The Mist
Encyclopedia
The Mist is a horror
novella
by the American author Stephen King
, in which the small town of Bridgton, Maine
is suddenly enveloped in an unnatural mist that conceals otherworldly monsters. It was first published as the first and longest story of the 1980
horror anthology Dark Forces
. A slightly edited version was included in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew
. The story is the longest entry in Skeleton Crew and occupies the first 134 pages. To coincide with the theatrical release of the film based on the novella
, The Mist was republished as a stand-alone paperback book by Signet on October 2, 2007.
, a thick unnatural mist
quickly spreads across the small town of Bridgton, Maine
, reducing visibility to near-zero and concealing numerous species of bizarre creatures which viciously attack anyone and anything that ventures out into the open.
The bulk of the story details the plight of a large group of people who become trapped while shopping in the town supermarket
, among them a commercial artist named David Drayton (the protagonist and narrator), David's young son Billy, and their estranged neighbor Brent Norton who accompanied them into town after Brent's car was smashed by a tree. Amongst others trapped in the market are a young woman named Amanda Dumfries and three soldiers from a nearby military installation, home to what is referred to as "The Arrowhead Project". The two soldiers' eventual joint suicide
lends some credence to the theory of this Project being the source of the disaster.
Soon after the mist comes, something plugs the store generator's exhaust vent. When a young bag boy named Norm steps outside to fix the problem, he is pulled into the mist by a swarm of tentacles. David and Ollie Weeks, the store's assistant manager, witness Norm's death and try to convince the remaining survivors of the danger lurking outside. Norton and a small group of others refuse to believe, and are accusing David of lying. They venture out into the mist to seek help, where they are killed by a huge, unseen creature. This, along with a deadly incursion into the store by a pterosaur
-like creature and a disastrous expedition to the pharmacy
next door, lead to paranoia and panic consuming the remaining survivors. This spiraling breakdown leads to the rise to power of a religious zealot named Mrs. Carmody who convinces the majority of the remaining survivors that these events fulfill the biblical prophecy
of the end of times, and that a human sacrifice
must be made to save them from the wrath of God.
David and Ollie attempt to lead their remaining allies in a covert exit from the market, but are stopped by Mrs. Carmody, who orders her followers to seize her chosen victims: Billy and Amanda. Ollie shoots Mrs. Carmody in the stomach with a revolver found in Amanda's purse, killing her, causing her congregation to break up. En route to David's car, Ollie in turn is bisected by the claw of a very large creature looking similar to a giant lobster or crab. David, Billy, Amanda, and an elderly, yet tough, school teacher Hilda Reppler reach the car, along with the elderly man also in the supermarket, and leave Bridgton, driving south for hours through a mist-shrouded, monster-filled New England
. After finding refuge for the night, David listens to a radio, and through the overwhelming static possibly hears a single word broadcast, "Hartford". With that one shred of hope, he prepares to drive on into an uncertain future.
s, King imagined a "big prehistoric flying reptile
" flapping around in the store. By the time the two were in line to pay for their purchases, King had the basis for his story: survivors trapped in a supermarket surrounded by unknown creatures.
While experiencing the unusual spring weather which precedes the storm, some characters make reference to the real-life Great Blizzard of 1888
, which devastated much of the northeastern United States.
In the second issue of the Marvel Comics
series The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (a project overseen by King), the short prose story at the end of the book details events similar to those that occur in The Mist. In the story, a beam quake (caused by an attempt to tear down the Dark Tower) splits the Earth, and from within the split rises a thick mist inhabited by dark creatures that have escaped into the real world. This phenomenon, known in the Dark Tower universe as a thinny resembles the mist from The Mist.
There is speculation that The Mist influenced the saga of "Silent Hill", principally because of the foggy town and the lurking monsters in it.
The creatures that inhabit the "todash" space in the Dark Tower series are the same that are in The Mist, which could possibly mean that Project Arrowhead opened a door into the "todash" space.
Billy Drayton : Billy is David's five-year-old son. He is cared for by his loving father, David, during their ordeal in the supermarket. Billy is traumatized by the experience, although David is fairly successful at shielding his son from any direct violence.
Stephanie Drayton : Stephanie is David's wife. David and Billy leave her at home when they go to the supermarket. Since she was working outside and one of their home's windows was broken during the storm, she had little chance of surviving the monsters.
