The Mist

The Mist is a short horror novel written by Stephen King, first published in the Dark Forces anthology in 1980. The story depicts David Drayton, a commercial artist who lives in a small town in Maine. After a severe storm, a strange mist rolls into the town. David and his son are trapped in a supermarket as the mist seems to hold mysterious and violent creatures. The Mist was nominated for several awards and is considered one of King’s best pieces of horror writing. The novel was adapted for film in 2007 and television in 2017. This guide uses the 2007 Penguin eBook edition of The Mist.

Plot Summary

David Drayton is a commercial artist who lives in a small town in Maine with his wife Steff and their son Billy. The Draytons live on the side of a lake outside of the town. When a severe storm brings down trees and cuts off the power to the houses, David decides to go into the town of Bridgton for supplies. He takes his son Billy and his neighbor Brent. In recent years, David and Brent have been involved in a legal dispute about the property line, but David puts aside their differences given the nature of the emergency. Before he leaves, he notices a strange mist crossing the lake and wonders whether it has anything to do with the local military base, where the military works on something called Project Arrowhead.

David, Billy, and Brent reach Bridgton. They enter the busy supermarket, which is using a generator for power. They join the line with their supplies. As they wait, the crowd notices a strange mist descending on the town outside. Soon, visibility is reduced to zero. A man runs into the store and claims that his friend disappeared into the mist. The people inside the store shut the doors and agree to wait until the mist has passed.

David discovers that the generator’s exhaust is blocked. He hatches a plan with a group of men to dislodge the blockage. Though David is worried about venturing out into the mist, a young bag boy named Norm volunteers to complete the task. Before Norm can dislodge the blockage, giant tentacles grab hold of him and drag him into the mist. David is appalled. He tries to convince the other people trapped in the supermarket about what happened to Norm, but they do not believe him. Some believe David, some begin drinking alcohol, some refuse to believe him at all, and some start to listen to a local woman named Mrs. Carmody, who insists that the mist is a sign of the Biblical apocalypse and that they must all repent for their sins.

Brent is the leader of a group of people who refuse to believe David’s story about the dangerous creatures outside the store. He eventually leads a group of people outside, but they are killed quickly. The rest of the shoppers accept the existence of dangers in the mist and begin to barricade the front of the shop. They make weapons from mops and tennis rackets. A woman named Amanda Dumfries has a gun given to her for protection by her husband. Ollie Weeks, the store’s assistant manager and a practiced marksman, agrees to take responsibility for the weapon. That night, small insect-like creatures and larger bird-like creatures congregate outside the store. Some creatures manage to gain entry, killing a man, but they are dispatched, and the storefront holes are patched up.

The mood inside the store becomes more desperate. More people turn to alcohol while others begin to believe Mrs. Carmody’s apocalyptic ramblings about blood sacrifices. David gives Billy to Mrs. Turman to watch while he tries to plan. He goes into an office with Amanda, where they have a brief and passionless affair. David thinks about Steff throughout, knowing that Amanda is also thinking about someone else.

David and Ollie decide that they need to leave the supermarket. They plan to escape in the early hours of the morning, taking whatever supplies and allies they can find. When the time arrives for them to leave, Mrs. Carmody and her followers block their exit. Mrs. Carmody points at Billy and Amanda, calling for them to be sacrificed to appease God for the world’s sins. Ollie shoots Mrs. Carmody, and, in the confusion, David and his allies run to his car. As they dash through the parking lot, the creatures attack. Ollie and others are killed, but David, Billy, Amanda, and a middle-aged schoolteacher named Hilda Reppler reach the car. David gathers the gun from the ground and then drives out of the parking lot, away from the people still huddled in the supermarket.

David drives along the roads to his house but finds the route blocked by a fallen tree. He suspects Steff is dead but retains a fleeting hope that she somehow managed to lock herself inside. Driving away, passing abandoned cars and terrifying creatures that appear out of the mist, they try to find some semblance of civilization. At a service stop, David begins writing down the events of the novel. He plans to leave them on the counter for someone to find. As the others sleep, he plays with a radio. Briefly, he hears a faint voice speaking the name of a town. Though he does not hear the message again, the word gives him hope that he might survive.