The Dead Zone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the David Cronenberg film see The Dead Zone (film). For the TV show based on the book see The Dead Zone (TV series).
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| Author | Stephen King |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror novel |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
| Released | 1979 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 426 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-670-26077-0 |
The Dead Zone is a novel by Stephen King published in 1979. It is about Johnny Smith, who is injured in an accident and enters a coma for nearly five years. When he emerges, he can see horrifying secrets, but he cannot identify all the details because of an area of his brain being dead, known as "The Dead Zone." Much of the book plays against the historical backdrop of the 1970s. The story may be based on self-proclaimed "psychic" Peter Hurkos, who received a head injury in a fall from a ladder, and afterward claimed to be able to know things about people by touching them.
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[edit] Plot summary
In January of 1953, a young boy named Johnny Smith injures his head while ice-skating, and blacks out. He regains conciousness, he warns Chuck Spier, an older boy "Don't jump it no more". Chuck pays no mind to the words, but a few months later, is is seriously injured when a car battery he's trying to jump explodes and burns him. Johnny forgets this incident as time goes on. Two years later, a Bible salesman named Greg Stillson suffering emotional issues, beats a dog to death outside of a farm in Iowa in anger. As he drives away, he dreams about greater things in his life.
15 years after Greg Stillson kicked the dog to death, Johnny is now a High School teacher, and dating a fellow teacher named Sarah Bracknell. A few days before Halloween, Johnny takes Sarah to a county fair, but Sarah gets ill from eating a tainted hot dog. As they leave, Johnny decides to try his luck at a Wheel of Fortune stand. A small crowd gathers around Johnny as he keeps winning. After winning a substantial amount of prize money, Johnny takes Sarah home, and decides to take a taxi cab home. As he heads back to his home, the taxi cab is hit by two cars, drag racing. The cab driver, and two of the kids are killed in the crash, and Johnny is sent flying through the wind shield, and into a ditch. Johnny then, blacks out. A short while later, Johnny's parents, Herb and Vera recieve a phone call from the hospital, and they are informed that Johnny has gone into a coma. From here on, Vera begins to lose her sanity, and develops a religious obsession.
The next day, Sarah meets Johnny's parents in the hospital. Herb takes a liking to her, while Vera seems less welcoming. The relationship between Sarah and the Smiths begins to grow stronger, and they become friends. After a few months however, Sarah decides it is time to move on and reluctantly does so, although she does remain in contact with the Smiths. As time passes on, Vera's obsession gets stronger and stronger, and the Smiths slowly spend away their funds.
In the small town of Castle Rock, Maine, a local sheriff's deputy named Frank Dodd is contemplating killing somebody. When he was a child, his mother forced him to wear a clothespin on his penis when she caught him masturbating, and this has had an adverse effect on his mind since. He brutally rapes and murders a local waitress.
At a roadhouse called "Cathy's" in New Hampshire, a lightning rod salesman attempts to sell the owner lightning rods, the owner refuses to buy them, convinced that the odds are well against lightning ever striking Cathy's.
Meanwhile, Sarah has gotten married to a law student, and invites Johnny's parents to her wedding. They wish her well, and her life goes on, although Johnny never leaves her mind.
Greg Stillson is now the owner of an insurance company in Ridgeway, New Hampshire. He befriends the leader of a biker gang, and starts to consider running for mayor.
After nearly five years, Johnny wakes out of his coma, and is shocked to learn that it is 1975. He is also dismayed to learn that Sarah has gotten married, and has a son. As he recovers, he is sent through a series of tests, and make the news when the public finds out about his coma. During a test, it is discovered that he has trouble remembering certain objects, because those memories were in a damaged part of his brain, called his "dead zone". As he discusses this with his doctor, a man named Sam Weziak, he grabs his hand, and suddenly goes into a trance. He has a vision of Poland during the Nazi invasion. He asks Weziak about his mother, and he tells him that his mother was killed by Germans in the Second World War. Johnny asks Sam to see the picture of his mother in his wallet (Confusing him, since Johnny had no way of knowing about the picture). He gives Johnny the picture, and Johnny has another vision, this time, telling Dr. Weziak that his mother survived the explosion, and started a new life in California. This prediction turns out to be true, and Johnny makes several others during his stay in the hospital. He predicts that the eye surgery his nurse's son is going to have will be a success, and that his physical therapist's house is on fire. When both predictions turn out to be true, a small press conference is held. Dueing the conference, Johnny accurately sees how one of the reporter's sister passed away, causing him to break out in tears, and pass out. Johnny then receives national attention for his newfound ability.
