(Another) really spooky read. (The Stand - Stephen King)

Member Name: Wild_Child

Product:	The Stand - Stephen King
Date:	24/11/07 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: scary, atmospheric,page-turner

Disadvantages: very long, quite gory

I just reviewed The Cell by Stephen King & it reminded me how much I loved his book 'The Stand'. The stand was published in 1978, by the horror writer Stephen King & is hailed by fans as one of his very best works of fiction. However, in 1990, the complete and uncut edition was published, which is longer & the setting is changed from the 80s to the 90s by changing some pop culture references. I have the uncut edition, so that's the one I'm going to be talking about in my review.

Plot - The Stand is based on one of Stephen Kings earlier short stories called Night Surf (Which is published in his book Night Shift) In The Stand, a mutant flu virus, created by the US government, escapes and wipes out almost the entire population of the world. However, there are a few survivors, of all ages, sexes and colors - the one thing they have in common is especially vivid dreams.
We follor the tales of a group of survivors as they struggle to regroup and rebuild civilisation. But their dreams grow steadily more disturbing, and the survivors begin to split into two camps - those who gather around Randall Flagg, a demon from their dreams, and those who gather around an ancient black woman who sort of represents Christianity and "good"
Eventually, the divide turns into a war to end all wars.
Most of this story focuses around a few main characters (although more characters are introduced in the second half)
These characters include Fran, who is pregnant; Harold, who is harboring a dark secret;Larry, a pop singer. All the characters are believable and intresting - you follow them on a very long journey and by the end feel like you know them very well.

Is it any Good - I think this is one of Stephen King's best novels. It is incredibly long - over a thousand pages, but it's such a page turner that I finished this in a few days! It's very well written - descriptive, imaginative, and I like how the story switches between characters - it keeps you involved. (This is annoying though, because inevitably you develop a favorite character and get fustrated when you have to leave their story)
Like most of SK's books, it is pretty gory in parts, although the focos is not constantly on horror - there are very touching moments, as a love story develops, and the survivors attempt to rebuild civilisation.

Price - around £10 for a softback version, or £15 for a hardback, but this depends where you buy it from.

Avaliability - from most good bookstores, or online from ebay.co.uk or amazon.co.uk

Covers - there are a huge range of covers, depending on where you buy the book from.

Summary: Well worth the time spent reading it.