The Mist

Title: The Mist

Author: Stephen King

Published: 1980
Read: July 2010
Number of pages: 230
Fiction
Where I obtained the book: Amazon.com
How I discovered it: from the film
My grade: B+

I saw the movie a few years ago and really liked it, so I thought I would check out the book which I could never find at the bookstore or library, so finally I just ordered it from online. Told in first person, the main character, David, goes to the grocery store with his young son after a massive storm has hit to get some supplies. A mist has arisen and there's something ominous lurking out there. He and the others are trapped in the store and the people become divided about what they should do in a Lord of the Flies like moment. 

From what I remember of the movie, it follows the short story pretty well. It's not one of King's scariest stories, but it's definitely creepy. There were a few scenes that made me shudder and the deaths do get pretty gruesome. The main difference between the book and the film is the ending. Without giving too much away in case you haven't seen the movie and/or read the book, in the film we know exactly what happens to the characters, but the ending in the book is a bit more ambiguous, you don't know the fate of the characters, though you can probably guess it's a grim one. I liked the ending better in the movie and even Stephen King admitted he did too. I kept picturing Marcia Gay Harden as the bible-thumping Mrs. Carmody even though in the book she's described as being fat and much older.