Every November, like clockwork, four men reunite at a cabin in the Maine woods to hunt and reminisce about their past. As children in Derry they stood up against an appalling attack. They also made a special friend who would change their lives forever.

This year's reunion is like any other until the storm comes, and with it arrives a man named Richard McCarthy, who is lost and delirious. Not only does he have a strange red mark on his face, but his teeth are falling out and he's lost all sense of how long he's been wandering. Although the men do not know it yet, McCarthy has brought something with him. Something that is very hungry.

The storm also brings reports of strange lights in the sky and rumors of a downed spacecraft in the woods. The military is quickly involved, led by a man who just might be insane. His troops come to kill the aliens and clean up the mess as quickly as possible, but once the existence of the "gray men" is confirmed, it becomes obvious that no one involved in the project will ever be the same again.

If they even live, that is.

Copyright (c) by Stephen King