Apple TV+'s New Sci-Fi Show Repeats A Stephen King Storytelling Trick

Warning! Contains spoilers for Apple TV+'s Dark Matter.

Summary Disturbing insect invasion in new Apple TV+ show mirrors Stephen King's terrifying narrative in The Mist.

Dark Matter paces itself slowly at first, then shocks with eerie multiverse exploration and horror elements.

Apple TV+ show Dark Matter creatively blends sci-fi concepts with horror storytelling tactics.

A close look at a new Apple TV+ show's narrative reveals that it repeats a brilliant Stephen King storytelling trick. In a writing career that exceeds half a century, Stephen King has written several books and short stories. His works have also been the primary source of inspiration for some of the most epic horror movies, like The Shining, IT, Carrie, and 1408, among others. Other than the direct adaptations of his stories, there are also several other movies and shows that have drawn heavily from the themes and storytelling techniques in his books.

For instance, even the Mike Flanagan shows and movies not directly based on King's works often have some traces of his influence. A new Apple TV+ sci-fi show is also, by no means, an adaptation of Stephen King's works. However, one of its most terrifying storylines seems similar to a 44-year-old Stephen King novella.

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One Alternate Dark Matter World Is Eerily Reminiscent Of Stephen King's The Mist

The Creatures In An Alternate Dark Matter Universe Seem Similar To The Ones In Stephen King's The Mist

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Although Dark Matter progresses slowly in its first few episodes, it becomes increasingly gripping in episodes 3, 4, and 5 as it opens the floodgates of the multiverse and explores all the bizarre possibilities that can exist. Instead of taking the Everything Everywhere All At Once route and portraying alternate realities in a comical light, Dark Matter gives a glimpse of some of the darkest worlds one can imagine. One of these worlds, portrayed in the show's episode 5, is infested by a huge swarm of gigantic wasp-like insects.

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As the episode progresses, it reveals that the insects entered the world after a researcher, Blair, opened the doorway to another reality, where the wasp-like creatures initially lived. Something very similar happens in Stephen King's The Mist. As its title suggests, a thick, blinding white mist swallows an entire town in the Stephen King story, forcing its residents to seek shelter indoors. However, the residents soon start noticing that, more than the mist, it is the giant insect-like creatures it carries that pose the real threat.

Although The Mist's movie adaptation does delve into the details of how the creatures suddenly came into the central town, its original lore suggests that a government experiment to peer into other dimensions went wrong, opening the gates for the strange, deadly creatures to spill into the human realm. Apple TV+'s Dark Matter is based on an original book by Blake Crouch, which falls more under the sci-fi genre. This makes it interesting how the show adopts some horror storytelling tricks to make its multiversal explorations more compelling.

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Dark Matter's Bizarre Parallel World Explorations Make It More Horror Than Sci-Fi

Dark Matter Presents One Of The Most Terrifying Representations Of Alternate Universes

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When it comes to science fiction, Apple TV+'s Dark Matter only riffs on a few surface level ideas surrounding Schrödinger's cat, quantum superposition, and observer effect. However, if its horror elements are considered, the show walks through everything from worlds destroyed by deadly pandemics to ones that are ruled by a giant, monstrous sun. It also briefly features a world where werewolves seemingly exist and another that was abandoned by humans a long time ago. With so many terrifying visuals packed throughout its runtime, it is hard not to see Apple TV+'s Dark Matter as a full-fledged horror sci-fi series.