Brent Norton : David Drayton's neighbor, Brent refuses to believe what is happening. Prior to the story, he had lost a property dispute with Drayton, creating a bitter relationship between the two. His wife died a few months prior to the events of the story. He eventually leads a small group of non-believers into the mist. Whether or not he is killed by the creatures is unknown.
Ollie Weeks : The assistant manager of the supermarket. Ollie remains among the most sane of the survivors, accepting the truth about the mist and trying to keep the survivors calm. He is part of the pharmacy expedition and survives it. He kills Mrs. Carmody in order to prevent Billy and Amanda's sacrifice, but is killed minutes later during the climactic escape attempt by an arachnilobster which tears him in half with one of its claws.
Mrs. Carmody : A middle-aged townswoman with a borderline reputation as a witch and an extreme belief in a bloodthirsty God. She actively thrives in the situation, starting the story as a near-pariah, and eventually convincing a large fraction of the survivors that a human sacrifice must be made to clear away the mist. She is killed when Ollie shoots her in the abdomen after attempting to have Billy and Amanda killed.
Amanda Dumfries : A young woman trapped in the supermarket. She has a husband who is out of town and encouraged her to carry a pistol while he was away. Ollie Weeks uses the weapon to kill Mrs. Carmody. She survives and is one of the last main characters seen.
Bud Brown : The manager of the store, he maintains a relative degree of sanity by, as Drayton puts it, assuming the role of "Protector Of The Store." He does not join the final escape attempt and his fate is uncertain.
Mike Hatlen : A town selectman
, Mike becomes one of the leaders in the market. He is killed by the web of a gray widower during the expedition to the pharmacy, which cuts through his throat.
Sally : A clerk at the supermarket who works for Bud Brown. She is only mentioned a couple of times. It is unknown whether she became a follower of Mrs. Carmody or remained neutral.
Dan Miller : An "out of towner" who owns a summer home in the area, Dan also becomes a leader in the market. He is killed by a gray widower in the mist during the expedition to the pharmacy, which completely encases him in its acidic web.
Hattie Turman : A middle-aged woman, she looks after Billy during the times that David is otherwise occupied. She is killed by a gray widower in the mist during the final escape.
Hilda Reppler : An elderly, but tough and competent, school teacher. Mrs. Reppler proves to be one of the most capable of those trapped in the market, using cans of Raid
as weapons against the Mist creatures. She hated Mrs. Carmody and refused to join her group because of this. After everything that had happened, Mrs. Reppler was trusted enough by David to join in the final escape attempt. She survived and stayed with David, Billy and Amanda.
Norm : An 18-year-old bag boy, goes to check the generator in the loading dock. He is killed by an unseen, octopus-like creature with several spike-covered tentacles.
Jim Grondin : One of two men who sends Norm the bag boy to his death. Consumed by guilt, he drinks heavily. He is later killed by an unseen predator during the expedition to the pharmacy.
Myron LaFleur : Jim Grondin's friend, who also contributed to Norm's death. He becomes one of Mrs. Carmody's followers. When Mrs. Carmody dies, he is horrified and runs off. His fate is uncertain.
Ambrose Cornell : An elderly man, Cornell decides to leave with the group in the final escape but makes a hasty retreat back into the supermarket after seeing Ollie and Hattie killed by the mutants. His fate thereafter is uncertain.
Buddy Eagleton : One of the stock boys. He is killed during the expedition to the pharmacy when a grey widower wraps an acidic web-strand around his leg, causing him to bleed to death.
Mr. McVey : The store's butcher, who cooks for the survivors; He later becomes a follower of Mrs. Carmody and attempts to take Billy as a human sacrifice, but is unsuccessful.
Tom Smalley : A survivor inside the store who is unlucky enough to be under the window where the pterobuzzard comes in, which proceeds to kill him.
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by the American author Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, in which the small town of Bridgton, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
is suddenly enveloped in an unnatural mist that conceals otherworldly monsters. It was first published as the first and longest story of the 1980
1980 in literature
The year 1980 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman to be elected to the Académie française....
horror anthology Dark Forces
Dark Forces (book)
Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror is an anthology of 23 original horror stories, first published by The Viking Press in 1980 and as a paperback by Bantam Books in 1981. It was edited by New York City literary agent Kirby McCauley...
