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97-410: The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday . The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few surviving humans gather into factions that are each led by a personification of either good or evil and seem fated to clash with each other. King started writing

194-505: A caesarean section . The baby, named Peter after Frannie's late father, manages to fight off the superflu. Four months later, Stuart and Frannie decide to leave Boulder and move to Ogunquit as society is slowly reestablished. The extended edition includes an epilogue in which Flagg, having survived the nuclear explosion, wakes up somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Regaining his former strength, he begins recruiting adherents among

291-467: A common dream in which they see a centenarian woman living in Hemingford Home, Nebraska . The woman, Abagail Freemantle – better known as "Mother Abagail" – becomes the group's spiritual leader. She brings the group to Boulder, Colorado , to which other survivors are attracted by her telepathic appeals. New additions to the group include Nick Andros, a deaf-mute deputy from Shoyo, Arkansas; Tom Cullen,

388-467: A couple of days, his car crashes at a gas station in Arnette, Texas. The gas station employees and ambulance workers are infected when they take the dying Campion out of his car and to a hospital. The gas station owner infects his cousin, a traffic cop, and the virus rapidly spreads uncontrollably from there. The United States Army attempts to isolate Arnette, going as far as to execute unarmed civilians, but

485-452: A future threat. In the video game Chrono Trigger (1995), the giant alien creature Lavos collides with the earth in prehistoric times, subsequently hibernating beneath the earth. As millions of years pass, the monster feeds on the energy of the earth, eventually surfacing in 1999 to wreak complete destruction of the human race, atmosphere, and general life on the planet in the form of a rain of destruction fired from its outer shell, known as

582-457: A giant glowing hand — " the Hand of God " — which detonates the bomb, destroying Las Vegas and killing all of Flagg's followers, along with Larry and Ralph. Tom finds Stu close to death, but a verbal apparition of Nick leading to a supply of antibiotics saves his life. After nursing him back to health and helping his leg heal, the two travel back to Boulder, where Frannie has given birth to her son after

679-463: A group of friends who discover an alien invasion during a pub crawl in their hometown. In the 2018 horror film A Quiet Place , the 2021 sequel A Quiet Place Part II , and a 2024 movie A Quiet Place: Day One society has collapsed in the wake of lethal attacks by extraterrestrial creatures who, having no eyesight, hunt humans and other creatures with their highly sensitive hearing; the scattered survivors live most of their lives in near-silence as

776-512: A horned fish and Shesha appeared as a rope, with which Vaivasvata Manu fastened the boat to the horn of the fish. Variants of this story also appear in Buddhist and Jain scriptures. The 1st centuries CE saw the recording of the Book of Revelation (from which the word apocalypse originated, meaning ' {{{1}}} ' ), which is filled with prophecies of destruction, as well as luminous visions. In

873-543: A kind-hearted, intellectually disabled man from May, Oklahoma; Nadine Cross, a teacher from New Hampshire; and Ralph Brentner, a good-natured farmer from Oklahoma. The group attempts to build a new society. They call their land the "Free Zone", organize funeral brigades and restore a supply of electricity. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas , Randall Flagg , the dark man, possessing supernatural abilities, creates his own society from people called by his visions. The people worship Flagg as

970-507: A messiah and joyfully submit to his fascist dictatorship, in which undesirables are crucified. Flagg rescues spree killer Lloyd Henreid from prison and makes him his lieutenant. A pyromaniac nicknamed "The Trashcan Man", after destroying oil tanks in Gary, Indiana and meeting a madman named "The Kid", joins Flagg's group and becomes a weapons specialist. Flagg prepares for war with Boulder. Mother Abagail, believing she has been too prideful watching

1067-463: A more powerful weapon for Flagg. When Tom's fleeting presence in Las Vegas as the sole surviving spy belatedly comes to light, Nadine takes advantage of Flagg's unsettled state to goad him into killing her and her unborn child. Stuart breaks his leg en route and persuades the others to go on without him, telling them that God will provide for him if that is what is meant to happen. Leaving Kojak with Stu,

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1164-453: A multi-movie version of The Stand , but left the project in October 2011, as Yates felt it would work better as a miniseries. Both Ben Affleck and Scott Cooper dropped out over creative differences with the studio. On February 25, 2014, Josh Boone was hired to write and direct the adaptation. He later revealed that he wanted Christian Bale to play Randall Flagg and Matthew McConaughey for

