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The Mist (Previously Published as a Novella in 'Skeleton Crew') Mass Market Paperback – October 2, 2007

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 7,638 ratings

In the wake of a summer storm, terror descends...

#1
New York Times bestselling author Stephen King suspends a small town in a haze of terror—as humanity makes its last stand against unholy destruction…
"All the Little Raindrops: A Novel" by Mia Sheridan for $10.39
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more
Popular Highlights in this book

Editorial Reviews

Review

“King is a master storyteller.”—The Seattle Times

“The master of the macabre.”—
The Columbia State

About the Author

Stephen King lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. He has written more than forty books and two hundred short stories. He has won the World Fantasy Award, several Bram Stoker awards, and the O. Henry Award for his story “The Man in the Black Suit,” and is the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; Reissue edition (October 2, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0451223292
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451223296
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.17 x 0.62 x 6.73 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 7,638 ratings

About the author

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Stephen King
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Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes NEVER FLINCH, YOU LIKE IT DARKER (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), HOLLY (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), FAIRY TALE, BILLY SUMMERS, IF IT BLEEDS, THE INSTITUTE, ELEVATION, THE OUTSIDER, SLEEPING BEAUTIES (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: END OF WATCH, FINDERS KEEPERS, and MR. MERCEDES (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works THE DARK TOWER, IT, PET SEMATARY, DOCTOR SLEEP, and FIRESTARTER are the basis for major motion pictures, with IT now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
7,638 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and entertaining. They appreciate the story's flow and the development of characters. The book holds their interest with an interesting idea and a tight framework. Readers praise the mist quality and pacing as good. However, opinions differ on the sound quality - some find it brilliantly done, while others think it's not as good as King's best work.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

248 customers mention "Readability"237 positive11 negative

Customers enjoy the book. They find it entertaining and well-written. The book starts out similar to the movie with a few differences, but overall they find it more satisfying than the movie.

"...The book is also a fairly quick read. I rarely would give a book five stars but I believe this one deserves it." Read more

"...It is a snack of a story and well worth the re-read!" Read more

"Great book!! Can’t wait to read more of his books." Read more

"...since my last King book, and reading 'The Mist' reminded me how potent good writing can be. I LOVE 'The Mist'...." Read more

179 customers mention "Story quality"132 positive47 negative

Customers enjoy the story's quality. They find it a nice short horror novel with an engaging storytelling and vivid descriptions of terrifying events. Readers appreciate the Hitchcock-style ending and first-person narrative.

"...The book has one of the best endings I have read, it doesn’t necessarily end the story but it is not sloppy or lazy either...." Read more

"There was a lot going for this story. Plenty of monsters, both man-eating and human. A father working diligently to keep his son safe...." Read more

"...It is a snack of a story and well worth the re-read!" Read more

"...You can enjoy the flow of storytelling and his evocation of horrible events--like the sounds approaching monsters make in the dark...." Read more

28 customers mention "Character development"23 positive5 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters and the good acting. The story is fully dramatized by various actors with 3-D sound effects. The cast sounds great, with an ensemble cast and authentic voices.

"...I found the characters to be interested and well developed, as well as the story to be unsettlingly relatable, especially in our current political..." Read more

"Likes: great character building (seemingly as always with his books), descriptive environments, and different from the movie which I unfortunately..." Read more

"...The story is paced well, you really come to care about the protagonist. To borrow from the story, it's an Alfred Hitchcock ending...." Read more

"...All the voices are by different voice actors and sound great, I love productions like this...." Read more

13 customers mention "Interest"13 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's engaging story and interesting idea. They find it a good introduction to Stephen King's world and consider it an insightful study of society in crisis. The characters are well-written, and readers appreciate King's unique ability to keep them on edge.

"...Regardless it still is an interesting idea, if not fully original, of a town that suddenly has a mist roll in...." Read more

"..." a Hemingway ending"....but it is a good read and really holds your interest." Read more

"...themes of terror of the unknown, societal prejudices and the true quest for life within a very tight framework...." Read more

"THE MIST WAS A GREAT MIVIE. IT HAD GREAT SPECIAL AFFECTS...." Read more

13 customers mention "Mist quality"13 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the mist quality. They find it scary and memorable.

