Stephen King reveals his next novel, 'The Institute,' will be published this September

Stephen King reveals his next novel, ‘The Institute,’ will be published this September

By Michael Schaub

Feb. 1, 2019 10 AM PT

Fans of Stephen King won’t have too much longer to wait for the next novel from the master of horror.

King announced on his website that his next book, “The Institute,” will be published by Scribner in the fall. The novel’s release will come less than a year after his last book, the novella “Elevation.”

The publisher compares the book to two of King’s best-known novels, describing it as “as psychically terrifying as ‘Firestarter,’ and with the spectacular kid power of ‘It.’ ”

The novel follows a young Minneapolis boy named Luke Ellis, who is abducted by strangers who murder his parents and deliver him to an institute for children with paranormal powers.

“In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extra normal gifts,” the book’s description reads. “There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal.”

The book’s planned release means it will be another busy year for the prolific King. A remake of the film adaptation of his 1983 novel “Pet Sematary” is due out in April, with the sequel to the movie version of his 1986 book “It” set for release in September.

Earlier this week, CBS announced that they would air a television adaptation of “The Stand,” his popular 1978 novel. The limited series will be directed by Josh Boone, who also helmed the 2014 film adaptation of John Green’s young adult novel “The Fault in Our Stars.”

King said he was happy with the planned adaptation of “The Stand,” saying, “The people involved are men and women who know exactly what they’re doing; the scripts are dynamite. The result bids to be something memorable and thrilling.”

Fans who just can’t wait for King’s new novel can whet their appetite with an excerpt from the book, published by Entertainment Weekly, which says the novel “sounds like Charlie McGee from ‘Firestarter,’ if she found herself some powerful friends.”

“The Institute” is slated for publication on Sept. 10.