1261-692: A multinational effort is put in place to construct an ark for the preservation of Humanity, built around the International Space Station . Brian Aldiss ' novel Hothouse (1961) occurs in a distant future where the Sun is much hotter and stronger, and the human population has been reduced to a fifth of what it had been. J. G. Ballard 's novel The Drowned World (1962) occurs after a rise in solar radiation that causes worldwide flooding and accelerated mutation of plants and animals. Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven 's novel, Lucifer's Hammer (1977),

1358-460: A new Heaven and a new Earth, and its intended Christian audience is often enchanted and inspired, rather than terrified by visions of Judgment Day. These Christians believed themselves chosen for God's salvation, and so such apocalyptic sensibilities inspired optimism and nostalgia for the end times. The Norse poem Völuspá from the Poetic Edda details the creation, coming doom, and rebirth of

1455-465: A new preface by King and illustrations by Bernie Wrightson , which were later released as a portfolio. Doubleday published a deluxe edition of The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition , limited to 1,250 numbered copies and 52 lettered copies. This edition, known as the "Coffin Box" edition due to the book being housed in a wooden case, was signed by King and Wrightson. The Stand received critical acclaim: it

1552-478: A new screenplay, omitting some parts for television broadcast. The miniseries , directed by Mick Garris , was broadcast in 1994. Between 2011 and 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures and CBS Films were developing a feature-length film adaptation of The Stand . In August 2011, director David Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves , known for their collaboration on the Harry Potter films, were hired to write and direct

1649-504: A non-technological future world or a world where only scattered elements of society and technology remain. Numerous ancient societies, including the Babylonian and Judaic, produced apocalyptic literature and mythology which dealt with the end of the world and human society, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh , written c. 2000–1500 BCE. Recognizable modern apocalyptic novels had existed since at least

1746-476: A novel called Earth Abides , by George R. Stewart. (...) and one day while sitting at my typewriter, (...) I wrote—just to write something: The world comes to an end but everybody in the SLA is somehow immune. Snake bit them. I looked at that for a while and then typed: No more gas shortages. That was sort of cheerful, in a horrible sort of way. The Stand was also planned by King as an epic story akin to The Lord of

1843-404: A one-way trip to Mars . When the Sun begins to go nova, everything is on schedule, but most of the spaceships turn out to be defective, and fail en route to Mars. In Neal Stephenson 's novel Seveneves , The Moon is destroyed by an unknown agent, forming a massive debris cloud. This cloud threatens to produce a White Sky , which then causes a massive bombardment of Moon fragments. Due to this,

1940-461: A plague or virus, whether natural or man-made; religious, such as the Rapture or Great Tribulation ; or imaginative, such as zombie apocalypse or alien invasion . The story may involve attempts to prevent an apocalypse event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or may be post-apocalyptic and set after the event. The time frame may be immediately after the catastrophe, focusing on

2037-402: A preliterate, dark-skinned people. In Danse Macabre , King writes about the origins of The Stand at some length. One source was Patty Hearst 's case. The original idea was to create a novel about the episode because "it seemed that only a novel might really succeed in explaining all the contradictions". The author also mentions George R. Stewart 's novel Earth Abides , which describes

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2134-465: A producer and writer, and a new ending written by Stephen King. The miniseries was first broadcast in December 2020, to mixed reviews. Marvel Comics adapted The Stand into a series of six five-issue comic book miniseries. The series was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins . Colorist Laura Martin , letterer Chris Eliopoulos , and cover artist Lee Bermejo were also on

2231-565: A result. In Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer's novel When Worlds Collide (1933), Earth is destroyed by the rogue planet Bronson Alpha. A selected few escape on a spaceship. In the sequel, After Worlds Collide (1934), the survivors start a new life on the planet's companion Bronson Beta, which has taken over the orbit formerly occupied by Earth. In J. T. McIntosh 's novel One in Three Hundred (1954), scientists have discovered how to pinpoint

2328-555: A school visit to a cave. In the obscure 2013 Australian film These Final Hours , a massive asteroid hits the Atlantic Ocean dooming all life. The film follows James, who decides to head to the 'party-to-end-all-parties' and there spend the last 12 hours before the global firestorm reaches Western Australia. Hemingford, Nebraska Hemingford is a village in Box Butte County , Nebraska , United States. The population

