Castle Rock – Tony's Horror Corner

Review Time: “Needful Things”

A few friends and I started a group readalong for this novel on Instagram with the hashtag #dotheneedful. I’d read “Needful Things” back in March 2017 and really enjoyed it, and the reread to finish up 2018 was almost as good. Check out my review below!

“You’ve been here before.”

“Needful Things,” Stephen King’s first novel after deciding to go sober, was released in 1991. This 690-page story is all about the build-up and about how the intricacies and many different characters of a small town can lead to damnation.

King starts this novel out like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. The narration is superb, and it sets the tone for the story so well. If I could take the introduction out and make it its own story, it would be a top 10 King for me, easily. It sets the upcoming events of the novel up perfectly and gives you background details in a very unique way.

When he released “Needful Things,” King meant is as the story to wrap-up his fictional city, Castle Rock, in his storybook universe. The novel is subtitled: “The Last Castle Rock Story” for a reason. King draws on many references and characters from past novels such as “The Dark Half,” “The Dead Zone,” “Cujo,” the novella “The Sun Dog” from the collection “Four Past Midnight,” the novella “The Body” from the collection “Different Seasons,” and many other Castle Rock stories.

“Needful Things” is about a new shop opening in Castle Rock. The name of the shop? Well, it is Needful Things. What kind of shop is it? It is a shop full of things… things you need. Whether you know you need them or not, Needful Things’ owner and operator will show you that you do. The shop owner? None other than Leland Gaunt, one of my favorite King villains.

Gaunt is reminiscent of Randall Flagg at times, so much so that there are even theories out there that suggest they are in fact the same person or being. I am more on the fence with this theory than I was before my reread. Gaunt definitely displays Flagg characteristics and history, but toward the end, I think there is some major evidence that goes against this theory.

The entire town is obviously intrigued by the new shop opening and everyone checks it out, and leaves with something. The residents of Castle Rock aren’t paying Mr. Gaunt in only money though. With each item, comes a task, or prank. These pranks, devised by Gaunt, slowly pit the residents of Castle Rock against one another.

Everyone seems infatuated with the new store and ecstatic with their new purchase… all except Castle Rock Sheriff Alan Pangborn, who smells something off but can’t quite put his finger on it. Pangborn is one of my favorite King characters of all time. He seems like such an awesome person and is a total badass. Where there is evil, there is always an opposition right? Pangborn is Gaunt’s opposition.

“Needful Things,” like I said earlier, is all about the build-up. King sets up the confrontations between Castle Rock residents so well. He makes you feel each character’s paranoia and anxiety. He slowly escalates each prank until you see everything boil over and explode… literally.

“Everyone loves something for nothing… even if it costs everything.”

This novel is awesome, but it is almost a little too big at times. King nails the small town feel and the whole “everyone knows everyone” aspect is absurdly real. The big thing he’s missing, a big thing he usually is amazing at, is the depth for each character. He goes into detail about a lot of them, for sure, but not all, not enough. We get random snippets from almost everyone, but a majority of these character I would have liked to get more from. Either give me more or take people out.

I also feel like the escalation happened too fast. He spent nearly half the novel building up one confrontation, then suddenly everyone is against each other. The final “battle” between Pangborn and Gaunt made me feel so disappointed the first time through, but I actually didn’t hate it as much this time around. I still don’t love it, by any means, but I don’t hate it.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great novel; the build-up is amazing, its intense, and even funny at times, but there are things that King definitely could have done differently that would have vaulted “Needful Things” into my top 10. In the end, I love this story and recommend you check it out. I also suggest reading the books I mentioned earlier, first. They’ll help make “Needful Things” more enjoyable. Oh, and ignore the movie… not worth it.

4.5 out of 5

Richard Chizmar: The Man Behind Cemetery Dance

I had the chance to interview Richard Chizmar, his son Billy, and one of his friends and colleagues, Tom Monteleone. It was an amazing experience and extremely informative. Check out the full feature story below.

Sitting in his tenth-grade English class at Edgewood High School, Richard Chizmar’s teacher starts the day by reading a recently released short story to the anxious students. Chizmar’s attention is grabbed immediately. The story is “The Monkey” by Stephen King.

“Listening to my teacher read ‘The Monkey,’ it really cemented storytelling for me, and it was part of my identity,” Chizmar said. “That’s when I knew, that this is what I wanted to do.”

Born in 1965, growing up in Edgewood, Maryland, Chizmar said he was always surrounded by books and loved the library. From a young age, he wrote and told stories, mostly of the horror variety, to his friends and his parents. He said his friends found it cool and his mother would even pay him ten cents or a quarter for each story.

