Star Wormwood blazes and each one of you that steps out that door will be torn apart!

Stephen King and I are still in love!

My introduction this year to his writing involved some seriously epic shit, with It and The Stand, and now I get to The Mist, and it’s super short, and takes place over 2 days, and doesn’t actually end?

Gah.

I’m not saying I’m unsatisfied; I’m actually mostly saying that I’m glad that I did this one when I did it, because now there’s a whole new King to love. The man is super prolific, so I’m delighted that there’s a tapestry of styles and forms in his library.

This was also incredibly scary. It’s essentially about a group of normal people in a tiny town in Maine (what? I know!) hit by an off-the-charts thunderstorm. In the storm’s aftermath, the town is enveloped by a very eery, unnatural mist. If you find yourself in it, you’re a goner.

There are some super weird creepy crawly creatures, and a great bottle scenario in a grocery store with a large cast of it-takes-all-kinds-of-folks. In this short book there’s a ton of action, sex, death, and heroism.

And did I mention it was scary?

Right after I finished the book, I was sitting in my office (which has no windows) getting some work done, and I heard something in my living room that was definitely going to kill me, and undeniably not of-this-world. I spent ten minutes mustering up the strength and courage to go out there and confront it: it was a light rain hitting the living room windows.

Thanks, Steve!