The Mist

I saw the movie prior to reading the book so I had an idea on what happened. I didn't realize the book was so small. I was hoping for a long read. Book ending and movie ending are very different. It was a good read though.

Mist is ok but too long. this is not vintage King, or master of the genre King. It is ho hum 3* King. But... But... As is fairly common there is a preview of a new book at the end of Mist. Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream is a complete story from his book to be released May 22, 2024. This story is King at his best, telling a story of a psychic dream that Danny has that forces him to try and do the right thing as a result. It is a modern retelling of the theme from Les Miserable and so satisfying. I am looking forward to the rest of you Like It Darker.

This is my first time reading Stephen King and it surely won’t be my last. His writing is immaculate and the story is extremely thoughtful. The book has one of the best endings I have read, it doesn’t necessarily end the story but it is not sloppy or lazy either. This book is a fairly soft introduction to horror, if you haven’t read much horror before I would recommend it. There are dramatic, violent scenes but considering how notorious Stephen King is this would be a good start. The book is also a fairly quick read. I rarely would give a book five stars but I believe this one deserves it.

I got back into reading thanks to Stephen King, having stopped reading after graduating high school. After working through some of his works, 'The Shining' being the novel that truly wet my mouth for more, I ventured off to taste the work of other authors. I was safe with the King but that couldn't be what reading was about for me, or eventually I'd find myself without anything else to read, thus giving up reading for a second and possibly final time. So it has been a few months since my last King book, and reading 'The Mist' reminded me how potent good writing can be. I LOVE 'The Mist'. I saw the movie first, years ago, and was dumbstruck. This novel only solidifies my gawking at his horror. This book doesn't just present you with evil monsters outside in the mist. In fact, King reveals the monsters INSIDE the store, and the psychology of fear and anger and the deadly combination of the two. Mob mentality is truly something to witness, and King brings us as close as he can while tempers rose and fear swallows them up resulting in death and more death. Being as I just finished, I could ramble on forever honestly. This is a quick, gripping novella that shows Kings teeth are as sharp regardless of his story's length. If you haven't read any King before (how can that be?!) then this is a great story to start with. If you have experience with King but haven't experienced 'The Mist', do something nice for yourself and dive in!

At the end, I felt cheated in two ways. The first is that, in the words of King's own first-person narrator: "But you mustn’t expect some neat conclusion. There is no 'And they escaped from the mist into the good sunshine of a new day; or 'When we awoke the National Guard had finally arrived;' or even that great old standby: 'It was all a dream.' It is, I suppose, what my father always frowningly called “an Alfred Hitchcock ending,” by which he meant a conclusion in ambiguity that allowed the reader or viewer to make up his own mind about how things ended. My father had nothing but contempt for such stories, saying they were 'cheap shots.'" Well, yeah, his father was right. This is unprofessional storytelling. He started to write a story and couldn't figure out how to end it, but because he's Stephen King, and because lots of people would rather read a lousy Stephen King book than no Stephen King book, he gets away with it. You can enjoy the flow of storytelling and his evocation of horrible events--like the sounds approaching monsters make in the dark. It keeps you reading to find out what happens next. But nothing makes sense and everything is left hanging. The second reason is that when "The Mist" ends, you're less than halfway through the Kindle book. You have paid full price for half a book. The rest of the book is a partial sample of a book entitled "You Like It Darker." Sample chapters are annoying. But when the sample preview is half the book, that's not annoying, that's dishonest. So, 1) the preview is unsatisfying, because is an unfinished book, but we all know that going in. 2) "The Mist" is unsatisfying, because it may be all he wrote, but it's an unfinished story. And he says so himself. But we don't know it in advance, he springs it on us at the end.

I remember moving to Viriginia from NYC shortly after getting married in the fall of 1997. I was a diehard reader. Having commuted to and from work in NY, I got plenty of time to read riding on the subways. In Virginia though, specifically Northern Va, it's drive, drive, drive. My commute was 60 miles round trip daily and this cut into my read time heavily. This is where my foray into Audio books came in. I went right for one that was written by one of my favorite authors Stephen King. Confession: I had actually read this book in novel format, but never listened to an audio book before. I was surprised how good the novel remained having now been acted out with actors. The movie remake was exceptional too, but nothing like the creepiness of this book when I first read it. I never get tired of reading a Stephen King novel and definitely have not lost that creepy feeling whenever I read this book over and over again. The open-ended ending leaves a bit to be desired, but it doesn't mess it up for me. It's still one of my favorite Stephen King books ever!

I am sure I have seen the film? The story is well written, sad in many pages, but reminds of how humanity works, when the lights are turned out

Very nice read

キングの有名な小説。ただのミスト（霧）が化け物のように変化していき、その不透明な視界の中に人間同士の葛藤や怨憎、暴力の予感が蠢く。ホラー要素もあり…英語（超）上級者向けだと感じました。

Slimmer than the other King books I currently have, I was surprised with how much the director of the movie adaptation had done with the source material. It's a "fun" book, if fun can be a word for King's titles. It was a quick read and well worth the time I spent with it.

A dark and twisted King masterpiece!