Strawberry spring is a controlling metaphor in the story in that it operates as a symbol, motif, theme, and central image. Strawberry spring is most likely King’s invention, as no scholarly or cultural sources beyond those on King’s fiction discuss the term. The invention allows King to create a mystical world that blends the ordinary with the otherworldly in whatever manner he chooses.

Horror relies on in-betweenness or liminality, where the logic of the real world meets the unknown, terrifying world of the monstrous and uncanny. Strawberry spring acts as a gateway to this other world—the world of fear—and the fog is a palpable doorway to the uncertainty that envelopes the campus and the narrator’s mind.

The term helps King mislead the reader because “strawberry spring” sounds cheerful. The warm temperature makes it seem like a pleasant time, a break from the harsh winter. The connotations of the term change, however, as it comes to foreshadow the story’s climax.

The roommate takes on the role of the harbinger (a staple figure in horror stories who warns the protagonist of approaching danger) when he tells the narrator that strawberry spring means that the worst of winter is on its way.