Stephen King - The Mist

Whirlwind

Whirlwind

Stephen King - The Mist

This was always a favorite of mine, having first read it in high school out of a hardback book that weighed more than a newborn baby.

*SPOILERS: Beware*

Anyway, a tremendous storm knocks something loose in a government facility called The Arrowhead Project. There's great secrecy surrounding the Project...nobody knows for sure what they're working on, but many think that it might be particle accelerators or "different atoms" or high intensity lasers or "masers".

The accident, some think, has ripped a hole from another dimension into this world. All sorts of creepy-crawlies come through, along with a thick mist, trapping a quarrelsome bunch of people in a supermarket.

These people find that it isn't the creatures outside in the mist that aren't their biggest threats...but each other!:eek:

One of the characters, Mrs. Carmody, is portrayed as a loonie. She's a bible-thumper, a trouble-maker. She's explaining to the people in the store how the mist was foretold in the Book of Revelation. It's God's judgement on the world, she says.

Later on, Mrs. Carmody begins telling these people that the only way to bring back balance is through a blood sacrifice.:mad:

This story really makes you consider what might happen, in reality, if a monster-saturated mist ever rolled out onto the world. The way Stephen King tells the story, you feel like one of the townspeople, trapped inside a place that isn't so safe.

However, if you're easily offended by Christians being portrayed as the bad people and the zealots and the crazies (as I am), then I really wouldn't recommend this story. I'm not sure about the movie, which comes out this week, but as an old Stephen King reader...I think I'm going to see it. Just for old-times sake.

The "hero" of the story actually has an adulterous affair while at the same time worrying about the safety of his wife (who he left at home, in the mist).

Troublesome, isn't it, that a hero would commit adultery. And the bad guy would be a bible-thumper...?:confused:
 
I couldn't help it, really. I went to see it on Thanksgiving Day.

The movie pretty much stuck to the story (but they kindly took out the part where the main character has an adulterous affair).

The audience broke out into applauds, though, when Mrs. Carmody (the bible thumper) was hurt.:confused:

I mean, I know it's just a story. But I can see Mrs. Carmody's side of the story, too. I wouldn't want to be sealed into a room with any of the people who clapped when the Rapture comes around.:o

(...then it was foggy when we left the theater, that was the juicy part. Everybody walked to their cars in silence, he he he)
 
I always liked sci fi and horror (within reason) but I see no need to put down Christians. Well let me restate that; there are some religious folks that I would hate to be locked up with!:D
 
I used to be Stephen King fan. The Mist is one of his tamer stories. He can really get into the human psyche, huh? He has really scared me in the past!
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I was thinking about this the other day...yeah, I used to be the biggest King fan ever! Whewww!

I used to write to him back when I was in high school (before he got super-famous). He sent me autographed books and letters and such. It was great to have that kind of attention from someone I really looked up to.

BUT...now, later on in life, I'm starting to see patterns in his stories. In Carrie, for example, the Mrs. White was the bad person (or one of them). She was a bible thumper. She insisted that Carrie pray in the closet, made her obey rules, and such...but Mrs. White was also the bad guy! She was a "zealot", telling Carrie that certain bodily functions were God's punishment or curse.

In Needful Things, King has two churches fighting a bloody battle! Was it Protestants against Baptist? Something like that. I can't remember right now. One of them had a casino night, and the other church said it was a vile sin to gamble, and all H-E-double-hockey-sticks broke out.

I can see where some people would consider religious folk as a bad person (constantly screaming eternal damnation rather than Jesus' love)...but not all Christians are like that.:(

I've spent many nights wide-eyed up against my night-light, unable to close a King book. The Mist was one such story. Another favorite of mine has always been Gerald's Game. Nerve-wracking!

;)
 
The battle of the churches in the book Needful Things was between Catholics and Baptists.
There was also a televangilist/slave owner in The Talisman, a traveling bible salesman/child molestor in I think the same story. He has many examples of so called "christians" doing bad things. Pattern there, huh?
He also has a pattern of child molesters in his books as well as demonic themes. That's one of the reasons I now longer read his works. He also got redundant, writing the same story twice with different titles. And the gunslinger series is nothing more than a rewrite of the Wizard of Oz.
One day, I was in the fire station (I'm a volunteer firefighter) and I had a strong mental picture of my husband stabbing me in the back with a screw driver. It was so strong, I had to turn around and see where he was and what did he have in his hands???
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(he was across the station, holding a wrench, working on a truck)
It shook me up really bad, so I asked the Lord what was going on and He told me I was reading too much Stephen King and to let HIM choose my reading materials. Needless to say, I no longer read his stuff!
 
Did you know there's a Christian "Stephen King"?

His name is T.L. Hines. I read his first book, Lazarus, and have been wanting to read his second one for a while now.

I've been chatting with him in email for a while...he's really down to earth. A fine, Christian author.
 
Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti are also good reads. Although some people are taking Frank Peretti too seriously and are using his works for teaching spiritual warfare!
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I tried reading "Three" but it was like a carbon-copy of Saw. I didn't get too far.

