Back in the early 90′s there used to be a radio show on the University of New Hampshire radion station, WUNH that followed the punk show on wednesday nights. Naturally, I listened as I drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t really music and there was never any talking except for when the FCC declared that they had to do a station ID or weather or some kind of public service announcement. It was a two hour sound collage, just layers of audio, really. It put me to sleep, but Halloween fell on this particular wednesday and they had prepared something that terrified me like I hadn’t been since I was a little kid.
The usual soothing sounds and textures had been replaced by ambient sounds, horror sound effects and other genuinely creepy low-end-of-the-dial sounds layered over the audio book of Stephen King’s The Mist. Ever since then, I’d been obsessed with it. I would kill for an archival recording of that show. I don’t even know what the show was called nor do I remember the name of the DJ. It just sticks out in my mind.
I’ve read a little Stephen King but I can rarely get into it. He’s somewhat local and if his Bangor frequent buyer card in the record store database is to believed, he really seems to like classic rock, but that’s beside the point. I like King’s short stories much better than his novels. The Mist stands as my favorite, probably because of its mash-up of Lovecraftian horror and Night of the Living Dead. I hadn’t heard about this yet, but it turns out that King fan, Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile), is directing the adaptation. He’s one of the few directors that seems to know how to handle Stephen King, but he also hasn’t really handled his horror stuff.
The trailer at Yahoo! Movies looks great, though. I’m definitely looking forward to this and hoping that the movie ends as the novel does; a couple of miles away from where I’m sitting now, but I’m not holding my breath.
The short follows a handful of survivors who take hiding in a grocery store after a thick fog rolls into their town and terrible, unseen things happen to the people who go into the fog. The trailer shows shit like bugs on the windows and a judgement day angle but I don’t remember either of those from the book. It’s been ten years since I read it, though, so I could be wrong. In the short, the most you ever see is a tentacle here and there. The possible cause of this fog and the ensuing mayhem is an experiment gone horribly wrong at a nearby military base. It’s quite creepy.
September 1, 2007 11:03 am
I actually heard this story on CD a few years back an enjoyed it. Extremely claustrophobic and apocalyptic. Yeah the trailer looks like it adheres very closely to the storyline and I’m anxious to see what the director can do with it. I agree Stephen King’s shorter stories are far superior. His larger novels are so much character padding that they the loose focus. I also enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of “Cell.” Yeah I know..sad that I only have time to listen to books.
September 1, 2007 6:26 pm
Dude, it’s come to that for me, too. I do it at work. I spend a lot of time tapping out code and despite a large iTunes library, I burn out and like something a little more sustained. I’ve been listening to audiobooks like a fiend over there. Dune, Lovecraft, Stephen Hawking, Hyperion, Bill Bryson and Michael Chabon have been spinning lately. However, with more downtime at home and less time to sit in front of the computer and Xbox, I find myself with more time to read, which is nice.
I miss it.
September 4, 2007 7:24 am
Now I like me a good SK novel once in a while, and not unlike Bryan , I read The Mist something like 10 years ago, so it’s a bit hazy. But GOOD King movies are few and far between. And sue me for actually likeing Thomas Jane (Iactually liked the Punisher flick) but this looks actually pretty decent.
September 4, 2007 7:27 am
Dude, I liked The Punisher, too. We’ve never talked about this.
September 6, 2007 1:07 am
No idea why…. I think I may have assumed that my penchant for Comic movies (and likeing them more than any sane person should) was not something that you shared. Yes…. we should discuss…
September 24, 2007 2:14 pm
I’m new to this site but so far, after reading this and the Escape From New York article, I like what I see. The Mist has always been one of my favorite S.K. short stories. I always liked the claustrophobia of it as well as the idea that those trapped in the grocery store were unable to see exactly what it was that had them trapped. The trailer looks good and I think this might be one of those rare films from a S.K. story that’ll turn out good.