Recent from talks
Storm of the Century
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Storm of the Century
Storm of the Century is a 1999 American horror television miniseries written by Stephen King and directed by Craig R. Baxley. It stars Tim Daly, Debrah Farentino, Casey Siemaszko, and Colm Feore. Unlike many other adaptations of King's work, it was not based on a novel. Rather, he called its screenplay a "novel for television". The screenplay was published as a mass-market book in February 1999 prior to TV broadcast.
The narrative is set on the fictional Little Tall Island in Maine, during a blizzard that cuts the ferry-based island community off from the mainland. The residents are terrorized by the arrival of Andre Linoge (Feore), a menacing stranger who knows their darkest secrets and demands a specific sacrifice with the ultimatum, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away."
It was broadcast on ABC from February 14–18, 1999, and received high viewership and critical acclaim for its performances and moral complexity. At release, The New York Times compared it to The Shining and Edgar Allan Poe. Retrospective reviews elevate the miniseries as a major influence on modern horror works, including Mike Flanagan's 2021 Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass. King has called Storm of the Century his personal favorite of all the TV productions related to his works.
As the people of Little Tall Island, Maine prepare for a powerful blizzard in 1989, elderly resident Martha Clarendon is brutally murdered by a menacing stranger. Town manager Robbie Beals investigates, and the stranger terrifies him by relating shameful secrets from his past. Mike Anderson, a supermarket manager and part-time constable, arrests the stranger, who identifies himself as André Linoge. Linoge seems to know the names and morbid secrets of all the island's residents and is particularly interested in Mike's son Ralphie, who has a birthmark on his nose. Yet he gives no hint of his own background, saying only, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away." While sitting in a jail cell, Linoge possesses the minds of several townspeople, causing suicides and a murder. He then escapes the jail in his true form of an old wizard and repeats his demand before disappearing into the storm.
The residents take shelter from the storm in the town hall. As they sleep, Linoge appears on the televisions as a televangelist and lectures them on the consequences of refusing to accommodate a stranger. The residents have the same dream in which authorities find the island deserted after the storm and the word "Croaton" carved on a tree. A news reporter connects the disappearance to the lost Roanoke Colony. Meanwhile Mike dreams that the townspeople walk into the ocean and drown. The next day, Linoge causes three residents to vanish while everyone is watching the lighthouse collapse. Two die, and the third, Angie Carver, is discovered alive but visibly aged. Ralphie goes missing and, when found in a closet, says that he was with Linoge. With each death and abduction, Linoge sends his demand again. While gathering supplies and toys for the children, Mike deduces that the name Linoge is an anagram and that Linoge's real name is Legion, similar to the biblical story of Jesus casting demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs.
The town's children fall under a spell and go to sleep, dreaming that they are flying through the clouds with Linoge. That evening Mike finds Linoge inside the town hall holding a resident hostage. Amused by Mike's sympathy for the townspeople, Linoge says that they are all sinners and criminals who merely pretend to be decent. He tells Mike to arrange a town meeting at 9:00 that night and escapes again. When the meeting gathers, Linoge tells the residents that he has lived thousands of years and, having grown old and sick, he wants a child whom he can raise to be a sorcerer like him. He cannot take a child by force, but the dream that the residents had will come true if they refuse. He leaves them to debate for half an hour. Mike urges the people to stand up to Linoge and is horrified when all of them, even his wife Molly, decide to give in. Linoge returns and presides over a lottery in which Ralphie is chosen. Taking his wizard form once more, Linoge contemptuously thanks the residents and advises them never to speak about what has happened. He then walks out of the town hall with Ralphie in his arms and flies into the night sky. Mike rushes outside and falls to his knees in the snow, begging for Ralphie back.
Embittered by the town's decisions which sacrificed his child along with their morals and principles, Mike resigns as constable, divorces Molly, and leaves Little Tall; turning his back on the town and everyone in it as they had with him. He returns to college and becomes a United States Marshal in San Francisco. Molly remarries to Hatch, the new town constable who was Mike's deputy. Several residents of Little Tall commit suicide over the years after struggling with remorse. One day Linoge and Ralphie walk past Mike in Chinatown, Ralphie having become corrupted and evil. Mike considers telling Molly what he saw, but accepts that some truths are best kept secret.
The screenplay for the miniseries was written by Stephen King expressly for television. The screenplay was published as a mass-market book by Pocket Books just prior to the initial airing of Storm of the Century on ABC. The book included photographs of the TV miniseries. The book contains an introduction in which King describes the genesis of the idea as it occurred to him in late 1996. Beginning to write it in December 1996, he initially debated if the story should be either a novel or a screenplay. He described the result as a "novel for television". A hardcover edition was written as a screenplay rather than "prose", and was published concurrently by the Book of the Month Club.
