The novel “Darker Than You Think” by Jack Williamson was published for the first time in 1948, an extended version of a novelette published in 1940.

Will Barbee is a reporter who goes to witness the return of a group of scientists from Mongolia, where they studied the alleged ability of some people to transform into animals. His interest is not only professional because the expedition is led by one of his former university professors and he knows the other members as well.

At the airport, Will Barbee meets April Bell, a young fellow journalist for whom he feels attraction but at the same time finds that there’s something strange about her, also because she manifests hostility towards the members of the expedition. When the leader of the expedition suddenly dies before revealing his discoveries, Will feels there’s something really strange going on and April seems involved.

The novel “The Stand” by Stephen King was published for the first time in 1978 e republished in the so-called Complete and Uncut Edition in 1990.

Charles Campion is on duty when in a secret laboratory on the military base a chain of errors causes a virus created as a bacteriological weapon do get dispersed in the air. When Campion sees the alarm, he realizes that it’s something very serious and manages to escape before being locked up at the base. He leaves with his family trying to get away as far as possible, but has already been infected and just spreads the infection faster.

The army attempts to create quarantine areas, initially with roadblocks disguised as men at work and later with weapons, to try to stop the infection, but without success. In less than a month, almost all of the inhabitants of the USA died. The few survivors, scattered here and there in the territory, try to make do. Their conditions are diverse, but among the things in common are the strange dreams, which include Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg.