READ MAY 2026 – BOOK 16/45

RATE: 4.25/5

I finished The Mist today so I’ve decided to make it my first review, mostly because Stephen King is the bane of my existence and I could write a post longer than the book itself on my grievances. I have the most toxic relationship with this old man, and I’m always back for more.

This is my fourth King book this year, third finished since I’m about halfway through 11.22.63, but this is a shorter novella so it took me about a day and a half to read. I did decide to limit myself to five of his books per year because the man has an endless supply of works and I do believe in diversifying one’s consumption of media.My first King read and longtime favorite was Carrie, but considering 2 of 3 I’ve completed this year have been 5 star reads—I’m telling you this kooky gent has me in a chokehold—I can’t say it has remained my favorite, but definitely still top 3. I will also review the other two, The Green Mile and The Institute, in the days to come.

Now for the actual topic of this post: The Mist. Please know, while I enjoy a well-written post, I enjoy complaining about books I willingly spend hours on even more.

The Mist is a 1980 novella about a small town in Maine overtaken by—believe it or not—mist. The main characters become trapped in their local supermarket after curious customers attempt to leave and are brutally attacked by an unknown creature in the mist. If you’re familiar with King, you may know he battled addiction through the late 80’s and has been sober since. I have read works from both phases of his life, and respectfully, the drug use shows. Don’t get me wrong, he has excellent work written in the 21st century, but the most absurdist of his content definitely came to be before his sobriety; we have, for example, a father ruled by malevolent forces trying to torture and kill his own family (The Shining), a thousand-page apocalyptic pandemic (The Stand), and another thousand pages about an evil clown. What a joy. Also, not that Maine is a popular landmark, but apparently it must also be where the devil resides, this man has to have endured outrageous adversity to write about his own home state in such a horrifying way.

Originally, I expected The Mist to be something like a poisonous gas, not for any particular reason but I didn’t go in expecting actual creatures, although I do confess the bloody handprint on the cover should have been an indicator. While unverified, it is heavily implied that the creatures roaming the mist are a result of a confidential government project, the Arrowhead Project. Part of my resentment towards this particular story is the length: King has so many books that mirror the length of the Bible itself, but couldn’t give me more than 200 pages for this story.

The story itself was very enjoyable and fast-paced, but I was left with so many questions, and I am entirely too impatient to be left wondering. Firstly, I would’ve liked more information on the Project, not just the speculation and hearsay of the townspeople. I can appreciate conspiracy as much as the next gal, but I need more. As a woman of the sciences and such, I prefer substantial information. In The Institute for example, we are given perspectives of both the protagonists and antagonists. I use this as an example because it is also about sketchy government projects, but my questions were answered with the altering perspectives. What irked me the most is not knowing whether the mist had spread through America, or if it was a contained situation. It was made clear that the creatures were not immune to injury; they sort of reminded me of multiple Godzillas, so I would’ve been very interested in knowing how the government chose to handle this situation.

In the beginning of the book, there is a severe storm that damages several buildings and trees, so it’s presumable that the creatures were undergoing government testing when the storm destroyed the testing site. A concept reminding me of Chernobyl, the explosion of the power plant in the USSR with tragic results for neighboring inhabitants in the 80’s—although, do note The Mist was written prior to Chernobyl.

I should add, King does NOT shy away from anti government propaganda, and this is not a critique, in fact, it’s probably what keeps me coming back to his work. I’ll touch further on this in a dedicated post. Read more here.

Overall, what lowered my rating for this novella was the ambiguousness of the ending. As many of his apocalyptic-style stories go, King heavily explores the themes of societal collapse as a default in such circumstances. In all fairness, there wasn’t much that could be done in this situation, at least from the information us readers were provided with, but characters were shown to take advantage of the chaos and tried to further the divide amongst surviving patreons. I would recommend this book for a quick read, but not if you’re seeking King’s usual rounded storytelling.

Device depicting the cover is a Kobo Libra Colour.