The Mist

Stephen King's The Mist is opening in theaters on November 21. It's the story of a group of people stuck in a store which is engulfed by a sinister mist. There are monsters in the mist and the people in the store start freaking out to the point where some of them become rather monstrous themselves. People who are threatened can change for the better or for the worse. The Mist by Stephen King is as much about that as it is about the monsters.

I remember one time being stuck in some mist myself. We were sailing back from Bermuda in fog so thick you could barely see the hand in front of your face. There were no monsters in our mist, but there was a very large container ship very near to us. We could hear it and we were blasting our air horn almost continuously. A collision between a 40 foot sailboat and a container ship longer than a football field would have disastrous-even fatal consequences, FOR US! There were four of us on watch, my dad, myself, my cousin and my friend. The mood was tense on deck. My father was at the wheel and seemed ready to react to a visual of the side of this ship instantaneously. My cousin kept blowing the horn and the ship kept replying with their horn, my friend and I were on the lookout on either side of the boat.

Dad kept repeating "they can see us, they have radar, they can see us." He was trying to be reassuring but he didn't look like he believed it, especially as the sound of the ship got closer and closer. We were all freaking out when we began to feel the wake from the ship. I remember everyone checking their life preservers as my dad went over emergency procedures should we be wrecked. I got very quiet and began going over what I would do if thrown overboard in my mind. My friend kept yelling,"We need to stick together!"

When the collision didn't come and the sound of the ship started moving away from us, we all cheered and there was an overwhelming feeling of relief. Nobody had wanted to be floating around in the Atlantic Ocean!

I don't think any of us acted over the top. Sure, we were scared, but we kept our heads despite our fear. Had we panicked, we might not have concentrated on what we needed to do.

The people in Stephen King's The Mist don't appear to remain calm in the face of their dilemma. This will heighten the suspense, but it will probably lead to the demise of those who panic!