Two weeks ago I left three fictitious youngsters in the hayloft of Uncle Ex Newman’s barn as they laid out of school— Clark Mosely, his older brother Hen, and their still older cousin Jay Harvey Tatum. Three youngsters alone in a barn can be a scary situation for those not in the barn, I’m sure. I promise to join them in their misadventures once again soon, but inspiration has taken me on another path for this week.

At 2:00 a.m. this morning I finished the latest Stephen King book. It is a collection of four short stories entitled If It Bleeds. The last story in the collection was titled “Rat”. Not to give too much of the plot away to those of you who might also be King fans and not want the book spoiled for you, I’ll just say the main character went to a very secluded family cabin and spent a few nights in the deep, dark wilderness, totally alone.

I am not totally a loner. There are times I wish to be undisturbed, such as to write, read, sleep, study or watch television. Even during those times, however, I find it comforting to know that other people are close by, just in case . . .

My half-brother on my mother’s side, Jerry Sampson, introduced me to the first Stephen King book I ever read—Christine. I thought the plot was a little silly—antique cars really can’t become demon possessed and kill people, causing their owners to go insane. Later I saw the movie and found it entertaining, but no more believable. Great special effects.

Later I was to read other Stephen King books and see the movies produced from them. I like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. No actor can portray an insane person better. I always think of Sharon MacDonald when I see this movie—I watched it with her at her mother’s house not long after Sharon returned to Maynardville to teach. I found it a little more disturbing than Christine, but still not realistic—everyone knows there really are no haunted hotels, right?

‘Salem’s Lot was my next venture into the world of King. Although I know there really are no vampires, the scenes in which Danny Glick scratched on that window and showed his fangs in that casket caught my attention. I really don’t like it when tree branches scratch against the siding or windows of the house.

And then there was Pet Sematary (not even spelled right, for Heaven’s sake, and the man used to be an English teacher)! I remember reading that book at my sister Marie’s house. I was alone on the sofa in her den, where I was to spend the night, and she and her husband were in the other end of the house. There was only one lamp burning, on the end table at my head. I was just getting to a really good (such a subjective term) part when the clock on her mantle struck midnight! I have always said after that nothing has scared me, but sudden movements in the house when I know I am alone are exceptions to the rule.

But even Pet Sematary couldn’t truly be real, could it? I mean, who ever heard of a graveyard in which whatever (whoever?) is buried there comes back to life, though with an altered personality, knowing things it (s/he) shouldn’t know?

My friendly reader, I am going to share with you what I considered to truly be Stephen King’s scariest book, The Stand. In my opinion, now is not the time for you to read this book, but it instantly came to my mind when COVID-19 made the news.

Interestingly, the book first appeared in print in 1977. In The Stand, a deadly virus leaks out into the general population, wiping out, if I remember correctly, 97% of the world’s population in just a few weeks. Since its debut, the book has been reprinted (I have a “newer” version said to be original and uncut) and has been made into a miniseries. I don’t remember when I first read The Stand, though I’d safely say it was at least 25 years ago. Even then, I knew that this could actually happen. The latter supernatural events in the book were not nearly as disturbing to me as was the possibility that a man-made virus could go rogue and destroy most of the world’s population.

And hasn’t there been enough historical evidence to give credence to such a possibility? I shared an email with some friends this very day that brought to remembrance the 1720 plague, the 1820 cholera, the 1920 Spanish flu (though the same email referenced the Spanish influenza of 1918—frightening—it must have spanned at least two or three years), and the 2020 coronavirus. Even Nostradamus was resurrected in the email, with the reminder that he predicted the present threat in 1551! Perhaps almost as frightening for survivors of the latest menace, Nostradamus was supposed to have said that it would “destroy and ruin the world” and be “the end of the world economy as you know it.” Nost is not around to defend himself, so hopefully someone is putting words in his mouth concerning that last part.

But let us take courage in the fact that there was once a curse on elected presidents elected in years that ended in “0”. From Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, who was the first US President assassinated, to Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, who was shot, something seemed to happen to every president elected in a year ending in “0” (a good Google search for these days of social isolation). But that curse seemed to be broken with George W. Bush, elected in 2000, still alive and well today.
So perhaps the now centuries-old curse for years ending in “20” will end with the corona virus. Unfortunately, none of us writing and reading this article will be around in 2120 to witness it.

So, what’s the answer for peace of mind during these times of turmoil? Proverbs 3: 5-6 comes to mind: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Even in times of peace, when the end comes, that’s the only thing we can claim, anyway.

And in the meantime, don’t read Stephen King when you’re totally alone, in the dark, isolated . . .

In closing, I leave you another, brighter thought from my world of email. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, “I’ve lost my electron.” The other says, “Are you sure!” The first replies, “Yes, I’m positive.”

What have you lost during Covid-19? I trust not your hope. Are you still positive? Sometimes positivity is the best reaction to a negative world.
I wish for you, dear reader, peace, comfort and safety. Take care of yourselves and each other.