I just like reading. Keeping me busy, keeping my imagination vibrating. I'm terrified of being bored, so I always have a book nearby. I'm going to start the Left Behind series here soon. Seen all the movies on it, I'm a little interested.

Of course, I wouldn't teach any gospel based on the Left Behind books. That's like teaching about something that was based on something else, isn't it? :D

I like your little smiley-gal falling down. That's cute.
 
I read Three!
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Quite the page turner! It had a surprise ending! I havent watched Saw (avoiding like the plague!)
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My family has watched the whole series. yuck!
I love to read, too! But one time, the Lord had me go without reading for 9 whole months! I was relying on books to teach me about Him than I was letting HIM teach me! Now, I have my priorities in better alignment. I can still read, but I dont nearly as much as I used to.
Left Behind is a good series. Makes you think and look up scripture for yourself!
I know what you mean about being bored! I have in my purse, a book, a crossword puzzle book, a deck of cards, (lets see, what else?.....)
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I got a lot of neat little things in my purse...err, in my briefcase, too!

Digital camera, voice recorder, gameboy, cell phone, blank DVDs (don't know why), a fingernail clipper, laptop computer, a scatter of Atomic Fireballs...and what's this? [examines it carefully then throws it away] I don't know, and I don't think I want to know.:o

Right now I'm trying to finish up with reading Demon In the Freezer by Richard Preston...it tells about Small Pox, how they "eradicated" it, and how there are still stores in some countries...and very very little vaccine!:(

Quite scary.
 
That DOES sound scary!
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I like stories like that, though, that have historical truth in them.
Scary things have happened, in our lifetimes, no less! ha!
I am in the middle of two books I havent had time to read lately, One is the Power of the Praying Woman, and the other is Created To Be His Helpmeet. I just havent had a whole lot of time these days!
Hee! I was at the hospital a couple of months ago, (my newest grandson was being born) and the daddy, and uncle were sitting around bored and needed playing cards. I pulled out my pack. Someone needed Ibuprophen, I had it. Someone else needed lotion, had it. I think someone else needed a nail file, had it! Then someone said, I'll bet she even has germex! And I did! ha!
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Never underestimate the depths of a grandmother's purse!
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Stephen King used to write scary stuff, but then as He lost his mind????? the dailogue in the books got very unrealistic. I have not read any in a long time. But some of the movies, I was unfortunate enough to catch on cable, showed Me some dialogue "No humans would speak"!!!!!!!!!!! So --with no offense intended -----I think He needs to get run over by a Van, a few more times, to get the "scary" back:rolleyes: and then I can be sorry, for saying so:( :D
 
Whirlwind said:
I'm going to start the Left Behind series here soon. Seen all the movies on it, I'm a little interested.
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Better have some time on your hands. I was actually happy to stay home with the flu a couple of days last week cause I was able to just keep reading. I am nearing the end of the series and the books have been nothing less than awesome. Probably the best books I have ever read.
 
da_man - yeah, I remember reading in one of the threads that you were starting to read.

I'm still on the first book, but it's amazing! It addresses so many things the movies don't even mention.

Mike - Yeah, Stephen King did go a little bonkers. He forgot his own saying, "It's the tale, not he who tells it." He got jealous that Tom Clancy was making more per book than him, and he left Viking. Then he got big-headed...he kept saying how he could publish his shopping list and it would be a number-one seller. He thought that he could write anything, and people would gobble it up. But the thing is...he really did start writing just anything.

Have you read The Cell? It started off okay. Rip-off of many "gone-haywire" stories at the beginning. Nothing original there. Then later on, theres some "zombies". He dedicated the book to George Romero. Mmm-hmm. Then later on, the zombies can fly. Oooookay. And then...

...well, suffice to say it wasn't worth the time reading it.:(

Fluffy - Lemme see...chapstick? Got it. Pen? Which color you need, he he he. USB cable? Got one right here. Screwdriver? Yup. Shoehorn? I don't know why, but here's one right here. I'd be good on that old game show, where contestants were chosen by what they had on their person. :)
 
LOL

Have you read his Memoirs On Writing?

He was in a drunk blackout when he wrote Cujo. Hardly remembered writing it at all. Yet, that's one of his most brilliant works. They say his prose flows like natural thought. Mmm-hmm...my prose used to flow like natural thought too, when I was blitzed.:o

Then after..."The Accident" (insert doomsday fanfare here)...he just kind of lost it. I couldn't finish Bag of Bones, it was so boring. Almost gave up on The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, too. The Green Mile came out in series, and I tried to keep up...but at 7-bucks a pop, it just didn't seem worth it! I saw Lisey's Story, or whatever, on sale at Barnes at a dramatic discount.

You ever see the movie, "Duplex"? The author is working hard on his new book, and the little old lady from upstairs comes down to ask for his autograph on his last book. He tells her no problem after rolling his eyes, and opens the cover to find a big 99-cent sticker on the inside. "Money well spent!" she tells him.:D:rolleyes:
 
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