"The Road Virus Heads North" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

. The story first appeared in ''

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: ...

'', an anthology published in 1999 and edited by

Al Sarrantonio Al Sarrantonio (born May 25, 1952) is an American horror and science fiction writer, editor and publisher who has authored more than 50 books and 90 short stories. He has also edited numerous anthologies and has been called "brilliant" and "a ...

. In 2002, it was collected in King's ''

Everything's Eventual ''Everything's Eventual'' is a collection of 11 short stories and 3 novellas by American writer Stephen King, published in 2002. Stories "The Little Sisters of Eluria" is part of '' The Dark Tower'' series. Story order In the introduction ...

''.

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

wove the story around 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 Richard Kinnell, a successful horror writer, as he drives back from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to his home in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Along the way, he comes across a

yard sale A garage sale (also known as a yard sale, tag sale, moving sale and by many other namesSome rarely used names include "attic sale," "basement sale," "rummage sale," "thrift sale," "patio sale," "lawn sale," and "jumble sale".) is an informal ...

where he notices a bizarre, disturbing painting of a sinister-looking man with sharply filed teeth driving his car across Boston's

Tobin Bridge The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge (formerly the Mystic River Bridge) is a cantilever truss bridge that spans more than two miles (3 km) from Boston to Chelsea over the Mystic River in Massachusetts. The bridge is the largest in New Eng ...

. Entitled "The Road Virus Heads North", the painting was created by a tortured genius who burned his other pieces of artwork before dying by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

; the artist left a cryptic note explaining that he couldn't stand what was happening to him any longer, thus justifying his suicide. Kinnell, an avid collector of such oddities, purchases the painting without hesitation from the woman holding the sale. As Kinnell travels north, he stops at his aunt's house to show her the painting. He quickly notices that some of the details in the painting have changed. He initially dismisses this by assuming he hadn't examined it closely enough. However, Kinnell quickly realizes that the painting is continuing to change. Deeply unsettled by his observations, he discards the painting at a

rest stop A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway servi ...

. Once home and much to his horror, Kinnell discovers that the painting has somehow arrived ahead of him and is hanging above his fireplace. It has changed yet again, this time depicting a horrific and gory scene of slaughter at the yard sale where he purchased it. Kinnell later overhears a news story about the brutal murder of the woman who had sold him the painting. He soon realizes that the man in the painting actually exists, and the ever-changing painting shows him getting closer and closer to his home. Confident that this will destroy it once and for all, Kinnell tosses the painting into the fireplace and sets it alight. He then decides to take a shower. Without warning, Kinnell passes out and has a nightmare about the horrors he has encountered throughout his day. Upon awakening, Kinnell remembers that the artist burned all of his paintings, except this one. The painting survived Kinnell's attempts to destroy and discard it and the man in the painting has already arrived at his house. Kinnell tries to escape and fails. In the end, the painting gets him: the story's final passage describes Kinnell seeing the latest change to the painting, with fresh blood on the driver's seat of the killer’s car, and realizing that it is portraying what is about to happen to him.

Adaptations

"The Road Virus Heads North" was first filmed in 1999 by Dave Brock as a Stephen King "

Dollar Baby The Dollar Baby (or Dollar Deal) is an arrangement by which American author Stephen King grants permission to students and aspiring filmmakers or theatre producers to adapt one of his short stories for $1. (He retains rights to his work. As he beg ...

" project and circulated on the film festival circuit. The short story was adapted as an hour-long episode of the

Turner Network Television TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is dist ...

mini-series '' Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King'' in 2006. The episode starred

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing Jake ...

as Kinnell. It was also adapted by artist

Glenn 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, ...

for the book ''

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'' This volume includes s ...

'', a collection of comics based on King's short fiction published by Cemetery Dance in December 2006.

References

External links

*
Stephen King Short Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Road Virus Heads North, The 1999 short stories Short stories by Stephen King Short stories adapted into films Short stories set in Maine Short stories set in Massachusetts

Plot summary

Adaptations

See also

References

External links