It foreshadows its endgame with biblical allegories (Samson and the Temple) and the first chapter which introduces characters that are important to its feverish climax. THE INSTITUTE's greatest strength is its structure. King sets up the reader's expectations and builds a sense of dread early and often. Luke Ellis, the protagonist, is given a rundown on what’s in store for him early on in the novel, so there aren’t exactly any major surprises about what his experience is going to be like.

She is cruel, vile, and desperate to get results. Sigsby, who truly leaps off the page like Nurse Ratched in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST. There’s a hodgepodge of ex-special ops orderlies, conniving doctors, mad scientists, and Mrs. They walk down sterile halls that have corny, motivational posters that are inscribed with phrases like “Another Day in Paradise!” The allusions to Auschwitz are laid on, thick.īesides its setting, the monsters in THE INSTITUTE are human. They’re provided with cigarettes and alcohol to keep them docile. When the children arrive in the “front half,” they spend their time in rooms that are purposefully designed to be identical (nearly) to the rooms they were taken from. It’s terrifying enough that the children who inhabit THE INSTITUTE have been kidnapped and taken against their will, but they’re not kept in cages, they’re not housed in cells. Much like THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, King uses setting to balance subtle horror with the overt. It wears the patterns of ENDER'S GAME, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, OLDBOY, AKIRA, and STRANGER THINGS, and it’s stitched together with dozens of “King-verse” easter eggs that long-time fans will appreciate. It wrapped me up in a quilt of familiar tropes and kept me warm as the weather (finally) grew cold in October. I really enjoyed my time with THE INSTITUTE.

In his most recent novel, THE INSTITUTE, he blends the two together in order to send the reader down a rabbit hole of shadowy and sinister top-secret programs, psychic abilities, and moral philosophical dilemmas. Throughout his prolific career as an author, Stephen King has proven that he can deftly handle the horrors of institutionalization (RITA HAYWORTH AND THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) and the complicated social dynamics of children (IT, THE BODY). “No one who fully grasped the Institute's work could regard it as monstrous” -Stephen King “Luke guessed you could get used to anything, it was a horrible idea.” -Stephen King THE INSTITUTE Review by The Horror Hypothesis Sadie & Donnie's Side By Side Review of THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King

Stephen kings the institute