The Stand

This popular post-apocalyptic novel by master of horror Stephen King inspired a 1994 TV miniseries. A devastating flu escapes from its containment in a military biowarfare lab, killing most of the population of the United States, and by implication, the world. Those who remain, immune to the disease, receive dreams that lead them to align themselves either with the forces of good, led by a saintly, ancient woman named Mother Abigail; or the forces of evil, led by the enigmatic, demonic Randall/Richard Flagg, the Dark Man whose debut in this book was followed by appearances in several of Stephen King's later novels. Each group of people struggles to reclaim the remnants of civilization...and to prepare for the inevitable confrontation between the two sides.