The Mist Book Review

Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! Today, I am back with another book review. I’m slowly making my way through King’s iconic and well-known novels. I do have to admit that some of his work is intimidating just based on the length of most of his novels, but when I saw The Mist on the shelf, I was shocked! It’s so tiny compared to most of his work. I just had to pick it up, so let’s get into it!

I honestly loved this book; I read it in one sitting (during my 3 and ½ hour flight to Chicago). The perfect airport/travel book. Quick, easy, and very entertaining. \

In The Mist, we are transported to a small town. A severe storm just hit, and a mist descends on the town. It’s first seen settling over the lake, and everyone didn’t think anything of it. It’s just a fog aftermath from the terrible storm, but this being a Stephen King novel, we know that to be untrue.

In the wake of the storm, David Drayton and his son, Billy, and their neighbor, Brent Norton venture to the local grocery store. Once there, they become trapped along with a handful of other people. As the mist creeps closer and closer to town, those trapped have to decide whether or not to venture out into the mist.

Now, I really enjoyed this book, and I would consider this classic Stephen King. I watched the movie years ago. Honestly, so long ago that I didn’t remember much when diving into the book.

There were a couple of things that made this book really work for me, those are: the pacing was done well. Even though this was a very short book, nothing felt rushed or short lived. All the characters were important or brought something to the story. We learn so much about everyone in such a short amount of time. The ones continuously mentioned that the reader grows to recognize. Lastly, suspense drives the plot.

The entire time the characters are in the grocery store, you are wondering if they are going to escape, what’s in the mist, why is there this mist, will people leave despite what they learn about the mist, etc. Some of these questions never receive an answer. It’s the fear and anxiety that push you to continue reading like most of King’s other works. King’s fear factor is more about human nature than a monstrous nature.

I won’t give away any spoilers for the ending, but personally I liked it. I felt like that may not be a popular opinion, but I’ll leave it at that.

The main character, David, is trapped in the store with his son. His wife is back home. We learn more about the Mist as people leave the store in hopes of looking for rescue. I feel like the more you read, the less hope you begin to have for the characters. You’re trying to remain hopeful just like they are.

Overall, I gave this 4/5 stars. If you’re looking for a quick horror read, I would highly recommend this. Especially, since it’s one of King’s shorter works.

Alright folks, that is all I have for this week! Come back next Wednesday for another blog post. As always, thank you for reading :)