"1408"

Author	Stephen King
Country	USA
Language	English
Genre(s)	Horror short story
Published in	Blood and Smoke
Publisher	Simon & Schuster Audio
Media type	Audiobook anthology
Publication date	November 1999

1408 is the second short story in the audiobook collection titled Blood and Smoke, by Stephen King, released in 1999. In 2002, it was reprinted in written form as the twelfth story in the compilation Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales. Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror novels. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the reader. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Blood and Smoke (1999) is an audio book where Stephen King reads three of his own short stories. ... An audio book is a recording of the contents of a book read aloud. ... See also: 1998 in literature, other events of 1999, 2000 in literature, list of years in literature. ... This article is in need of attention. ... An audio book is a recording of the contents of a book read aloud. ... Blood and Smoke (1999) is an audio book where Stephen King reads three of his own short stories. ... Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror novels. ...

In the introduction to the story, King says that 1408 is his version of what he calls the "Ghostly Room at the Inn", his term for the theme of haunted hotel or motel rooms in horror fiction. He originally wrote the first few pages as part of an appendix for his non-fiction book, On Writing, to be used as an example of how a story changes from one Draft document to the next. King also noted how the numbers of the title add up to the unlucky number 13. A ghostly woman coming down the stairs. ... Dariush Grand Hotel,Kish island, Iran The 4-star Manor House Hotel at Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England. ... Holiday Inn Great Sign Exterior of a Howard Johnsons motor lodge. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle, or horrify the reader. ... Look up appendix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Non-fiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. ... On Writing. ... 13 (thirteen) is the natural number following 12 and preceding 14. ...

Plot summary

As in many of King's works, the protagonist of the story is a writer, Mike Enslin, who writes non-fiction works based around the theme of haunted places. His book series, Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Houses, Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Graveyards, and Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Castles, prove to be bestsellers, but Enslin internally reveals some guilt and regret at their success, privately acknowledging that he is neither a believer in the occult nor in the supernatural elements he espouses in these books. A protagonist is the main figure of a piece of literature or drama and has the main part or role. ... The word occult comes from the Latin occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to knowledge of the hidden. In the medical sense it is used commonly to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e. ... Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Nonetheless, he arrives at the Hotel Dolphin on Sixty-first Street in New York City intent on spending the night in the hotel's infamous room 1408, as part of his research for his next book, Ten Nights in Ten Haunted Hotel Rooms. At first Enslin is unfazed by 1408's morbid history; according to the hotel's manager, Mr. Olin (who has purposely left it vacant for over 20 years), room 1408 has been responsible for 12 suicides and 30 natural deaths over a span of 68 years. While remarking that he doesn't believe there are ghosts in 1408, Olin insists there is "something" that resides inside, something that causes terrible things to happen to people who stay within its walls for anything but the briefest periods of time, something that affects various electronic devices, causing digital wristwatches, pocket calculators, and cell phones to not function or to operate unpredictably. Mr. Olin also reveals that due to the superstitious practice of never recognizing the 13th floor (the room is listed on the 14th), it is a room cursed by existing on the 13th floor, the room numbers adding up to 13 making it all the worse. He pleads with Enslin to reconsider, believing that a skeptic such as he is even more susceptible to the room's curse. Enslin is shaken, but his determination to follow through with his research and to not appear frightened before Mr. Olin wins out. Olin reluctantly leads him to the 14th floor, unwilling to accompany him farther than the elevator. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally ending ones own life. ... A ghostly woman coming down the stairs. ... Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical...

Enslin's problems with Room 1408 begin before he even sets foot through the door; in fact, the door itself initially appears to be crooked. He looks again and the door appears to be straight - then again, and it appears to be crooked again (though this time leaning to the right instead of the left).

As Enslin enters and examines the room, and begins dictating into a hand-held tape recorder, his train of thought immediately takes unwelcome and chaotic turns - he compares it to "being stoned on bad, cheap dope". He begins experiencing what may or may not be hallucinations; the breakfast menu on the nightstand changes languages and finally turns into a woodcut of a boy being eaten alive by a wolf, pictures on the walls shift into disgusting perversions, and Enslin's thoughts become bizarre and incoherent. Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder. ... A dried flowered bud of the Cannabis sativa plant. ... A dried flowered bud of the Cannabis sativa plant. ...

Panicking, Enslin tries calling the hotel operator but instead hears an inhuman, rasping voice coming from the phone's receiver. Enslin watches with horror as the room seems to melt before his eyes, and he senses a hungry, inhuman presence approaching. He can't seem to keep a clear head long enough to walk to the other side of the room. He opens a book of matches and, in a last-ditch effort to shock himself back to awareness and clear his perceptions, sets his shirt on fire. Engulfed in flames, he manages to escape the room, bursting into the hallway just as another guest happens to be walking by with a bucket of ice; the guest extinguishes the flames and saves Enslin's life, though he will suffer health problems, paranoia, and severe nightmares from that day forward. Traumatized, Enslin quits his lucrative career (to the dismay of his agent) and retires to a beachhouse, completely shut off from society, the disturbing tape recording becoming the only testament of his ordeal. The story ends with Enslin muttering to himself about the inhuman nature of 1408. For other senses of this word, see paranoia (disambiguation). ... This page is about a type of dream. ...

Allusions/references to other works

• Part of the drafts to the story were included in On Writing as a study of how King edits his work.

• There are also allusions to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Dreams in the Witch House", including the near hypnogogic state of the narrator and the idea of "strange geometries" i.e. the slanted doorway.^{[citation needed]}

• "That thing in the wall" is a reference to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper.^{[citation needed]}

• The name "Hotel Dolphin" is a reference to Haruki Murakami's book A Wild Sheep Chase and its sequel Dance, Dance, Dance. In Murakami's Hotel Dolphin, a number of strange and supernatural occurrences take place.^{[citation needed]}

On Writing. ... The Dreams in the Witch House is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction. ... The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by author Charlotte Perkins Gilman. ... Haruki Murakami , born January 12, 1949) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. ... A Wild Sheep Chase,羊をめぐる冒険 (Hitsuji o meguru bōken), is a novel published in 1982 by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. ... Dance, dance, dance (Japanese title ダンス・ダンス・ダンス, Dansu, dansu, dansu) is the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in 1988. ...

Film adaptation

Main article: 1408 (film)

The Swedish film director Mikael Håfström has developed a movie, 1408, based on the short story, starring John Cusack as Michael Enslin and Samuel L. Jackson as Mr. Olin. It was released June 22, 2007 and was a financial success in its opening weekend, taking in $20.1 million. [1] 1408 is an upcoming 2007 film based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. ... Jan Mikael HÃ¥fström (born 1 July 1960 in Lund, Sweden) is a Swedish film writer and director. ... 1408 is an upcoming 2007 film based on the Stephen King short story of the same name. ... John Paul Cusack (born June 28, 1966) is an American film actor and writer. ... “Samuel Jackson” redirects here. ... 2007 has been referred to, by film and media critics, as the year of the threequels, a nickname referring to both the 2004 summer movie season, and to three film sequels from that year, which again appear this year: Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, [[Pirates of the Caribbean: At...

External links

• 1408 at the Internet Movie Database