. A slightly edited version was included in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew
Skeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction by Stephen King. The first collection, Night Shift, was published seven years prior in 1978. Different Seasons, a collection of four novellas, was published between the two in 1982. Skeleton Crew was originally published in hardcover form by...
. The story is the longest entry in Skeleton Crew and occupies the first 134 pages. To coincide with the theatrical release of the film based on the novella
The Mist (film)
The Mist is a 2007 American science-fiction horror film based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Stephen King. The film is written and directed by Frank Darabont, who had previously adapted Stephen King's works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile...
, The Mist was republished as a stand-alone paperback book by Signet on October 2, 2007.
Plot summary
The morning after a violent thunderstormThunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
, a thick unnatural mist
Mist
Mist is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna. It can also be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the...
quickly spreads across the small town of Bridgton, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, reducing visibility to near-zero and concealing numerous species of bizarre creatures which viciously attack anyone and anything that ventures out into the open.
The bulk of the story details the plight of a large group of people who become trapped while shopping in the town supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
, among them a commercial artist named David Drayton (the protagonist and narrator), David's young son Billy, and their estranged neighbor Brent Norton who accompanied them into town after Brent's car was smashed by a tree. Amongst others trapped in the market are a young woman named Amanda Dumfries and three soldiers from a nearby military installation, home to what is referred to as "The Arrowhead Project". The two soldiers' eventual joint suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
lends some credence to the theory of this Project being the source of the disaster.
Soon after the mist comes, something plugs the store generator's exhaust vent. When a young bag boy named Norm steps outside to fix the problem, he is pulled into the mist by a swarm of tentacles. David and Ollie Weeks, the store's assistant manager, witness Norm's death and try to convince the remaining survivors of the danger lurking outside. Norton and a small group of others refuse to believe, and are accusing David of lying. They venture out into the mist to seek help, where they are killed by a huge, unseen creature. This, along with a deadly incursion into the store by a pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
-like creature and a disastrous expedition to the pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
next door, lead to paranoia and panic consuming the remaining survivors. This spiraling breakdown leads to the rise to power of a religious zealot named Mrs. Carmody who convinces the majority of the remaining survivors that these events fulfill the biblical prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
of the end of times, and that a human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
must be made to save them from the wrath of God.
David and Ollie attempt to lead their remaining allies in a covert exit from the market, but are stopped by Mrs. Carmody, who orders her followers to seize her chosen victims: Billy and Amanda. Ollie shoots Mrs. Carmody in the stomach with a revolver found in Amanda's purse, killing her, causing her congregation to break up. En route to David's car, Ollie in turn is bisected by the claw of a very large creature looking similar to a giant lobster or crab. David, Billy, Amanda, and an elderly, yet tough, school teacher Hilda Reppler reach the car, along with the elderly man also in the supermarket, and leave Bridgton, driving south for hours through a mist-shrouded, monster-filled New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. After finding refuge for the night, David listens to a radio, and through the overwhelming static possibly hears a single word broadcast, "Hartford". With that one shred of hope, he prepares to drive on into an uncertain future.
Influences
King, in the Notes section in Skeleton Crew, says that the inspiration for The Mist came from a real life experience. While there were no strange creatures, a massive thunderstorm much like the one which opens the story occurred where King lived at the time. The day after the storm, he went to a local supermarket with his son. While looking for hot dog bunHot dog bun
A hot dog bun is a type of soft bun shaped specifically to contain a hot dog. The original purpose of this bun was to make it possible to eat hot dogs without burning ones hands....
s, King imagined a "big prehistoric flying reptile
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
" flapping around in the store. By the time the two were in line to pay for their purchases, King had the basis for his story: survivors trapped in a supermarket surrounded by unknown creatures.
While experiencing the unusual spring weather which precedes the storm, some characters make reference to the real-life Great Blizzard of 1888
Great Blizzard of 1888
The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 was one of the most severe blizzards in United States' recorded history. Snowfalls of 40-50 inches fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and sustained winds of over produced snowdrifts in excess of...
, which devastated much of the northeastern United States.
In the second issue of the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
series The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (a project overseen by King), the short prose story at the end of the book details events similar to those that occur in The Mist. In the story, a beam quake (caused by an attempt to tear down the Dark Tower) splits the Earth, and from within the split rises a thick mist inhabited by dark creatures that have escaped into the real world. This phenomenon, known in the Dark Tower universe as a thinny resembles the mist from The Mist.