Chizmar graduated from Edgewood High School in 1983 and went to the University of Maryland Baltimore County to play lacrosse. In his first years at the university, he didn’t write as much as he used to; time was difficult to come by with lacrosse and classes. In 1986, Chizmar was injured playing lacrosse. During his rehabilitation, Stephen King’s famous novel IT was released, and he read the whole thing.

“It was a slap in the face,” Chizmar said. “Reading IT made me realize this (writing) is what you are supposed to be doing.”

After rehab, Chizmar quit the lacrosse team and took his love for sports to the school’s newspaper. He wrote for the sports page and eventually became the sports editor. To further pursue his journalism degree, Chizmar transferred to the University of Maryland College Park. While at UMD, Chizmar began writing fiction again and submitting his stories to magazines.

“There was a bigger market back then, a sprawling network of smaller magazines,” Chizmar said. “If you had 20 stories, you could send them all out and they would all get purchased.”

The only problem with the huge network of magazines, Chizmar said, was the quality. To combat this, Chizmar started his own magazine: Cemetery Dance in December of 1988.

“I had a long winding road through college,” Chizmar said chuckling. “Once I finished at UMD (June 1989), I focused solely on Cemetery Dance. I wrote for the magazine and was poor for 10 years.”

Tom Monteleone, a writer for Cemetery Dance magazine for the past 25 years, has known Chizmar since the beginning.

“He started a small press and turned it into an empire,” Monteleone said. “Starting a magazine is a crazy thing, 90 percent of the time you’re doomed for failure. Rich on the other hand, has a determination and a will to succeed. When he makes up his mind, he doesn’t stop. He’s driven, he has visions, dreams and plans.”

Monteleone writes a column for the magazine entitled “The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association.” In it he talks about weird experiences and life as a writer. Monteleone describes Chizmar as a “dynamo” and a “really fascinating guy.”

“I admire his incredible energy,” Monteleone said. “He has an ability to will things into existence and he gets shit done. He built CD from nothing and has managed to attract a massive clientele to what is a niche market industry. I am proud to call him my friend.”

Chizmar’s whole idea behind Cemetery Dance was to publish a high-quality horror themed magazine that packaged well-known authors with lesser-known aspiring writers. Each issue, he would send out to big-name authors and writers to put the name out there and in the hopes of getting support or submissions. One of these big-names was Stephen King.

“I would send him copies regularly saying, ‘I’d love to work with you, check out my magazine,’ stuff like that,” Chizmar said. “Then in 1990, he replied with a very nice promotional blurb for CD and obviously I was excited.”

In 1991, King sent Chizmar a copy of his newest short story “Chattery Teeth” wanting it to be published in the magazine. This was the start of their relationship and King allowed Chizmar to reprint other stories and scripts for the magazine. At this time, Cemetery Dance had expanded to printing limited editions of novels as well as the magazine.

In 2001, King’s assistant sent the manuscript for his upcoming novel From a Buick 8 to Chizmar asking Cemetery Dance to produce a limited edition.

“Slowly our relationship expanded from just business to more of a friendship,” Chizmar said. “We would send each other our works, read them over, and send them back. We emailed back-and-forth pretty regularly.”

One day in 2016, following the release of his hit short story collection A Long December, Chizmar received an email from King. It contained an idea for a story titled Gwendy’s Button Box with a note saying he was having trouble finishing it.

“I told him I’d love to read it and he replied saying, ‘Do with it as you wish.’ I asked him if he wanted me to finish it and he said, ‘absolutely,’” Chizmar said. “I agreed I’d finish it. My hands were shaking, I was a nervous wreck, I couldn’t believe I was tasked to finish a Stephen King book.”

Once he finally sat down to write, Chizmar said the story flowed and he just started cruising, “I was transported to Castle Rock.” Within two hours, the nerves were gone. 10,000 words later, he had it attached in an email with his mouse hovering over the send button.

“I got all nervous again and started second guessing what I had done then finally said ‘screw it’ and hit send,” Chizmar said. “We played ping-pong with drafts of the story over email and finally came to a finished product. It was a happy accident emailing back and forth but writing with him was a wonderful experience.”

Gwendy’s Button Box was released May 2017 through Cemetery Dance Publications and spent six weeks on the bestseller list. King and Chizmar have worked together on other projects as well. Recently, they wrote a script for a movie Trapped. Chizmar’s oldest son has been tapped to direct the film.

Chizmar has two sons, Billy, 20, a student at Colby College in Maine, and Noah, 15, a sophomore at St. Paul’s High School. Both play lacrosse, but, Chizmar said, Billy got more of the reading and writing genes.