Vera, believing that God does not want her to take medicine for her high blood pressure, suffers a massive stroke after watching Johnny on the news. Dr. Weziak drives Johnny to another hospital to visit his mother. Shortly before she passes away, she tells Johnny that "God has a plan for him". Sarah visits Johnny in the hospital, and they have a discussion about how Sarah's been the last 5 years. As she leaves, Johnny touches her, and has a vision that the wedding ring she lost during her honeymoon in Canada is really in one of her suitcases. When she gets home, she finds the ring, and decides to flush it down the toilet. Shortly thereafter, Johnny leaves the hospital, and goes to live with his father.
Stillson, now the mayor of Ridgeway, although he still suffers from his emotional problems, and torments a local youth for wearing an obscense t-shirt, threatening to kill him if he told anyone about it.
While living with his father, Johnny recieves constant mail from people wanting him to predict the future for them. He ignores the mail, and recieves an offer to resume his teaching job. He also turns down a job working for a supermarket tabloid (The Inside View), and begins to suffer from severe headaches.
In the time that has passed since Johnny left the hospital, Greg Stillson decides to run for the House of Representatives, and begins his political career.
More time passes, and Sarah visits Johnny again, and introduces him to her son, Denny. Sarah lets Denny take a nap on Johnny's porch, and has sex with Johnny inside of a barn. She tells him that he was right about the ring, and after having a discussion with Johnny and Herb, decides to head back home. A few days later, Johnny recieves a copy of the Inside View denouncing him as a phony, but this brings him relief, and he believes that he can once again live a normal life. His belief comes to an end, when he recives a phone call from the sheriff of Castle Rock, Maine. The sheriff, a man named George Bannerman wants Johnny's help to solve a series of murders that have been taking place in Castle Rock. Although Johnny initially refuses, he decides to help after seeing that a 9-year old girl has been raped and murdered by the killer. Johnny agrees to help Bannerman, and travels to Castle Rock. After having two more visions, he figures out that the killer is Frank Dodd, a Catle Rock Deputy. Johnny and Bannerman arrive at Frank's house, and discover that he has commited suicide. Hanging from his neck is a sign reading "I Confess".
Johnny once again makes the news, but now loses his teaching offer, because the school believes him to be "Too Controversial". He begins to question his mother's dying words.
After losing the teaching opportunity, Johnny takes a tutoring job for a young man named Chuck Chatsworth, who has a reading disorder, and befriends his family, and his Vietnamese gardener, Ngo Phat, who is in the process of becoming a citizen. During his tutoring career, Johnny takes up an interest in politics, and becomes concerned when he watches a rally for an eccentric New Hampshire politician named Greg Stillson. Later on, Johnny meets presidential candidate Jimmy Carter, and shakes his hand. Johnny, having another vision, tells Carter that he is going to be president. Johnny then makes a hobby out of meeting politicians to see their futures, although he still can't take his mind off of Stillson. Ngo tells him that he is going to be seeing Stillson with his citizenship class, and instead off watching a Boston Red Sox game like he had planned, Johnny finds himself at Stillson's rally. As Stillson walks through the crowd shaking hands, he shakes Johnny's hand, and Johnny suddenly has a horrific vision. He sees Stillson taking the Oath of Office sometime in the future, then making an unwise decision, resulting in a massive, worldwide nuclear conflict. He then contemplates how to stop Stillson's career, resulting in the conclusion that he has to assassinate him. He then blacks out, and is investigated by the local police chief, and an FBI agent named Edgar Lancte. Lancte knows that Stillson's past isn't clean, and lets Johnny go.
As time goes on, Johnny's health starts to worsen, and he finds out that his father is going to be remarried. He attends the wedding, and asks the bride's father, "If you could go back in time to 1932, and kill Hitler, would you?", to which he responds yes.
