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Children of the Corn
Driving through the cornfields in rural Nebraska, Burt and Vicky run over a young boy—only to discover that they may not be responsible for his death. Out in the corn, something is watching them, and help is nowhere to be found.
From the unrivaled master of horror and the supernatural, Stephen King. “Children of the Corn,” first collected in the extraordinary collection Night Shift in 1973 and then adapted into a horror film franchise of the same name, is a terrifying and unforgettable classic of the genre.
From the unrivaled master of horror and the supernatural, Stephen King. “Children of the Corn,” first collected in the extraordinary collection Night Shift in 1973 and then adapted into a horror film franchise of the same name, is a terrifying and unforgettable classic of the genre.
50 pages, ebook
First published March 1, 1977
About the author
Stephen King
2,485 books846k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 571 reviews
June 13, 2019
Fantastically creepy, eerie, and spooky short story. What it lacked in length, it more than made up for in atmosphere. There's the desolate town of Gatlin, Nebraska. The strong sense of foreboding in the air. Not to mention the cornfields. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
February 22, 2023
كنت أعتقد أن أمريكا هي بلد الذرة بتشديد الراء و لكن اتضح أيضا أنها بلد الذره بضم الذال. في بلادنا يختبىء القتلة و الهاربين و العشاق في الذرة أو في القصب و هناك في بلد العجب خلق لنا كينج عالما كاملا من الأطفال المختبئين في الذرة و لكنهم أطفال لا ينقصهم إلا البراءة. و في نوفيلا قصيرة مخيفة تشبه فيلم
The tall grass
نحبس أنفاسنا مع كينج الذي لم يترك لنا شيئا يثير الخوف حتى استدعاه في إحدى قصصه
May 16, 2021
I really enjoyed this creepy short story. The story pretty much follows the movie but does a better job at delivering the eerie Christian-fanatic mixed with pagan elements.
The creepy part for me was when main character Burt goes into the abandoned church. The imagery, the altered Bible verses from the Book of Job 38:1-4 to include the verbiage 'He Who Walks Behind The Rows', and the books titled:
'Thus, Let the Iniquitious Be Cut Down So That The Ground May Be Fertile Again, Saith The Lord God of Hosts."
This was a really good one. I definitely recommend this to any Stephen King fan. Thanks!
The creepy part for me was when main character Burt goes into the abandoned church. The imagery, the altered Bible verses from the Book of Job 38:1-4 to include the verbiage 'He Who Walks Behind The Rows', and the books titled:
'Thus, Let the Iniquitious Be Cut Down So That The Ground May Be Fertile Again, Saith The Lord God of Hosts."
This was a really good one. I definitely recommend this to any Stephen King fan. Thanks!
October 26, 2020
CW/TW: physical violence, death, murder, gore
"You are now leaving Gatlin, nicest little town in Nebraska—or anywhere else! Drop in anytime!"
Gatlin, Nebraska (1970s) — Determined to fix their marriage and to seek for a fresh start, the struggling couple Burt and Vicky drive through the cornfields in rural Nebraska for their vacation in California and for a visit to Vicky's brother. During the drive, Burt accidentally runs over a young boy who was thrown over the road and whose throat was slit, with only a suitcase containing a crucifix made of twisted corn husks to be found near him.
Fazed with what happened, Burt was determined to report the accident to the police until the couple began to find sinister things in the bizarre town. Out in the fields, the Children of the Corn are watching, and help is nowhere to be found.
Originally published on the March 1977 issue of Penthouse, Stephen King's Children of the Corn reaps bounties of terror with its striking brevity, sowing scares rooted in its atmospheric prose and religious reimaginings that defy the general notion that only old people can do brutally bad things.
Personal Enjoyment: 4 stars
Quality of the Book: 3.6 stars
- Use of Language: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Plot and Narrative Arc: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
- Integrity: ⭐⭐⭐
- Twist/Scare: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
AVG: 3.8 stars
- - -
This mini-review is a part of my review series of Stephen King's 1978 short horror story collection entitled Night Shift.
"You are now leaving Gatlin, nicest little town in Nebraska—or anywhere else! Drop in anytime!"
Gatlin, Nebraska (1970s) — Determined to fix their marriage and to seek for a fresh start, the struggling couple Burt and Vicky drive through the cornfields in rural Nebraska for their vacation in California and for a visit to Vicky's brother. During the drive, Burt accidentally runs over a young boy who was thrown over the road and whose throat was slit, with only a suitcase containing a crucifix made of twisted corn husks to be found near him.
Fazed with what happened, Burt was determined to report the accident to the police until the couple began to find sinister things in the bizarre town. Out in the fields, the Children of the Corn are watching, and help is nowhere to be found.
Originally published on the March 1977 issue of Penthouse, Stephen King's Children of the Corn reaps bounties of terror with its striking brevity, sowing scares rooted in its atmospheric prose and religious reimaginings that defy the general notion that only old people can do brutally bad things.
Personal Enjoyment: 4 stars
Quality of the Book: 3.6 stars
- Use of Language: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Plot and Narrative Arc: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
- Integrity: ⭐⭐⭐
- Twist/Scare: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
AVG: 3.8 stars
- - -
This mini-review is a part of my review series of Stephen King's 1978 short horror story collection entitled Night Shift.