“Growing up with my dad being a writer and publisher has been a really cool experience,” Billy said. “I remember one day when I was little we didn’t have a babysitter, so dad took me to work with him. The Cemetery Dance warehouse is in Forrest Hill and I remember just being amazed walking around this huge warehouse and looking at all the cool artwork and the books. I fell in love immediately… it was hard not to.”

Billy said the Chizmars had a library room in their old home where he would always find his father reading and naturally he picked up the hobby. Billy describes his father as “someone I look up to a lot.”

Chizmar and Billy have produced multiple films together, including Murder House based on the home the Chizmar family recently moved into. The duo also published a novella, “Widow’s Point,” in February 2018.

“Writing ‘Window’s Point’ with my dad was an awesome experience,” Billy said. “I was nervous and excited. I’d written a few short stories myself, but when he asked me to help work on something of length, it was daunting but fun.”

Billy said his father asked him to finish it and their style differences worked perfectly for the structure of the story. What started as a short story quickly grew to a short novel.

“We had a moment where we realized we had more to say,” Billy said. “We were both on the same wavelength and just started going back and forth, adding things and editing parts. It was an absolute delight.”

The father-son duo are getting ready to work on a sequel to their hit novella. Both said they plan to start writing in November. Chizmar, meanwhile has a new book, The Long Way Home, coming in December and over the weekend, Chizmar was inducted into the Edgewood High School Hall of Fame.

Chizmar went from writing because of King, to writing to him, then going full circle and accomplishing what every constant reader and aspiring horror author dreams of: writing with him.

However, like Monteleone said, “There is life (in horror) outside of Stephen King.” Chizmar is part of that life and fostering some of that life at Cemetery Dance. Keep an eye out for the Chizmar name because it will be appearing more frequently in the coming years.

Review Time: “Nightmares & Dreamscapes”

“Nightmares & Dreamscapes” was Stephen King’s third short story collection, and my 69th book of his and it was absolutely incredible. Check out my review below!

King released this 960-page collection of 24 short stories in 1993. The only King collection I have left to read is “Hearts In Atlantis,” which has novellas and short stories mixed in, so really “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” was the last one… and for me, it was the best one.

The introduction, which King titled “Myth, Belief, Faith, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” was truly incredible and inspirational. It was without a doubt the best introduction to anything I have ever read. I highly recommend you check out the intro, even if for some stupid reason you don’t read the rest of the book, at least read that.

“First, repeat the catechism after me:

I believe a dime can derail a freight-train.

I believe there are alligators in the New York City sewer system, not to mention rats as big as Shetland ponies.

I believe that you can tear off someone’s shadow with a steel tent-pole.

I believe that there really is a Santa Claus, and that all those red-suited guys you see at Christmastime really are his helpers.

I believe there is an unseen world all around us.

I believe that tennis balls are full of poison gas, and if you cut one in two and breathe what comes out, it’ll kill you.

Most of all, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks.”

– Stephen King

Forewarning, this post will be long because I am going to briefly go over each story, so sit back and enjoy the ride!

“Dolan’s Cadillac” – The lead-off story, as King put it, got readers right in the zone. A noir revenge story with an extremely intricate build-up. I really enjoyed this tale and it was one of my favorites in the collection.

“The End of the Whole Mess” – Another gem, and probably my favorite in the collection, just purely for the thoughts you’re left with afterward. One man’s genius brother discovers the saying “there’s something in the water” is actually true. The cure to violence ends up having some serious side-effects.

“Suffer the Little Children” – this story was very dark and pretty disturbing. It leaves you questioning what the right “answer” was. Once you read it, you’ll understand.

“The Night Flier” – A writer for a tabloid magazine, one that seems to specialize in blood, guts, horror and all things supernatural, chases a vampire with a private pilot’s license down the east coast. The final confrontation was intense. The 1997 film adaptation was decent too.

“Popsy” – A young boy gets abducted and later saved by his grandfather, Popsy, who displays similar characteristics to the antagonist of “The Night Flier.” In the notes at the end of the collection, King confirms they are indeed the same person. This story started off somewhat disturbing in the sense of the subject matter but finished in classic bloody-King fashion.

“It Grows on You” – I was disappointed with this one. I was intrigued with the Castle Rock setting and the elderly characters whom had survived the events of “Needful Things,” but the story was just… meh. It has a couple creepy bits but overall, I think it would actually serve better as a novel where we could get more detail.

“Chattery Teeth” – A classic case of King turning something mundane, such as the toy wind-up teeth with feet, into something utterly horrific.

“Dedication” – This story was strange. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. It had a sense of realism that made it good, but overall it was slow and not very exciting. This story would be better suited in the collection “Full Dark, No Stars.”

