Got a copy of the paperback version of Stephen King’s The Institute yesterday and started it today. The reviews say it is a horror novel but not of the supernatural variety. It appears to have first been published last year but only in paperback this month.
The notion of institutions as sometimes malevolent entities goes way back in literature. Whether it is a hospital, a corporation, a church, or a government, these larger communities representing what other people think of the individual intrigue us, don’t they? I think the appeal of horror to some people has a lot to do with the idea that the environment can be against you. Sometimes it feels that way.
I think King is a serious writer. I haven’t read all his work by far, but most of what I’ve read of him I’ve liked. He made a funny comment in an interview about his popular success to the effect that it helps to be able to pay for the groceries.