Hub AI
Storm of the Century AI simulator
(@Storm of the Century_simulator)
Storm of the Century
Storm of the Century is a 1999 American horror television miniseries written by Stephen King and directed by Craig R. Baxley. It stars Tim Daly, Debrah Farentino, Casey Siemaszko, and Colm Feore. Unlike many other adaptations of King's work, it was not based on a novel. Rather, he called its screenplay a "novel for television". The screenplay was published as a mass-market book in February 1999 prior to TV broadcast.
The narrative is set on the fictional Little Tall Island in Maine, during a blizzard that cuts the ferry-based island community off from the mainland. The residents are terrorized by the arrival of Andre Linoge (Feore), a menacing stranger who knows their darkest secrets and demands a specific sacrifice with the ultimatum, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away."
It was broadcast on ABC from February 14–18, 1999, and received high viewership and critical acclaim for its performances and moral complexity. At release, The New York Times compared it to The Shining and Edgar Allan Poe. Retrospective reviews elevate the miniseries as a major influence on modern horror works, including Mike Flanagan's 2021 Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass. King has called Storm of the Century his personal favorite of all the TV productions related to his works.
As the people of Little Tall Island, Maine prepare for a powerful blizzard in 1989, elderly resident Martha Clarendon is brutally murdered by a menacing stranger. Town manager Robbie Beals investigates, and the stranger terrifies him by relating shameful secrets from his past. Mike Anderson, a supermarket manager and part-time constable, arrests the stranger, who identifies himself as André Linoge. Linoge seems to know the names and morbid secrets of all the island's residents and is particularly interested in Mike's son Ralphie, who has a birthmark on his nose. Yet he gives no hint of his own background, saying only, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away." While sitting in a jail cell, Linoge possesses the minds of several townspeople, causing suicides and a murder. He then escapes the jail in his true form of an old wizard and repeats his demand before disappearing into the storm.
The residents take shelter from the storm in the town hall. As they sleep, Linoge appears on the televisions as a televangelist and lectures them on the consequences of refusing to accommodate a stranger. The residents have the same dream in which authorities find the island deserted after the storm and the word "Croaton" carved on a tree. A news reporter connects the disappearance to the lost Roanoke Colony. Meanwhile Mike dreams that the townspeople walk into the ocean and drown. The next day, Linoge causes three residents to vanish while everyone is watching the lighthouse collapse. Two die, and the third, Angie Carver, is discovered alive but visibly aged. Ralphie goes missing and, when found in a closet, says that he was with Linoge. With each death and abduction, Linoge sends his demand again. While gathering supplies and toys for the children, Mike deduces that the name Linoge is an anagram and that Linoge's real name is Legion, similar to the biblical story of Jesus casting demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs.
The town's children fall under a spell and go to sleep, dreaming that they are flying through the clouds with Linoge. That evening Mike finds Linoge inside the town hall holding a resident hostage. Amused by Mike's sympathy for the townspeople, Linoge says that they are all sinners and criminals who merely pretend to be decent. He tells Mike to arrange a town meeting at 9:00 that night and escapes again. When the meeting gathers, Linoge tells the residents that he has lived thousands of years and, having grown old and sick, he wants a child whom he can raise to be a sorcerer like him. He cannot take a child by force, but the dream that the residents had will come true if they refuse. He leaves them to debate for half an hour. Mike urges the people to stand up to Linoge and is horrified when all of them, even his wife Molly, decide to give in. Linoge returns and presides over a lottery in which Ralphie is chosen. Taking his wizard form once more, Linoge contemptuously thanks the residents and advises them never to speak about what has happened. He then walks out of the town hall with Ralphie in his arms and flies into the night sky. Mike rushes outside and falls to his knees in the snow, begging for Ralphie back.
Embittered by the town's decisions which sacrificed his child along with their morals and principles, Mike resigns as constable, divorces Molly, and leaves Little Tall; turning his back on the town and everyone in it as they had with him. He returns to college and becomes a United States Marshal in San Francisco. Molly remarries to Hatch, the new town constable who was Mike's deputy. Several residents of Little Tall commit suicide over the years after struggling with remorse. One day Linoge and Ralphie walk past Mike in Chinatown, Ralphie having become corrupted and evil. Mike considers telling Molly what he saw, but accepts that some truths are best kept secret.
The screenplay for the miniseries was written by Stephen King expressly for television. The screenplay was published as a mass-market book by Pocket Books just prior to the initial airing of Storm of the Century on ABC. The book included photographs of the TV miniseries. The book contains an introduction in which King describes the genesis of the idea as it occurred to him in late 1996. Beginning to write it in December 1996, he initially debated if the story should be either a novel or a screenplay. He described the result as a "novel for television". A hardcover edition was written as a screenplay rather than "prose", and was published concurrently by the Book of the Month Club.