Stephen Kingis obviously best known for his work within the horror genre , butthe popular author has actually written several novels and inadequate stories that do n’t adhere to this style at all , switch thing up entirely . One of these books isThe Stand , a post - apocalyptic adventure that follows a group of subsister that have band together into factions after a weaponize influenza destroyed the rest of human civilization . It ’s one ofKing ’s good non - horror narration , though it does admit some scary scene to keep tautness high .

The Standis wide regarded as one ofStephen King ’s well books , though it ’s not the typical kind of story that the writer is screw for . It does n’t let in the supernatural hauntings , demonic beast , or looming atm of his common repugnance , but that ’s arguably why it works so well : everything is tonally different , and that keep back the reader on boundary from outset to finish . However , Stephen King often come under blast for not allowing his books ’ endings to quite survive up to the stakesthat he create in the midsection - andThe Standis no different .

The Ending Of The Stand Is Underwhelming After Stephen King’s Setup

He Sets The Ending Up So Well, But Fails To Fully Deliver

The main problem withThe Stand ’s end is that it ’s fairly abrupt and does n’t quite resolve all the tension that has been gradually build up up since the first pageboy . King always does a slap-up job of asking fascinating questionsand acquire the audience peculiar about his well - written secret , but he ’s not always able to root for all the threads together in the terminal few pages . The Standsuffers from the same trouble , as he asks countless interrogation throughout the write up that are either never suffice or just dismissed as something the lector literally never could have figured out .

From the fate of Jerusalem ’s Lot to Ellie Creed ’s fostering , some of Stephen King ’s best books could use a sequel so readers can get some gag law .

The Standis splendidly link to King’sDark Towerseries , and many fans have been capable to explain certain facial expression of the former ’s ending ( such as the blue lightning and Flagg ’s likely Resurrection of Christ ) using grounds from that series - but that ’s not how a standalone novel should be resolved . Additionally , the integral termination of the Koran is adeus ex machina- that is , a literary machine that apparently comes out of nowhere , without explanation , and furbish up everything . It ’s an unsatisfying way of life for such a complex novel to end .

A collage of Stephen King and a cropped cover of The Talisman

Stephen King Should Have Traded The Stand’s Ending For A Sequel Story

There Was Plenty Of Room For This Great Story To Continue

However , if Stephen King was struggling to bringThe Standto a fulfilling ending , the author could have easily continued the news report into a sequel . The intellect thatThe Stand ’s ending feel so hie and emptyis that there ’s so much material left over that simply never gets resolved - this should have been a unclouded sign that there ’s still room for this news report to inflate and breathe , rather than force it into an undeserved close .

The author is commonly great at keep construct undefended - stop so that he can regress to them in the future , but he clearly had no intent of that here .

There was no pauperization for Stephen King to makeThe Stand ’s endingso concluding and classic . The source is usually great at hold back concepts opened - ended so that he can return to them in the future , but he clearly had no intentions of that here . Perhaps he ’d already mapped out Randal Flagg ’s journey inThe Dark Towerand wanted to tilt his focus there instead , but even without Flagg , there ’s still an entire post - apocalyptic world that could have been search in a sequel .

Dominique Tippe as Naomi Nagata in The Expanse

Why A Sequel To The Stand Would Work So Well

It’s One Of Stephen King’s Biggest Missed Opportunities

The reason a subsequence toThe Standwould have been such a smart idea is because of how thematically racy and socially relevant the original is . There ’s so much go on , from King ’s astute observation on the nature of humanity , the constitutional conflict between good and evil , and the order of instinctive choice , thatit seems like such a waste to confine it to a single story .

The Stand 2could have included a hefty clip leap to avoid any narrative repercussions on the original ’s conclusion , flicking to the future and exploring how this dystopian company has germinate and changed from the one under Flagg ’s dominance . Stephen King famously struggles with endings , and the reason is that he ’s so ambitious as a writer . It ’s both his biggest force and his greatest flaw : it reserve him to forge incredible story pack full of estimation , just likeThe Stand , but his gross creativity makes it hard to pull all these fascinating concepts together in the end .

The Standis a post - revelatory dark fantasy novel by Stephen King , first published in 1978 . The story revolves around the aftermath of a venomous pandemic , with survivor align under either unspoiled or evil forces , led by Mother Abagail and Randall Flagg , severally . The novel has been adapted into two miniseries ( 1994 , 2020 ) , comedian , and has inspired songs . The novel is widely acclaimed and stay on one of King ’s most meaning whole caboodle .

The-Handmaid’s-Tale-Season-6,-Episode-8-Ending-Explained

Stephen King with a pile of books next to him and the cover of Nick Cutter’s The Troop as the background

Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore

Stephen King’s The Stand - Gary Sinise as Stu

Matt Frewer as Trashcan Man in the 1994 miniseries of The Stand.

The Stand (1994) Movie Poster

The Stand

Stephen King