One of the most intriguing aspects of the Dark Tower movie is its connection with many of Stephen King’s short stories and novels belonging to the larger Dark Tower universe. King’s fans have spotted these connections at various rates and have kept the conversation going about the mysterious linking dots in the Dark Tower mythology.
If you’re a big fan of Stephen King’s tales, you may already know The Mist’s general idea and plot. In the Mist, a father and son on a shopping venture find themselves trapped with others following a deadly mist’s incursion into the region. Monstrous beings wait hungrily in the mist to end the lives of any prey they find, but a string of twists and turns convert the impending doom into one of Stephen King’s best stories ever.
However, what many fans are less likely to notice is that The Mist bears a significant connection with The Dark Tower. This review focuses on the stealth connections between both stories and how fans can spot vital dots that connect to unravel Stephen King’s mystery universe further.
Reviewing the Mist
David, a commercial artist, visits the supermarket with his son and neighbor after a mighty thunderstorm devastates their small town of Maine. While still at the supermarket, a hideous mist reaches the town, and it isn’t long before the townsmen discover that mystery beings are hiding in the mist. An alarm rings out in the distance; David and others remain stranded within the store.
The earth quakes shortly after and cuts off the supermarket’s power. As David leaves with a bagger to fix the situation, an unknown creature drags the bagger into the mist. Unfortunately, David’s first-hand witness to the bagger’s plight wasn’t enough to convince everyone about what happened. Instead, defiant individuals went outside crying for help, only to be torn down by the vicious creatures.
Meanwhile, a woman named Mrs. Carmody seizes the situation and starts sermonizing about the end of the world while predicting that a human sacrifice must save them from the devious beings. Her preaching caused a range of battles among the survivors.
David, his son, and some others attempt to flee the impending doom, beating confrontation from Mrs. Carmody, to reach David’s car. The fleeing entourage sped through the mist, seeking shelter and waiting for a promise of incoming help, while overbearing circumstances ensured that David couldn’t reach his home or wife amidst the crisis.
How It Links with The Dark Tower
Anyone who’s familiar with Stephen King’s writings has probably had to settle with being left in some amount of mystery, even in a story’s closing moments. Often, readers have to imagine themselves in the shoes of the survivors and the next direction they might choose while fancying the characters’ fate.
That said, one of the biggest mysteries in this story is the source of the monsters. Who sent the monsters? Where did they come from? Do they have any links with some other humans somewhere else? One aspect of the plot links to the Project Arrowhead project after two military officers are spotted in the supermarket’s backroom. This mysterious military emergence and the hideous creatures in the mist bear a noticeable similarity with another plot point in The Dark Tower.
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass tells of young Roland. While he and his friend went on their first mission to investigate the increasing threat of John Farson and his war machine, they spotted a mysterious place called Eyebolt Canyon. Inside the canyon is Thinny, a place in space and time with eroded reality, coming across as a green/gray mist that could such in people with some weird appendices.
Does it ring a bell? This section mirrors the Mist’s Project Arrowhead government project. Chances are the project’s sponsors exploited some breakdown in reality. Elsewhere, it’s likely that the creatures pouring into the mist and attacking the little town may have been sourced from another world, such as young Roland’s world. Should that hold true, could we expect another adaptation from Mike Flanagan that connects the stories to other shows and films within Stephen King’s larger universe?