The Science of Stephen King

Kara Lee Corthron: “As mentioned before, The Shining. There is a lot that I love about that movie so I’ll just name a few things. I love the messiness. I’ve seen it more times than I’d like to admit. I’ve seen Room 237 (2013) a few times and there are still parts of that movie that make no sense to me and I’m totally okay with that. Was Jack Torrance a guest at the Overlook in 1921? Was it Delbert Grady? Does Delbert Grady sometimes look like Jack Nicholson? I have no idea. (You may be an expert with answers to these questions, but I respectfully ask that you don’t provide them.) How does Jack get freed from the freezer? Did he and Danny’s combined shining powers bring the ghosts to life? Well … probably. Regardless, the images, the performances, the score, the humor, and the terror of that film make it a masterpiece in my eyes.”

Meg: “It’s really interesting to learn about the differences between fiction writing and screenwriting and to think about how calculated adaptations really are!”

Ninety-two percent of mutual dreams were between two people. Twenty-seven percent of these were between friends, 42 percent relatives, 27 percent significant others, and 4 percent non-familiar people. Dreamers did not typically speak together during the dream and 48 percent had the dream while in different locations.3

Dreamcatchers originated in the Ojibwe culture and are traditionally hung over a baby’s crib to offer protection.

One theme in Dreamcatcher is the idea of shared dreams. Although no scientific studies have been conducted on this phenomenon, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of people having the same dream. It tends to be more prominent in twins and longtime married couples but is even reported by people who are strangers and recognize each other from their dream. While shared dreams haven’t been properly researched, there exists a lot of science around dreams. According to Antti Revonsuo, a psychologist at the University of Turku in Finland, dreams may play a role in helping us deal with possible threats. “His threat simulation theory proposes that nightmares about attacks by saber-toothed cats gave our early ancestors an opportunity to practice how to survive a real-world encounter.”4 Maybe this is why we, as horror fans, like the genre so much! We may be practicing how to handle these seemingly impossible obstacles. Our dreams act as a reservoir of ideas and allow us to process and work through personal feelings, subconscious opinions, and memories.

The character of Duddits in the novel plays a major role throughout the story. He is the reason the four friends come together in their childhood and again by the end of the book. Duddits has Down syndrome, which is the most common chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States. There are about six thousand babies born with it per year. Those who have Down syndrome may have some common physical traits of the condition including low muscle tone, small stature, and an upward slant to the eyes. Children with Down syndrome tend to have a higher incidence of infection, respiratory, vision, and hearing problems but can lead healthy lives. The average life expectancy of individuals with Down syndrome is sixty years.

The main culprit causing havoc in Dreamcatcher is the strange, reddish fungus left by the alien parasite. When it’s inhaled or eaten by people or animals, it causes large, wormlike aliens, called byrum, to infect the host. Byrum could be described as lamprey-like creatures with multiple rows of teeth. Another form of byrus can grow on open wounds and mucus membranes. How do spores of fungus actually affect living things? Fungal spores can be triggers of allergic reactions or can be the cause of infectious disease in humans. An example that could be present in our homes is mold. If the spores are airborne, they present possible respiratory problems for people. Fungi don’t only affect humans, though. The majority of plant diseases are caused by fungi with over ten thousand species being recognized as pathogens.5

Between 1916 and 1924, Gilbert Murray conducted 236 experiments into telepathy and reported 36 percent as successful; however, it was suggested that the results could be explained by hyperesthesia as he could hear what was being said by the sender.6