Kako je prošlo dovoljno vremena da sećanje na film izbledi, a u susret seriji koja treba da startuje uskoro, učinilo mi se zgodnim da ponovim gradivo.

Na početku priče upoznajemo se sa članovima porodice Drajton dan pred oluju koja je pogodila Dugo jezero u Mejnu. Jutro nakon oluje, Dejvid sa sinom Bilijem i komšijom Nortonom odlazi u lokalni supermarket, ne znajući da više nikada neće videti svoju suprugu. Pre nego što su se odvezli kolima, Dejvid primećuje gustu maglu kako se spušta na drugoj strani jezera. U trenutku kada dolaze u supermarket i obavljaju svoju kupovinu, magla potpuno pada na Mejn. Struja ponovo nestaje i pale se generatori, a stanovnici koji su se u tom trenutku zadesili u marketu primećuju da se napolju dešava nešto neobično. Od magle se ništa ne vidi, a od spolja dopiru različiti zvukovi, od sirena do vrisaka. Tada na scenu stupa gospođa Karmodi sa rečima "Ne izlazite napolje, to je smrt, osećam da je smrt napolju".

Tema religijskog fanatizma koja je ovde obrađena je još jednom isplivala ispred svih drugih tema. Strah od nepoznatog koji goni ljude ka očajanju i prihvatanju bilo kakvog "smislenog" naklapanja kao rešenja je za mene i dalje nešto najstrašnije ikad. Iako se da pretpostaviti da će se okupljena grupa ljudi verovatno podeliti na manje grupacije, potpuno mi je fantasnična opcija da bilo ko od njih poveruje osobi koja propoveda o krvnoj žrtvi i potom počne da podržava tu opciju. Takođe, jedna od uzbuđujućih tema jeste razmatranje realnih scenarija preživljavanja i borba sa nepoznatim. Zanimljiv mi je momenat u kojem se greške apropo pokušaja izlaska iz marketa ponavljaju, iako svaki put naizgled dođe do pomaka. Sa druge strane, kada ti se stvara masa razularenih fanatika, smrt u magli deluje kao podnošljivija opcija.

Kritike kao i uvek idu na završnicu koja u ovom slučaju i nije pravi kraj. Umnogome me je podsetila na Mobilni telefon sa razlikom u tome da mi je ova priča iz nekog razloga bila prihvatljivija i realističnija od one u Mobilnom telefonu. Možda je razlika u tome što su bića iz magle prikazana tek povremeno i dozirano, na vrhuncima napetosti, dok su zombiji u drugoj priči daleko prisutniji i uticajniji. A možda je i razlika u tome što su u pitanju vanzenmaljci protiv ljudi koji postaju vanzenmaljski odašiljači i igračke, preciznije, element dehumanizacije.

S. King is an author that I really like, a writer whom I admire as a female writer. However, this book I didn't enjoy as much as the other ones I read of his. Before reading it, I had seen the series based on this book and I think that has a lot to do with my impression of the book.

The series, although it has very little in common with the book, seems to me more complex and thus interesting. Already having an idea of what was happening took away my ability to be surprised. Nevertheless, like all the books of this author, I started it and didn't let go until I finished it, his writing is always very fluent.

Here I leave you a video about King's decalogue (in case you are interested): https://bit.ly/48YnNaa.

I have been a fan of S. King for a long time. His works usually have a unique charm that can attract readers. But this particular book didn't quite meet my expectations. Maybe it was because I had watched the related series first. The series, with its own complex plot and characters, gave me a different perception. When I read the book, some of the surprises were gone. But still, King's writing style is so good that I couldn't put the book down. I will continue to follow his works and look forward to more excellent creations from him.

I have never been a fan of short stories. I always felt that they were too short when the story being told was good. However, I am starting to enjoy them by valuing them for what they are, short stories, without comparing them to novels, and especially, to novels by the same author.

