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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
(3.5; Audiobook)
My first foray into the “King” realm!
Fantastic read but I’m conflicted on the amount of stars to give - primarily because the early 2000s adaptation of “The Mist” was playing through my mind the entire time. The movie is a pretty accurate depiction of the book, aside from 2-3 differences (at least according to my memory of the movie).
This novella is definitely worth your time; don’t let the 3.5 stars fool you. It’s a good book with a good story-telling. Seeing the movie first definitely skewed my rating since none of the information was new to me but I loved being able to read the original text and see the cosmic horror elements play out. I would genuinely love to know more about what is in the mist and why/how it got there! I’ll likely do some googling to see if Reddit has some recommendations on the lore of the mist.
Great short read! Good spooky story! And all around good time!
My first foray into the “King” realm!
Fantastic read but I’m conflicted on the amount of stars to give - primarily because the early 2000s adaptation of “The Mist” was playing through my mind the entire time. The movie is a pretty accurate depiction of the book, aside from 2-3 differences (at least according to my memory of the movie).
This novella is definitely worth your time; don’t let the 3.5 stars fool you. It’s a good book with a good story-telling. Seeing the movie first definitely skewed my rating since none of the information was new to me but I loved being able to read the original text and see the cosmic horror elements play out. I would genuinely love to know more about what is in the mist and why/how it got there! I’ll likely do some googling to see if Reddit has some recommendations on the lore of the mist.
Great short read! Good spooky story! And all around good time!
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This novella was a pretty fast-paced read, and despite having watched the 2007 movie and hating the ending, I really enjoyed this read. There are far more questions than we are ever given answers to, but I think that's part of the appeal of this novella for me. I enjoy the eeriness of what not only caused the mist but what exactly is in it and what kind of senses each creature may or may not have. I think the creatures themselves are described really well, and even without the movie, you could picture them really clear (and man are they scary in my head). I wish that we were able to get a little more explanation of the Arrowhead Project and what they were doing at that base that more than likely caused this disastrous turn of events.
The main group of characters all are different in their own way, and I find myself being drawn to the bad-assery of Mrs. Reppler and to Ollie Weeks. They were the stand-out two for me - what can I say, I enjoy characters that can fend for themselves, whether that be in a conventional or unconventional way (bug spray can's in a crazy way to defend yourself, and I love that that is something Mrs. Reppler did successfully). Mrs. Carmody though - she really was the one that made everything crazy. Crazy, possible other dimensional creatures aside, Mrs. Carmody had no problem jumping right into cultish human sacrifice propaganda (and i doubt that would've done anything truly). She may be even crazier than the creatures themselves - at least the creatures are doing what they do because that's in their nature (I would assume), but Mrs. Carmody knows better. She used this disaster as a way to up her crazy tenfold. She got what was coming to her.
The main group of characters all are different in their own way, and I find myself being drawn to the bad-assery of Mrs. Reppler and to Ollie Weeks. They were the stand-out two for me - what can I say, I enjoy characters that can fend for themselves, whether that be in a conventional or unconventional way (bug spray can's in a crazy way to defend yourself, and I love that that is something Mrs. Reppler did successfully). Mrs. Carmody though - she really was the one that made everything crazy. Crazy, possible other dimensional creatures aside, Mrs. Carmody had no problem jumping right into cultish human sacrifice propaganda (and i doubt that would've done anything truly). She may be even crazier than the creatures themselves - at least the creatures are doing what they do because that's in their nature (I would assume), but Mrs. Carmody knows better. She used this disaster as a way to up her crazy tenfold. She got what was coming to her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide
5.0⭐ Novella/Film Ending Comparison
I love The Mist.
“Film or novella?”
Yep.
Both have their merits. Stephen’s leaves a little more hope obviously, but I completely revere the film ending and personally prefer it. I think the plot's violent human behavior demands a nihilistic ending, or at least, leaves substantial room for it.
In a word where the Mrs. Carmondys of the world can win the day, we’ve already lost.
The film demands consequences for the collective unwillingness for anybody to reach out and help out the woman who had to get home to her kids. Did she take a lazy, potentially dangerous risk as a parent? Sure. Doesn’t have anything to do with those kids, who still need help.
An unwillingness to help is a failure of spirit, but ESPECIALLY children.
Through this cataclysmic event, there's a rich push and pull between Norton and Drayton, there's commentary about military experimentation and classification, there's pull between fanaticism, zealousness, and hysteria, there's trial and error survival, s*ic*de, trauma, and it doesn't even fucking matter because every single person already failed the test of humanity in the first five minutes.
Wont anybody see a lady home?
No?
Then you're already dead.
Texan culture has a savior problem. We love to be the heroes, but never the caretakers. If The Mist happened in Texas, a team of 50 people would’ve gone to help the woman and probably would've somehow made it back with the kids in tow. But if there’d been a known homeless camp near the area, they’d be on their own.
