The Road Virus Heads North
Encyclopedia
"The Road Virus Heads North" is a short story
by Stephen King
. This story first appeared in 999
, an anthology published in 1999 and edited by Al Sarrantonio
. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual
.
Stephen King
based this work on a painting he has at his home, which is disliked by his family. King himself is a fan of "moving picture" stories, which inspired him to write this tale.
, Maine
. Along the way, he comes across a yard sale, where he notices and is captivated by a bizarre painting of a sinister-looking man with filed teeth driving his car somewhere. The painting, which is apparently titled "The Road Virus Heads North," was painted by a tortured genius who had burned all his other paintings prior to killing himself, leaving a cryptic note that he couldn't stand what was happening to him. Kinnell, a collector of such oddities, has no hesitation in buying the painting from the woman running the sale.
As Kinnell travels north, he stops at his aunt's house to show her the painting... and notices that some of the details in the painting have changed. At first he dismisses this by assuming he hadn't examined it closely, but he soon realizes that the painting is continuing to change. Deeply unsettled by this fact, he discards the painting at a rest stop.
When he arrives at his home, he finds to his horror that the painting has somehow followed him, and hangs from his wall. It has changed again, this time depicting a bloody aftermath at the yard sale where he had purchased it. He hears on the news that the woman running the yard sale was brutally murdered. He realizes that the man in the painting somehow really exists, and the ever-changing painting shows him getting closer and closer to his home. Kinnell lights a fire in the fireplace, and tosses in the painting. Confident this will destroy it once and for all, he decides to take a shower, where he passes out and has a nightmare about the various things he's encountered that day.
When he awakens, he realizes that the artist who created The Road Virus burned all his paintings, including this one, which means that the painting survived his attempt to burn it, and the man in the painting has arrived and is walking through the house. Kinnell tries to escape, but ultimately fails, and the painting gets him as well; the book's final passage describes Kinnell seeing the latest change to the painting, with fresh blood on the driver's seat of the car, and realizes the painting is showing what is about to happen to him.
" project and circulated on the film festival circuit.
The short story was adapted as an hour-long episode of the Turner Network Television
mini-series Nightmares and Dreamscapes
in 2006. The episode starred Tom Berenger
as Kinnell.
for the book The Secretary of Dreams
, a collection of comics based on King's short fiction published by Cemetery Dance
in December 2006.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
. This story first appeared in 999
999 (anthology)
999: New Stories of Horror and Suspense is a collection of short stories and novellas published in 1999 and edited by Al Sarrantonio. The title is a contraction of the year as well as 666 upside-down. All twenty-nine stories had never been published before...
, an anthology published in 1999 and edited by Al Sarrantonio
Al Sarrantonio
Al Sarrantonio is an American horror and science fiction author who has published, over the past thirty-five years, more than forty-five books and eighty short stories...
. In 2002, it was collected in King's collection Everything's Eventual
Everything's Eventual
"Everything's Eventual" is a novella by Stephen King. It was originally published in the October/November 1997 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. In 2000, it was included in the game Stephen King's F13...
.
Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
based this work on a painting he has at his home, which is disliked by his family. King himself is a fan of "moving picture" stories, which inspired him to write this tale.
Plot summary
The story follows a successful horror writer named Richard Kinnell as he drives back from Boston to his home in DerryDerry (Stephen King)
Derry, Maine is a fictional town and a part of Stephen King's fictional Maine topography, and, like Castle Rock, it has served as the setting for a number of his novels, novellas, and short stories. It first appeared in the short story "The Bird and the Album" and was expanded on in both It and...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. Along the way, he comes across a yard sale, where he notices and is captivated by a bizarre painting of a sinister-looking man with filed teeth driving his car somewhere. The painting, which is apparently titled "The Road Virus Heads North," was painted by a tortured genius who had burned all his other paintings prior to killing himself, leaving a cryptic note that he couldn't stand what was happening to him. Kinnell, a collector of such oddities, has no hesitation in buying the painting from the woman running the sale.
As Kinnell travels north, he stops at his aunt's house to show her the painting... and notices that some of the details in the painting have changed. At first he dismisses this by assuming he hadn't examined it closely, but he soon realizes that the painting is continuing to change. Deeply unsettled by this fact, he discards the painting at a rest stop.
When he arrives at his home, he finds to his horror that the painting has somehow followed him, and hangs from his wall. It has changed again, this time depicting a bloody aftermath at the yard sale where he had purchased it. He hears on the news that the woman running the yard sale was brutally murdered. He realizes that the man in the painting somehow really exists, and the ever-changing painting shows him getting closer and closer to his home. Kinnell lights a fire in the fireplace, and tosses in the painting. Confident this will destroy it once and for all, he decides to take a shower, where he passes out and has a nightmare about the various things he's encountered that day.
When he awakens, he realizes that the artist who created The Road Virus burned all his paintings, including this one, which means that the painting survived his attempt to burn it, and the man in the painting has arrived and is walking through the house. Kinnell tries to escape, but ultimately fails, and the painting gets him as well; the book's final passage describes Kinnell seeing the latest change to the painting, with fresh blood on the driver's seat of the car, and realizes the painting is showing what is about to happen to him.
Compared with other Stephen King stories
- The plot of this story involves a changing painting, an idea which was also used by King for Rose MadderRose Madder (novel)Rose Madder is a 1995 novel by Stephen King. It deals with the effects of domestic violence and, unusually for a King novel, relies for its fantastic element on Greek mythology...
. - A somewhat similar idea, that of an instant camera whose pictures depict a scene that gets progressively more disturbing, was the basis of the novellaNovellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
"The Sun Dog" in the collection Four Past MidnightFour Past MidnightFour Past Midnight is a collection of four novellas by Stephen King, published in 1990. The four stories are "The Langoliers"; "Secret Window, Secret Garden"; "The Library Policeman"; and "The Sun Dog".- The Langoliers :...
.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
"The Road Virus Heads North" was first filmed in 2004 by Dave Brock as a Stephen King "Dollar BabyDollar Baby
The Dollar Baby is a term coined by best-selling author Stephen King in reference to a select group of students and aspiring filmmakers or theatre producers whom he has granted permission to adapt one of his short stories for $1...
" project and circulated on the film festival circuit.
The short story was adapted as an hour-long episode of the Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
mini-series Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Nightmares & Dreamscapes (TV Series)
Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King is an 8-episode anthology series on TNT based on short stories written by Stephen King. It debuted on July 12, 2006, and ended its run on August 2, 2006. Although most of them are from the collection of the same name, there are some...
in 2006. The episode starred Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger is an American actor known mainly for his roles in action films.-Early life:Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago to an Irish Catholic family. Berenger's father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Berenger has a sister, Susan...
as Kinnell.
Other adaptations
The short story has been adapted by artist Glenn ChadbourneGlenn Chadbourne
Glenn Chadbourne is an American artist. He lives in Newcastle, Maine. He is best known for his work in the horror and fantasy genres, having created covers and illustrated books and magazines for publishers such as Cemetery Dance Publications, Subterranean Press, and Earthling Publications. Mr...
for the book The Secretary of Dreams
The Secretary of Dreams
The Secretary of Dreams is a series of graphic short story collections authored by Stephen King and illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne. Cemetery Dance Publications released the first volume in December 2006.-Volume 1:...
, a collection of comics based on King's short fiction published by Cemetery Dance
Cemetery Dance Publications
Cemetery Dance Publications is a specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992.Cemetery...
in December 2006.