“The Moving Finger” – CRAZY. That’s seriously the best way to describe this one. A man discovers a finger prying around his sink poking through the drain… It was intense, and the way King wrote it made you feel like you were going insane too. WAS IT REAL????

“Sneakers” – this was a strange ghost story, but it definitely gave me the creeps and I really liked it. You’ll never look at a pair of shoes underneath a bathroom stall the same way after reading this one…

“You Know They Got a Hell of a Band” – A couple takes a wrong turn and ends up in a town called Rock and Roll Heaven. Little do they know, it IS Rock and Roll Heaven, and they are now trapped and must listen to nightly concerts from dead rockers. Doesn’t sound too bad actually.

“Home Delivery” – King spins out another gem here. A pregnant woman on an island off the Maine coast, loses her husband while he’s catching Lobsters. She decides to have the baby in the comfort of her own home. Why? Well only the small matter of a zombie apocalypse on the mainland. This is one of my favorites in the collection mainly because of the way King hides the horror and spins a great tale around it.

“Rainy Season” – This story has a very classic King feel to it. A couple staying at a summer home in Maine decide to stay there the wrong year. That night, they get rained on by killer toads with razor sharp teeth. As you can guess, this one doesn’t end well for our “heroes.”

“My Pretty Pony” – A slower tale about a grandfather sharing some wisdom with his grandson. Reading it I really didn’t think I was going to enjoy it, but as the tale unfolds, I grew to really appreciate it and the lesson it left me with. A great message about the passage of time. Not a favorite, but really a beautiful story.

“Sorry, Right Number” – This one blew me away. I didn’t cry, but I definitely got close. King wrote it like a screenplay and I think it really added to the pace and atmosphere of the story. Super dark and depressing but a great tale with a wild twist.

“The Ten O’clock People” – King spins an excellent story here, tapping on real social issues while also adding his usual supernatural twist to it. Every day, at 10 O’clock, people converge outside to smoke their cigarettes (since the office buildings started to ban smoking inside). These people can see things… What they see, are people in higher-power positions with giant grotesque bat heads. This story escalates quickly and is super interesting. One of my favorites.

“Crouch End” – Another favorite of mine from this collection. A couple (huh, King likes screwing with couples, doesn’t he?) gets lost in the suburbs of London and find themselves in the mysterious town of Crouch End. The wife loses the husband after a series of creepy events and begins seeing and hearing disturbing things. She finally makes her way to the police station to share her story. The ending makes readers shout “NO!” King wrote this one as a little ode to Lovecraft.

“The House on Maple Street” – Four siblings discover metal growing beneath the floors and behind the walls of their house. In the cellar, they then discover a control panel with a series of numbers counting down. The eldest hatches a plan to trap their evil step father in the house when the countdown hits zero. When it does, the house takes off. It was a crazy little tale but very fun and left you with a smile on your face.

“The Fifth Quarter” – This felt like a Bachman story, and King even admitted as much in the notes at the end. A man discovers one of his friends got mixed up with some bad people. These people stole money, buried it, made a map to find it again, and tore the map in four pieces to be distributed amongst themselves. Of course, no one trusts one another, and all are trying to get the pieces for themselves. Our main character, the fifth quarter, seeking revenge for his friend, slowly gathers the pieces. It was a cool little tale and I don’t think I did it justice here.

“The Doctor’s Case” – King writes about the classic characters Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in this murder mystery. In this case, Dr. Watson is the one to discover the murderer, but Holmes, Watson, and an Inspector all decide to hide the evidence and leave the mystery “unsolved.” This was a really interesting tale and pretty ballsy of King to do his own take on such classic characters.

“Umneys’ Last Case” – Umney is a private investigator or detective of sorts who goes about the same daily routine. The day of the story however, things have changed and Umney can’t deal. He gets to his office where he meets his doppelganger who happens to be “God” aka the man who created Umney. Umney is fiction and the doppelganger is the author of the Umney stories. The author intends to write himself into Umney’s life and Umney into the real world. It is a very unique and very cool story.

“Head Down” – This is a non-fiction essay, originally published in “The New Yorker,” about Stephen King’s son Owen’s baseball team, Bangor West, and their run at the Little League championship. King, being a huge baseball fan, and a gifted writer (obviously) was able to spin the tale of his son’s team’s triumph out for readers like one of his own stories. He kept it light and factual but still extremely intriguing and heartwarming. When King told readers of a non-fiction tale in the intro, I was like “Oh boy this will be boring.” WOW was I wrong. Reading this story gave me HUGE feelings of nostalgia back to my little league days.