May 31, 2020
I chose to end the month with a final Stephen King short story, picking one that mixes a bucolic setting with a spine-tingling plot. When Burt and Vicky run over a boy in rural Nebraska, they are panicked. However, once they examine the boy, they discover that the car accident was not the primary cause of the boy’s injuries and death, as his neck has been slit. Driving into Gatlin, they try to alert someone as to what has happened, only finding remnants of a corn-based religious group, strong on biblical retribution with a ‘husk’ spin. Burt and Vicky discover that they have drifted into a place that no tourist brochures were likely to document and for good reason. Fire and brimstone await them, but they will have to handle things on their own. Returning to the fields, they try to poke around, only to have handful of children emerge and pass judgment upon them. Vicky’s taken into their custody and Burt flees to save his life, but soon comes to his senses. When he pushes through the stalks and finds these children again, it is far worse than he imagined, as they take no prisoners in the name of God. Chilling in its depiction and yet short enough to be read in a single sitting, King shows that he is the master of the genre and full of ideas. Recommended to those who love Stephen King and all his varied ideas, as well as the reader who likes a little horror as they much on a snack, perhaps popcorn?
I love finding myself in the middle of a Stephen King piece, be it a short story, novella, or one of his major works. King is able to pull ideas from all over and works them out in one of a few ways. This piece pushes towards a horror genre (and yes, I have to see the movie soon) and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, especially the unique corn-based religion approach that weaves its way into the narrative. King works through a number of issues, including social commentaries of the day, reaching out to the reader and forcing them to think as they flip pages. The attentive reader will find hints to other King works, even in passing, which adds a new level of entertainment. While this was only a short piece, I found myself able to connect with the characters and follow the narrative, which never let-up until the final sentence. Chilling to the core, I won’t be stopping among the stalks of corn anytime soon.
Kudos, Mr. King, for another winner. I do need to see the movie, as my imagination is going wild!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
I love finding myself in the middle of a Stephen King piece, be it a short story, novella, or one of his major works. King is able to pull ideas from all over and works them out in one of a few ways. This piece pushes towards a horror genre (and yes, I have to see the movie soon) and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, especially the unique corn-based religion approach that weaves its way into the narrative. King works through a number of issues, including social commentaries of the day, reaching out to the reader and forcing them to think as they flip pages. The attentive reader will find hints to other King works, even in passing, which adds a new level of entertainment. While this was only a short piece, I found myself able to connect with the characters and follow the narrative, which never let-up until the final sentence. Chilling to the core, I won’t be stopping among the stalks of corn anytime soon.
Kudos, Mr. King, for another winner. I do need to see the movie, as my imagination is going wild!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
September 30, 2023
Sucked me in, chewed me up and spit me out...
I had yet to read Stephen King so I found this short and decided to give it a whirl.
Expertly written, highly suspenseful and left my heart racing while I held my breath. Good God I'm terrified to read a full novel of his.
Worth the read for sure and I'll have to brave a full novel....gulp. Who wants to hold my hand?? 😅
I had yet to read Stephen King so I found this short and decided to give it a whirl.
Expertly written, highly suspenseful and left my heart racing while I held my breath. Good God I'm terrified to read a full novel of his.
Worth the read for sure and I'll have to brave a full novel....gulp. Who wants to hold my hand?? 😅
May 23, 2017
Something happened back in 1964......
Embarking on an extended road trip, Burt and Vicky continually argue about everything and anything...plus their troubled marriage...but soon find there is much more to worry about...like the unknown object that has just vanished "under the T-Bird's bumper."
As the vacationing couple investigate what they hit on the deserted road, a feeling of unrest overcomes them..."someone's watching us"...and they hurriedly get underway, with their burden, to the nearest town....a creepy ghost town....where Burt uncovers a shocking mystery and they both encounter the CHILDREN OF THE CORN.
Short freakish read with an evil presence that will not be disappointed!
(Vaguely remember the movie as just being OK, but enjoyed the novella!)
December 11, 2020
"Quizá se había apoderado de ellos una manía religiosa. Solos, aislados del mundo exterior por centenares de kilómetros cuadrados de secretos maizales susurrantes. Solos bajo treinta y cinco millones de hectáreas de cielo azul. Solos bajo el ojo vigilante de Dios, que ahora era un extraño Dios verde, un Dios de maíz, envejecido, extravagante y hambriento. El Que Marcha Detrás De Las Hileras"
Burt y vicky son un matrimonio apunto de separarse, como ultimo manotazo de ahogado deciden emprender un viaje para salvar la relación. En la carretera, entre los campos de Nebraska sufren un percance, por el que terminan en un pueblo llamado Gatlin. pueblo que quedo congelado en el tiempo,exactamente 12 años antes, y que esta deshabitado, a no ser por un puñado niños religiosos, quienes dicen servir a "el que marcha detrás de las hileras"
Un relato que por el contenido y el trasfondo tranquilamente podría haber sido una novela,porque ciertamente te deja con ganas de mas.