2425-410: A sea-level rise that kills most of the population (though this may be redemptive, like Noah's Flood , rather than a disaster). In Greg Bear 's The Forge of God (1987), Earth is destroyed in an alien attack. Just prior to this, a different group of aliens is able to save samples of the biosphere and a small number of people, resettling them on Mars. Some of these form the crew of a ship to hunt down

2522-475: A setting date of 1980, in abridged form. The first paperback release in 1980 changed the setting date to 1985. The novel marks the first appearance of Randall Flagg , King's recurring antagonist, whom King would bring back several times in his later writings. In 1990, an unabridged edition of The Stand was published, billed as The Complete and Uncut Edition . Published in hardcover by Doubleday in May 1990, this became

2619-401: A spacecraft that will go to an unknown destination away from the destroyed Earth. The later books deal with the few survivors waking up from a 500-year hibernation and succumbing to both strange mutations and the will of a strange alien computer/spaceship that they land on. Eventually they return to Earth to find a couple colonies of survivors struggling on a harsh planet completely different from

2716-541: A technological past "protruding into a more primitive... landscape", a theme known as the "ruined Earth", have been described as "among the most potent of [science fiction]'s icons". Ancient Mesopotamian texts containing the oldest surviving apocalyptic literature , including the Eridu Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh , both of which date to around 2000-1500 BCE. Both describe angry gods sending floods to punish humanity, and

2813-476: Is a humorous take on alien invasion stories. Multiple Earths are repeatedly "demolished" by the bureaucratic Vogons to make way for a hyperspace bypass, to the chagrin of the protagonist Arthur Dent . In Gene Wolfe 's The Urth of the New Sun (1987), aliens (or highly evolved humans) introduce a white hole into the sun to counteract the dimming effect of a black hole , and the resulting global warming causes

2910-509: Is about a cataclysmic comet hitting Earth and various groups of people struggling to survive the aftermath in southern California. Hollywood—which previously had explored the idea of the Earth and its population being potentially endangered by a collision with another heavenly body with the When Worlds Collide (1951), a film treatment of the aforementioned 1933 novel – revisited the theme in

3007-455: Is developed as a biological weapon within a secret Department of Defense installation in the Mojave Desert , and is accidentally released. The book's extended edition includes a prologue detailing the development of the virus and the security breach that causes its release. The laboratory staff die, but security guard Charles Campion manages to escape and takes his family out of state. After

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3104-487: Is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism ". Lord Byron 's 1816 poem "Darkness" , included in The Prisoner of Chillon collection, on the apocalyptic end of the world and one man's survival, was one of the earliest English-language works in this genre. The sun was blotted out, leading to darkness and cold which kills off mankind through famine and ice-age conditions. The poem

3201-431: Is essentially a retelling of the Book of Revelation , combined with themes of the story of Adam and Eve . Unlike most apocalyptic tales, de Grainville's novel approaches the end of the world not as a cautionary tale, or a tale of survival, but as both an inevitable, as well as necessary, step for the spiritual resurrection of mankind. Edgar Allan Poe 's short story " The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion " (1839) follows

3298-474: Is heavily damaged, and humanity nearly wiped out, by the direct collision of the real asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Earth in the year 2029. Marly Youmans ' epic poem Thaliad (2012) tells the story of a group of children after an unspecified apocalypse from the sky, perhaps connected with solar flares or meteor impact, resulting in people and animals having been burned and the skies having filled with ash. The children survive only because they were together on

3395-410: Is inevitably left as the last man alive. Shelley's novel is predated by Jean-Baptiste Cousin de Grainville 's French epic prose poem Le Dernier Homme (English: The Last Man [1805]), and this work is sometimes considered the first modern work to depict the end of the world. Published after his death in 1805, de Grainville's work follows the character of Omegarus, the titular "last man," in what

3492-535: Is reminiscent of H. G. Wells ' War of the Worlds (1897). Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski 's novel The Killing Star (1995) describes a devastating attack on a late-21st-century Earth by an alien civilization. Using missiles traveling at relativistic speed , they are determined to destroy the human race in a preemptive strike, as they are considered, after watching several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation which shows human domination in space,

3589-764: The Genesis flood narrative is found in the 71st Chapter of the Quran ; however, unlike the Biblical story, the Quranic account explicitly claims that the deluge was only sent to the tribe of the Prophet Nūḥ ( نُوح ) ( ' Noah ' in Arabic ), and therefore, the deluge did not engulf the entire world. In the Hindu Dharmasastra , an apocalyptic deluge plays a prominent part. According to

