October Stephen King Tribute Day 3: Children of the Corn

Children of the Corn is a short story that was originally published in Penthouse magazine and then later in the short story collection Night Shift.

Warning, the following review does contain spoilers, just in case you have not read it yet.

Vicky and Burt are traveling across country when they run over a body in the road. They decide to take the body to the next town. When they get to Gatlin they notice that something is very wrong with the town. The town seems to be stuck in the past, calendars are wrong for one thing. They find no sign of the police.


Burt discovers that the only building in town that has been maintained is the church. There is a book inside that contains both original names and assumed biblical names. It also lists the death of each person at age 19. When Burt leaves the church he is confronted by a group of children carrying farm tools. There is a struggle and Burt escapes into a corn field but his wife is nowhere to be found.

Burt runs throught the corn field when it gets dark and becomes lost. He stumbles into a clearing where he finds the bodies of the pastor, sheriff and his wife. Burt is captured and killed by a creature from the corn field. The creature informs them that "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" is displeased with them and the age limit is now lowered to eighteen. The last bit of the story has the eighteen year old children walking into the corn to sacrifice themselves.


This story is very creepy. I do not recommend reading this one late at night if you get spooked easily. The cult-like way in which the children act is scary and who would have thought that a corn field at night could be turned into a scary scenario. Take my word for it this one is scary.

Of course, this has been made into a very bad movie. In fact, there are a few sequels that have found a way to be even worse than the original bad movie. I recommend the book but stay away from the movies.