Es brillante la quimera que hace entre lo pagano,l os niños, entidades, lo sobrenatural y todo lo que hay detrás.
probablemente por nostalgia, le guardo mucho cariño a la adaptación cinematográfica(original), que si bien no es de lo mejor, y no envejeció muy bien ,es relativamente fiel.
Burt y vicky son un matrimonio apunto de separarse, como ultimo manotazo de ahogado deciden emprender un viaje para salvar la relación. En la carretera, entre los campos de Nebraska sufren un percance, por el que terminan en un pueblo llamado Gatlin. pueblo que quedo congelado en el tiempo,exactamente 12 años antes, y que esta deshabitado, a no ser por un puñado niños religiosos, quienes dicen servir a "el que marcha detrás de las hileras"
Un relato que por el contenido y el trasfondo tranquilamente podría haber sido una novela,porque ciertamente te deja con ganas de mas.
Es brillante la quimera que hace entre lo pagano,l os niños, entidades, lo sobrenatural y todo lo que hay detrás.
probablemente por nostalgia, le guardo mucho cariño a la adaptación cinematográfica(original), que si bien no es de lo mejor, y no envejeció muy bien ,es relativamente fiel.
December 20, 2023
They breasted a gentle rise and there was Gatlin below them, all three blocks of it, looking like a set from a movie about the Depression.
A short but vivid and lifelike rendering of a somewhat sartorial, humorous and ironic bite sized chunk in the life of a middle-ish aged couple on the road out in the boondocks where they might get much more than what they usually bargain for on this particular trip.
The world-building is phenomenal as per usual with King, and the dialogue really hits close to home in it's prescience and I think their misfortunes might have been greatly reduced if only the advent of GPS navigation had been invented a few decades before the eventful trip through roads bracketed by endless acres of corn and other sinister supernatural happenings.
A masterfully penned story that manages to
mesh the best of page turning fun and immersive storytelling with a dash of the religious and supernatural horror splendidly done; I loved it! I've added it to my Favorites Horror shelf. Now I'm off to watch the adaptation...adios.
A short but vivid and lifelike rendering of a somewhat sartorial, humorous and ironic bite sized chunk in the life of a middle-ish aged couple on the road out in the boondocks where they might get much more than what they usually bargain for on this particular trip.
The world-building is phenomenal as per usual with King, and the dialogue really hits close to home in it's prescience and I think their misfortunes might have been greatly reduced if only the advent of GPS navigation had been invented a few decades before the eventful trip through roads bracketed by endless acres of corn and other sinister supernatural happenings.
A masterfully penned story that manages to
mesh the best of page turning fun and immersive storytelling with a dash of the religious and supernatural horror splendidly done; I loved it! I've added it to my Favorites Horror shelf. Now I'm off to watch the adaptation...adios.
February 20, 2017
I had an itch to re read this story and my goodness it's a good one. This is one of those shorts you wish was a novella or even a full novel--there's plenty here! I love this crazy fighting couple that happen upon a freaky little ghost down full of wicked children! And what's in the Corn??? The one who walks behind the rows...
August 13, 2020
Welcome to Gatlin, nicest town in Nebraska
After running over a child, Burt and Vicky head into the nearby town of Gatlin, Nebraska to look for help. This is widely considered to have been a bad move.
This short was excellent. It's well-written with plenty of memorable moments and there is near constant tension. Pretty damn creepy too.
After running over a child, Burt and Vicky head into the nearby town of Gatlin, Nebraska to look for help. This is widely considered to have been a bad move.
This short was excellent. It's well-written with plenty of memorable moments and there is near constant tension. Pretty damn creepy too.
October 23, 2022
Maybe I only like Stephen King's short stories, idk, but this was good
September 12, 2023
Much scarier than the PG rated horror movie, which creeped me out when I was 13. I wonder what they were thinking making it.
This is sold for Kindle as a "Vintage Short". Takes place the month I was born (July 1976). Well I am not short anyway.
This is sold for Kindle as a "Vintage Short". Takes place the month I was born (July 1976). Well I am not short anyway.
May 17, 2021
Childen of the Corn is the second story I read from Stephen King's 1978 collection, Night Shift. This short story is such a classic Stephen King horror. It has its bloody and somewhat gory moments. The overall creepiness and ominous atmosphere made this book so immersive although it is just a short read. Overall, it was a solid story.
April 11, 2023
the movie was so much better what the hell was this😭
October 20, 2015
Highly creepy and well told in such a short amount of pages. I wish it were a full length book!
March 31, 2020
Kinga stāsts, kas pierāda, ka viņš kādreiz varēja rakstīt īsi un kvalitatīvi. Šeit ir viss creepy reliģiskais kults, bērni - fanātiķi un cilvēku upurēšana. Ja gribas, ko labu no Kinga, šķiet, jālasa viņa agrīnie darbi.
June 6, 2023
3.5/5
“Out there, in the night, something walked, and it saw everything…even the secrets kept in human hearts.”