3686-623: The Matsya Purana , the Matsya avatar of Lord Vishnu , informed the King Manu of an all-destructive deluge which would be coming very soon. The King was advised to build a huge boat (ark) which housed his family, nine types of seeds, pairs of all animals and the Saptarishis to repopulate Earth, after the deluge would end and the oceans and seas would recede. At the time of the deluge , Vishnu appeared as

3783-506: The "Arkfalls", which terraforms Earth to an almost unrecognizable state. Unlike most apocalyptic works, in this one Earth is not inhospitable, and humanity is not on the verge of extinction. The World's End is a 2013 British-American comic science fiction film directed by Edgar Wright , written by Wright and Simon Pegg , and starring Pegg, Nick Frost , Paddy Considine , Martin Freeman , Eddie Marsan and Rosamund Pike . The film follows

3880-462: The "Day of Lavos". In the video game Half-Life (1998), hostile alien creatures arrive on Earth through a portal after a scientific experiment goes wrong. In its sequel, Half-Life 2 (2004), it is revealed to the player the creatures encountered in the first game are merely the slaves of a much more powerful alien race, the Combine, who have taken over the Earth to drain its resources after subduing

3977-499: The Air , the novel has become one of the best known early apocalyptic works. It has subsequently been reproduced or adapted several times in comic books, film, music, radio programming , television programming, and video games. Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke , in which aliens come to Earth, human children develop fantastic powers and

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4074-494: The Earth the Remnants knew. Melancholia (2011), the middle entry of filmmaker Lars von Trier 's "depression trilogy", ends with humanity completely wiped out by a collision with a rogue planet . The depressed protagonist reverses roles with her relatives as the crisis unfolds, as she turns out to be the only family member capable of calmly accepting the imminent impact event. In id Software 's video game Rage (2011), Earth

4171-484: The Gilgamesh version includes the ancient hero Utnapishtim and his family being saved through the intervention of the god Ea . The Biblical myth of Noah and his ark describes the destruction of the corrupt original civilization and its replacement with a remade world. Noah is assigned the task to build the ark and save two of each animal species in order to reestablish a new post-flood world. The Biblical story of

4268-450: The Rings in a contemporary American setting: For a long time—ten years, at least—I had wanted to write a fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings , only with an American setting. I just couldn't figure out how to do it. Then . . . after my wife and kids and I moved to Boulder, Colorado, I saw a 60 Minutes segment on CBW (chemical-biological warfare). I never forgot the gruesome footage of

4365-752: The Zone grow in size, goes into self-imposed exile. During her absence, the Free Zone's leadership committee decides to secretly send three people to Flagg's territory to act as spies. Harold and Nadine, tempted by Flagg through their dreams, stage an attack on the committee with a bomb. The explosion kills several people, including Nick, but most of the committee members avoid the explosion thanks to Mother Abagail's return. Before dying of exhaustion, Mother Abagail reports God's will – Stuart, Glen, Larry and Ralph must go to Las Vegas and destroy Flagg. As Harold and Nadine flee, Flagg causes Harold's motorcycle to crash and he falls over

4462-428: The age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.3% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.91. The median age in

4559-423: The age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.18. In the village, the population was spread out, with 30.5% under

4656-474: The age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males. As of 2000 the median income for a household in the village was $ 35,982, and the median income for a family was $ 44,167. Males had a median income of $ 32,159 versus $ 20,500 for females. The per capita income for

4753-477: The atmosphere which lowered the temperature and altered weather patterns throughout the world. This was the source for Byron's poem. Mary Shelley 's novel The Last Man (1826) is a continuation of the apocalyptic theme in fiction and is generally recognized as the first major fictional post-apocalyptic story. The plot follows a group of people as they struggle to survive in a plague-infected world. The story's male protagonist struggles to keep his family safe but

4850-439: The basis of a movie called Rage , starring George C. Scott , but before it was released, I was deep into The Stand , finally writing my American fantasy epic, set in a plague-decimated USA. Only instead of a hobbit, my hero was a Texan named Stu Redman, and instead of a Dark Lord, my villain was a ruthless drifter and supernatural madman named Randall Flagg . The land of Mordor ('where the shadows lie,' according to Tolkien )