I’d like to believe one of the few core values of universal human spirituality is taking care of humanity as a species, both in the capacity of caregiving and heroic service/sacrifice. Banding together and taking care of everyone, down to the weakest among us.
I’d also like to think that when we fail the weakest among us, when we’re put to the test and choose self-interest, we pay for it in the end.
We might seem like we’re ahead for a time, and there might be some victory, but when we fail others, we fail ourselves. We pay for it, eventually. Always.
By the time the cost catches up to us, we can never afford it.
That’s what the film’s ending exemplifies.
Stephen’s ending isn’t bad though. It’s an ode to survival and the determination of humans to create a pack and run together, work together, fight together. I don’t love the idea of the protagonist writing this glorious manuscript to leave it on a counter...a little contrived there...but hell, when I nail the right way to end a novel, maybe you wont be reading my book reviews anymore.
Easy to bitch about something I can’t offer a solution for.
This story ended up embedding itself into me. After reading, I quickly chased it with the film, and found both so affecting.
Something about our dimensions cracking open and spilling its indifferent, hungry beings into our very easy, very privileged reality fascinates me as much as it terrifies me. God-sized creatures make me sick if I think about them long enough. I love both versions of this story. And short enough to enjoy more than once.
If you loved this and need something else to scratch the itch, I can't recommend his short story "N" enough.
-
I love The Mist.
“Film or novella?”
Yep.
Both have their merits. Stephen’s leaves a little more hope obviously, but I completely revere the film ending and personally prefer it. I think the plot's violent human behavior demands a nihilistic ending, or at least, leaves substantial room for it.
In a word where the Mrs. Carmondys of the world can win the day, we’ve already lost.
The film demands consequences for the collective unwillingness for anybody to reach out and help out the woman who had to get home to her kids. Did she take a lazy, potentially dangerous risk as a parent? Sure. Doesn’t have anything to do with those kids, who still need help.
An unwillingness to help is a failure of spirit, but ESPECIALLY children.
Through this cataclysmic event, there's a rich push and pull between Norton and Drayton, there's commentary about military experimentation and classification, there's pull between fanaticism, zealousness, and hysteria, there's trial and error survival, s*ic*de, trauma, and it doesn't even fucking matter because every single person already failed the test of humanity in the first five minutes.
Wont anybody see a lady home?
No?
Then you're already dead.
Texan culture has a savior problem. We love to be the heroes, but never the caretakers. If The Mist happened in Texas, a team of 50 people would’ve gone to help the woman and probably would've somehow made it back with the kids in tow. But if there’d been a known homeless camp near the area, they’d be on their own.
I’d like to believe one of the few core values of universal human spirituality is taking care of humanity as a species, both in the capacity of caregiving and heroic service/sacrifice. Banding together and taking care of everyone, down to the weakest among us.
I’d also like to think that when we fail the weakest among us, when we’re put to the test and choose self-interest, we pay for it in the end.
We might seem like we’re ahead for a time, and there might be some victory, but when we fail others, we fail ourselves. We pay for it, eventually. Always.
By the time the cost catches up to us, we can never afford it.
That’s what the film’s ending exemplifies.
Stephen’s ending isn’t bad though. It’s an ode to survival and the determination of humans to create a pack and run together, work together, fight together. I don’t love the idea of the protagonist writing this glorious manuscript to leave it on a counter...a little contrived there...but hell, when I nail the right way to end a novel, maybe you wont be reading my book reviews anymore.
Easy to bitch about something I can’t offer a solution for.
This story ended up embedding itself into me. After reading, I quickly chased it with the film, and found both so affecting.
Something about our dimensions cracking open and spilling its indifferent, hungry beings into our very easy, very privileged reality fascinates me as much as it terrifies me. God-sized creatures make me sick if I think about them long enough. I love both versions of this story. And short enough to enjoy more than once.
If you loved this and need something else to scratch the itch, I can't recommend his short story "N" enough.
-
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good entertaining novella. A bit outside the normal Stephen king realm with a bigger cosmic horror. That works brilliantly in this story, and all of the scenes the monsters really stand out as high points. I also think the dynamic between the people in the supermarket is really interesting as well and I enjoyed show those relationships panned out
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
2 ⭐️
Simply not for me.
The writing was by no means bad, but it was so slow paced that I was extremely bored. I also didn’t really like the story as such, felt mid.
I have one more book by this author on my shelf and I’m gonna give it a try sooner or later, but I think his writing might simply not be for me. And that’s fine. Everyone is allowed to like or dislike different things.
Simply not for me.
The writing was by no means bad, but it was so slow paced that I was extremely bored. I also didn’t really like the story as such, felt mid.
I have one more book by this author on my shelf and I’m gonna give it a try sooner or later, but I think his writing might simply not be for me. And that’s fine. Everyone is allowed to like or dislike different things.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No