Review by Katie Lipoma
*Spoilers ahead & content warning for murder, rape, and religious mania*
This past weekend, I embarked on a trip to Boothbay Harbor, where I found The Dead Zone by Stephen King curiously on sale at a bookstore called Sherman’s (I wish there was a Sherman’s in Farmington!), and decided to raise it to the top of my TBR list and make it this week’s read. After all, in the spirit of Halloween, a Stephen King novel just makes sense.
I’m slightly embarrassed to share that this was my first ever Stephen King read, and it’s not one of his more popular works like The Shining or It. I was aware that his writing is well-regarded, but I was nervous that the content would be too disturbing for my literary liking. I’m up for reading anything strange, but I cannot and will not do anything disturbing. I might be twenty-one, but I would prefer not to be stuck alone in the dark with darker thoughts, especially if I’m forced to roll King’s stories over and over in my mind or worse…dissect them in my dreams. Thankfully, there was none of that with this one!
When I read the book’s blurb, I was immediately captivated by the mention of a character with psychic abilities. I’ve always been fascinated by this sort of thing, but had never read a novel with this subject matter before. Anyway, at first, I was not a fan of King’s writing style. It originally seemed outdated and boring. I was certain that this was not the King I had heard so much about. However, as the story progressed, his writing began to grow on me, and I eventually found myself unable to go a short while without wanting to read more. I know a book is a good fit when I can’t stop thinking about it and it drives me crazy (it’s a good crazy, but a bad book crazy would be a good horror story plot—what do you think, Stephen King?).
In short and without spoiling too much, this book is about John Smith and his seemingly average life until he finds himself in a car crash that puts him in a coma for nearly five years, turning his world upside down. Upon waking, he discovers that he has mysterious newfound psychic abilities that come to him in the form of images when he touches people or objects. Due to his injury-induced brain damage, he often struggles to recall information from his “dead zone,” which serves as a mental block. A lot of good and bad comes from these visions, and it’s not until he’s asked to help identify the criminal behind a local string of murders that the lives of several characters become intertwined and John lives out his new purpose. This is where I really started to feel engrossed in the book, as I love a good mystery and action-packed chase.
King has a strength for developing strong characters that embody bold, unapologetic personalities that seem to leap from the page. He ensures that this novel’s characters say it how it is, and I like that. I felt deeply ingrained in their lives, especially that of John. Their detailed and realistic inner monologues—even during the mundane moments—made me feel emotionally connected to them and their world. Thanks, King!
King is the first novelist I’ve seen who separates his writing into numbered sections within each chapter. Although I don’t love this idea for my own work, it’s interesting and ensures that his form remains unique to his writing. King also references a multitude of political and cultural figures, policies, norms, and sayings that act as a time capsule for the 1970s. Many of these references went in one ear and out the next, and made it hard for me to fully connect with the story’s time period. Also, I enjoyed coming across the many Maine places and landmarks that King highlights in this work (e.g., Orono, Lewiston, Gray, etc.). I feel as though someone who does not know Maine very well may not feel as grounded in the setting as there’s little to no specific setting details mentioned. However, the average Mainer will surely understand and appreciate the references!
Additionally, I find it interesting how King addresses religious mania in his novel. After John’s accident, John’s mother attempts to cope with the uncertain future of her son’s life by turning completely to her Faith. She even goes as far as to put the family’s home up for sale and tries to sell off the family’s car in hopes of saving enough money to live states away with a religious cult that enables her delusional behavior. She eventually stops taking her life-saving medication, speaks only in sermon, divorces her husband in spirit, and claims that alien spaceships are coming to take her to Heaven, which she believes resides in the South Pole. This quick and deep descent into religious madness was quite scary to read about, as it reminded me of the realities of this type of mania and how destructive it can be when religion is taken to the extreme.
As I assume with nearly all of King’s novels, death is a winding theme throughout The Dead Zone. As someone who is already anxious about death, this book made me quite anxious at times, as there are many instances of loss, grief, and the harsh realities of “moving on” with life, however that may look for each character. However, I can admire King’s aptitude for emotional appeal and the establishment of mood through these depictions. Additionally, due to the serial killer’s presence in this book, there is obviously a lot of violence present. The scenes full of loud imagery surrounding rape and murder, especially those involving children, were very difficult to read about and made me uncomfortable. I think some grotesque details could have been omitted to achieve the same effect.
The final consensus is that the dark King magic must have come over me to make me fall unexpectedly in love with this read. It’s funny because I usually don’t end up liking a book I don’t enjoy from the start. Perhaps this is a sign that I should start giving books more time to grow on me…or maybe this book is just one of those reads that gets better as it goes (this is a long one, too!). Anyway, Stephen King, if you’re reading this (I wish, haha), you seem like a fascinating man and author, but your mind scares me a little. I could talk about this for ages, but I find it unsettling how horror media comes from the dark recesses of the human mind. It really makes you wonder about who is thinking up these twisted things and how they come up with their ideas. I must sign off for now before I keep you any longer, dear reader, and I thank you for your time if you’ve made it this far. I’m excited to read more of King’s work and see how it compares to The Dead Zone.
Goodbye until next Thursday!
Note to loyal reader and grandfather, Gugs: Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is high up on my TBR list. Thank you again for this book :).
If you’re a fan of Stephen King’s work, you might find this interesting! This is a postcard I picked up from a recent school event. It outlines all the places in Maine that are featured in King’s books!
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