"Enjoyed The Mist. My copy included a preview story from the upcoming You Like it Darker which was excellent...." Read more

"...The Mist was great as a movie (as are many others). I decided one day to try out The Mist the story. Almost identical to the movie...." Read more

"...The description of the creatures, the scariness of the mist, and the fact that the story's not about the mist at all, but the peoples dealing with..." Read more

"...The Mist is great except for one flaw, i wish it was longer...." Read more

13 customers mention "Pacing"13 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it creepy and fun, with a nice pace that wraps up quickly. The book is described as one of King's best works, though not quite as brutal as in the movie.

"...This is a quick, gripping novella that shows Kings teeth are as sharp regardless of his story's length...." Read more

"...Wastes no time in creating the scare factor and maintaining it. Wraps up quickly, but not quite as a brutal ending as in the movie." Read more

"The book has a nice, quick pace, and doesn’t bog down with exposition, most of the time...." Read more

"As always, Stephen King did it again!! Always fast paced action and horror beyond the normal imagination ! Stephen King is the Master of Horror...." Read more

28 customers mention "Sound quality"17 positive11 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the sound quality. Some find the immersive surround sound brilliantly done, with riveting 3D effects and special effects that are easy to listen to at the gym or walking from class to class. Others say it's ridiculous, the voice quality is poor, and the language doesn't match what King wrote.

"I used the audio version and it was great. Easy to listen to at the gym or when walking from class to class...." Read more

"...What 3D audio means in this story is some voices are quiet, some are loud, and some only come from one speaker while another comes from another..." Read more

"Love this. Immersive surround sound is brilliantly done. Sit in a dark room at night and get the heck scared out of you." Read more

"...Stephan King tale is fully dramatized by various actors and features 3-D sound effects...." Read more

21 customers mention "Scariness level"9 positive12 negative

Customers have different views on the book's scariness level. Some find it gripping and intense, holding their attention until the end. Others describe it as terrifying, creepy, or not very imaginative.

"...There are dramatic, violent scenes but considering how notorious Stephen King is this would be a good start. The book is also a fairly quick read...." Read more

"...This is a quick, gripping novella that shows Kings teeth are as sharp regardless of his story's length...." Read more

"...It was suspenseful but at the same time terrifying!!! Enjoy, constant reader!!!" Read more

"...A good writer can write about almost anything and keep you in the game...." Read more

Great book, but printed upside down!
5 out of 5 stars
Great book, but printed upside down!
Great book. Seems there was a printing error and the cover got put on upside down. Did not make a difference other than looking like a wierdo in public reading my book upside down
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2024
    This is my first time reading Stephen King and it surely won’t be my last. His writing is immaculate and the story is extremely thoughtful. The book has one of the best endings I have read, it doesn’t necessarily end the story but it is not sloppy or lazy either. This book is a fairly soft introduction to horror, if you haven’t read much horror before I would recommend it. There are dramatic, violent scenes but considering how notorious Stephen King is this would be a good start. The book is also a fairly quick read. I rarely would give a book five stars but I believe this one deserves it.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2024
    There was a lot going for this story. Plenty of monsters, both man-eating and human. A father working diligently to keep his son safe. Claustrophobic setting. What keeps this story from five stars is actually the ending. King even writes that the narrator’s father would say it is a bad ending. Is that supposed to be like an acknowledgment that not everyone will find the conclusion satisfying? Possibly. That doesn’t make the ending any better, though. I think the fact that this is a novella rather than one of King’s novels makes it a little more forgivable, but it almost feels like he ran out of imagination for what might happen next.
    Having watched the film ahead of time, I must say that it has a better ending, though not one I would have wanted to read either.
    9 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2024
    I had this one in the long ago and loaned it to someone who has faded from memory. I devoured it while waiting to be seen at a doctors office.
    It is a snack of a story and well worth the re-read!
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2024
    Great book!! Can’t wait to read more of his books.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2024
    At the end, I felt cheated in two ways.