In this anthology, we enjoy three quite different short stories. I really liked them. Especially the last one, "The捷径 of Mrs. Todd."

I thought it was a fascinating story with a thrilling pace. Its protagonists won me over from the beginning. Homer said about Ophelia, "She was beautiful, Dave, and I fell in love with her; it could have happened to anyone, to any man and perhaps also to any woman; but at the same time I was scared because I thought she could kill me if, looking away from the path, she fixed her gaze on me and decided to return my love." Well, he was right because I have fallen in love with Ophelia, with her boldness and her mischievousness. I really envy her. I wish I could take shortcuts in my life.

As for the other two stories, "The Fog" and "The Monkey." I also enjoyed them quite a bit, more the first than the second, but both manage to maintain the tension until the end. In "The Monkey," I had imagined a very different ending, much more terrifying than King's, perhaps that's why it's the one I liked the least of the three. And "The Fog" is a wonderful science fiction story.

I highly recommend it although I enjoyed the anthology of "The Threshold of Night" much more.

3.5⭐️

When a writer fails to explain the origins of the horror elements in his or her story, I tend to view it as a bit of a cop-out.

In this case as well, there were aspects that were left unexplained. However, strangely enough, it managed to impart an even creepier atmosphere to the narrative. So, grudgingly, I must admit that when executed properly, unexplained horror can indeed be effective.

But then again, this was penned by you-know-who.

The ending here diverges somewhat from that of the movie. While the movie's conclusion was shockingly tragic, I found myself preferring this one. There are just so many possibilities.

Overall, I'd rate this 3 creepy-crawly stars. It had its flaws with the unexplained bits, but the overall creep factor and the interesting ending made it a worthwhile read. The author managed to create an atmosphere that lingers in the mind, even after the story has ended.

It makes me wonder what other horrors this unknown writer has in store for us.

Will the next story be just as effective in its use of unexplained elements? Only time will tell.

4/5 stars

I truly relished this!

I have the perception that this is such a classic within the horror genre and has indubitably inspired numerous other books and movies.

I would assert that I have a preference for the movie ending and also believe that the movie is an outstanding adaptation!

I read this because I adored the film when I watched it probably around 5 years ago by now.

However, I must state that it does possess some of the old Stephen King traits that I really don't care for.

Such as depicting every single woman solely based on her physical appearance, the male character having the tendency to be like "oh crap something bad is happening, time to cheat on my wife," and there are also some language-related issues.

Nonetheless, overall this was extremely enjoyable and the audiobook was truly fantastic!

A truly fascinating and yet tormenting tale indeed. The mystery of what precisely caused the mist still lingers in the air. What was this strange mist composed of? Was it some sort of unknown chemical compound, or perhaps a supernatural phenomenon? These questions continue to plague our minds.

Another aspect that leaves us on the edge of our seats is the fate of the 4 people who managed to make it out of the supermarket. Did they survive the horrors that awaited them outside? Or did they succumb to the unknown perils lurking in the mist? There are currently no answers to these burning questions, which, interestingly enough, might potentially leave an opening for a thrilling sequel.

Could there be more to this story? Will we ever find out the truth behind the mist and the fate of those who escaped? Only time will tell, but for now, this tale continues to captivate our imaginations and keep us on the edge of our seats.

This is a novella that has had a significant impact, spawning not only a movie but now also a television series.

Set in Maine, a mysterious mist descends upon a small town, enshrouding it in an eerie blanket.

Danger lurks within this mist, and it proves to be deadly.

This is not only a very quick read but also an extremely enjoyable one. It is a classic horror story, and I have always believed that the scariest horror is that which delves into the unknown.

This book expertly explores this concept.

Despite being a novella, it offers more than just horror. It is a fascinating study of human reaction in a terrifying situation.

Some people spout religious rhetoric, some go into shock, while others manage to shine.

The majority of the book takes place in a supermarket, and having this predicament occur in such a commonplace setting is truly brilliant.

