While at a political rally Smith shakes hands with Greg Stillson, a politician with presidential aspirations and realises that Stillson may lead the world to a total holocaust. After discovering he has an inoperable brain tumour he resolves that to save the world he must assassinate Stillson. During the attempt, Stillson holds a small boy up as a shield, effectively ending his political career. Johnny is shot dead but his mission has been achieved.

• King's first 'New York Times' bestseller. His first draft was apparently written in 1976 but the final version was not published until August 1979 as his first book with Viking.

• 30 October 1970 - Smith's car accident. He enters a coma
• 12 November 1970 - Castle Rock Strangler killings begin with Alma Frechette
• 9 July 1972 - Sarah Bracknell marries Walter Hazlett
• 1973 - Greg Stillson first elected, as Mayor of Ridgeway, NH
• 17 May 1975 - John Smith comes out of his coma
• October 1975 - Smith and Sarah made love for the first and last time
• 17 December 1975 - Smith uncovers Frank Dodd as the Castle Rock Strangler
• 19 August 1976 - Smith shook hands with Stillson at a rally and had a vision of Stillson causing a world holocaust
• 23 June 1977 Cathy's Roadhouse burnt killing over 75 people. Chuck Chatsworth was saved as a result of another Smith vision and his subsequent warning
• 27 January 1979 - Smith attempted to assassinate Stillson and was shot dead

• Patty Strachan accused John Smith of setting Cathy's Roadhouse on fire: "It's his fault, that guy there! He made it happen! He set it on fire by his mind, just like in that book Carrie. You murderer! Killer! You …"
• After her stroke Vera Smith was taken to Cumberland General Hospital. According to John Smith it is, "Just above Jerusalem's Lot', the town in 'Salem's Lot'.
• Chuck Chatsworth began attending Stovington Preparatory Academy in Vermont in September 1977. In 'The Shining' Jack Torrance had been a teacher at the school before losing his job for assaulting a student.
• Stovington, Vermont is also the site of the Plague Control Center where Stu Redman was held ('The Stand'). Later Redman, Fran Goldsmith and Harold Lauder visited the town as did Larry Underwood, Lucy Swann, Nadine Cross and Joe.
• Bridgton, Maine. The site of the supermarket featuring in 'The Mist'. It appears in 'The Dead Zone' as the town in which John Smith and George Bannerman first met. It is 20 miles from Castle Rock. Routes 117 and 302 intersect outside the Supermarket ('The Mist') and Jon's Restaurant ('The Dead Zone'). They are therefore on the same intersection.

There are many in this early book, possibly due to a lack of editorial time given to a relatively new writer at a new publisher.

• In Chapter 5, section 4 of Sarah Bracknell: "That Saturday night she had gone to the Eastern Maine Medical Center . It lacked sixteen days of a year since the fair, the Wheel, and the head-on collision near the Bog." As the accident was on 30 October 1970 sixteen days earlier is 14 October. However 14 October 1970 was a Wednesday. The nearest Saturday is 17 October.
• In Chapter 17, section 1 when John Smith and Roger Chatsworth first meet Roger is called 'Stuart' twice.
• In Chapter 20, section 1 Ngo Phat says about Stillson: "He came to New Hampshire in 1964." In Chapter 21 John Smith's research states: "In Albany, he (Stillson) had gone to work for Prudential, and he stayed in the capital city until 1965." And: "In 1965, Prudential offered him a position in Ridgeway, New Hampshire, and Greg had taken it."
• In Chapter 19, section 2 Harrison Fisher, the incumbent Republican 3rd District Congressman from New Hampshire is described: 'He is a powerful figure in the House, sitting on five committees and chairing the House Committee on Parks and Waterways'. This was in 1976. That year the Democrats had a large majority in the US House of Representatives and per tradition all Chairmen were Democrats.
• In Chapter 27, section 5: "A young woman of about twenty three arrived with her son, who looked about four. The boy was wearing a blue snowmobile suit with bright yellow markings . The boy immediately began to kick his feet against the bench in front of him . 'Sean, stop that,' she said. Yet, in section 6: "Stillson moved with good speed for such a big man. The dark-haired young woman Johnny had noticed earlier was about halfway up the center aisle, holding her crying son in her arms, still trying to shield him with her body. And what Stillson did then . He snatched the boy from his mother's arms, whirled toward the gallery, holding the boy's body in front of him. It was no longer Greg Stillson in the front sight, but a small squirming figure in . a dark blue snowmobile suit with bright yellow piping. . "The mother screamed shrilly then . 'Tommy! Give him to me! Tommy! Give him to me, you bastard!'" In Chapter 27, section 6 the mother of the boy Greg Stillson grabbed and held to protect himself from John Smith's gunfire is Tommy: "The mother screamed shrilly then; but Johnny had heard it all somewhere before. 'Tommy! Give him to me! Tommy! Give him to me, you bastard' " Yet in Part 3, section 8 during Clawson's testimony: "R: You just snapped the photo when Stillson picked up the child? C: Matt Robeson, yessir." In Part Three, section 8: "R: You just snapped the photo when Stillson picked up the child. C: Matt Robeson, yessir."
  Is the boy's name is Matt, Tommy or Sean?
• John Smith's moving age. In the prologue, section 1: ".that bad fall he took on the ice that January day in 1953. . At six, he was a pretty fair skater." If he was six in January 1953 he was born in the period from January 1946 (not quite 7 on the day) to January 1947 (just turned six). John awoke on 17 May 1975 (Chapter 6, section 3). In Chapter 6, section 4 (on the same day) he says, "I'm twenty-seven?" To be 27 in May 1975 he was born in the period May 1947 (not quite 28 on 17 May) to May 1948 (just turned 27). In Chapter 21, section 3 it is September 1976 when Herb Smith says to Johnny: "How do you feel about coming into a stepmother at the age of 29, John?" In this case he was born in the period September 1946 to September 1947. Finally, in Chapter 25, section 2, "It seemed impossible to believe that he himself was thirty-one." The time is not absolutely clear but is no later than December 1948, putting Johnny's birth no later earlier than December 1946 and no later than December 1947. In total he could be born sometime between January 1946 and December 1948, a very broad period.
• In Chapter 16, section 4: "Then, this November 2, there had been another murder. The victim . Etta Ringgold." Yet in Chapter 16, section 11 it shows in a table Etta Ringgold as having died on 29 (?) October 1975.
• In Chapter 16, section 4: ". eventually he came to the one he was looking for. The Sunday paper from three weeks ago." On the next page, "This Sunday supplement article, now nearly six weeks old ."

Film: 'The Dead Zone' (1983). Regarded by many as a King classic. IMDB: 7.2 . Screenplay - Jeffrey Boam; Director - David Cronenberg. Actors - Christopher Walken (Johnny); Brooke Adams (Sarah); Tom Skerritt (Bannerman); Herbert Lom (Dr Weizak); Martin Sheen (Stillson). DVD (2002) includes Theatrical Trailer.

Television: 'The Dead Zone' (2002 on). Shown on the USA Network it received a second season for 2003. At a household rating of 4.7 and 6.4 million viewers it was the highest rating basic cable original dramatic series of all time (as of August 2002). Created by Michael Piller (of 'Star Trek' fame). Anthony Michael Hall played Smith. DVD Pilot (due November 2002); Series One (due March 2003).

Unproduced Screenplay: Producer Dino De Laurentiis asked King to write a screenplay but when King submitted it he rejected it.