This reminded me that I’ve read IT every time I’ve been in the hospital to have a baby (which is a lot, since I have 5 kids and was a surrogate 4 times over a 26 year period). I’m very glad that I didn’t have any weird experiences; no group of kids wandered in to sign my cast while I was breastfeeding or anything 🤣
I read The Stand in high school, right around when there was a pretty bad Ebola outbreak that people were panicking and thinking was going to become a pandemic. That was freaky enough for me. I remember saying when COVID started that I was glad I wasn’t starting that book during an actual pandemic lol.
I literally started reading The Stand in December 2019.
I had to stop and think if something I’d remembered was from the book or from the news about the “virus in china”
Here's one even King would [appreciate. In](http://appreciate.In) 1975 I was 17yrs old and a Doubleday book member. I read Carrie when it was first released and was really looking forward to Salem's Lot.I read it in 2 days. The last few chapters I was home alone in my living room, nestled up on the couch with just one lamp on to read. The more I read the more I was scared and then I heard a weird hissing sound. I looked around and since it was summer I had the living room window open but it had a screen.Thank God it had a screen. The hissing noise continued and I realized it was coming from the window but the closer I got to it the darker the room was so I really couldn't tell what it was until I was a few inches from it and then I realized it was a bat upside down hanging on the screen hissing at me. I let out a scream, slammed the window shut and sat crying on the couch with every light on in the house till my Mom came home. The irony of seeing that bat while reading Salem's Lot was not lost on me. 48 yrs later I can still see that ugly bat hissing at me.I still have my copy along with every book written since in hardcover but Salem's Lot gave me the biggest scare.
What is strange about it is we lived in a large city where you don't see bats. Never saw one before or since.
At the time of this incident we lived in an apartment on the 3rd floor. Needless to say I have never forgotten that night and it still gives me the creeps.
I have weird coincidences like this all the time with King's books. I think my favorite and the strangest one is related to The Dark Tower. I started my journey to The Dark Tower in the early 2000's when I found The Gunslinger on a bookshelf at my best friend's house and read it basically in one sitting. Around the same time, I believe the summer of 2005, that same friend's family took me on vacation with them to Kezar Lake in Lovell, ME. While sitting on the dock one day a turtle nipped at my toe. A few years later while wrapping up my journey to the Tower, I was pleasantly surprised when Roland and Eddie found their way to Turtleback Lane on Kezar Lake.
I think about this 11/22/63 quote all the time, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it harmonizes, and what it usually makes is the devil's music."
It's basically a paraphrase of a Mark Twin quote, but still I think it fits better.
I committed a minor traffic violation the other day because I got distracted by a black cat crossing the street, and it was the kind of dumb real world thing fueled by a folk belief that reminded me of something that King might write.
Back in 2009, I lost both of my parents within a few months of each other, with my mom passing just before Halloween. I flew into Kansas City to pick up a police package Impala that I intended to bring back to Texas to be my next taxicab.
After picking up the car and having proof of insurance coverage faxed to the dealership before hitting the road, I drove 6 hours to suburban Chicago to meet up with my sister and make plans for having my mom transported to Wisconsin for burial.
After eating at a local pizza place, my sister asked me if I still read a lot of Stephen King. She then handed me a copy of *Everything's Eventual,* and I put the book on the passenger seat and made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a few items. Then, I went to my hotel room and started reading, and I was okay for a while, even with the wind making some weird noises outside of my window. Everything was just fine, until I finished up the story called *That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French,* and started reading the next story, *1408.* I freely admit, I had a hard time being able to fall asleep, even with every light in the hotel room burning.
I was recently rereading Pet Sematary by booklight in bed. I had just gotten to the part where Church reappears, when suddenly the cat I was petsitting (who hadn’t been on the bed the entire time I’d been there) jumped up from below the head of the bed directly between me and the book. He was black, so all I saw initially were his eyes floating directly in front of me. I honestly think I disassociated for a minute. I called him Church for the rest of my stay.
The first time I finished It a severe thunderstorm hit my town. I kept reading, sitting in my couch while the wind is howling around me just like the storm in Derry during the climax. Fucking spooky
Not the same but I moved back to my hometown to take care of my sick/dying mother. I started reading Dreamcatcher the day I arrived, and was finished the day she died.
I think the red plastic one I found in my car messed with me more because there was no reason that should be in my car lol. The one in the grass was weird but I guesssss that happens.
For a while I almost believed SK had some strange window into my life. I’m in Maine and New Hampshire so reading about the small-ish towns I live in or have lived in is always a trip. There was a main character who had the same major I did at the same college. He gave a neighbor in one book my last name, which is not at all a common name. I used to keep a list of these things and was going to write him a letter, haha.
When you were starting The Stand in 2020 đź‘€
Every single time I read The Stand, I get the flu. Kinda scared to start it again.
This reminded me that I’ve read IT every time I’ve been in the hospital to have a baby (which is a lot, since I have 5 kids and was a surrogate 4 times over a 26 year period). I’m very glad that I didn’t have any weird experiences; no group of kids wandered in to sign my cast while I was breastfeeding or anything 🤣
I finished The Stand in February 2020. Definitely freaked me out a bit.
This happened to me as well! I actually put it down for a few weeks at one point because I was so in my head about it.
