The Mist was first published in Skeleton Crew (Signet), a collection of Stephen King short stories. This new edition presents The Mist separately for the first time, presumable to capitalize on the release of the movie adaptation. The novella begins with a sudden and dangerous storm that causes a lot of damage to the small town of Bridgton, Maine. David Drayton takes his son to town for some groceries the next morning only to get socked in by an extremely thick fog. Unfortunately, there are creatures out there in the mist that are like nothing on Earth. Drayton and the others who are trapped in the story must try to come to terms with what it happening while struggling for survival.
Because this is a novella, there is little space wasted here. There is a reasonable length setup introducing a few key characters and then the "fun" begins. The pacing remains pretty tight until the end of the story. Despite the small amount of space, the characters are pretty well developed and I definitely cared what happened to them. As is standard with Armageddon style stories, man is often his own worst enemy and this group is no exception. The extreme behavior of some in the store is all the more chilling because you believe it could happen.
The Mist is an excellent story, one of King's best regardless of length. I would suggest that readers might want to consider buying Skeleton Crew instead of this novella, however. For just one dollar more you can obtain an additional 21 stories and many of them are also enjoyable.