There is speculation that The Mist influenced the saga of "Silent Hill", principally because of the foggy town and the lurking monsters in it.
The creatures that inhabit the "todash" space in the Dark Tower series are the same that are in The Mist, which could possibly mean that Project Arrowhead opened a door into the "todash" space.
Influence in other media
- The 1996 tokusatsuTokusatsuis a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
series Ultraman TigaUltraman Tigais a Japanese tokusatsu TV show and is the 11th show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman Tiga was aired at 6:00pm and aired between September 7, 1996 to August 30, 1997, with a total of 52 episodes with 4 movies After a franchise hiatus of over 15 years, set in a...
features an episode entitled "The Mist", which uses a plot heavily based on the story, with one character even alluding to its similarities to a "story she once heard". - The developers of the Half-LifeHalf-Life (series)The Half-Life series of video games share a science fiction alternate history. Nearly all of the games are first-person shooters on the GoldSource or Source engines, and most are linear, narrative, single-player titles....
video game series, which also deals with creatures from parallel dimensions breaking through to ours, have listed The Mist among their primary influences for the game plot. The first game in the series was originally going to be called Quiver, as a reference to the Arrowhead base from The Mist. - Both the games Final Fantasy IXFinal Fantasy IXis a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth title in the Final Fantasy series. The game introduced new features to the series like the 'Active Time Event', 'Mognet' and a unique equipment and skill system.Final Fantasy IXs...
and Legend of LegaiaLegend of Legaiais a 1998 Sony PlayStation role-playing video game created by Contrail. The game was followed by a 2001 video game called Legaia 2: Duel Saga on the PlayStation 2...
have the mechanism of a Mist that brings monsters out, or in another case, make them crazy and enemies of Humans - An interactive fictionInteractive fictionInteractive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
computer game based on the novella was released by MindscapeMindscapeMindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...
in 1985. - An episode in the kids show Fanboy and ChumChum, is about four people trapped in a convenience store surrounded by a thick fog, fearing that a monster is outside. Several references are made to the film, including sending someone out with a rope attached to their waist.
- The film adaptation was referenced in King's 2009 novel Under the DomeUnder the DomeUnder the Dome is a novel by Stephen King, published in November 2009. It is a partial rewrite of a novel King attempted writing twice in the late 1970s and early 1980s, under the titles The Cannibals and Under the Dome...
.
Human characters
David Drayton : Husband of Stephanie, father of Billy. A moderately successful commercial artist, David is the narrator of the story and one of the few survivors as the story ends.Billy Drayton : Billy is David's five-year-old son. He is cared for by his loving father, David, during their ordeal in the supermarket. Billy is traumatized by the experience, although David is fairly successful at shielding his son from any direct violence.
Stephanie Drayton : Stephanie is David's wife. David and Billy leave her at home when they go to the supermarket. Since she was working outside and one of their home's windows was broken during the storm, she had little chance of surviving the monsters.
Brent Norton : David Drayton's neighbor, Brent refuses to believe what is happening. Prior to the story, he had lost a property dispute with Drayton, creating a bitter relationship between the two. His wife died a few months prior to the events of the story. He eventually leads a small group of non-believers into the mist. Whether or not he is killed by the creatures is unknown.
Ollie Weeks : The assistant manager of the supermarket. Ollie remains among the most sane of the survivors, accepting the truth about the mist and trying to keep the survivors calm. He is part of the pharmacy expedition and survives it. He kills Mrs. Carmody in order to prevent Billy and Amanda's sacrifice, but is killed minutes later during the climactic escape attempt by an arachnilobster which tears him in half with one of its claws.
Mrs. Carmody : A middle-aged townswoman with a borderline reputation as a witch and an extreme belief in a bloodthirsty God. She actively thrives in the situation, starting the story as a near-pariah, and eventually convincing a large fraction of the survivors that a human sacrifice must be made to clear away the mist. She is killed when Ollie shoots her in the abdomen after attempting to have Billy and Amanda killed.
Amanda Dumfries : A young woman trapped in the supermarket. She has a husband who is out of town and encouraged her to carry a pistol while he was away. Ollie Weeks uses the weapon to kill Mrs. Carmody. She survives and is one of the last main characters seen.