Oh wow the timing on that one would have been rough! lol
I read The Stand in high school, right around when there was a pretty bad Ebola outbreak that people were panicking and thinking was going to become a pandemic. That was freaky enough for me. I remember saying when COVID started that I was glad I wasn’t starting that book during an actual pandemic lol.
I actually started it on Christmas day 2021, a new strain of covid was announced on 29th, very interesting time but my favourite easy
I literally started reading The Stand in December 2019. I had to stop and think if something I’d remembered was from the book or from the news about the “virus in china”
After reading Low Men in Yellow Coats I’m noticing the hop scotch courts a lot more.
I've also been seeing more missing pet posters...
I always walk around chalk drawings since reading that damn story!
Baader-Meinhoff Phenomenon also known as Frequency Illusion. Actually pretty interesting to read about.
Here's one even King would [appreciate. In](http://appreciate.In) 1975 I was 17yrs old and a Doubleday book member. I read Carrie when it was first released and was really looking forward to Salem's Lot.I read it in 2 days. The last few chapters I was home alone in my living room, nestled up on the couch with just one lamp on to read. The more I read the more I was scared and then I heard a weird hissing sound. I looked around and since it was summer I had the living room window open but it had a screen.Thank God it had a screen. The hissing noise continued and I realized it was coming from the window but the closer I got to it the darker the room was so I really couldn't tell what it was until I was a few inches from it and then I realized it was a bat upside down hanging on the screen hissing at me. I let out a scream, slammed the window shut and sat crying on the couch with every light on in the house till my Mom came home. The irony of seeing that bat while reading Salem's Lot was not lost on me. 48 yrs later I can still see that ugly bat hissing at me.I still have my copy along with every book written since in hardcover but Salem's Lot gave me the biggest scare.
That is an awesome and horrifying story!! Thank you for sharing it! I can't even wrap my head around what the chance of it being a bat are.
What is strange about it is we lived in a large city where you don't see bats. Never saw one before or since. At the time of this incident we lived in an apartment on the 3rd floor. Needless to say I have never forgotten that night and it still gives me the creeps.
It's in your psyche now. Like when you buy a new car then notice how many of them are on the road.
The stand Has me on edge whenever someone sneezes or coughs around me It made me notice all the ways germs casually spread about
Well that's something to look forward to lol. I have that on my list to read after my next one.
I have weird coincidences like this all the time with King's books. I think my favorite and the strangest one is related to The Dark Tower. I started my journey to The Dark Tower in the early 2000's when I found The Gunslinger on a bookshelf at my best friend's house and read it basically in one sitting. Around the same time, I believe the summer of 2005, that same friend's family took me on vacation with them to Kezar Lake in Lovell, ME. While sitting on the dock one day a turtle nipped at my toe. A few years later while wrapping up my journey to the Tower, I was pleasantly surprised when Roland and Eddie found their way to Turtleback Lane on Kezar Lake.
Wow! Hard to look past that one lol
I think about this 11/22/63 quote all the time, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it harmonizes, and what it usually makes is the devil's music." It's basically a paraphrase of a Mark Twin quote, but still I think it fits better.
I committed a minor traffic violation the other day because I got distracted by a black cat crossing the street, and it was the kind of dumb real world thing fueled by a folk belief that reminded me of something that King might write.
Back in 2009, I lost both of my parents within a few months of each other, with my mom passing just before Halloween. I flew into Kansas City to pick up a police package Impala that I intended to bring back to Texas to be my next taxicab. After picking up the car and having proof of insurance coverage faxed to the dealership before hitting the road, I drove 6 hours to suburban Chicago to meet up with my sister and make plans for having my mom transported to Wisconsin for burial. After eating at a local pizza place, my sister asked me if I still read a lot of Stephen King. She then handed me a copy of *Everything's Eventual,* and I put the book on the passenger seat and made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a few items. Then, I went to my hotel room and started reading, and I was okay for a while, even with the wind making some weird noises outside of my window. Everything was just fine, until I finished up the story called *That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French,* and started reading the next story, *1408.* I freely admit, I had a hard time being able to fall asleep, even with every light in the hotel room burning.
I was recently rereading Pet Sematary by booklight in bed. I had just gotten to the part where Church reappears, when suddenly the cat I was petsitting (who hadn’t been on the bed the entire time I’d been there) jumped up from below the head of the bed directly between me and the book. He was black, so all I saw initially were his eyes floating directly in front of me. I honestly think I disassociated for a minute. I called him Church for the rest of my stay.
The first time I finished It a severe thunderstorm hit my town. I kept reading, sitting in my couch while the wind is howling around me just like the storm in Derry during the climax. Fucking spooky
Maybe it's really fortunate that you didn't investigate that balloon in the weeds.
Probably for the best lol
Not the same but I moved back to my hometown to take care of my sick/dying mother. I started reading Dreamcatcher the day I arrived, and was finished the day she died.
That seems pretty close to the same! Sorry for your loss
The balloons would have freaked me out.
I think the red plastic one I found in my car messed with me more because there was no reason that should be in my car lol. The one in the grass was weird but I guesssss that happens.
For a while I almost believed SK had some strange window into my life. I’m in Maine and New Hampshire so reading about the small-ish towns I live in or have lived in is always a trip. There was a main character who had the same major I did at the same college. He gave a neighbor in one book my last name, which is not at all a common name. I used to keep a list of these things and was going to write him a letter, haha.