The Institute
Stephen King, 2019
★ 4.19 from 365.1k ratings on Goodreads
Horror Science fictionMystery, thriller & crime
A boy with a gift is taken to a facility where children are studied, and asks what it will take to get out. Dread builds through ordinary institutional details, children's friendships, and a satirical view of adults running the place.
Feels like dread, nostalgia and tenderness. About society, identity and friendship.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy tense King-style horror built around children and friendships, with a satirical edge. Be aware that some readers found the opening slow and the later stretch familiar, and a few felt the ending was weaker than the build-up.
Why read it
A tense, character-centered story about loyalty and escape, with King's eye for how institutions treat children.
A page from the book
The most dangerous people are the ones who sigh at bad news.
There was a perfunctory knock at the door, and then Rosalind stuck her head in, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but it’s Fred Clark, asking to see you. He seems-” “Refresh me. Who is Fred Clark?” Mrs. Sigsby took off her reading glasses and rubbed the sides of her nose. “One of the janitors.” “Find out what he wants and tell me later. If we’ve got mice chewing the wiring again, it can wait. I’m busy.” “He says it’s important, and he seems extremely upset.” Mrs. Sigsby sighed, closed the folder, and put it in a drawer. “All right, send him in. But this had better be good.” It wasn’t. It was bad. Very. What readers say
Readers mostly found it gripping and emotionally involving, especially the children and their friendships, with strong classic-King nostalgia. Some were frustrated by slow starts, familiar tropes, or a weaker ending.
Stephen King.King has written about children with psychic powers before, most famously in Firestarter (1980), his novel about a girl with pyrokinesis.
Books that feel like this
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Institute for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy tense King-style horror built around children and friendships, with a satirical edge. Be aware that some readers found the opening slow and the later stretch familiar, and a few felt the ending was weaker than the build-up.
- What is The Institute like?
- Dread builds through ordinary institutional details, children's friendships, and a satirical view of adults running the place. Feels like dread, nostalgia and tenderness. About society, identity and friendship.
- What should I read after The Institute?
- If you liked The Institute, try The Inmate (Freida McFadden), Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy) and The Couple Next Door (Shari Lapena).
A taste of the feed
How quickly the person who knows you best becomes the one you fear most.
I love you, Brooke. That was what he said to me just a few hours before he tried to kill me.
The Inmate · Freida McFadden
The confession a parent makes only inside his own head.
You are not meant to have favorites, but my youngest is that. If only by a hair, and with a gun to my head. If I really, really had to answer. And not because we are most alike: that is my oldest and me. Not because we are least alike: that is my daughter and me. Maybe it is because he is curious and kind and so smart it can make your eyes water. Maybe it’s because he whispers to the wind and hears its voice in return. Most likely I don’t know why. But it may also be because, for one brief moment long ago, I wished him dead.
Wild Dark Shore · Charlotte McConaghy
The moment a quiet house becomes the wrong kind of quiet.
Anne feels her scream inside her own head and reverberating off the walls-her scream is everywhere. Then she falls silent and stands in front of the empty crib, rigid, her hand to her mouth. Marco fumbles with the light switch. They both stare at the empty crib where their baby should be. It is impossible that she not be there. There is no way Cora could have gotten out of the crib by herself. She is barely six months old.
The Couple Next Door · Shari Lapena
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