No one is better than Stephen King when it comes to writing super dark and depressing material. But, just because Stephen King novels and the films they lead to are bleak, that doesn’t mean his sources of inspiration are anything less than wonderful. For instance, one of the best horror movies of all time came from a most unusual creative spark for King, while he was out doing the grocery shopping.
Forgetting the horror angle, Stephen King has helped to shape the history of cinema, with his stories spawning some of the best movies of all time. The Shining, The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, Carrie; the list of top-tier movies based on books by King is endless. They all have one thing in common, though, and that is an overwhelming sense of gloom and doom.
However, The Mist is perhaps King’s most depressing idea to date, and it’s also one of the best 2000s movies. But we bet you didn’t know that the idea for The Mist came to King when he was in a supermarket.
Speaking to ABC News about his work, King revealed all about the inception of The Mist: “I answer these questions and I always sound totally mad, barking mad. There was a market, it is an actual market in Bridgeton, Maine, where my wife and I lived at that time. And I’d [had writer’s block] for some time. I’d written a very long novel called ‘The Stand,’ and I’d finished it. And I couldn’t seem to get anything else going.
“About four months went by and I would try things, and they would die, and I’d crumple up pages, and the wastebasket was full of paper, and the desk was bare. It was that kind of a situation. So I was in the market one day, and I was shopping, and I looked toward the front, and I saw the whole front of the market was plate glass. And what I thought of when I saw those big plate glass windows was, ‘What if giant bugs started to fly into the glass?'”
However he got the idea, we’re glad he did, because Stephen King’s singular vision for The Mist led to one of the best monster movies of all time. The film, released in 2007, also contains one of the best plot twists in the history of cinema, too. If you haven’t seen it yet, please change that.
There is actually now a TV series adaptation of The Mist on Paramount Plus, if you’re inclined for more of that harrowing story. If you’re not, that’s fine, because we have lists of the best body horror movies and the best zombie movies to keep you entertained. Or, look ahead to all the new movies on the way this year.