It allows the author to展示 whether humans can thrive with complete strangers or self-destruct.

In a short story, the author must act swiftly to convey the story, and Stephen King does this flawlessly in this one.

The tension builds and escalates as one would hope when reading a horror story.

This is a terrific novella, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

My slow and steady pursuit of reading everything by Stephen King persists! I completed this in just two days, but then made the error of not penning my review right away. As a result, this might be a bit disjointed.

This appears to be one of King's most renowned novellas, and rightfully so. It's tense and claustrophobic, almost Lovecraftian in essence, and capitalizes on the best aspects of horror where the mist obscures. After all, the most terrifying things are the unseen - that childlike fear of the dark, of what lies beyond our sight, of what might be lurking just out of view. All of King's typical tricks are at play here as well. Our first-person narrator is relating this from an indeterminate future, so at times he'll drop in some deliciously dramatic foreshadowing that things will go awry and certain people will never be seen again. It keeps you on edge, eagerly awaiting to discover what comes hurtling around the corner.

Like in "Under the Dome," King is intrigued by what occurs when people are confined in a space together, how logic and rationality disintegrate, and fear takes over as civility is stripped away, leaving behind only animal instinct and panic. Honestly, for me, the most frightening elements of "The Mist" were the other people rather than the ineffable monsters in the mist. This is because we are our own worst enemies, and it serves as a reminder that society is always precariously balanced on a delicate knife's edge. Hell is other people.

The novella also delves into coping mechanisms and the various ways in which people rail against, cope with, or adjust to disaster. Some people's logic crumbles, others turn to religion, and still others summon and display unknown heroic facets of themselves. Our main character, David, is a fairly straightforward straight white male father and husband of good integrity. However, I also appreciate that he has his ugly, weak, and helpless moments. He is not infallible. He loses his temper, succumbs to blind numbing distraction, and is a coward at times.

So, it's just a really excellent, solid novella. It's probably a great starting point for anyone who wants to explore King's work but is intimidated by the length of his typical novels.

Now, let's discuss the ending! And the movie! There has been a great deal of chatter in our Horror Aficionados group read about the endings of both the movie and the novella, and for good reason (I gather it's been quite controversial). HUGE SPOILERS FOR BOTH NOVELLA & MOVIE BELOW.

The novella concludes inconclusively, with David believing he hears the word "Hartford" on the radio. So, our merry band drives off into the mist, hoping to find some remnants of civilization. I absolutely loathe cliffhanger endings, but this one works, sort of, for a short novella where you haven't been waiting overly long for a payoff. (Even so, King still offers an apology for it via David's narration.) It leaves it up to the reader to decide whether or not they survive. It's about hope and maintaining hope. (As they say in "The Road": keeping the light alive.)

And I could potentially be okay with that. I suppose. But then there's the movie, and the fact that Frank Darabont rewrote the ending to be so conclusive and bleak is, to me, fantastic. It's a gut punch, and one that Stephen King has also praised. In brief: Trapped in the car, in the mist, surrounded by monsters and with no way out, David uses the last of the bullets to kill his family and friends. Then, in despair, he stumbles out into the mist, ready to be killed by the monsters. Literally two minutes later, the army arrives, sweeping through, killing the monsters, burning away the mist, and restoring normalcy, while David collapses to his knees, having destroyed his entire world himself.

So, the movie is also about hope and not letting go of it, but in more of a 'cautionary tale' sense. It vividly illustrates the sheer mind-numbing horror of giving up and succumbing to despair. I saw it 9 years ago, but it's still etched in my memory. It's just that much of a shocker.
It's highly contentious! A lot of people love it, while a lot of people hate it. I, for one, fall into the former camp. It would have been dreadful if it were the ending to a long book or a series where you'd grown deeply attached to the characters, but as a short, punchy tale? Yes. Yes. Because it raises all those questions about hope and survival, and what would you do. (When playing games like Silent Hill, I constantly think about the fact that I would not survive this: my first encounter with a monster and I'd probably wet myself and perhaps opt out with a gun because, Jesus, I just can't handle it.) And to quote "The Road" again, because it's fitting: "Can you do it? When the time comes? ... What if it doesn't fire? It has to fire. What if it doesn't fire? Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock? Is there such a being within you of which you know nothing? Can there be? Hold him in your arms. Just so. The soul is quick. Pull him toward you. Kiss him. Quickly."
It's极其痛苦和绝望的, but I think that's the point. The point is not to give up.

