Coronavirus: the health crisis seen by Stephen King

The catastrophic scenario of the pandemic, Stephen King had imagined in his novel The Scourge . While his new collection of short stories, If It Bleeds , has just been released in English-speaking countries, the favorite writer of screenwriters gets caught up in the river interview in the New York Times . The opportunity for the master of horror to share his thoughts on the coronavirus health crisis and the anxieties it generates.

Read also: Doctor Sleep : Stephen King, the Hollywood scarecrow

"What is shocking is to see how quickly things are changing ," confides the writer to journalist David Marchese. Was it a month ago that we normally circulated in supermarkets? Today, we see all these people wearing masks and gloves. It seems unreal. ” What create an anxiety-provoking climate, conducive to paranoia and hypochondria, according to the writer. " If you sneeze or cough, the first thought that comes to your mind is" maybe I have this disease, " " he says.

In Le Fléau , King imagined a pandemic of super-influenza whose high rate of contamination led to the fall of civilization as we know it. Are we living right now in a Stephen King novel ?, had fun several Internet users on social networks. "In Le Fléau , everything happens so quickly that the roads are blocked by cars ," King replied. Fortunately, things did not happen like that. People managed not to panic. ”

Trump virus

What is he worried about? He who used his own anxieties as a catalyst for his stories ... " I would say that I worry a little about food" , he admits, citing the novel The Second Sleep by Robert Harris as a source of his worries . "It takes place in the distant future, after a major disaster that took place in the 21st century," said King. These people are wondering what it can be, and they find articles from that era of a type that warns about what would happen after a terrible event - such as the coronavirus. It shows that in big cities everyone is six days away from starvation because of the supply chain. ”

Hear Trump speak, I'm not sure he's a very good reader. I know he doesn't write very well. In my opinion, someone who cannot read or write cannot think. And that's what we have

Another source of concern for the novelist? Donald Trump. The American president reminds him of Greg Stillson, the politician from his book Dead Zone who promises to eradicate pollution by sending waste into space (the character is played by Martin Sheen in the adaptation of David Cronenberg). "I am scandalized by the depth of his stupidity ," explains the novelist. Hear Trump speak, I'm not sure he's a very good reader. I know he doesn't write very well. In my opinion, someone who cannot read or write cannot think. And that's what we have. ” This is a catastrophic scenario.