Full disclosure, I watched the feature film adaptation prior to diving into The Mist by Stephen King. I felt the film lacked in so many ways and was hoping the original story in print format would redeem the film, but feel while the mist delivers an engaging story filled with tension and intrigue, it didn’t fulfill my expectations.
In the wake of a summer storm, terror descends…David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies following a freak storm. Once there, they become trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town. As the confinement takes its toll on their nerves, a religious zealot, Mrs. Carmody, begins to play on their fears to convince them that this is God’s vengeance for their sins. She insists a sacrifice must be made and two groups—those for and those against—are aligned.
Clearly, staying in the store may prove fatal, and the Draytons, along with store employee Ollie Weeks, Amanda Dumfries, Irene Reppler, and Dan Miller, attempt to make their escape. But what’s out there may be worse than what they left behind.
The idea for this story from Stephen King isn’t something groundbreaking, but it was compelling enough to dive into. The setting—a small town engulfed in a mysterious fog that conceals deadly creatures within its dense shroud–was something that I thought I would find super interesting but felt the story got bogged down with unnecessary stuff.
One big subplot that stands out to me with the affair admits chaos that was truly unnecessary and took away from what good elements the story has. While making rash decisions, this particular element felt somewhat extraneous to the central narrative. It seemed to divert attention away from more pressing issues without adding significant depth to character development or plot progression. A sense of the times possibly?
I found myself letdown–possibly of my on doing–with The Mist. However, it was worth the journey and it didn’t end up better in my mind than the Frank Darabont adaptation. King has much better work in his bibliography that should be explored before diving into The Mist.
The Mist is available at bookstores everywhere as part of Skelton Crew collection or a standalone novella. The Skelton Crew audiobook is available at Libro.fm with this tale narrated by Will Patton.
