Bram Stoker Award Best Novel Winner

The Green Mile

by Stephen King

Summary

On death row in a 1930s southern prison, head guard Paul Edgecombe meets John Coffey, a giant black man convicted of murdering two girls who turns out to possess an inexplicable gift for healing. As Coffey's miracles unsettle the men who guard the electric chair, Paul wrestles with questions of guilt, justice, and mercy. King delivers a haunting blend of supernatural wonder and human cruelty set against the machinery of capital punishment.

Historical Context & Significance

King originally published the book in 1996 as six monthly serial installments, a deliberate nod to Victorian serialized fiction.