Cloud of Doom

The Cloud of Doom as illustrated by Tim Heitz

The **Cloud of Doom** is a large, gloomy cloud that settles above Wayside School in *Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom*. It first appears in "Science," and remains above the school for a majority of the book. The Cloud of Doom's presence depresses and terrifies the students, leading to strained friendships, lack of motivation to work, and upset behavior. Additionally, the Cloud of Doom has many surreal effects during its presence, and causes a major storm before dissipating.

## Role in series

The Cloud of Doom first appears in "Science," where it is spotted by Benjamin Nushmutt off in the distance during a science lesson, before slowly approaching Wayside School and settling above it. Throughout the book, it slowly gets larger, and it is regularly seen churning within itself, almost as if it is alive. It is described as resembling the inside of a vacuum cleaner bag while the vacuum is still on. It remains there until roughly the end of "The Teacher With the Long Fingernail," and has numerous effects on the school and its students while it is present:

* When above the school, it shrouds the area beneath it in an unusual darkness for the time of day, as is seen in "The Gonnnnng."
* The Cloud of Doom is able to get peoples' facial expressions stuck, as is seen in "Stuck," where this happens to Dana. The face subsequently gets spread to Mr. Kidswatter, Dr. Pickell, and finally Dr. Pickell's reflection in a mirror, which is then shattered.
* In numerous chapters, such as "What's the Point?," "The Unbreakables," and "Blame It on the Cloud," the Cloud of Doom is shown to instill bouts of anxiety and depression, causing students to become hopeless, friendships to become strained, and people to act more harsh than usual.
* In "What's the Point?," it is established that it causes fingernails and toenails to grow faster. While this is useful for Mrs. Jewls's class, while they are busy collecting a million nail clippings, it also appears to be distressing, as is noted in "The Unbreakables."
* In "Umbrella," it is shown that while the Cloud of Doom is above the school, it pushes all other clouds away, causing Wayside School to be completely dry, even on a rainy day. Additionally, it is shown to produce harsh gusts of wind, strong enough to lift Sharie up to the thirtieth story classroom with her umbrella.
* In "Kachooga Boop," it is shown to let out a harsh storm at some point, with loud booms of thunder being heard as it shrouds the school in total darkness. The guide to bells states that it is able to "destroy everything," and in the aftermath seen in "After the Storm," it is revealed that every object in the school was dealt out to a random floor in the building.
* In "After the Storm," it is additionally revealed that before dissipating, the Cloud of Doom dumped snow all over the school, and that while it was present, birds never flew by.

## Appearances

See a list of every chapter the Cloud of Doom appears in here.

## Trivia

* As is revealed in an article by the *Washington Post*, the Cloud of Doom was inspired by various negative factors the author, Louis Sachar, was seeing in the world at the time, such as his mother's Alzheimer's, climate change, and the election of Donald Trump, the president at the time the book was written.

## References

1. ↑ "Louis Sachar returns to wacky Wayside School more than 40 years after 'Sideways Stories'"