The Master of Horror’s catalog of published books is by no means short and can sometimes be overwhelming (in the best of ways) to even his Constant Readers. I often find myself coming across a title or pulling one from my shelf and scolding myself; how have I not read this yet?! Children of the Corn was one in which I did exactly that when it came up as the short story read for this month in the Catching up on Classics group. I haven’t seen any of the numerous adaptations, but I did have a general idea of the plot before jumping in and was cautiously optimistic about King’s ability to create chills in a reader that is plenty used to being around corn fields. Yet again, King nails the atmospheric setting and feeling of unease that seeps from the pages, even in a short story. The pace is like a freight train, and almost too much. When I hit the end of this one, it wasn’t only that I wanted more story and details, I needed more, and it detracted a bit from my enjoyment of the story to feel like there wasn’t the fully well-rounded satisfaction his short stories are normally capable of. I immediately went into a re-read after I finished it the first time and added in the audio version from BBC radio, narrated by Bradley Lavelle. I kept the speed at a much slower rate than I am used to and will admit that did help some with the criticisms I had during my first read, and even had me enjoying the characters more the second time around. Overall, I still feel it is a must-read for any fan of King. I can tell that, despite it not being one of my favorites from him, it will stick with me. For when I am passing by those fields of green and the wind calms and the sunlight hits just right, King has me taking a second glance into the shadows and carefully observing the road ahead.
“Out there, in the night, something walked, and it saw everything…even the secrets kept in human hearts.”
The Master of Horror’s catalog of published books is by no means short and can sometimes be overwhelming (in the best of ways) to even his Constant Readers. I often find myself coming across a title or pulling one from my shelf and scolding myself; how have I not read this yet?! Children of the Corn was one in which I did exactly that when it came up as the short story read for this month in the Catching up on Classics group. I haven’t seen any of the numerous adaptations, but I did have a general idea of the plot before jumping in and was cautiously optimistic about King’s ability to create chills in a reader that is plenty used to being around corn fields. Yet again, King nails the atmospheric setting and feeling of unease that seeps from the pages, even in a short story. The pace is like a freight train, and almost too much. When I hit the end of this one, it wasn’t only that I wanted more story and details, I needed more, and it detracted a bit from my enjoyment of the story to feel like there wasn’t the fully well-rounded satisfaction his short stories are normally capable of. I immediately went into a re-read after I finished it the first time and added in the audio version from BBC radio, narrated by Bradley Lavelle. I kept the speed at a much slower rate than I am used to and will admit that did help some with the criticisms I had during my first read, and even had me enjoying the characters more the second time around. Overall, I still feel it is a must-read for any fan of King. I can tell that, despite it not being one of my favorites from him, it will stick with me. For when I am passing by those fields of green and the wind calms and the sunlight hits just right, King has me taking a second glance into the shadows and carefully observing the road ahead.
August 19, 2021
This story will forever be a favourite of mine! For the last twenty years or so I haven't been able to even look at a cornfield without feeling really uncomfortable 🌽
December 10, 2017
Tek kada se pocelo zahuktavati i nesto dolaziti na vidjelo, prica zavrsava. Sigurna sam da bi s vise detalja i upoznavanja likova ovo bilo puno bolje.
October 19, 2021
I finally made it to the main reason I wanted to read Night Shift, and it was worth the wait. "Children of the Corn" is one of my favorite Stephen King movies. Yeah, yeah, I know it sucks, but that doesn't stop me from loving it anyway. Turns out they took a few liberties with the original story.
"You're kidding!"
Nope, afraid not. However, I really like the story version better than the movie. First off the story in the book makes much more sense, and suspension of disbelief isn't strained to snapping. The story focuses primarily on Burt and Vicky, and everything until the last couple of pages is from Burt's point of view. Isaac doesn't even make an appearance until the last page, and he's only nine-years-old.
Pictured here is not a nine-year-old. This is John Franklin who had a growth hormone problem. He's 24 here, poor man. Isaac was his most famous role. His next major claim to fame was Cousin Itt in both Addams Family movies, but I digress.
Completely absent from the story are any good kids, the gas station man, and any good guys of any kind, actually. Burt and Vicky are on their own for the whole ordeal,
Possible Randall Flagg sighting
I'm always interested in character crossovers from one Stephen King work to another, and this is supposed to have one. According to many fans, He Who Walks Behind The Rows is actually Randall Flagg who causes trouble in a lot of King's stories. Personally, I didn't catch that at all, and I was looking for it as I read. So I went to the internet to see what the thinking is behind this. The Stephen King wiki says that it's implied that He Who Walks Behind The Rows is Randall Flagg, but doesn't expound on that at all. I later found that such is implied in The Stand, and there is some corn in it when everyone is in the mid-west, and they do seem to think something in the corn is watching them sometimes, and that something might as well be Randall Flagg since he is pretty much watching everyone, but he does that from places other than the corn as well. I can't find any place where Stephen King states they're one and the same, but someone did point this out:
he who WALks behind ThE Rows.
