The Mist

The short story, 'The Mist' originally appeared in the collection of 22 short stories by Stephen entitled, 'Skeleton Crew'.

The story has been re-released on its own as a movie tie in. The movie of the same name comes out this Friday (Nov. 23/07). I hope to go see the movie this weekend, but with kids and all it might be tough.

I first read this story in 'Skeleton Crew' while I was attending High School. The post-apocalyptic aspect of the story appealed to me then, and still does to this day - I just finished reading it again tonight.

Over the years Stephen has become better at his prose and I find that a lot of his early work has more of an 'unpolished' feel to it - it is more raw, sharp and aggressive somehow. Not that his current writing lacks those qualities, it just has more of a 'polished' feel to it, if you know what I mean.

All artists experience this, whether you are a musician, painter, or writer, it does not matter, the more you do it the better you get at it.

Anyway, back to 'The Mist'. I still find this story interesting. It is the one story in 'Skeleton Crew' that stood out in my mind 20 years later. I have never forgot the story or the title, unlike some of the others in that collection. That is the kind of impression it left on me.

We are all the sum of our own experiences, and reading it again so many years later I was able to identify with the main character, David, differently than I did in the past. I am now married and have kids of my own so I can better understand what David was going through.

Perhaps the best thing that Stephen King does, and continues to do to this day, is develop his characters in such a way that the reader really identifies with them - or hates them for that matter - and he did that in this story, especially with David and Mrs. Carmody, the doomsday prophecy preacher.

I understand that the movie is going to have to sum up the story a little better than Stephen did, as the general viewing audience likes that sort of thing and I look forward to seeing how it is done. Although, I personally liked the way he ended the story. Perhaps there will be more military involvement in the movie than in the story. We are lead to believe that The Mist and the things in it are the result of some sort of failed military experiment in the story after all.

I wonder when Stephen was writing this story if he had some sort of nuclear experimentation going on in his mind that caused these things or if it is some how linked to The Dark Tower and perhaps the breaking of a beam. In the movie these things will probably be explained by some sort of military genetic experimentation gone wrong.

I just hope that the director of this movie at least stays true to the rest of the story and, more importantly, to the characters. He should, he has done a heck of job with the other Stephen King movies he has filmed in the past - but you never know.