The character of Duddits in the novel plays a major role throughout the story. He is the reason the four friends come together in their childhood and again by the end of the book. Duddits has Down syndrome, which is the most common chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States. There are about six thousand babies born with it per year. Those who have Down syndrome may have some common physical traits of the condition including low muscle tone, small stature, and an upward slant to the eyes. Children with Down syndrome tend to have a higher incidence of infection, respiratory, vision, and hearing problems but can lead healthy lives. The average life expectancy of individuals with Down syndrome is sixty years.
The main culprit causing havoc in Dreamcatcher is the strange, reddish fungus left by the alien parasite. When it’s inhaled or eaten by people or animals, it causes large, wormlike aliens, called byrum, to infect the host. Byrum could be described as lamprey-like creatures with multiple rows of teeth. Another form of byrus can grow on open wounds and mucus membranes. How do spores of fungus actually affect living things? Fungal spores can be triggers of allergic reactions or can be the cause of infectious disease in humans. An example that could be present in our homes is mold. If the spores are airborne, they present possible respiratory problems for people. Fungi don’t only affect humans, though. The majority of plant diseases are caused by fungi with over ten thousand species being recognized as pathogens.5
Between 1916 and 1924, Gilbert Murray conducted 236 experiments into telepathy and reported 36 percent as successful; however, it was suggested that the results could be explained by hyperesthesia as he could hear what was being said by the sender.6
In the novel, when an infestation is sufficiently established with the byrum, the host develops a form of telepathy with other infected individuals. Do any animals communicate telepathically? Anecdotal evidence suggests that people can communicate with their pets or that their pets have a telepathic sense about certain things. For example, some dog owners claim that their pets are waiting for them when they get home as if they had a sense that they knew they were about to return. Others claim to see animals communicating with each other without using sounds. This could be explained by nonverbal communication between animals. Movement, proximity, and tactile interactions all play a role in conveying messages without words. Proponents of animal telepathy believe humans can communicate with animals if they are open to it.
Several characters and animals have similar symptoms caused by infection with an extraterrestrial macro virus. Army scientists named this “The Ripley,” after the protagonist of the Alien (1979) movie. It has an extreme resistance to destruction. Do these types of macro viruses exist on Earth? Viruses are entities whose genome replicates inside living cells, and are able to transfer that viral genome to other cells. There are multiple viruses on Earth that are extremely resistant to treatment including Ebola, Hantavirus, and Dengue fever. There could be viruses in space, too, but astrovirology has not been studied much. “Part of the reason for astrovirology’s absence from space-science agendas is that virologists have not been reaching out to astrobiologists and pushing the case for virion hunting. Another major reason is technicaclass="underline" virions are tiny and so scientists need transmission electron microscopes to see their unique and varied shapes.”7
The byrum maintain a symbiotic relationship with their host. Are there examples of this in nature? Some symbiotic relationships can be healthy. For example, bacteria living in our bodies have beneficial effects. In the ocean, sea anemones and hermit crabs help each other by fending off the other’s enemies. If the symbiotic relationship between two living things is harmful to one then it is considered parasitic. Examples of this include roundworms, fleas, and barnacles.
Mr. Gray is described as the perfect Typhoid Mary to spread the virus. What is the history behind this infamous figure? Mary Mallon was the first asymptomatic typhoid carrier to be identified by medical science and she worked as a cook for seven families in New York City from 1900 to 1907. During that time, she infected countless people with typhoid fever. Only three deaths are attributed to her but the number could be as high as fifty due to her use of aliases and secrecy. Typhoid is a bacterial infection that causes fever, abdominal pain, headache, and vomiting. Symptoms usually don’t present until six to thirty days after exposure so it can be difficult to track the origin. Mallon was eventually quarantined for life and died of pneumonia at age sixty-nine.
In Dreamcatcher, Henry, too, is quarantined by the United States Army. How often are quarantines used? In 1799 the first quarantine hospital was built in America after a yellow fever outbreak occurred six years prior. In comparison, the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 prompted China to build a quarantine hospital in only ten days! At one point in the 1970s, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reduced the number of quarantine stations from fifty-five to eight because it was believed that infectious diseases were a thing of the past. The number was increased to twenty again within the past two decades due to threats of bioterrorism and other pandemic possibilities.
Although Mr. Gray infects some water supplies in the area, the last of the virus dies in the fire. Written longhand while recovering from his accident, some things remain true; like many Stephen King novels, Dreamcatcher ends with a group of friends coming together to defeat the evil. King’s own family, friends, and fans certainly showed up for him in his time of need and the world will forever be grateful.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
From a Buick 8
Ubiquitous animals like dogs and birds can seem harmless, even cute. Stephen King harnessed their seemingly placid natures, subverting our expectations of these creatures in novels like Cujo, Pet Sematary, and The Dark Half. In Cell, he reveals the terror of one of our most beloved machines, the cell phone. So, naturally, our four-wheeled companions are not safe from the Master of Horror’s gory treatment. This tradition started with the short story Trucks (1973). Later adapted into the 1986 Stephen King–directed film Maximum Overdrive, Trucks is the story of strangers trapped in a truck stop when the semis outside suddenly get evil minds of their own. Next came the novel Christine (1983) in which a haunted 1958 Plymouth Fury causes death and chaos to whomever gets in its supernatural way. Considering the vehicular accident that King endured in 1999, it’s no wonder that he revisited murderous cars with the 2002 publication of From a Buick 8.
Special effects supervisor Roy Arbogast used hydraulics and rubber molds in the 1983 film adaption of Christine to make the vehicle look like it was crumpling in on itself.
Centering on a troop of Pennsylvania cops, the novel unravels the narrative of when the car was abandoned in 1979, and all the chaos it has caused until present day, through multiple perspectives. In fact, it doesn’t seem to be a car at all. As described in her review for the New York Times, Laura Miller explains the odd nature of the car in question. “Everyone who sees the car instantly knows that it’s ‘wrong.’ It’s got an exhaust system made out of glass and a dashboard full of phony controls, for example—and it just gives people the creeps.”1 The Buick in the novel, described as similar to the make of a Buick Roadmaster, is not just murderous like the Plymouth in Christine. It seems to be a portal between worlds; our own, and another that is frightening and vastly different from what the cops are used to. This theme of a schism between two worlds has been explored numerous times in King’s work, including in the novella The Mist (1980) and the Dark Tower series.