In conclusion, I think I'm going to rewatch the film this week. Also, my favorite easter egg/tie-in is that for the movie, they enlisted Drew Struzan - that is, the best movie poster artist of all time. He's the one who did the photorealistic paintings for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. - to create a fake movie poster for "The Dark Tower," which movie!David is seen working on. All things serve the beam.

This is the fifth book of my Horror Aficionados reading challenge.

Favourite quotes below, spoilery as usual:
One of those terrible visions came to me--I think they are reserved exclusively for husbands and fathers--of the picture window blowing in with a low, hard coughing sound and sending jagged arrows of glass into my wife's bare stomach, into my boy's face and neck. The horrors of the Inquisition are nothing compared to the fates your mind can imagine for your loved ones.
***
I stayed awake for another half hour with one lit candle for company, listening to the thunder walk and talk outside.
***
[ Just insert the entire scene here of the hysterical woman going out into the mist to get back to her children, and begging everyone for help and to come with her, and everyone shutting down and not meeting her eye and making their excuses -- including our narrator, who even uses his own son as a human shield to deflect his shame. It's incredible. The fact that, at the end of the movie, we see her safe-and-sound is another twist of the knife in the viewer's gut. If only, if only. ]
***
I sat down on the floor and took Billy on my lap and held his face against my chest and rocked him and talked to him. I told him all the lies parents keep in reserve for bad situations, the ones that sound so damn plausible to a child, and I told them in a tone of perfect conviction.
***
There was a sound. A soft sliding sound. It stopped, then started again with a stealthy little bump. Everything inside me went loose. I regressed magically to four years of age.
***
"David," Ollie said. "What--" He stopped, then made himself go on. "What if they get in? The tentacles?"
"How could they?" Jim asked. "You guys shut the door."
"Sure," Ollie said. "But the whole front wall of this place is plate glass."
An elevator shot my stomach down about twenty floors. I had known that, but had somehow been successfully ignoring it.
***
The next four hours passed in a kind of dream. There was a long and semihysterical discussion following Brown's confirmation, or maybe the discussion wasn't as long as it seemed; maybe it was just the grim necessity of people chewing over the same information, trying to see it from every possible point of view, working it the way a dog works a bone, trying to get at the marrow. It was a slow coming to belief.
***
Blood sacrifice--the words hung there, slowly turning. Even now, when I know better, I tell myself that then what she meant was someone's pet dog--there were a couple of them trotting around the market in spite of the regulations against them. Even now I tell myself that. She looked like some crazed remnant of New England Puritanism in the gloom... but I suspect that something deeper and darker than mere Puritanism motivated her. Puritanism had its own dark grandfather, old Adam with bloody hands.
***
Billy was crying.
"Shh, Billy shh," I said, rocking his head against me, but he went on crying. It was the sort of crying that only mothers know how to fix right.
***
Norton ran his hands through his hair, a gesture as calculated as any ever made by a Broadway actor. I had liked him better pulling the cord of his chainsaw fruitlessly, cussing and thinking himself unobserved. I could not tell then and do not know any better now if he believed in what he was doing or not. I think, down deep, that he knew what was going to happen. I think that the logic he had paid lip service to all his life turned on him at the end like a tiger that has gone bad and mean.
***
Terror is the widening of perspective and perception. The horror was in knowing I was swimming down to a place most of us leave when we get out of diapers and into training pants. I could see it on Ollie's face, too. When rationality begins to break down, the circuits of the human brain can overload. Axons grow bright and feverish. Hallucinations turn real: the quicksilver puddle at the point where perspective makes parallel lines seem to intersect is really there; the dead walk and talk; a rose begins to sing.
[NOTE FROM JULIE: I'm really happy that I read TDT before any other of King's work, so I can spot the lil' Easter eggs everywhere.]
***
Even a zombie lurching through the night can seem pretty cheerful compared to the existential comedy/horror of the ozone layer dissolving under the combined assault of a million fluorocarbon spray cans of deodorant.
***
That is what happened. Or nearly all--there is one final thing I'll get to in a moment. 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."
[NOTE FROM JULIE: This bit reads even more as King's own voice than just David's; the fourth wall breaking slightly, as King steps outside the story to offer his apologies. It reminds me of his afterword to The Dark Tower, in which he notes how much he hates writing endings.]