4947-690: The best books of all time by Rolling Stone , Time , the Modern Library , Amazon and the BBC . A television miniseries of the same name based on the novel was broadcast on ABC in 1994. From 2008 to 2012, Marvel Comics published a series of comics written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins . Another miniseries debuted on CBS All Access in December 2020, and finished airing in February 2021. An extremely contagious and lethal strain of influenza , resistant to antibodies and vaccines,

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5044-443: The bombing out of dissatisfaction with the heroes' focus on petty politics, and not on the ultimate quest of destroying Flagg. King sardonically observed that the bomb saved the book, and that he only had to kill half of the core cast to do this. According to King, Blue Öyster Cult 's 1976 song " (Don't Fear) The Reaper " also served as a source of inspiration for the novel. The novel was originally published in 1978 in hardcover, with

5141-605: The book, such as "I met the walking dude, religious, with his worn out cowboy boots", and "Hey Trashcan, where you going boy?" The main chorus of the song was "Come on down and meet your maker, come on down and make the stand." In 1987, Anthrax released their third studio album "Among the Living" which is based on the novel. Lyrics which include "I'm the walking dude", are reference to novel antagonist Randall Flagg. Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction The story may involve attempts to prevent an apocalypse event, deal with

5238-563: The concept of destruction that causes public interest in apocalyptic themes. Such fiction is studied by social sciences , and may provide insights into a culture's fears, as well as things like the role imagined for public administration . Since the late 20th century, a surge of popular post-apocalyptic films can be observed. Christopher Schmidt notes that, while the world "goes to waste" for future generations, we distract ourselves from disaster by passively watching it as entertainment. Some have commented on this trend, saying that "it

5335-440: The conversation between two souls in the afterlife as they discuss the destruction of the world. The destruction was brought about by a comet that removed nitrogen from Earth's atmosphere; this left only oxygen and resulted in a worldwide inferno. Similarly, Giacomo Leopardi 's short dialogue " Dialogue between a Goblin and a Gnome " (1824) features a world without the presence of the human beings, most likely because they "violate[d]

5432-494: The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah also has post-apocalyptic elements. The daughters of Lot , who mistakenly believe that the destruction had engulfed the whole world and that they and their father were the only surviving human beings, conclude that in such a situation it would be justified - and indeed vitally needed - to have sex with their father in order to ensure the survival of humanity. Such situations and dilemmas occur in modern post-apocalyptic fiction. A similar story to

5529-493: The edge of a cliff, severely breaking his leg and being left to die by Nadine. As his leg turns gangrenous , he realizes the harm he has done, writes an apologetic note and commits suicide. Flagg meets Nadine in the desert, raping and impregnating her while revealing his true demonic form, an experience that leaves her semi- catatonic . The Trashcan Man has a psychotic episode and destroys Flagg's air force before Flagg can destroy Boulder. He then leaves Las Vegas to atone by finding

5626-448: The efforts are in vain – the virus, christened by journalists as the "superflu" or "Captain Trips", spreads across the country and travels beyond its borders, triggering a global pandemic of apocalyptic proportions. Approximately 99.4% of the world's population is infected and killed within a month. A prism of several personal tragedies describes the collapse of society, explosions of violence,

5723-509: The elfin Eloi and the brutal Morlocks. Later in the story, the time traveler moves forward to a dying Earth beneath a swollen red sun. The War of the Worlds (1898) depicts an invasion of Earth by inhabitants of the planet Mars . The aliens systematically destroy Victorian England with advanced weaponry mounted on nearly indestructible vehicles. Due to the infamous radio adaptation of the novel by Orson Welles on his show, The Mercury Theatre on

5820-464: The end of the world, particularly in prime time." Eventually King allowed screenwriter Rospo Pallenberg , who was a fan of The Stand , to write his own adaptation of the novel. Pallenberg's script was for an approximately three hour film which King felt was true to the novel. After the script was written, Warner Bros. backed out of the project. ABC eventually offered Stephen King the chance to make The Stand into an eight-hour miniseries . King wrote

5917-540: The entirety of Earth's governments and military forces in only seven hours. In the 2000 Don Bluth animated film Titan A.E. , Earth has been destroyed by the Drej, due to a human experimental discovery called Project Titan, which made them fear “what humanity will become”. The 2011 TV series Falling Skies , by Robert Rodat and Steven Spielberg , follows a human resistance force fighting to survive after extraterrestrial aliens attempt to take over Earth by disabling most of

