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Children of the Corn

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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 couple trying to save their marriage, are driving to California for a vacation and to visit Vicky's brother. As they are driving through rural Nebraska and arguing, Burt is ready to call off the vacation and consult a divorce attorney. Then they accidentally run over a young boy who had his throat slit and was thrown into the road. Burt opens the boy's suitcase to find a crucifix made of twisted corn husks. They agree to report the incident to the police and place the body in their car's trunk.

Burt and Vicky go to the nearest town—a small, isolated community called Gatlin—for help. At first the town appears to be abandoned, but they soon discover that it is inhabited by a cult of murderous children who worship "He Who Walks Behind the Rows", a demon that lives in the local cornfields. The children abduct Vicky and stab Burt, who escapes into the corn. After wandering through the corn, Burt finds the crucified corpses of Vicky, the town's former minister, and the town's former police chief. As night falls, He Who Walks Behind the Rows(described as a giant green being with large red eyes) traps Burt in the cornfield and kills him.

The story ends with the children having a meeting in the cornfield the next day. Isaac, the cult's leader, announces that the age limit for sacrifices has been lowered from 19 to 18 as a punishment for failing to capture Burt. That night, Malachi (the killer of the boy Burt and Vicky ran over) and all of the other 18-year-olds walk into the corn and disappear. Malachi's pregnant girlfriend, Ruth, watches on and wants to stop this, but she has no power to do so.

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 2015-07-12.
  2. ^ Bradley, Laura (2023-03-03). "The Ridiculous 'Children of the Corn' Remake Is a Mostly Rotten Mess". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
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