Many academics dismiss Stephen King as a mere genre writer, an over-glorified bestseller who appeals to the masses, but lacks literary merit. This critical analysis of King's epic novel The Stand makes a case for the horror master as a literary writer. A careful consideration of The Stand's abstract themes, characters, setting, and text reveals how King's work brims with the literary techniques that critics expect of a serious writer and the haunting questions that mark enduring literature. A thoughtful deliberation on so-called "escapist" fiction in the world of literature as well as an...