See that nice little sobriquet there? Walter is one of Flagg's names in the Dark Tower series... Man, you are pushing it. I guess it's possible since King was working on The Stand at the time this story came out, and he does like dropping obscure clues to this and that in his works. I would say the antics of HWWBTR are out of character for RF, but really, nothing is out of character for that weirdo, and he's certainly capable of pulling off the feats in this story. Still, it's too small scale. Flagg has huge visions with grand schemes which sometimes affect several worlds, and what goes on in this story involves a few children in the middle of BFE, and any traveler unfortunate enough to blunder into town over the course of a decade and some change. That's the inconsistent part.
Read it for yourself, and draw your own conclusion.
"You're kidding!"
Nope, afraid not. However, I really like the story version better than the movie. First off the story in the book makes much more sense, and suspension of disbelief isn't strained to snapping. The story focuses primarily on Burt and Vicky, and everything until the last couple of pages is from Burt's point of view. Isaac doesn't even make an appearance until the last page, and he's only nine-years-old.
Pictured here is not a nine-year-old. This is John Franklin who had a growth hormone problem. He's 24 here, poor man. Isaac was his most famous role. His next major claim to fame was Cousin Itt in both Addams Family movies, but I digress.
Completely absent from the story are any good kids, the gas station man, and any good guys of any kind, actually. Burt and Vicky are on their own for the whole ordeal,
Possible Randall Flagg sighting
I'm always interested in character crossovers from one Stephen King work to another, and this is supposed to have one. According to many fans, He Who Walks Behind The Rows is actually Randall Flagg who causes trouble in a lot of King's stories. Personally, I didn't catch that at all, and I was looking for it as I read. So I went to the internet to see what the thinking is behind this. The Stephen King wiki says that it's implied that He Who Walks Behind The Rows is Randall Flagg, but doesn't expound on that at all. I later found that such is implied in The Stand, and there is some corn in it when everyone is in the mid-west, and they do seem to think something in the corn is watching them sometimes, and that something might as well be Randall Flagg since he is pretty much watching everyone, but he does that from places other than the corn as well. I can't find any place where Stephen King states they're one and the same, but someone did point this out:
he who WALks behind ThE Rows.
See that nice little sobriquet there? Walter is one of Flagg's names in the Dark Tower series... Man, you are pushing it. I guess it's possible since King was working on The Stand at the time this story came out, and he does like dropping obscure clues to this and that in his works. I would say the antics of HWWBTR are out of character for RF, but really, nothing is out of character for that weirdo, and he's certainly capable of pulling off the feats in this story. Still, it's too small scale. Flagg has huge visions with grand schemes which sometimes affect several worlds, and what goes on in this story involves a few children in the middle of BFE, and any traveler unfortunate enough to blunder into town over the course of a decade and some change. That's the inconsistent part.
Read it for yourself, and draw your own conclusion.
June 10, 2019
I really only love a few Stephen King books. I always preferred John Saul when I was going through my horror period. This one however was not bad.
Creepy children are a great subject of horror and I did enjoy this book moderately. My favorite by King will always be Thinner. I saw the movie as well and besides the creepy kids eerie resemblement to the Trump kids, it was not very good. I find King's books are always better then the movies.
This is one I plan to reread soon.
Creepy children are a great subject of horror and I did enjoy this book moderately. My favorite by King will always be Thinner. I saw the movie as well and besides the creepy kids eerie resemblement to the Trump kids, it was not very good. I find King's books are always better then the movies.
This is one I plan to reread soon.
October 17, 2023
Historia super corta, pero logra incomodarte.
October 13, 2020
SPOOKTOBER IS HERE!
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fulfilling my shortie Spooktober challenge to read one spooky short story a day.
Day one: The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells
Day two: Everything's Fine by Matthew Pridham
Day three: It Came From Hell and Smashed the Angels by Gregor Xane
Day four: Sometimes They Come Back by Stephen King
Day five: The Curse of Yig by H.P. Lovecraft
Day six: The Spook House by Ambrose Bierce
Day seven: An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Day eight: The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Day nine: Graveyard Shift by Stephen King
Day ten: Bitter Grounds by Neil Gaiman
Day eleven: Finding Emma by Matthew Iden
Day twelve: To Be Read at Dusk by Charles Dickens
When I decided to do my little spooky short story challenge, the obvious stories are Stephen King's. I own several collections of shorts by King, but have only read two of them in their entirety. And both were several years ago. I decided to revisit three from each collection I've already read and then do two I haven't read from a different collection. This one rounds out my selections from Night Shift which I first bought as a kid and have read several stories more than others. Children of the Corn is one of those I've read more than once, and the one, except for maybe Sometimes They Come Back for which I have the most nostalgia. I blame it on my formative years, and this
I admit that I probably watched the movie for the first time when I was entirely too young for it and Malachi haunted my dreams for awhile afterward (being replaced years later with Hannibal Lecter, who still hasn't entirely left.)
The story and the movie are fundamentally the same, though the story is better crafted and contains much more psychological horror rather than hordes of scythe-wielding Amish looking children. It is amazing how children can be thought of so quickly as innocent and sweet but also just as quickly as the creepiest horror tools in the biz. I would take Leatherface and his chain saw over Issac any day of the week.