    The first is that, in the words of King's own first-person narrator: "But you mustn’t expect some neat conclusion. There is no 'And they escaped from the mist into the good sunshine of a new day; or 'When we awoke the National Guard had finally arrived;' or even that great old standby: 'It was all a dream.' It is, I suppose, what my father always frowningly called “an Alfred Hitchcock ending,” by which he meant a conclusion in ambiguity that allowed the reader or viewer to make up his own mind about how things ended. My father had nothing but contempt for such stories, saying they were 'cheap shots.'"

    Well, yeah, his father was right. This is unprofessional storytelling. He started to write a story and couldn't figure out how to end it, but because he's Stephen King, and because lots of people would rather read a lousy Stephen King book than no Stephen King book, he gets away with it.

    You can enjoy the flow of storytelling and his evocation of horrible events--like the sounds approaching monsters make in the dark. It keeps you reading to find out what happens next. But nothing makes sense and everything is left hanging.

    The second reason is that when "The Mist" ends, you're less than halfway through the Kindle book. You have paid full price for half a book. The rest of the book is a partial sample of a book entitled "You Like It Darker." Sample chapters are annoying. But when the sample preview is half the book, that's not annoying, that's dishonest.

    So, 1) the preview is unsatisfying, because is an unfinished book, but we all know that going in. 2) "The Mist" is unsatisfying, because it may be all he wrote, but it's an unfinished story. And he says so himself. But we don't know it in advance, he springs it on us at the end.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2018
    I got back into reading thanks to Stephen King, having stopped reading after graduating high school.
    After working through some of his works, 'The Shining' being the novel that truly wet my mouth for more, I ventured off to taste the work of other authors. I was safe with the King but that couldn't be what reading was about for me, or eventually I'd find myself without anything else to read, thus giving up reading for a second and possibly final time.
    So it has been a few months since my last King book, and reading 'The Mist' reminded me how potent good writing can be.
    I LOVE 'The Mist'. I saw the movie first, years ago, and was dumbstruck. This novel only solidifies my gawking at his horror.
    This book doesn't just present you with evil monsters outside in the mist. In fact, King reveals the monsters INSIDE the store, and the psychology of fear and anger and the deadly combination of the two.
    Mob mentality is truly something to witness, and King brings us as close as he can while tempers rose and fear swallows them up resulting in death and more death.
    Being as I just finished, I could ramble on forever honestly.
    This is a quick, gripping novella that shows Kings teeth are as sharp regardless of his story's length.
    If you haven't read any King before (how can that be?!) then this is a great story to start with. If you have experience with King but haven't experienced 'The Mist', do something nice for yourself and dive in!
    30 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2024
    Not being a horror enthusiast myself, I had mixed feelings when I first decided to listen to this audiobook. Now that I finished listening, I can now understand why Stephen King is crowned the "King of Horror." His ability to break down the human mind in moments of panic and his detailed descriptions of terrible monstrosities both contribute towards an awesome experience. Though there were a few moments in the story that felt a bit sluggish at times, I would still recommend this work to any who are interested in a introductory experience to the horror novel genre.

    Will Patton's narration added a lot of depth to the experience. His mature demeanor and flexible tones significantly contributes to the way he articulates each character's thoughts and actions. However, there are moments where the sudden change in emotion and volume can catch the listener off guard. Though this can contribute to the horror experience for some, it can be off-putting for others who wish for a more stable listening experience.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Amazon Kunde
    5.0 out of 5 stars Immer wieder gut
    Reviewed in Germany on December 10, 2024
    Ein Klassiker. Schon ewig nicht mehr gelesen aber ich wurde sofort wieder gepackt.
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  • Bob
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 4, 2024
    Great story line.
  • Bane
    5.0 out of 5 stars Really good short book
    Reviewed in Sweden on January 20, 2024
    The book is really well written and can be read in one sitting if you wish so. It has great yet surprising elements in the story and that sweet spot Stephen King always manages to hit with his novels.
  • Ari Olvera
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in Mexico on April 19, 2021
    The cover is exactly as shown in the picture, great paper quality.

    Regarding its content, it is a very good and short story, fast-moving and terrifying in all of it's aspects. Not the best character development (understandable for such a short book) but great storytelling. As always, King does not disappoint with this book.
  • Gianluca Cani
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pure King. Magnifique.
    Reviewed in France on October 9, 2021
    Belle histoire, King classique. Personnages solides et bien raconté.