Stephen King's The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel which was first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few surviving humans gather into factions that are each led by a personification of either good or evil and seem fated to clash with each other. King started writing the story in February 1975, seeking to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings. The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines.
In 1990, The Stand was reprinted as a Complete and Uncut Edition. King restored over 400 pages from texts that were initially reduced from his original manuscript, revised the order of the chapters, shifted the novel's setting from 1980 to 10 years forward, and accordingly corrected a number of cultural references. The Complete and Uncut Edition of The Stand is Stephen King's longest stand-alone work at 1,152 pages, surpassing his 1,138-page novel IT. The book has sold 4.5 million copies.
The Stand was highly appreciated by reviewers and is considered one of King's best novels. It has been included in lists of the best books of all time by Rolling Stone, Time, the Modern Library, Amazon and the BBC. An eponymous miniseries based on the novel was broadcast on ABC in 1994. From 2008 to 2012, Marvel Comics published a series of comics written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and illustrated by Mike Perkins. Another miniseries debuted on CBS All Access in December 2020, and finished airing in February 2021.
R.M. FLAGG KITCHEN STORE
DATE(S) VISITED: JULY 4, 2020
This wholesale and retail shop is located along Route 2, which King frequently drove by while he was attending the University of Maine. This shop is believed to be the inspiration for the name of the character Randall Flagg, originally appearing in the poem The Dark Man and later in The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon, and the Dark Tower books.
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