This is another example of how much King is a master at crafting tension and terror. Having read this several times and knowing so well how it will end, it does not keep me from gritting my teeth and clenching up as I read. This is the best kind of horror. Scary children are the tools of a much larger horror here, He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Those who are well-versed in the King multiverse will see connections to other entities and works at play here, but this story also works quite well as a standalone story, where you soon find out that the titular corn is in this case much much worse than the titular children.
5 stars for nostalgia, for The King, for nightmares, for a perfect Spooktober read that absolutely stands the test of time.
booksource: Night Shift collection, own.
[image error]
fulfilling my shortie Spooktober challenge to read one spooky short story a day.
Day one: The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells
Day two: Everything's Fine by Matthew Pridham
Day three: It Came From Hell and Smashed the Angels by Gregor Xane
Day four: Sometimes They Come Back by Stephen King
Day five: The Curse of Yig by H.P. Lovecraft
Day six: The Spook House by Ambrose Bierce
Day seven: An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Day eight: The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Day nine: Graveyard Shift by Stephen King
Day ten: Bitter Grounds by Neil Gaiman
Day eleven: Finding Emma by Matthew Iden
Day twelve: To Be Read at Dusk by Charles Dickens
When I decided to do my little spooky short story challenge, the obvious stories are Stephen King's. I own several collections of shorts by King, but have only read two of them in their entirety. And both were several years ago. I decided to revisit three from each collection I've already read and then do two I haven't read from a different collection. This one rounds out my selections from Night Shift which I first bought as a kid and have read several stories more than others. Children of the Corn is one of those I've read more than once, and the one, except for maybe Sometimes They Come Back for which I have the most nostalgia. I blame it on my formative years, and this
I admit that I probably watched the movie for the first time when I was entirely too young for it and Malachi haunted my dreams for awhile afterward (being replaced years later with Hannibal Lecter, who still hasn't entirely left.)
The story and the movie are fundamentally the same, though the story is better crafted and contains much more psychological horror rather than hordes of scythe-wielding Amish looking children. It is amazing how children can be thought of so quickly as innocent and sweet but also just as quickly as the creepiest horror tools in the biz. I would take Leatherface and his chain saw over Issac any day of the week.
This is another example of how much King is a master at crafting tension and terror. Having read this several times and knowing so well how it will end, it does not keep me from gritting my teeth and clenching up as I read. This is the best kind of horror. Scary children are the tools of a much larger horror here, He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Those who are well-versed in the King multiverse will see connections to other entities and works at play here, but this story also works quite well as a standalone story, where you soon find out that the titular corn is in this case much much worse than the titular children.
5 stars for nostalgia, for The King, for nightmares, for a perfect Spooktober read that absolutely stands the test of time.
booksource: Night Shift collection, own.
November 23, 2016
After seeing the Children of the Corn movie last year and now having read the story, I'm happy to say they're apples and oranges.
The film does the short story a disservice. This was far more interesting and better executed than a tale of creepy cornfields has any right to be. Though, it's not perfect. Adverbs are littered throughout. And the final scene is unnecessary, and mostly there for exposition. When I read the line, "And here, in the heartland of Nebraska, in the corn, there was nothing but time." I was screaming, End it there! End it there! But it keeps going, and sours some of my enjoyment.
Overall this was a surprise. And I would recommend it--my small gripes aside--especially if all you've seen is the film(s).
The film does the short story a disservice. This was far more interesting and better executed than a tale of creepy cornfields has any right to be. Though, it's not perfect. Adverbs are littered throughout. And the final scene is unnecessary, and mostly there for exposition. When I read the line, "And here, in the heartland of Nebraska, in the corn, there was nothing but time." I was screaming, End it there! End it there! But it keeps going, and sours some of my enjoyment.
Overall this was a surprise. And I would recommend it--my small gripes aside--especially if all you've seen is the film(s).
March 6, 2018
Loved this book. Recommended.
October 5, 2018
This was a good one. But I still love corn too much to be scared.
September 25, 2022
First published in Penthouse magazine in March 1977, then in the authors story collection Night Shift in 1977.
Fifteen hundred miles on a journey via motorway from Boston into Gatlin Nebraska to end up in road with corn on all sides then an incident and finding a corncob crucifix made of dried corn, in your proximity there is a town almost abandoned except young folk, and that sign on the white Church that read “THE POWER AND GRACE OF HE WHO WALKS BEHIND THE ROWS,” inside there is sight of a portrait of Jesus “grinning vulpine,” these are signs to get into your car and turn back away from here you are not welcome.
Sinners and sacrifices, holy and unholy aspects, cult and uninvited cross paths, young and old in battle.
Burt and Vicky in their T-Bird driving into a terrible fate amongst these horrific aspects of this small town with children with redrum in mind all for the corn and He Who Walks Behind the Rows.
King masterfully conjures this with all the necessary storytelling aspects and details needed, and its one of his good ones, placing you in all the atmosphere and trepidation one needs to make this one helluva terrifying folk horror story.
Excerpts
“He turned the ignition off and got out. The wind rustled softly through the growing man-high corn, making a weird sound like respiration.”
