The Stand: Where The Superflu Nickname "Captain Trips" Comes From
Stephen King's The Stand features a deadly virus that sweeps across the United States, killing over 99% of the population. In the book, the virus is most often called the superflu, but it goes by several other names as well, including an odd one, Captain Trips. Here's where this curious nickname likely stems from.
The Superflu in The Stand goes by many names. The scientists working in the weapons lab where the virus originated call it by its military codename, "Project Blue." However, it's also called "A-Prime," "A6," and "848-AB" at various points in the novel. Outside of the military and scientific community in the thick of the superflu pandemic, it goes by different names that are far more descriptive. It's called "choking sickness," "the rales," "tube neck," and, of course, the "superflu." Given the fact that the virus is a respiratory illness, many of these colloquial terms are rather fitting and self-explanatory.
However, the name "Captain Trips" is a bit harder to describe. Stephen King has never officially explained why the Superflu is called Captain Trips, other than it's a term young people came up with to identify the virus. Given that and nothing else, the term Captain Trips likely refers to the symptoms of the virus in that it causes delirium, some rather hungover-like headaches, and hallucinations similar to those experienced by people on LSD. On the other hand, the term goes deeper than that and may even refer to legendary rocker Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead.
In addition to the term "Captain Trips" never being explained in Stephen King's book, it also never comes up in any of the adaptations. The Stand has been published in two different versions, made into a comic book series, and twice been developed into a miniseries for television. In each one, the virus is referred to as Captain Trips on several occasions. It even appears in King's short story "Night Surf," that was published in 1969 and served as inspiration for the larger epic. In the 2020 miniseries version of The Stand (made for CBS All Access), the term Captain Trips is used in the first episode.
Perhaps one of the most likely origins of the term Captain Trips is a reference to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. In his day, Garcia had the nickname "Captain Trips" because he was known for spiking people's drinks with hallucinogenic drugs, particularly LSD. It could also have originated with one of the pioneers of LSD, Alfred Mathew Hubbard, who has been called "The Original Captain Trips." The theory is that contracting the superflu virus is a lot like unknowingly dropping acid and falling into a deep delirium.
One final explanation is that the term is referencing the fact that the superflu virus was developed for military purposes and that human incompetence allowed it to spread. In other words, the US army creates the virus and then a captain holding a jar of it literally trips and drops the jar, where it smashes open and brings about the end of the world. That said, it's still possible that The Stand on CBS All Access could solve this mystery once and for all, although perhaps it's better for the explanation to be left to the imagination.