The Dead Zone

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After watching and falling for the character John Smith- in the 1983 movie THE DEAD ZONE, I decided to search out the book that it was based on. I had never heard of Stephen King- I had read a lot of mysteries, but had never read a horror novel. To me this was the perfect start into the genre. It is suspenseful and gripping without being gory.

As news of his gift spreads, Sheriff George Bannerman asks Johnny for help with a series of murders. At first Johnny declines, but he eventually agrees to help. Through a vision at the crime scene, he discovers that deputy Frank Dodd is the killer. Before Bannerman can arrest him, Dodd commits suicide. Dodd's mother shoots Johnny before being killed by Bannerman. I am so glad that I decided to reread this one, as it has become a new favourite. And dare I say - one of King’s best endings? The Dead Zone is a horror/supernatural thriller novel by Stephen King published in 1979. It concerns Johnny Smith, who is injured in an accident and remains in a coma for nearly five years. Upon emergence, he exhibits clairvoyance and precognition with limitations, apparently because of a "dead zone," an area of his brain that suffered permanent damage as the result of his accident.I suppose knowing that I read it in one sitting says a lot about what I thought about it – I LOVED IT! It blew me away. It was creepy, heart-wrenching, introspective, speculative, terrifying, thought-provoking – and on and on and on. I just knew I had to read it again now to see if I still felt the same. And, I do! I definitely do! The rest of the book walks through events where this psychic ability becomes useful in a number of ways, ultimately leading up to a thrilling, larger-than-life climax that puts ole Johnny in a precarious situation with huge stakes, really unbelievable stakes, but, man, when you get there, who even cares anymore? This guys is magical and he’s saving the world!

Johnny goes through the same thought processes. Logically, he should find a way to stop Stillson, but there is the nagging worry that he could just make things worse. Evans, Bradford (February 17, 2011). "The Lost Roles of Bill Murray". Archived from the original on May 20, 2015 . Retrieved May 25, 2015. In addition to Donen, both John Badham and Michael Cimino were also considered to direct. [19] Filming [ edit ] Cronenberg initially rejected De Laurentiis' offer to direct the film, but accepted the position after meeting Hill. [12] [13] Cronenberg received five scripts for the film, including one from King which he described as "the worst one by far". Although Cronenberg did not write Fast Company he was involved in the writing process and made edits during film. The Dead Zone was his first film in which he did not have any involvement in writing the script. It was also his first film that did not have any Canadian content. [14] What I found more interesting here is what King did with Johnny’s mother, Vera. She starts out as someone with strong fundamental religious beliefs, but Johnny’s accident sends her over the high side and into the realm where she starts believing tabloid stories about Jesus living underground at the South Pole. She’s completely immune to facts and logic, and she’d rather rely on prayer than medication to handle her high blood pressure.

The dead zone

The Dead Zone is King's seventh novel and the fifth under his own name. The book spawned a 1983 film adaptation as well as a television series. The Dead Zone was the strangest experience of my rereading experiment thus far. It's the first book that is totally different to my memories of it; to the point where I even doubted that I had read it, and hadn't just watched the (admittedly excellent) David Cronenberg movie adaptation too much. I had read it, though – I still have the original copy to prove it – but it had slipped from my mind almost completely. (Into the dead zone?) Why? Maybe because, structurally, it's easily the strangest book King had, until this point, attempted to write; and maybe because, unlike other King (not Bachman) novels of the time, it doesn't really have a bad guy to focus on and drive the narrative. Not that it's any the worse for that, mind you …