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6014-421: The exact minute, hour, and day the Sun will go " nova " – and when it does, it will boil away Earth's seas, beginning with the hemisphere that faces the sun, and as Earth continues to rotate, it will take only 24 hours before all life is eradicated. Super-hurricanes and tornadoes are predicted. Buildings will be blown away. A race is on to build thousands of spaceships for the sole purpose of transferring evacuees on

6111-560: The first chapter of Revelation, the writer St. John the Divine explains his divine errand: "Write the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19). He takes it as his mission to convey—to reveal—to God's kingdom His promise that justice will prevail and that the suffering will be vindicated (Leigh). The apocalyptist provides a beatific vision of Judgement Day, revealing God's promise for redemption from suffering and strife. Revelation describes

6208-447: The first third of the 19th century, when Mary Shelley 's The Last Man (1826) was published; however, this form of literature gained widespread popularity after World War II , when the possibility of global annihilation by nuclear weapons entered the public consciousness. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change ; natural, such as an impact event ; man made, such as nuclear holocaust ; medical, such as

6305-464: The homeworld of the killers, as described in the sequel, Anvil of Stars (1992). Al Sarrantonio 's Moonbane (1989) concerns the origin of werewolves (he attributes it to the Moon, which is why they are so attracted to it), and an invasion after an explosion on Luna sends meteoric fragments containing latent lycanthropes to Earth, who thrive in our planet's oxygen-rich atmosphere. Moonbane ' s tone

6402-520: The hope that a treatment can be made. Redman escapes after the center's staff dies, and he is forced to kill one of the members in self-defense. He meets with sociology professor Glen Bateman and his Irish Setter Kojak, pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith, and teenage outcast Harold Lauder. Larry Underwood, a disillusioned pop singer, joins the group in the wake of his mother's death. Stuart and Frannie are drawn to each other and become lovers, to Harold's disappointment and resentment. The group share

6499-405: The impact and consequences of the event itself, or it may be post-apocalyptic, set after the event. The time may be directly after the catastrophe, focusing on the psychology of survivors, the way to keep the human race alive and together as one, or considerably later, often including that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been mythologized. Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in

6596-495: The inability of the government and martial law to stop the pandemic, and the near-extinction of humanity. Many survivors of the virus also die, unable to accept the loss of their loved ones or survive in a world where they must fend for themselves. Stuart Redman, one of the people present at the gas station when Campion crashes his car, proves immune to the virus. He is forcibly held in a specialized center in Stovington, Vermont, in

6693-513: The late 1990s with a trio of similarly themed projects. Asteroid (1997) is an NBC-TV miniseries about the U.S. government trying to prevent an asteroid from colliding with the Earth. The following year saw dueling big-budget summer blockbuster movies Deep Impact (1998) and Armageddon (1998), both of which involved efforts to save the Earth from, respectively, a rogue comet and an asteroid, by landing crews upon them to detonate nuclear weapons there in hopes of destroying them. Characters in

6790-584: The laws of nature, and [went] contrary to their welfare". Richard Jefferies ' novel After London (1885) can best be described as genuine post-apocalyptic fiction. After a sudden and unspecified catastrophe has depopulated England, the countryside reverts to nature and the few survivors return to a quasi-medieval way of life. The first chapters consist solely of a description of nature reclaiming England: fields becoming overrun by forest, domesticated animals running wild, roads and towns becoming overgrown, London reverting to lake and poisonous swampland. The rest of

6887-433: The longest book published by King at 1,152 pages. When the novel was originally published in 1978, Doubleday warned King that the book's size would make it too expensive for the market to bear. As a result, he cut about 400 pages (around 150,000 words) from the original manuscript. This edition reinstates most of the deletions (as selected by King) and updates the setting from the 1980s to the 1990s. This new edition features

6984-451: The novel's setting 10 years forward from 1980 to 1990, and accordingly corrected a number of cultural references. The Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand is Stephen King's longest stand-alone work at 1,152 pages, surpassing It , a novel of 1,138 pages. The book became a #1 bestseller and sold 4.5 million copies. The Stand was highly acclaimed by critics and is considered one of King's best novels. It has been included in lists of

7081-464: The odyssey of one of the last human survivors after the population is nearly annihilated by a plague, as one of the main inspirations: With my Patty Hearst book, I never found the right way in... and during that entire six-week period, something else was nagging very quietly at the back of my mind. It was a news story I had read about an accidental CBW spill in Utah. (...) This article called up memories of

