Duma Key

Title: Duma Key

Author: Stephen King

Published in: 2008

Date read: 19th September 2020

Score: 5/5

Genre: Supernatural, Horror, Psychological

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Duma Key" by Stephen King is a deeply unsettling horror novel cantered on the healing and destructive power of art, set against the atmospheric backdrop of a remote Florida island.

The protagonist is Edgar Freemantle, a wealthy Minnesota construction magnate whose life is shattered by a horrific construction accident. He loses his right arm and suffers severe brain damage, leading to debilitating aphasia, memory loss, and uncontrollable fits of rage. The trauma also destroys his marriage. On the advice of his therapist, Edgar seeks a "geographic cure" and moves to a secluded, beautiful, but eerily undeveloped splinter of an island called Duma Key in Florida.

As a form of therapy, Edgar rediscovers his long-dormant love for painting. To his astonishment, he develops an immense and rapidly accelerating artistic talent, creating vivid, often disturbing images of ships, strange figures, and the island's landscape. However, his paintings are more than just art; they possess a sinister, premonitory power, influencing reality and sometimes bringing his creations to terrifying life. He finds that his phantom limb pain is relieved only when he paints.

On Duma Key, Edgar befriends Jerome Wireman, a wise and laconic man with his own hidden past and wounds, who serves as a caretaker for Elizabeth Eastlake. Elizabeth is an ancient, frail heiress suffering from advanced Alzheimer's, whose family has deep, dark roots on the island. She also possesses a mysterious connection to the island's malevolent forces and was once a prodigious child artist herself.

As Edgar's artistic power grows, he begins to unravel the dark history of Duma Key and the Eastlake family. He discovers that his newfound gift is tied to a ancient, insidious entity called Perse, an entity that thrives on the creative energy of traumatized individuals and uses their art as a conduit for its evil. Perse has a long history of influencing artists on the island, with tragic consequences.

The novel builds as Edgar's paintings increasingly manifest terrifying realities, directly impacting those he cares about, including his beloved daughter, Ilse. He, Wireman, and other allies must confront Perse and the horrifying spectral beings it commands, in a desperate battle to sever its hold on the island and prevent its malevolent influence from spreading further. "Duma Key" is a story of personal recovery intertwined with supernatural terror, exploring themes of grief, the creative process, the nature of evil, and the enduring power of connection in the face of overwhelming darkness.

Comments:
This is easily one of my favourite books by King. Not only is is it written brilliantly, the story's ghosts make the whole story unsettling and quite terrifying. I have been particularly thrilled with the "revisit" in You Like It Darker.

Books that we've read by Stephen King (68):
Carrie (1974), 'Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (The Shining, #1) (1977), The Stand (1978), Night Shift (1978), The Dead Zone (1979), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) (1982), Different Seasons (1982), Christine (1983), Cycle of the Werewolf (1983), Pet Sematary (1983), The Talisman (The Talisman, #1) (1984), Skeleton Crew (1985), It (1986), The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) (1987), The Eyes of the Dragon (1987), The Tommyknockers (1987), Misery (1987), The Dark Half (1989), Four Past Midnight (1990), The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, #3) (1991), Needful Things (1991), Dolores Claiborne (1992), Gerald's Game (1992), Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993), Insomnia (1994), Rose Madder (1995), The Green Mile (1996), Desperation (1996), Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4) (1997), Bag of Bones (1998), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (1999), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000), Black House (The Talisman, #2) (2001), Dreamcatcher (2001), Everything's Eventual (2002), From a Buick 8 (2002), Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5) (2003), Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6) (2004), The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, #7) (2004), The Colorado Kid (2005), Cell (2006), Lisey's Story (2006), Duma Key (2008), Just After Sunset (2008), Under the Dome (2009), 11/22/63 (2011), Full Dark, No Stars (2011), The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, #4.5) (2012), Dr. Sleep (The Shining, #2) (2013), Joyland (2013), Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) (2014), Revival (2014), The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015), Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #2) (2015), End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #3) (2016), Elevation (2018), The Outsider (2018), The Institute (2019), If It Bleeds (2020), Billy Summers (2021), Later (2021), Fairy Tale (2022), Holly (2023), You Like It Darker (2024)