Creating Unease for the Reader in “The Mist” Anonymous College

Stephen King’s acclaimed short story “The Mist” tells the story of David Drayton and his efforts to protect his son Billy from a supernatural and blindingly thick mist that rapidly swallows the town of Bridgton, Maine, as well as the monstrous creatures that dwell within it. “The Mist,” like nearly all of King’s works, is a reflection of his view of horror as a genre and as an art form; the tactics he employs play off his basic idea that horror comes from the realization that horror constantly surrounds us, but that it is perfectly normal and healthy to be attracted to works of horror. In that vein, this story is a fertile means of understanding several different approaches to literary analysis, including mythological analyses, psychoanalytic analyses, and Marxist analyses. Each different angle illuminates a different part of the story and, ultimately, shows a common theme. Throughout The Mist, David experiences his own version of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. However, certain key steps become twisted versions of the original journey, invoking fear and unease in the reader.

It all begins ordinarily enough, with David being a humble resident of small-town Bridgton, Maine. The opening scene is deliberately mundane, with David...