The Science of Stephen King

In the novel, when an infestation is sufficiently established with the byrum, the host develops a form of telepathy with other infected individuals. Do any animals communicate telepathically? Anecdotal evidence suggests that people can communicate with their pets or that their pets have a telepathic sense about certain things. For example, some dog owners claim that their pets are waiting for them when they get home as if they had a sense that they knew they were about to return. Others claim to see animals communicating with each other without using sounds. This could be explained by nonverbal communication between animals. Movement, proximity, and tactile interactions all play a role in conveying messages without words. Proponents of animal telepathy believe humans can communicate with animals if they are open to it.

Several characters and animals have similar symptoms caused by infection with an extraterrestrial macro virus. Army scientists named this “The Ripley,” after the protagonist of the Alien (1979) movie. It has an extreme resistance to destruction. Do these types of macro viruses exist on Earth? Viruses are entities whose genome replicates inside living cells, and are able to transfer that viral genome to other cells. There are multiple viruses on Earth that are extremely resistant to treatment including Ebola, Hantavirus, and Dengue fever. There could be viruses in space, too, but astrovirology has not been studied much. “Part of the reason for astrovirology’s absence from space-science agendas is that virologists have not been reaching out to astrobiologists and pushing the case for virion hunting. Another major reason is technical: virions are tiny and so scientists need transmission electron microscopes to see their unique and varied shapes.”7

The byrum maintain a symbiotic relationship with their host. Are there examples of this in nature? Some symbiotic relationships can be healthy. For example, bacteria living in our bodies have beneficial effects. In the ocean, sea anemones and hermit crabs help each other by fending off the other’s enemies. If the symbiotic relationship between two living things is harmful to one then it is considered parasitic. Examples of this include roundworms, fleas, and barnacles.

Mr. Gray is described as the perfect Typhoid Mary to spread the virus. What is the history behind this infamous figure? Mary Mallon was the first asymptomatic typhoid carrier to be identified by medical science and she worked as a cook for seven families in New York City from 1900 to 1907. During that time, she infected countless people with typhoid fever. Only three deaths are attributed to her but the number could be as high as fifty due to her use of aliases and secrecy. Typhoid is a bacterial infection that causes fever, abdominal pain, headache, and vomiting. Symptoms usually don’t present until six to thirty days after exposure so it can be difficult to track the origin. Mallon was eventually quarantined for life and died of pneumonia at age sixty-nine.

In Dreamcatcher, Henry, too, is quarantined by the United States Army. How often are quarantines used? In 1799 the first quarantine hospital was built in America after a yellow fever outbreak occurred six years prior. In comparison, the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 prompted China to build a quarantine hospital in only ten days! At one point in the 1970s, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reduced the number of quarantine stations from fifty-five to eight because it was believed that infectious diseases were a thing of the past. The number was increased to twenty again within the past two decades due to threats of bioterrorism and other pandemic possibilities.

Although Mr. Gray infects some water supplies in the area, the last of the virus dies in the fire. Written longhand while recovering from his accident, some things remain true; like many Stephen King novels, Dreamcatcher ends with a group of friends coming together to defeat the evil. King’s own family, friends, and fans certainly showed up for him in his time of need and the world will forever be grateful.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

From a Buick 8