The Science of Stephen King

Andrew Memelink: “It’s not going to be easy, it will be hardest and the worst at the beginning. It will get better over time; the key is to keep fighting. Deal with your underlying issues so they don’t keep dealing with you. Life can be better than you can imagine at this time.”

Kelly:“Are you familiar with any Stephen King books or movies? Do you have a favorite?

Andrew Memelink: “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (1982) and Different Seasons (1982) were phenomenal in general. Storm of the Century (1999) also was always a favorite of mine.”

Kelly: “Those are all great! Thank you for speaking with us.”

How does heroin affect the body? Heroin binds to and activates specific receptors in the brain called mu-opioid receptors (MORs). They release dopamine and the brain’s reward centers are activated. When heroin enters the brain, it’s converted to morphine and users describe a pleasurable rush feeling. The good feelings are offset by potential complications including sleepiness and slowed breathing, which can lead to possible brain damage and even coma. Prolonged use of heroin can permanently affect the brain. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, “studies have shown some deterioration of the brain’s white matter due to heroin use, which may affect decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to stressful situations.”6 The process of detoxing from heroin can be quite painful and uncomfortable with symptoms ranging from muscle aches and nausea to shaking and depression. These symptoms tend to be strongest within twenty-four to forty-eight hours after using the drug and can last up to several months.

Drug overdoses have become the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States, killing an average of forty-four thousand people every year.7

Parallel universes are a theme in the Dark Tower series but are they possible? To understand the theory of a multiverse, we first need to understand a bit about the big bang theory. Scientists have studied how after this great explosion universes expanded, then cooled down and galaxies were brought together. In the 1980s, a physicist named Alan Guth introduced the idea of inflation. He suggested that gravity can sometimes act repulsively and it is because of this that the big bang was born. When we look at inflation creating the universe, we can predict what outcome it would have. Guth explains that inflation allows us to understand the uniformity of our universe. The observable universe is very uniform and as it expands, the uniformity would inevitably continue.8

String theory is another postulation of the multiverse possibility. Everything in the universe is made of matter and as we break it down we see molecules, atoms, and then electrons which are in a quantum cloud around a nucleus. These nuclei have protons and neutrons which then contain quarks. String theory posits that if you look inside those quarks you will find a stringlike filament of vibrating energy that can interact with all types of matter. This, in theory, adds extra dimensions of space time. String theory has been successful in explaining black holes and quark-gluon plasma9 but has left scientists divided over the number of multiverses that could exist. There’s no doubt that these theories will be studied for years to come.

“Go, then. There are other worlds than these,”10 Jake tells the Gunslinger before falling to his death. Go, readers. There are so many worlds and stories that Stephen King has created. Explore the Dark Tower series if you haven’t already.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Misery

In any good story there is the worthy, empathetic protagonist; think Roland Deschain in the Dark Tower series, or the kids who make up the Losers Club in It. On the flip side there is the antagonist; the malicious monster like Cujo, or the calculated ghoul of Leland Gaunt in Needful Things.

In Misery, these aspects of good and evil are muddier. Especially in the beginning of the novel, when Paul Sheldon is saved from the wreck of his car by what seems like a caring and concerned nurse. But, as constant readers have come to expect, no matter how harmless Annie Wilkes looks, she is pure venom; a woman who not only has a questionable hold on her sanity, but also has a history of killing her patients.