Stephen King is fine with coronavirus being called “Captain Trumps”
Ever since this whole coronavirus business got started, people have been making allusions to The Stand, Stephen King’s sprawling modern epic about a deadly global pandemic and the fates of the individuals spared by the disease. It’s an easy comparison to make considering governmental ineptitude and human selfishness are central themes of the book, though King himself has taken pains to remind readers that the disease birthed from his imagination was a much nastier strain. “[Coronavirus is] not anywhere near as serious. It’s eminently survivable,” the author wrote on Twitter in early March. “Keep calm and take all reasonable precautions.”
One month into quarantine, however, and King seems to have changed his mind about certain comparisons between his 1978 novel and our stark reality. “Sure, call it Captain Trumps, why not?” the author writes, making reference to “Captain Trips,” the nickname given to the deadly flu that wipes out 99% of the world’s population in The Stand.