King has stated that “The Man in the Black Suit” is an homage to his favorite story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” (69). Hawthorne was a 19th-century American author associated with the Gothic and Dark Romantic literary movements. Hawthorne wrote about the Christian battle between good and evil and believed that evil lurked inside every individual.

Hawthorne wrote “Young Goodman Brown” in 1835. The story is set in 17th-century Puritan New England, specifically, in Salem Village, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials.

Brown is a young married man who sets out on an evening journey. His wife Faith implores him to stay, but Brown persists, promising to return in the morning. At the edge of the forest, he meets an old man who carries a serpent-shaped staff. The old man convinces Brown to accompany him into the forest. Brown experiences supernatural events on their journey and realizes that the old man is the Devil.

The Devil takes Brown through the forest to an initiation ritual. When they reach the clearing, Brown sees, to his horror, that all the townsfolk—including the deacon and preacher—are there for the ceremony. Another initiate is brought beside him, and he realizes that it is his wife, Faith.