Stephen King :: essays research papers

The relief Stephen Kings Constant Readers feel at seeing the first full-length novel from the horrormeister since his accident most likely overshadows the weaknesses they might find in an effort that, while not Kings best, is neither his worst. Set partially in the Derry, Maine, of It and Insomnia, and with shades of Tommyknockers in its subject matter, Dreamcatcher hearkens back to It and that novels theme of the lifelong endurance of childishness friendships -- especially when something unspeakable bound those long-ago children to one another.Four men meet for their annual deer hunting party deep in the Maine woodwind instrument in a cabin full of happy memories. Though theyve inevitably grown apart, their childhood ties are still strong. In the cabins great room hangs a Native American dreamcatcher, strings woven about sticks said to have the power to protect slumbering humans from night terrors. This year, though, that hanging talisman will jump scant protection against an un earthly horror that will require sacrifices of the highest order from the knot of friends. The animals are fleeing the surrounding forest, for they sense the unwelcome visitors whose precursors were the spate of recent opposed lights in the New England sky. For Pete, Beaver, Henry and Jonesy, the nightmare begins when a disoriented hunter named McCarthy stumbles into their camp.The situation quickly degenerates. McCarthy unwittingly plays host to a deadly parasitic tool and brings a rapidly multiplying fungal growth into the midst of the group. While the childhood friends battle an inexplicable and implacable enemy, a government covert operations police squad seals off the area. Their plan to destroy all evidence of a threatening alien invasion like nothing the pulp sci-fi purveyors has prepared the world for. light-emitting diode by a man who is quite possibly insane, the black ops unit will stop at nothing to contain the menace -- including the slaughter of the disconnected hu nters theyve herded from the surrounding forest. Even so, the governments answer is insufficient to the problem. The combined will of the four men, and their reunion with the dying boy-man whose uniqueness bound them all together so wonderfully those years ago, is the only hope against the unrelenting usurper from the heavens.The very best part of Dreamcatcher is undoubtedly the magic of the boys relationship in the flashbacks to an earlier Derry. The easy personal manner their small circle assimilates a specially-gifted Downs Syndrome child breaks your heart with its glimpse of humanitys potential actualized.