Under the Dome - Stephen King

Now available in paperback from Amazon at only $11.69


Buy it if: Your shelves are already lined with well thumbed copies of The Stand and The Shining


Don't Buy it if: You prefer your modern fiction to come complete with pouty vampires and teenage werewolves. This scariest thing here the realism of the villains.


A good premise can get you halfway to a great story, and I’ve always been of the opinion that Stephen King is at his best when he drops a cadre of interesting personalities into a not-so-everyday occurrence. For The Stand it was a global super plague, The Shining had an alcoholic snowed in for months, and with Cujo it was the simply frightening vision rabid dog guarding a car that wouldn’t start.


A seamless, invisible and unbreachable wall suddenly separating a small, rural town from the rest of world? I’m listening. What? You mean that town also happens to be inhabited by corrupt selectmen, deranged teenagers, a meth cooking junkie and one infantryman-turned-short order cook? I’m in.


Under The Dome, not surprisingly, has been gestating in Stephen King’s mind for decades, and was conceived around the same time period of some of his most compelling writing. Though the majority of the narrative was completed recently, the ‘classic’ hallmarks are all present. (Including the odd sadness for the reader that comes from realizing that 1088 pages is too short!) Because, while the prospect of an invisible wall that cuts you off from the rest of humanity is undeniably scary, the true horror stems from the people trapped by the unbreakable curtain.


This is a common theme for the author, that human beings can easily outstrip the atrocities of the supernatural. And while not overtly political, he does well to demonstrate the egregious effects of the small town mentality. No doubt every one of you ‘knows’ at least one of characters, probably more. Anyone who’s sat in on a municipal council meeting or gone to see the board of education will relate to big egos in small towns – and the frightening thirst for power that can fester there. Watching the personalities unfold in the aftermath of an unprecedented event – you know, like a huge, invisible dome encapsulating a town – is a fictional chemistry experiment that is probably closer to reality than we’d like to admit.


The town of Chester’s Mill may not exist. And as far as I know, invisible walls are fairly uncommon as well. But there’s still enough realism here to scare the hell out of you with regard to the humanity of our fellow citizens. Don’t believe me? Next time you’re out and about in your hometown, have a look around at the most unsavory characters you can find, the kind that lurk around the corners of polite society and at the top of local politics. Then imagine a giant dome trapping you together indefinitely, with no hope of escape or intervention. Under the Dome offers a glimpse into what is a thrilling touch of horror indeed.