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Children of the Corn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Children of the Corn (disambiguation).

"Children of the Corn"
Short story by Stephen King
Illustration by Don Punchatz from the Penthouse magazine.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Horror, short story
Publication
Published inPenthouse, Night Shift, Stephen King Goes to the Movies
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Publication date1977 (magazine)
1978 (collection)

"Children of the Corn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.[1] The story has been adapted into several films, spawning a horror feature film franchise of the same name beginning in 1984. In 2009, the story was included in the book Stephen King Goes to the Movies.

Plot

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Burt and Vicky, a dysfunctional married couple, are driving through rural Nebraska when they accidentally run over a boy with a slit throat and a suitcase containing a crucifix made of corn husks. Burt and Vicky agree to report the incident to the police in Gatlin, the nearest town over, and place the body in their car's trunk.

When they arrive, Burt wants to visit a church vaguely familiar to him while Vicky becomes unnerved by the town. After arguing, Burt locks Vicky in the car and proceeds inside the church. Inside, he finds the keys and tops of the pipe organ ripped out and its pipes stuffed with corn husks. He also finds a King James Bible with several pages from the New Testament cut out as well as a record book listing the births and deaths of various people. Burt realizes that 12 years ago, the children of Gatlin killed the town's adults and that no one in the town can live past their 19th birthday.

After hearing the car's horn, Burt runs out to find the car surrounded by children and teenagers dressed in Amish-style clothing and armed with farm tools. They destroy the car and drag Vicky out. Burt tries to intervene, but he is distracted defending himself before realizing that Vicky is gone. The children then chase Burt until he loses them by hiding in an empty cornfield. As the sun sets, Burt wanders around until he discovers Vicky's body tied to a cross with barbed wire, her eyes ripped out and replaced with corn silk and her mouth stuffed with corn husks. He also sees the crucified skeletons of Gatlin's minister and police chief. After this discovery, Burt finds himself trapped by cornfield rows closing up on him and is soon killed by "He Who Walks Behind the Rows", an entity that inhabits the cornfields surrounding the town. Soon after, a harvest moon appears in the sky.

The next day, the children of Gatlin convene. As "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" is displeased by their failure to kill Burt, he punishes them by lowering the "age of favor" to 18 and commands them to "be fruitful and multiply". That night all of the 18-year-olds walk into the corn and disappear. The story ends by saying that the corn surrounding Gatlin is pleased.

Connections to other books

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Gatlin was mentioned in It. Hemingford Home, a neighboring town to Gatlin, was also the town where Mother Abagail lived and rounded up the good survivors of the super flu in The Stand, and was also the location in 1922.

Adaptations

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Main article: Children of the Corn (film series)

The story was adapted into a film, Children of the Corn, starring Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton. Several sequels and two adaptations followed.[2]

Original film series

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Other adaptations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ King, S. (2008). Night Shift. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780385528849. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  2. ^ Bradley, Laura (March 3, 2023). "The Ridiculous 'Children of the Corn' Remake Is a Mostly Rotten Mess". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
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