King presents us with a collection of three stories on this occasion. The first one, which gives the title to this issue, is actually a short novel and forms the fundamental attraction of the triad.

As one might expect from its author, "The Mist" is an engaging tale, assertive in creating a claustrophobic and distressing atmosphere and in exploring human reactions to danger. After a severe storm, the citizens of Bridgton, Maine, encounter the rapid advance of a thick and disturbing mist that hides within its density creatures from another world that will devour everything in their path. This chaotic and chilling crisis affects our protagonist, David, along with his son Billy, in the middle of a supermarket with about seventy other people. King masterfully weaves the enclosure, the fear of the unknown, the anxiety for survival, the brutality of the beasts but also of the humans who take refuge under the same roof.

The novel features a range of characters who embody the different reactions we experience in the face of tragedies that terrify our understanding and undermine our perceptions, making us highly receptive to the manipulation of those who rise stronger. It is a horror story due to the macabre nature of its creatures and the violence of their attacks, yes, but also because of the way it dissects social behavior. The problem is that although it starts promisingly and achieves a really interesting core, its open ending is, at least to my taste, very disappointing.

The other two stories that follow are considerably shorter. In "The Monkey," King explores cursed objects while exploiting the latent childhood fears in some corner of the psyche of any reader, while in "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut," one ventures into the moral danger of shortcuts while raising a reflection on youth, life, and time.

I feel as if reading Stephen King is a rite of passage that I astonishingly missed out on. This is rather strange indeed. I operate within the realm of bizarro fiction, which is on the fringes of horror. There are undoubtedly elements of horror in my books, and for good reason. I have a deep love for horror movies, horror shows, and haunted houses. I spent a significant portion of my childhood engrossed in “true story” accounts of ghosts, aliens, wendigos, and sasquatches. I was obsessed with TV shows like In Search Of… and Unsolved Mysteries. Additionally, I was a voracious reader, devouring just about everything I could get my hands on.

However, for some unknown reason, I never delved into King’s works. I simply can’t explain why.

Now, I’m going to be a bit harsher in judging The Mist than I would be with, say, one of my friend’s books. Objectively speaking, Stephen King has nothing left to prove, and my silly rating isn’t going to make or break his career. Also, I’ve watched the movie based on this novella several times, and it’s truly one of the darkest and most intense films I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing in a theater. So, I came in with certain expectations.

As it turns out, the film is a fairly decent adaptation of the source material, hitting most of the same key points. The movie, however, gets two things right that the book only briefly touches on. The first is Mrs. Carmody’s character (played by Marcia Gay Harden), who is much more prominent as the antagonist in the film. I think it was Harden’s performance that truly stole the show. She was so despicable and pitch-perfect as a religious zealot that when *SPOILER* her character gets shot in the film, people in the theater actually applauded. The second area where the film excels over the source material (and this will be obvious to anyone who has seen/read both versions of this story) is the ending. The book ends with an ambiguous ending, which is literally referenced in the text by the narrator David Drayton. The movie, on the other hand, has one of the darkest and most devastating endings I can recall. I’ll spare the spoilers for those who haven’t seen it, but it’s truly messed up.

