# Stephen King's The Mist - puzzle at the end? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082 "2003-04-07T15:33:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZiggyB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b487fb/32.png) [@ZiggyB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZiggyB)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/1 "2003-04-07T15:33:20Z")
I just read Stephen King’s story “The Mist” and I’m trying to figure out his little hint at the end. The story: a guy and his son go to the supermarket, while they’re there they are surrounded by a thick fog and then monsters are wandering outside. They eventually escape with a couple of other people from the supermarket and start driving away to get out of the fog. On the car radio they are trying to listen for signs of civilization and the father thinks he hears a faint signal. They have holed up in a motel for the night. The last few lines: > [@](#): > > _Hartford._ (note from ZiggyB: that would be Hartford Connecticut I guess) > > If I only really heard it. If only. > > I’m going to bed now. But first I’m going to kiss my son and whisper two words in his ear. Against the dreams that may come, you know. > > Two words that sound a bit alike. > > One of them is hope. > > The End So what’s the other word? The only thing I can think of is “soap-on-a-rope”, meaning they might be able to take another shower one day. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/2 "2003-04-07T15:40:54Z")
The inference I got was that the two words were “Hartford” and “hope.” As in “I hope that we’ll be able to get out of this,” and “maybe the mist hasn’t reached Hartford.” ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/3 "2003-04-07T15:48:50Z")
“nope”? As in “Nope, no hope.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/4 "2003-04-07T16:00:59Z")
I like a lot of Kingt’s stuff, but didn’t care for “The Mist”. Not sure why…perhaps the unresolved ending. In most of his stories, you get a definitive resolution one way or the other (either you bites the bear, or the bear bites you…), but this one just sort of trails off… ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/5 "2003-04-07T16:02:37Z")
Home? ( It says they sound a bit alike, not that they necessarily rhyme). ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/6 "2003-04-07T16:18:55Z")
Count me in on “home”. I’ve read the story several times, as well as listened to the cd. I couldn’t really figure it out either. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/7 "2003-04-07T16:39:58Z")
I think it’s Hartford, and I agree with **Superdude**. Wasn’t there a movie in the works based on _The Mist_? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/8 "2003-04-07T16:47:17Z")
Didn’t he also write a short story about a married couple driving around in a newly-built subdivision, looking for a house to buy? IIRC, all the streets started looking the same, and they couldn’t find their way out. And then the fog came in. I think King was trying to abscond with enough characters to populate a small town, so that he could mess with their minds in some longer work (or series of works). But he had to do it with small numbers of characters from each story, so nobody’d notice what was going on. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/9 "2003-04-07T16:48:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > \*\*Wasn’t there a movie in the works based on _The Mist_? \*\* From [here](http://www.castlerocknet.com/needfulthings/index2.html?themist): > [@](#): > > Writer and director Frank Darabont told SCI FI Wire that he will work on an adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “The Mist” after he finishes scripts for the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie and for Fahrenheit 451 > > Darabont said that he is still at work on Indy IV and that Fahrenheit will take another three months to write after Indy is finished. He plans to direct Fahrenheit as well, but hopes to write Mist before the end of 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/10 "2003-04-07T21:34:20Z")
Cool, a “mist” movie. IIRC there was also a videogame based on the Mist. (I never played it, but I could have sworn I saw it). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/11 "2003-04-07T23:57:18Z")
I liked the Mist, and I agree with superdude. Personally, I like ambiguous endings. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/12 "2003-04-08T00:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrotherCadfael \* > \*\*I like a lot of Kingt’s stuff, but didn’t care for “The Mist”. Not sure why…perhaps the unresolved ending. In most of his stories, you get a definitive resolution one way or the other (either you bites the bear, or the bear bites you…), but this one just sort of trails off… \*\* Have you tried [The](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553138251/qid=1049761603/sr=1-53/ref=sr_1_53/002-2936663-7783209?v=glance&s=books) [Fog](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0080749)? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/13 "2003-04-08T04:22:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Meatros \* > IIRC there was also a videogame based on the Mist. > > (I never played it, but I could have sworn I saw it). \*\* You mean Myst? Nothing to do with the book. ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/14 "2003-04-08T04:32:09Z")
No, not Myst. There was a text adventure based on The Mist that came out some time in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/15 "2003-04-08T05:29:38Z")
I, too, thought the word was “Hartford.” ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/16 "2003-04-08T13:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fibber McGee \* > \*\*No, not Myst. There was a text adventure based on The Mist that came out some time in the 80’s. \*\* Yeah, I didn’t mean Myst. I was thinking of the 80’s game. I actually never played it, but I heard it was slightly decent. I’ve been trying to get my hands on it recently. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/17 "2003-04-08T13:35:37Z")
Chalk me up with the “Hartford” folks. Of course that means most of New England was covered by the Mist. One of King’s better stories, and a rather daring ending. ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/18 "2003-04-08T16:26:32Z")
Another vote for “Hartford”, although I had never considered “Home” before, and that does sound a lot like “Hope”. They _tried_ to get home earlier though, and were totally unable to, so I don’t know why the father would bring that up again. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-kings-the-mist-puzzle-at-the-end/167082/19 "2003-04-08T19:02:27Z")
I believe at the end, the father mentions that he heard one word just before he turned off the radio. He doesn’t say right away what it was. Then he says that he will whisper two words in his son’s ear “against the dreams that may come. One of them is Hartford. The other is hope.”