Bud Brown : The manager of the store, he maintains a relative degree of sanity by, as Drayton puts it, assuming the role of "Protector Of The Store." He does not join the final escape attempt and his fate is uncertain.
Mike Hatlen : A town selectman
Board of selectmen
The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms.-History:...
, Mike becomes one of the leaders in the market. He is killed by the web of a gray widower during the expedition to the pharmacy, which cuts through his throat.
Sally : A clerk at the supermarket who works for Bud Brown. She is only mentioned a couple of times. It is unknown whether she became a follower of Mrs. Carmody or remained neutral.
Dan Miller : An "out of towner" who owns a summer home in the area, Dan also becomes a leader in the market. He is killed by a gray widower in the mist during the expedition to the pharmacy, which completely encases him in its acidic web.
Hattie Turman : A middle-aged woman, she looks after Billy during the times that David is otherwise occupied. She is killed by a gray widower in the mist during the final escape.
Hilda Reppler : An elderly, but tough and competent, school teacher. Mrs. Reppler proves to be one of the most capable of those trapped in the market, using cans of Raid
Raid (insecticide)
Raid is the brand name of a line of insecticides produced by SC Johnson, first launched in 1956.The initial active ingredient was the first synthetic pyrethroid, allethrin...
as weapons against the Mist creatures. She hated Mrs. Carmody and refused to join her group because of this. After everything that had happened, Mrs. Reppler was trusted enough by David to join in the final escape attempt. She survived and stayed with David, Billy and Amanda.
Norm : An 18-year-old bag boy, goes to check the generator in the loading dock. He is killed by an unseen, octopus-like creature with several spike-covered tentacles.
Jim Grondin : One of two men who sends Norm the bag boy to his death. Consumed by guilt, he drinks heavily. He is later killed by an unseen predator during the expedition to the pharmacy.
Myron LaFleur : Jim Grondin's friend, who also contributed to Norm's death. He becomes one of Mrs. Carmody's followers. When Mrs. Carmody dies, he is horrified and runs off. His fate is uncertain.
Ambrose Cornell : An elderly man, Cornell decides to leave with the group in the final escape but makes a hasty retreat back into the supermarket after seeing Ollie and Hattie killed by the mutants. His fate thereafter is uncertain.
Buddy Eagleton : One of the stock boys. He is killed during the expedition to the pharmacy when a grey widower wraps an acidic web-strand around his leg, causing him to bleed to death.
Mr. McVey : The store's butcher, who cooks for the survivors; He later becomes a follower of Mrs. Carmody and attempts to take Billy as a human sacrifice, but is unsuccessful.
Tom Smalley : A survivor inside the store who is unlucky enough to be under the window where the pterobuzzard comes in, which proceeds to kill him.
Creatures
- Numerous mollusk-like tentacles that kill Norm in the storage room. The suction cups on the tentacle serve as mouths, consuming Norm as the tentacles envelop him. The story never directly explains what the tentacles are attached to, although several characters engage in light speculation on the matter.
- Fly creatures – Small, plump, flying creatures between two and four feet long which swarm over the store windows at night. These creatures have pink, burnt-flesh coloured skin, and their eyes are on stalks protruding from their heads.
- Albino, nocturnal pterosaur-like creatures called "Pterobuzzards" which pluck the aforementioned fly creatures off of the store windows. One enters through a hole in the store's display window and kills a man named Tom Smalley. The creature is then killed by David Drayton
- Black spider-like predators each about the size of a dog called "Grey Widowers", which hunt by scent. These have the ability to project acidic "spider-webs" which can burn through materials like cloth and flesh. They claim the lives of Jim Grondin, Buddy Eagleton, Dan Miller, Mike Hatlen, Hattie Turman and several patrons of the next-door pharmacy.
- A mostly unseen creature with a scorpion-like segmented body with lobster claws that kills Ollie Weeks by ripping him in half.
- A massive creature with six legs. Other than the legs, with hundreds of the aforementioned small flying creatures attached to them, this creature is unseen. Although the creature's exact size is never specified, David gets the impression that its size would make a blue whaleBlue WhaleThe blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
resemble a troutTroutTrout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
if both were posed together, and its weight is sufficient to leave six-foot-deep footprints the size of a large SUV in solid concrete.
- A giant kite-like creature glimpsed flying through the mist.
- A large, green insect resembling a twisted and deformed dragonfly with long, clear wings, which alights on the car.