Having only read this one book, it seems to me that Stephen King’s greatest strength as a writer is his almost limitless imagination. I mean, the fact that this book was turned into a film is no fluke. Almost all of his books are adapted into films.

Despite all his popularity, at least in this book, I imagine his work could have benefited from a content editor. Now, this is only a 150-page novella, and there were still quite a few inane details that added absolutely nothing to the actual story. David’s喋喋不休 about the lake they live on, who lives where, and his relationship to them has nothing to do with either building David’s character (who is actually rather dull and douchey) or moving the plot forward. These are cardinal sins for us writers at the bottom, and it’s one of the first hurdles you need to learn to overcome before anyone starts paying any attention to your work. But with King, whose prior success has made him a household name, I feel like content editors were actually afraid to touch his work. Think about it. If you were working for Random House and had to edit this very famous writer’s work, would you be like, “Hey, cut the paragraph where you’re prattling on about how the main character built some dumb boathouse with his dad”? It ain’t going to happen. I can only imagine how much worse these nonsense details are in some of his longer works, which are undoubtedly bloated to meet some expected page count.

That being said, once the *actual* story gets going, it moves along smoothly and effortlessly. When terrors come sweeping out of the mist, there’s no clunky language or prattling inanity to derail the imagination. I wasn’t too surprised by anything that transpired because, as I said, I’ve seen its fairly faithful film adaptation, but nevertheless, I was enthralled by all the action/gore sequences.

So, would I read King again? Absolutely. In fact, my copy of The Mist is included in a larger collection of short stories called Skeleton Crew, and I have about 400 more pages to go. And I’m looking forward to reading something I haven’t seen the movie of. Overall, I’d give this 3.5 stars. But since I can’t do that here, I’ll lean towards 4. HAPPY READING, YOU JERKS!

The Mist, Stephen King

The Mist is a captivating horror novel penned by the renowned American author Stephen King. In this thrilling tale, the idyllic small town of Bridgton, Maine, is suddenly plunged into a nightmare.

One fateful morning, following a violent thunderstorm, an eerie and thick mist descends upon Bridgton with alarming speed. This unnatural mist reduces visibility to a mere fraction, effectively concealing a host of otherworldly and terrifying monsters.

The story centers around a man who takes his son shopping at a local mall. Just as the mist begins to roll in, they find themselves trapped inside. Doors are locked, and they, along with a group of others, wait in anticipation for the mist to dissipate. However, they soon discover that strange creatures lurk within the mist, attacking anyone who dares to venture out. A woman takes on the role of a prophet and warns of dire consequences.

Published in 1999, The Mist has since become a classic in the horror genre. With its vivid descriptions and nail-biting suspense, it keeps readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end.

The Persian translation of the novel was published in Tehran by Pandar Qalam in 2018. It consists of 124 pages and delves into the themes of American literature in the 20th century.

The events described in the story are set in motion on 12/11/1399 Hijri Shamsi and conclude on 13/09/1400 Hijri Shamsi. Authored by A. Sharbiani, this translation brings the chilling tale of The Mist to a wider audience in the Persian-speaking world.

The way King writes the majority of his women makes me want to throw something. It's truly frustrating to see how he often portrays them in a rather one-dimensional or even demeaning manner.

It seems as if he fails to capture the full complexity and diversity of female characters. Their personalities and motivations are sometimes reduced to simplistic tropes or used merely as plot devices.

However, I do wonder if it's better in his more recent works. Maybe he has evolved as a writer and has started to give his female characters more depth and agency.

I hope so, because otherwise, it's a real missed opportunity to explore the rich tapestry of human experience through the eyes of women.

Until then, I'll continue to be disappointed by the way King writes his female characters in the majority of his works.