The Science of Stephen King

This question began to intrigue Stephen King. Danny would be grown up now. Would he be driven to addiction like his father? How would he handle his ability? Would it be more of a blessing or a curse? To his fans’ great delight, King answered all these questions and more in the 2013 novel Doctor Sleep. Danny had unfortunately succumbed to alcoholism like his father Jack, yet after hitting rock bottom he found solace and purpose working in a hospice.

That is until he begins to communicate with a girl named Abra, who shares his “shining” as well as a telepathic connection with Danny. Things turn bad when the novel’s villain, Rose the Hat, and her gang of vampires stalk Abra. Danny must become the hero once again, saving not only Abra, but every person who possesses the “shine.” These vampires led by Rose the Hat are not the Salem’s Lot variety. Instead of blood, they subsist on the fumes released by the fear of those with the power. This means they resort to torture and murder in order to stay young and healthy.

This obviously got us thinking about the extreme lengths people will go to appear younger or slow the process of aging. The term “fountain of youth” is often attached to fad diets, skin creams, or shakes full of spinach and vitamins. It is most popularly derived from the legend of Ponce De Leon and his exploration of what is now modern-day Florida. Juan Ponce De Leon was a Spanish conquistador who lived on the cusp of the sixteenth century. Stories have endured that Ponce De Leon was searching for the famed fountain of youth when he landed on the Eastern coast of Florida. Yet, historians today argue there is no proof of his motive.

North Bimini is home to the “healing hole,” a well of sea water made naturally by limestone. It is at the end of several twisting tunnels and many Europeans revered it as having water that would provide the drinker with better health.

Whether the Spanish conquistador was on the hunt for the fountain of youth, he was not the first to be linked to its existence.

Accounts of a river of youth were nothing new to men of the time. The Alexander Romance, a collection of stories about the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great, from the third century, has the conqueror looking for a river of immortality in India. And The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight, written in the fourteenth century, includes a description of the fountain of youth. When Caribbean natives spoke of an island called Bimini, where there was said to be a river of curative waters, some of the Spanish explorers believed them. Pietro Martire de Anghiera, an Italian historian, discounted the story but wrote Pope Leo X in 1513 with his concerns that “all the people … think it to be true.”1

Today, the site of the legend of Juan Ponce de Leon is a tourist attraction in St. Augustine, Florida. The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park has no historical proof that Ponce De Leon was ever there, yet many visitors drink from the park’s waters. Just in case it really does offer youthfulness, or perhaps even immortality!

Across the world from the lush forests of Florida was a castle in the snowcapped mountains of Hungary. Within its walls lived a Countess, desperate to regain her youthful beauty. While the legend of Ponce De Leon cannot be verified, the cruel actions of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory were witnessed by over three hundred, who were all willing to testify against her.