Duma Key Is The Most Heartbreaking Stephen King Ending Ever (Not The Mist)

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stephen King's books Duma Key and The Mist, and the 2007 movie adaptation of The Mist.

Longtime Stephen King fans usually agree that of all his stories, regardless of media, the ending of the 2007 movie adaptation of The Mist is the most heartbreaking, but the ending of his book Duma Key may beat it. Even though he's known for his memorable monsters and grounded horror, Stephen King's endings have sometimes left readers wanting more, with his conclusions often lacking the same punch as the meat of the story. The ending problem in Stephen King's books isn't ubiquitous throughout his work, but it happens often enough to be noticeable.

Still, that's arguably a testament to the strength of the rest of his stories that his endings stick out, and not every ending is a disappointment. The best endings in Stephen King books balance a happy ending with realism, with the characters all getting a satisfying resolution to their narratives. In at least one notable instance, though, one of King's well-liked characters got a deeply unfair ending, and it makes it one of the hardest endings to read.

Duma Key's Book Ending Beats The Mist's Book Ending

Jerome's Death Was Pointless

Both the ending of Duma Key and The Mist are horrifying in the fundamental way that death almost always is, but also on an existential level. The ending of the novella The Mist's existential horror comes from the ambiguity of the ending. The survivors pile into a car, making the decision to risk leaving the store, and protagonist David narrates about where they'll stop for gas as they drive off into the mist and thus out of the story. The ending is awful in the sense that, after everything the survivors endured, the death they had seen, the reader still doesn't know whether they ever reached safety. The uncertainty gnaws at you and lingers.

After he survived the horrifying, supernatural events of Duma Key, it was unfair that Jerome's story ended with such a mundane, everyday death.

Duma Key, however, has an ending that is largely unnecessary, which is what makes it so heartbreaking. Deuteragonist Jerome survives not just a neurological condition, but also a vengeful goddess, only to later die of a heart attack. There have been plenty of brutal deaths in Stephen King's books, and more than a few gutwrenching ones. But Jerome's death in Duma Key was the only one that felt cruel, as it served no purpose in driving the plot forward, and it happened after the danger was over. After he survived the horrifying, supernatural events of Duma Key, it was unfair that Jerome's story ended with such a mundane, everyday death.

The Mist Is Still The Most Horrifying Stephen King Movie Ending

The Futility Of David's Sacrifice Was Horrific

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Even if Duma Key's ending beats out The Mist's ending in the books, the 2007 movie adaptation of The Mist still has the most flat-out horrifying, brutally heartbreaking ending of any Stephen King story in any medium. Unlike the book, there is no ambiguity in The Mist's ending, which Stephen King believes is better than his book, but irreversible finality. David drives his son and the other survivors off into the mist, just like in the book.

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The shocking twist comes when they run out of gas right as a giant monster comes for the group. David makes the nightmarish decision, with their silent acceptance, to kill everyone in the car, including his own son, rather than allow them to be brutally torn apart by the monster. His intention is to give them a merciful death and sacrifice himself. Just a moment later, however, the mist clears as the military arrives to save them, while David collapses in grief, knowing his sacrifice and the loss of his young son was all for nothing.

It's as impactful as any ending in a movie, let alone a Stephen King adaptation. Few people who watch The Mist fail to come away from it profoundly shaken by the bleakness of the ending and the futility of David's last, desperate actions, something he will have to live with for the rest of his life. Thomas Jane's scream of anguish and horror really sells the moment, as raw a portrayal of grief as in any Oscar movie. Frank Darabont crafted a story arguably more horrifying than anything King himself could have written. As such, it stands out among the horror author's endings, even Duma Key and its heartbreak.