The Stand

The Stand is the fourth and longest novel by bestselling author Stephen King, who has written over 60 books to date, including such well-known titles as Carrie (1974), The Shining (1977), Pet Sematary (1983), Misery (1987), and The Green Mile (1996). It falls into the categories of post-apocalyptic science fiction and horror fantasy.

When originally published in 1978, The Stand was approximately 800 pages long. This edition represented a compromise on King’s part because his publisher forced him to cut 400 pages from his original manuscript. He later published an unabridged version of the novel in May 1990 containing 1,200 pages. Aside from its length, the book is notable for introducing the character of Randall Flagg, who was to become a recurring villain in many of King’s later works. The Stand was adapted as a 1994 television mini-series. A new televised 10-episode version of the novel is currently in production with an anticipated airdate during the fourth quarter of 2020.

The story spans the time period of June 1990 through January 1991. King tells it using limited third-person narration from over a dozen different points of view. The book’s setting covers most of the continental United States with special emphasis on rural Nebraska, Boulder, Colorado, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite the dark tone of the material, many passages carry an element of humor, references to popular songs, and light-hearted philosophical observations about life.

The Stand tells the tale of a post-apocalyptic world in which the survivors must rebuild society from the ground up. One group coalesces around an elderly female prophet, while another rallies to the cause of a totalitarian leader named Randall Flagg. The conflict between the forces of light and darkness allows the novel to explore the themes of how to build an ideal society, the cyclic persistence of evil, and the necessity of taking a stand against it.

Plot Summary

As the tale begins, a soldier and his family flee a government facility that has become contaminated with an antigen virus intended for use as a biological weapon. This virus eventually kills over 99% of the United States population. Following the initial outbreak, a small number of individual survivors begin to find one another and band together. They all experience recurring dreams of a frightening dark man, and a benevolent old black woman who tells them to come find her in Nebraska.

The old woman’s name is Abagail, and she believes God has given her a mission to assemble all the survivors in Boulder, Colorado, to prepare for a confrontation with the dark man. Across the Rockies in Las Vegas, a demonic entity known as Randall Flagg is assembling a faction of his own. Flagg intends to destroy all who oppose him and take over the world.

Abagail instructs four of the men in the Boulder Free Zone colony to walk to Las Vegas to confront Flagg. They will almost certainly die as a result, but all of them have faith in Abagail’s vision and the necessity of making a stand against Flagg. Although three of the four men die, their willingness to confront the forces of darkness succeeds in banishing Flagg and restoring harmony to what remains of the human community.

NOTE: All page number citations come from the Kindle edition of this book.