7178-422: The outside world. Furthermore, they often explore a world without modern technology whose rapid progress may overwhelm people as human brains are not adapted to contemporary society, but evolved to deal with issues that have become largely irrelevant, such as immediate physical threats. Such works depict worlds of less complexity, direct contact, and primitive needs. It is often the concept of change as much as

7275-562: The planet is destroyed. Argentine comic writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld 's comic series El Eternauta (1957 to 1959), an alien race only mentioned by the protagonists as Ellos ("Them") invades the Earth starting with a deadly snowfall and then using other alien races to defeat the remaining humans. In Alice Sheldon 's Nebula -winning novelette " The Screwfly Solution " (1977), aliens are wiping out humanity with an airborne agent that changes men's sexual impulses to violent ones. Douglas Adams 's Hitchhiker's Guide series (1979–2009)

7372-438: The process, and three were injured on the ground. The collapse occurred as strengthening measures were being taken so the 30+ year-old tower could accommodate the added weight of digital television transmission facilities. Investigations later found that the contractors neglected to stabilize the tower while original structural components were being replaced with stronger ones. KDUH resumed full-power broadcasts one year later from

7469-411: The project. In the 1995 Complete and Uncut edition of the book, King admitted he had in mind a few fan castings for his characters, those being Robert Duvall as Randall Flagg and Marshall Crenshaw as Larry Underwood. Writing a workable screenplay proved difficult, due to the novel's length. King talked about adapting it for television, but was informed that the television networks did not "want to see

7566-465: The remaining three are soon taken prisoner by Flagg's army. When Glen refuses to grovel before Flagg, he is killed by Lloyd. Flagg gathers his entire collective to witness the execution of Ralph and Larry. Moments before they are to be killed, the Trashcan Man arrives with a retrieved nuclear warhead . Flagg conjures a magical ball of energy in an attempt to silence a dissenter, but it is transformed into

7663-497: The role of Stu Redman. By September 10, 2014, the script had been completed and pre-production was underway. In November, Boone planned to split his adaptation into four full-length feature films in an effort to remain true to the breadth of King's sprawling novel. In June 2015, Warner Bros. proposed an eight-part Showtime miniseries to set up the story, which would culminate in Josh Boone's film. In February 2016, The Stand project

7760-454: The roles of Randall Flagg, Stu Redman, Nadine Cross, Mother Abagail, Glen Bateman, Frannie Goldsmith, and Nick Andros, respectively. The production was filmed in and near Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada, from September 2019 to March 2020; filming was completed a few days before it would have been shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The production features Stephen King's son Owen King as

7857-431: The six-part ITV television drama serial The Last Train (1999) awaken from a cryogenic sleep after an asteroid the size of Birmingham strikes Africa, causing a worldwide apocalypse. K. A. Applegate 's 2001–2003 book series, Remnants , details the end of the world by asteroid collision. The first book, The Mayflower Project (2001), describes Earth in a sort of hysteria as 80 people are chosen by NASA to board

7954-546: The staff. The first issue of The Stand: Captain Trips was released on September 10, 2008. Metallica derived the title for their second album " Ride the Lightning " from a quote in The Stand . in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair. The Alarm had a song on the 1984 album Declaration entitled "The Stand (Prophecy)" as an homage to the book. The song contained lyrics directly related to

8051-407: The story in February 1975, seeking to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings . The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines. In 1990, The Stand was reprinted as The Complete & Uncut Edition . King restored over 400 pages of text that had been removed from his original manuscript , revised the order of the chapters, shifted

8148-428: The story is a straightforward adventure/quest set many years later in the wild landscape and society, but the opening chapters set an example for many later science fiction stories. H.G. Wells wrote several novels that have a post-apocalyptic theme. The Time Machine (1895) has the unnamed protagonist traveling to the year 802,701 A.D. after civilization has collapsed and humanity has split into two distinct species,

8245-399: The test mice shuddering, convulsing, and dying, all in twenty seconds or less. That got me remembering a chemical spill in Utah, that killed a bunch of sheep (these were canisters on their way to some burial ground; they fell off the truck and ruptured). I remembered a news reporter saying, 'If the winds had been blowing the other way, there was Salt Lake City .' This incident later served as

