Every Single Time Stephen King Predicted the Future
#7: Toxic Fandom
“Misery” (1987) King’s 1987 novel focused on a real problem for many creatives and celebrities: Toxic Fandom. While stalking isn’t new, the effects of fans so obsessed that they become frighteningly possessive of a property or person is a particularly modern phenomenon, often linked to the reach of social media. Annie Wilkes becomes so obsessed with the story of Misery Chastain that she feels she’s entitled to dictate the story itself. In real life, we’ve seen fans attack actors, writers, and directors when their beloved stories don’t go the way they want, campaigning aggressively to get their way - hobbling innovation and careers in their wake.
#6: The Rise of the Machines
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“Trucks” (1973) Every year there seems to be a new gadget to make our lives easier, and every year we hear new lamentations about how much better and simpler life was without them. Do we own things … or do things own us? In King’s short story, “Trucks” this is taken to literal extremes. A mysterious event gives machines a kind of vicious sentience. With this newfound self agency, the gas-guzzlers set about putting people in their place. Humans are forced to keep the engines running, with their every move watched carefully by the trucks. An uncomfortable number of everyday appliances keep an eye on us today, though luckily we’re still in control. Right?
#5: Pandemic & Social Upheaval
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“Sleeping Beauties” (2017) In 2020, Covid-19 turned all our lives upside down. In 2017, King co-authored a novel with his son Owen called “Sleeping Beauties”, in which a mysterious sickness spreads across the world. It causes women to fall asleep inside cocoons; when awakened, they fly into a rage. While in the cocoons, they find themselves in a parallel dimension, with the chance to rebuild a new, better society. Obviously, this is NOT a symptom of Covid-19! But the book’s themes do strike other chords with 2020, when frustrations with systemic inequalities led to widespread protests and calls for large-scale reforms.
#4: Clown Sightings
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“It” (1986) Back when we thought that 2016 was going to be the weirdest year for a while, the whole clown show that closed out the decade was kicked off with, er, clowns. The first sighting was later discovered to be a stunt to promote a horror film. But it grew into an international phenomenon. Clowns were spotted lurking in wooded and secluded areas, and eventually more public spaces like schools. Frighteningly, one boy reported a pair of clowns attempting to lure him away. Fortunately, he did not go with them and no clowns have been held responsible for eating any children, at least to the best of our knowledge.
#3: Reality TV
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“The Running Man” (1982) When Stephen King first published “The Running Man'' under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982, the modern concept of reality TV was still years off. Set in a dystopian future, the book is about a game show in which contestants are hunted down and killed if caught. The idea of following real individuals over multiple episodes as they overcome challenges would only come to fruition a decade after King published his novel. Although he wasn’t the first one who predicted it, the idea that screens would fill public spaces and that our appliances would be voice activated was pretty spot on too.
#2: A Populist Demagogue Becomes President
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“The Dead Zone” (1979) In this 1979 novel, Greg Stillson is an egomaniacal businessman who runs a real estate company. Entering politics, he’s viewed as a joke until he rises to the highest office by holding rallies where he makes bombastic speeches filled with anti-establishment rhetoric and dubious claims. Sound familiar? The similarities between the fictional character and the 45th President of the United States have been recognized by many, including the author himself. King has said that at the time of writing he had real concerns that someone like Stillson would come to power, given the right conditions. A writer’s job is to observe people and the world, and in this case he was right on the money.
#1: Global Pandemic
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“The Stand” (1978) In “The Stand,” a deadly influenza sweeps the globe and decimates global populations. While Covid-19 is not man-made, nor as harrowingly catastrophic as “Project Blue” aka Captain Trips, it is still a deadly virus that has divided people sharply along lines of belief. In King’s 1978 novel and the miniseries adaptations, this divide is taken to extremes, with the few survivors banding together in dual locations to prepare for the final battle between Good and Evil. Fortunately, the real world hasn’t come to that! But it has felt very apocalyptic at times, giving us all new perspectives on our lives and the world around us.