“He had a strong sensation of being watched. It was a feeling he had read about in books, mostly cheap fiction, and he had always doubted its reality. Now he didn't. It was as if there were people in the corn, maybe a lot of them, coldly estimating whether the woman could get the gun out of the case and use it before they could grab him, drag him into the shady rows, cut his throat—“
“It was a crucifix that had been made from twists of corn husk, once green, now dry. Attached to this by woven cornsilk was a dwarf corncob. Most of the kernels had been carefully removed, probably dug out one at a time with a pocketknife. Those kernels remaining formed a crude cruciform figure in yellowish bas-relief. Corn-kernel eyes, each slit longways to suggest pupils. Outstretched kernel arms, the legs together, terminating in a rough indication of bare feet. Above, four letters also raised from the bone-white cob: I N R I.”
“YOU ARE NOW ENTERING GATLIN, NICEST LITTLE TOWN IN NEBRASKA—OR ANYWHERE ELSE! POP. 5431.”
“But they must do something different out here, he thought. The smell was close but not the same. There was a sickish-sweet undertone. Almost a death smell. As a medical orderly in Vietnam, he had become well versed in that smell.”
“The Christ was grinning, vulpine. His eyes were wide and staring, reminding Burt uneasily of Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera. In each of the wide black pupils someone (a sinner, presumably) was drowning in a lake of fire. But the oddest thing was that this Christ had green hair . . . hair which on closer examination revealed itself to be a twining mass of early-summer corn. The picture was crudely done but effective. It looked like a comic-strip mural done by a gifted child—an Old Testament Christ, or a pagan Christ that might slaughter his sheep for sacrifice instead of leading them.”
“He climbed the four carpeted steps to the pulpit and looked out over the deserted pews, glimmering in the half-shadows. He seemed to feel the weight of those eldritch and decidedly unchristian eyes boring into his back.
There was a large Bible on the lectern, opened to the thirty-eighth chapter of Job. Burt glanced down at it and read: “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? . . . Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.” The lord. He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Declare if thou hast understanding. And please pass the corn.”
“There seemed to be one train of thought around here, and Burt didn't care much for the track it seemed to ride on.”
“The girls were dressed in long brown wool and faded sunbonnets. The boys, like Quaker parsons, were all in black and wore round-crowned flat-brimmed hats. They streamed across the town square toward the car, across lawns, a few came across the front yard of what had been the Grace Baptist Church until 1964. One or two of them almost close enough to touch.”
“Out there, in the night, something walked, and it saw everything . . . even the secrets kept in human hearts.
Dusk deepened into night. Around Gatlin the corn rustled and whispered secretly. It was well pleased.”
This was part of a set of terrifying and creepy tales on my webpage this recently:
https://www.more2read.com/review/a-fe...
Fifteen hundred miles on a journey via motorway from Boston into Gatlin Nebraska to end up in road with corn on all sides then an incident and finding a corncob crucifix made of dried corn, in your proximity there is a town almost abandoned except young folk, and that sign on the white Church that read “THE POWER AND GRACE OF HE WHO WALKS BEHIND THE ROWS,” inside there is sight of a portrait of Jesus “grinning vulpine,” these are signs to get into your car and turn back away from here you are not welcome.
Sinners and sacrifices, holy and unholy aspects, cult and uninvited cross paths, young and old in battle.
Burt and Vicky in their T-Bird driving into a terrible fate amongst these horrific aspects of this small town with children with redrum in mind all for the corn and He Who Walks Behind the Rows.
King masterfully conjures this with all the necessary storytelling aspects and details needed, and its one of his good ones, placing you in all the atmosphere and trepidation one needs to make this one helluva terrifying folk horror story.
Excerpts
“He turned the ignition off and got out. The wind rustled softly through the growing man-high corn, making a weird sound like respiration.”
“He had a strong sensation of being watched. It was a feeling he had read about in books, mostly cheap fiction, and he had always doubted its reality. Now he didn't. It was as if there were people in the corn, maybe a lot of them, coldly estimating whether the woman could get the gun out of the case and use it before they could grab him, drag him into the shady rows, cut his throat—“
“It was a crucifix that had been made from twists of corn husk, once green, now dry. Attached to this by woven cornsilk was a dwarf corncob. Most of the kernels had been carefully removed, probably dug out one at a time with a pocketknife. Those kernels remaining formed a crude cruciform figure in yellowish bas-relief. Corn-kernel eyes, each slit longways to suggest pupils. Outstretched kernel arms, the legs together, terminating in a rough indication of bare feet. Above, four letters also raised from the bone-white cob: I N R I.”
“YOU ARE NOW ENTERING GATLIN, NICEST LITTLE TOWN IN NEBRASKA—OR ANYWHERE ELSE! POP. 5431.”
“But they must do something different out here, he thought. The smell was close but not the same. There was a sickish-sweet undertone. Almost a death smell. As a medical orderly in Vietnam, he had become well versed in that smell.”
“The Christ was grinning, vulpine. His eyes were wide and staring, reminding Burt uneasily of Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera. In each of the wide black pupils someone (a sinner, presumably) was drowning in a lake of fire. But the oddest thing was that this Christ had green hair . . . hair which on closer examination revealed itself to be a twining mass of early-summer corn. The picture was crudely done but effective. It looked like a comic-strip mural done by a gifted child—an Old Testament Christ, or a pagan Christ that might slaughter his sheep for sacrifice instead of leading them.”