8342-629: The travails or psychology of survivors, the way to maintain the human race alive and together as one, or considerably later, often including the theme that the existence of pre-catastrophe civilization has been forgotten (or mythologized). Post-apocalyptic stories often take place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society and technology remain. Other themes may be cybernetic revolt , divine judgment , dysgenics , ecological collapse , pandemic , resource depletion , supernatural phenomena , technological singularity , or some other general disaster. The relics of

8439-605: The village was $ 14,944. About 8.8% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 10.9% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over. The KDUH/CH4 TV Mast was a guyed TV mast constructed near Hemingford in 1969 for TV transmitting, at 42°10′21″N 103°13′59″W  /  42.17250°N 103.23306°W  / 42.17250; -103.23306 . The tower collapsed on September 24, 2002, during reconstruction work. Two tower workers, Lawrence A. Sukalec, 59, of Valier, Illinois , and Daniel E. Goff, 25, of Sesser, Illinois , were killed in

8536-406: The village was 42.2 years. 26.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.1% were from 25 to 44; 31.1% were from 45 to 64; and 15.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 993 people, 373 households, and 258 families residing in the village. The population density

8633-400: The world's technology and destroying its armed forces in a surprise attack. It is implied that the attacking aliens are in reality former victims of an attack on their own planet and are now the slaves of an unseen controller race. The television series Defiance (2013–2015) is set in an Earth devastated by the "Pale Wars", a war with seven alien races referred to as the "Votan", followed by

8730-483: The world. The world's destruction includes fire and flood consuming the earth while mythic beasts do battle with the Aesir gods, during which they all perish in an event called Ragnarök . After the destruction, a pair of humans, a man and woman, find the world renewed and the god Baldr resurrected. Such works often feature the loss of a global perspective as protagonists are on their own, often with little or no knowledge of

8827-427: Was 1,180.9 inhabitants per square mile (455.9/km ). There were 418 housing units at an average density of 614.7 per square mile (237.3/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 96.1% White , 0.4% African American , 1.2% Native American , 0.1% from other races , and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.6% of the population. There were 335 households, of which 31.9% had children under

8924-411: Was 1,530.4 inhabitants per square mile (590.9/km ). There were 438 housing units at an average density of 675.1 per square mile (260.7/km ). The racial makeup of the village was 93.15% White , 1.01% Native American , 3.32% from other races , and 2.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.85% of the population. There were 373 households, out of which 38.9% had children under

9021-501: Was 787 at the 2020 census . Hemingford was incorporated as a village in 1886. The founder being a native of Hemmingford, Quebec , caused the name to be selected. According to the United States Census Bureau , the village has a total area of 0.68 square miles (1.76 km ), all land. As of the census of 2010, there were 803 people, 335 households, and 220 families residing in the village. The population density

9118-514: Was influential in the emergence of "the last man" theme which appeared in the works of several poets, such as "The Last Man" by Thomas Campbell (1824) and "The Last Man" (1826) by Thomas Hood , as well as "The Last Man" by Thomas Lovell Beddoes . The year 1816 was known as the Year Without a Summer because Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East Indies in 1815 that emitted sulphur into

9215-547: Was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1979, and was adapted into both a television miniseries for ABC and a graphic novel published by Marvel Comics . In 2003, the novel was listed at number 53 on the BBC 's The Big Read poll. A film adaptation of The Stand was in development hell for over 10 years. During the 1980s, Stephen King had planned a theatrical film, with George A. Romero directing and himself writing, not trusting anybody else with

9312-532: Was played by Las Vegas. While writing The Stand , King nearly stopped because of writer's block . Eventually, he reached the conclusion that the heroes were becoming too complacent, and were beginning to repeat all the same mistakes of their old society. In an attempt to resolve this, he added the part of the storyline where Harold and Nadine construct a bomb, which explodes in a Free Zone committee meeting, killing Nick Andros, Chad Norris, and Susan Stern. Later, Mother Abagail explains on her deathbed that God permitted

9409-418: Was put on hold and the rights reverted to CBS Films. In September 2017, King talked of doing an extended TV series on Showtime or CBS All Access . In January 2019, a 10-hour limited series was ordered by CBS Television Studios to be broadcast on CBS All Access. Alexander Skarsgard , James Marsden , Amber Heard , Whoopi Goldberg , Greg Kinnear , Odessa Young , and Henry Zaga were all in consideration for

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