Children of the Corn

For other uses, see Children of the Corn (disambiguation).

"Children of the Corn"
Author	Stephen King
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Horror short story
Published in	Night Shift
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Publication date	1977 (magazine) 1978 (collection)

"Children of the Corn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse, and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift.

Plot summary

In an attempt to save their crumbling marriage, Burt and Vicky, a bickering couple, are driving to California for vacation. As they drive through rural Nebraska, the couple accidentally run over a young boy who ran into the road. Upon examination of the body, ignoring Vicky's pleas, Burt discovers the boy's throat had been slit and he was bleeding to death before he was hit. After opening the boy's suitcase, they find a crucifix made of corn husks, with INRI written on it. Knowing they will have to report this to the authorities, they place the body in their car's trunk and continue down the road. They eventually arrive in Gatlin, a small, isolated community that seems to be a ghost town. When they drive through the streets and visit an empty diner, the couple notice that many things about the town are out-of-date, such as gas prices and calendar dates. When they finally locate the police station, they find no one. After Burt and Vicky get into another argument, Vicky threatens to drive off and leave Burt stranded in Gatlin. Burt grabs her purse, takes out her car keys, and tells her that he is going to continue exploring the town. Vicky, on the verge of hysteria, stays in the car and yells at Burt, begging him to leave Gatlin and go find somewhere else to call the police. He ignores her and walks away.

The only building in use that Burt can find is a church with a recent date on the sign out front. In stark contrast with the rest of Gatlin—which has been ravaged and neglected for years—the church is reverently cared for. Inside, Burt finds that the church has been vandalized by someone who has torn the lettering off of the walls, created a strange mosaic of a pagan Jesus behind the altar, and stuffed the pipes of the organ full of corn husks and leaves. At the altar, Burt finds a King James Bible (with several pages from the New Testament cut out), and a ledger where names have been recorded, along with birth and death dates. While reading the book, he notices that the children's original names were changed from modern names to Biblical ones, and that everyone listed as deceased in the book had died on their 19th birthday. After hearing Vicky blow the car horn, Burt runs from the church to find that a gang of children armed with farm tools have surrounded the car, with Vicky still inside. Burt intervenes when they attack, and kills a boy who had injured him with a knife. He discovers that Vicky has disappeared. Upon command from an older boy, the children chase Burt through Gatlin.

Finally out-running them, Burt ducks into a cornfield and hides while his attackers search for him. He notices several odd things: there are no animals, insects, or weeds anywhere in the cornfield, and that every stalk of corn is blemish-free. Becoming lost, Burt stumbles onto a circle of empty ground in the middle of the cornfield, where he discovers Vicky's dead body. She has been tied to a cross with barbed wire, with her eyes ripped out, and her mouth stuffed with corn husks. Gatlin's previous minister and police chief, who are now skeletons, have also been crucified. As Burt starts to leave, he notices every row in the cornfield has closed up, preventing him from escaping. Burt soon realizes that something is coming for him. Before he can do anything, he is killed by a giant red-eyed monster that comes out of the cornfield. Shortly after his death, a harvest moon appears in the sky.

The next evening, the children of Gatlin (all members of a pagan/baptist cult that worships a demonic version of Jesus called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" who animistically inhabits the cornfields that surround the town) meet where Burt and Vicky were slain. Isaac, their leader, tells them that He Who Walks Behind the Rows is displeased with their failure to catch and kill Burt, an act that the demon was forced to commit on his own. He Who Walks Behind the Rows commands that the age limit be lowered from "nineteen plantings and harvestings to eighteen". As night falls, Malachi (the killer of the boy that Burt and Vicky ran over) and all of the other eighteen-year-olds walk into the cornfield to sacrifice themselves to He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Malachi's pregnant girlfriend, Ruth, waves goodbye to him and begins to weep. It is revealed that she has a secret hatred for He Who Walks Behind the Rows and dreams of setting the cornfield on fire, but is afraid to actually do so because He Who Walks Behind the Rows can see everything, including the motives inside human hearts. The story ends by saying that the corn is pleased.

Connections to other books

Similar themes found in David Pinner's Ritual (1963) and Tom Tryon's 1973 novel Harvest Home. Gatlin was mentioned in It. Hemingford Home, a neighboring town to Gatlin, was also the town where Mother Abagail lived and rounded up the good survivors of the super flu in The Stand, and was also the location of "The Last Rung on the Ladder" and "1922". Also in The Stand, "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" is implied to be Randall Flagg.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Main article: Children of the Corn (film series)

The story was first adapted into a short film in 1983, Disciples of the Crow.

A year later, the story was adapted into a larger-budget film re-adopting the original name, Children of the Corn, starring Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton. Several sequels and quasi-remakes followed. An uncredited Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts and Eva Mendes have each appeared in one of the sequels. Other well known actors who have made sequel appearances include Nancy Allen, Stacy Keach, Ahmet Zappa, Karen Black, David Carradine, Fred Williamson and Michael Ironside.

In September 2009, the Syfy channel premiered a new television movie version – which is based on King's short story.

Film series

• Disciples of the Crow (1983)
• Children of the Corn (1984)
• Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1993)
• Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)
• Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996)
• Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998)
• Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (1999)
• Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001)
• Children of the Corn (2009) (2009)
• Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011)

Other References

The title of the track “Children of the Korn” on metal band's Korn album “Follow the Leader” alludes to that short story.

Children of the Corn and the character Malachi was referenced in Eminem's song "Bagpipes from Baghdad" in his sixth studio album Relapse (2009).

See also

• Film series
• List of Stephen King films
• Short fiction by Stephen King
• "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", a South Park episode with a similar plot
• Who Can Kill a Child?, a movie released a year before the novel, with a similar plot

External links

• Disciples of the Crow at the Internet Movie Database
• Children of the Corn at the Internet Movie Database