“He climbed the four carpeted steps to the pulpit and looked out over the deserted pews, glimmering in the half-shadows. He seemed to feel the weight of those eldritch and decidedly unchristian eyes boring into his back.
There was a large Bible on the lectern, opened to the thirty-eighth chapter of Job. Burt glanced down at it and read: “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? . . . Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.” The lord. He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Declare if thou hast understanding. And please pass the corn.”
“There seemed to be one train of thought around here, and Burt didn't care much for the track it seemed to ride on.”
“The girls were dressed in long brown wool and faded sunbonnets. The boys, like Quaker parsons, were all in black and wore round-crowned flat-brimmed hats. They streamed across the town square toward the car, across lawns, a few came across the front yard of what had been the Grace Baptist Church until 1964. One or two of them almost close enough to touch.”
“Out there, in the night, something walked, and it saw everything . . . even the secrets kept in human hearts.
Dusk deepened into night. Around Gatlin the corn rustled and whispered secretly. It was well pleased.”
This was part of a set of terrifying and creepy tales on my webpage this recently:
https://www.more2read.com/review/a-fe...
October 31, 2023
"He trotted back down the road to where [the suitcase] stood on the white line, like the focal point in an Impressionist painting. He picked it up by its tattered handle and paused for a moment. He had a strong sensation of being watched. It was a feeling he had read about in books, mostly cheap fiction, and he had always doubted its reality. Now he didn't.”
Children of the Corn is a certified King classic, and deservedly so. Have you ever heard someone proclaim an author “at the height of their powers” (often on the back of one of their pulpier paperbacks) and just rolled your eyes, not knowing what to expect? Here, I really can’t think of any better way to put it. Masterful - not least of which because it doubles as proof of King's capacity for brevity.
Read for the Horror Aficionados' 2023 Halloween Season Challenge (prompts as follows):
1. Bat: Cujo by Stephen King
2. Cat: The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
3. Ghost/Haunting: Tell Me I'm Worthless by Allison Rumfitt
4. Graveyard: Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez
5. Jack-o'-lantern/Pumpkin: Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
6. Monster: Slimer by Harry Adam Knight
7. Scarecrow: The Scarecrows by Robert Westall
8. Treats: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
9. Tricks: Let's Go Play at the Adams' by Mendal W. Johnson
10. Vampire: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
11. Werewolf: Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones
12. Witch: Rouge by Mona Awad
13. Zombie: This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham
14. [BONUS] Clowns/Corn: Children of the Corn by Stephen King
Children of the Corn is a certified King classic, and deservedly so. Have you ever heard someone proclaim an author “at the height of their powers” (often on the back of one of their pulpier paperbacks) and just rolled your eyes, not knowing what to expect? Here, I really can’t think of any better way to put it. Masterful - not least of which because it doubles as proof of King's capacity for brevity.
Read for the Horror Aficionados' 2023 Halloween Season Challenge (prompts as follows):
1. Bat: Cujo by Stephen King
7. Scarecrow: The Scarecrows by Robert Westall
9. Tricks: Let's Go Play at the Adams' by Mendal W. Johnson
10. Vampire: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
12. Witch: Rouge by Mona Awad
October 8, 2014
Quickly creating ominous atmosphere is a remarkable talent of the short story writer. The proper short story does not waste time procrastinating what it is ultimately attempting to achieve. Stephen King’s Children of the Corn creates the bleak spooky atmosphere of an menacing an immanent doom right from the start. Vicky and Burt, a married couple attempting to rekindle their love for one another are driving coast to coast for vacation. They are in Nebraska driving through an endless sight of cornfield and bickering with one another. While driving they hit a boy who is already dead. They are attempting to find a town and hail the police so they can confess what has happened in hopes of finding the real killer. What ensues is a ghost town leading to the anxiety of isolation and being stuck only with the person you love who you actually hate, which turns out to a true living hell. Reading the story, I pictured King driving through corn country in the mid-west smoking cigarettes and fiddling with the radio station attempting to find anything besides white noise when he comes across an evangelical sermon and thus his imagination runs wild and this story is born. Children of the Corn is much more than a spooky horror story. There is deeper meaning to this story than pure horror entertainment and enthusiasm. The blatant interpretation of using religion as a pulpit for extremism justifications and ultimately death and destruction and religion kills is obvious and has been done before but because there are many bible references for a horror story and not any mention of Satan makes it all the more terrifying. God is telling you to kill not Satan. Reading this short story in 2014 I have a different interpretation than just the lovely religion kills meaning, which is still salient today. Corn is omnipresent in every facet of our lives and these producers of corn will do anything and everything to keep the corn in production. The zealous corporations of Cargill, Monsanto, and Archer Midland Daniels among other global food producers are the children of the corn who lobby congress as well as much greater wicked acts to have corn byproducts in every single consumer food available and they do not care if it kills you slowly or quickly they are simply sacrificing you to their only holly god, profit.
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