the novel, you are never sure exactly what is happening or where these mists came from. Further, you are not exactly sure what will happen next as the grocery store, as time passes, becomes a pressure cooker on the people living inside of it and anything becomes possible.

While the book suffers a little from what I call King-itis (the need for dozens of tertiary characters) it was a decent book with memorable characters. Further (a plus in my experience with Stephen King novels), it is fairly short. This seems to be a nod by King to a number of authors, including Golding, Lovecraft, and others like them. If you are looking for book with some atmosphere or a decent dystopian / horror I recommend checking this book out.