As he still contemplates whether or not to kill Stillson, Chuck graduates High School, and plans on attending a massive senior graduation party at a resturaunt called "Cathy's". As Johnny shakes his hand afterward, he has another vision, and warns Chuck not to go, because it is going to be struck by lightning and burn down, because there are no lightning rods. After Johnny, Chuck, and Chuck's father, Roger discover that there are in fact no lightning rods at Cathy's, they try to convince as many of the students as possible to have a party at their house instead. The party goes well, until the radio announces that Cathy's has been struck by lightning, and incinerated, killing everyone inside. One of the guests accuses Johnny of starting the fire with his mind, "Like the girl in Carrie". The accusation is quickly denied, and the families of the people saved are grateful for Johnny. At this point, to avoid attention, Johnny leaves, and moves to Pheonix, Arizona to work for their public works department. Johnny recieves money from Roger, as well as letters from his father and Chuck. Johnny also learns that Agent Lancte was murdered with a car bomb.
Although we do not learn this until the epilogue of the book, it is at this time he suffers a brain seizure on the job for Pheonix Public Works, and is finally convinced to see the neurologist that Dr. Weziak recommended. Johnny learns that the reason he's had such frequent headaches and blackouts, because he has a brain tumor, which has developed from his dead zone. The doctor tells him that he needs surgery if he wants to have a chance to survive. Not wanting to risk his chance at stopping Stillson, and realizing that he won't live much longer either way, Johnny refuses, and learns that he only has a few months left to live. Johnny becomes increasingly less healthy. His hair turns gray, he loses a substantial amount of weight, and his brain tumor gives him a limp. He uses the money Roger sent him to buy a rifle, and travels to Salt Lake City by Amtrak, and then onto New York City by Greyhound Bus, and finally arriving in a small New Hampshire down. After stopping in a bar for a few drinks with the bartender, he finds the local city hall (Where Stillson's next rally will be held), and poses as a photographer to scout out a suitable sniper spot. He then meets an aspiring photographer, who tells him that he wants to take a famous picture, "like the one at Iwo Jima". Johnny finds a balcony, and sets up his spot.
At the rally, Greg Stillson begins his speech, when Johnny decides it's now or never. He begins to fire at Stillson, but misses several times. Stillson's bodyguards open fire on him, but don't mortally wound him. Johnny has Stillson in his sight and is about to pull the trigger when Stillson grabs a young child, and holds him up as a shield. Johnny pauses, not being able to shoot, and is shot twice by the bodyguards, falling off of the balcony, breaking his legs, and back. Meanwhile, the young photographer Johnny met earlier gets a few pictures of Stillson using the child as a shield, and runs off. When he touches Stillson again, he sees and feels nothing, and knows that the terrible future Stillson would bring around as president will never come to pass. Knowing he has prevented a war and saved countless lives, Johnny closes his eyes and passes away in content.
The epilogue consists of Sarah visiting Johnny's grave, interspersed with a series of "transcripts" of hearings by a Senate committee (chaired by real-life Maine Senator William Cohen) investigating Johnny's attempt to assassinate Stillson. Sarah weeps at Johnny's grave, and drives away.
[edit] Connections to other King Works
- Stephen King's first novel Carrie is mentioned as a book at one point.
- Bannerman reappears in Cujo, and the possibility of Dodd possessing the dog is mentioned.
- The novel is obliquely connected to the Dark Tower mythos: Frank Dodd is mentioned in the novel It, which is in itself connected to many of the Dark Tower novels. Telepathic ability, like Johnny's power, is a theme revisited in the later books in that series. Also Stephen King's fictional town Jerusalem's Lot is mentioned at one point. Which connects to the Dark Tower via Father Callahan. Not to mention Nigel, the robot in The Dark Tower 7 was reading The Dead Zone and found it "quite enjoyable".
[edit] Published editions
- ISBN 0-606-01917-0 (prebound, 1979)
- ISBN 0-670-26077-0 (cloth text, 1979)
- ISBN 0-451-15575-0 (mass market paperback, 1980, reprint)
[edit] Adaptions
[edit] Film
- The Dead Zone - In 1983, the novel was adapted by screenwriter Jeffrey Boam into a film of the same name, starring Christopher Walken as Johnny and Martin Sheen as Greg Stillson. While changing various details, the film manages to maintain the somber tone of the novel, as Johnny's power causes him to become increasingly withdrawn and isolated.
[edit] Television
- The Dead Zone - Starring Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny, Nicole de Boer as Sarah, and Sean Patrick Flanery as a younger, cockier, more womanizing version of Greg Stillson, the television series aired on the USA Network beginning in late 2002. This version also gave Johnny and Sarah a son, born during Johnny's coma, whereas in the book Johnny and Sarah only ever kissed prior to his accident.