“Brooklyn August” – King spins out a little poem about baseball for us. It’s a nice conclusion before we reach the notes section where he tells us about some of the stories.

“The Beggar and the Diamond” – After the notes, King hid an extra story. This one is somewhat religious and its King’s take on a Hindu parable. The story wasn’t anything amazing, but the message and the lesson were nice.

Overall, this short story collection was absolutely incredible. I was blown away. If I could give this collection more than a perfect score, I would. But alas, I give “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” a:

5 out of 5

Updates on the Stephen King Adaptation Boom

It has been over two months since I updated you all on the multitude of Stephen King adaptations, and A LOT has happened. So, without further ado, get your reading glasses on, sit back, get comfy, and get caught up.

IT’S “CASTLE ROCK” WEEK!!!

It’s finally here. “Castle Rock” will be available to stream Wednesday July 25^thon Hulu. I personally am extremely excited, and I know almost every constant reader is too.

John Anderson, writer for The Wall Street Journal, wrote an excellent review for “Castle Rock,” one I hope to emulate when I finish the show. All reviews out there are saying similar things, very good things, which only heightens my excitement.

Andre Holland and Bill Skarsgard reportedly run the show. I can’t wait to see Bill in action again, especially after watching him terrify audiences as Pennywise in the 2017 adaptation of “IT.”

Speaking of “IT,” filming for “IT: Chapter Two” is underway and set to release September 6th, 2019. The cast and crew look to be doing an amazing job.

Let’s run through a little casting call to get everyone up to speed and be sure to check out shaunwatson87 on Instagram. He’s made some amazing pictures featuring cast members from the adult and young Losers’ Club.

The Losers’ Club: James McAvoy ⇒ adult Bill Denborough. Jessica Chastain ⇒ adult Beverly Marsh. Andy Bean ⇒ adult Stanley Uris. James Ransone ⇒ adult Eddie Kaspbrak. Jay Ryan ⇒ adult Ben Hanscom. Isaiah Mufasa ⇒ adult Mike Hanlon (hopefully he’s ready to make some calls), and last but definitely not least, Bill Hader ⇒ adult Richie Tozier.

The cast who portrayed the young Losers’ Club will be reprising their roles in “Chapter Two” in flashbacks. Stephen Bogaert is returning as Beverly’s father, and Ari Cohen is returning as Stanley’s father. Two other major members reprising their roles: Jackson Robert Scott ⇒ Georgie Denborough and of course, Bill Skarsgard ⇒ Pennywise.

Other notable casting info: Teach Grant ⇒ adult Henry Bowers. Yeah, Henry isn’t dead. Jess Weixler ⇒ Audra Phillips, Bill’s wife. Will Beinbrink ⇒ Tom Rogan, Beverly’s abusive husband. Xavier Dolan ⇒ Adrian Mellon and Taylor Frey ⇒ Don Hagarty. Adrian and Don are a young gay couple who get harassed by a group of bullies and then attacked by Pennywise.

All the set photos and promos that have been circulating seem to be shaping this film into something spectacular (as expected). I am pumped.

Speaking of pumped, studios aren’t pumping their breaks on Stephen King adaptations, and why would they? “Mr. Mercedes” Season 2 has wrapped up filming and airs August 22^nd on the Audience Network.

Season 1 was a major hit and Season 2 looks to be just as good. All the major characters will be reprising their roles, yes even Harry Treadaway is returning as Brady Hartsfield.

The first season of “Mr. Mercedes” followed Stephen King’s novel of the same name to a T. The second season, however, will follow the events of the third book in the Hodges Trilogy, “End of Watch,” said producer/director Jack Bender.

Wait a second… season two follows book three not book two? Yep, I was confused and a little disappointed too, but Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson don’t really factor into “Finders Keepers,” (book two), until about halfway through.

With these three characters being such a major part of the first book and first season, fans don’t want to watch a show and have to wait for the halfway point to see the heroes.

I personally really enjoyed “Finders Keepers,” and hope it gets an adaptation, but unfortunately it is doubtful. “End of Watch” is a very dark book and a great finale for King’s trilogy, so season two of “Mr. Mercedes,” should be excellent.

As I mentioned in my last post, the producers of “Mr. Mercedes,” Jack Bender and Marty Bowen have been tapped to work on a 10-episode TV series adaptation of King’s newest novel “The Outsider.” The novel has some Hodges Trilogy ties, so they’re the perfect guys to work on it.

Before I go, here are a couple more updates for you:

John Lithgow poses for a portrait at The Collective and Gibson Lounge Powered by CEG, during the Sundance Film Festival, on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Victoria Will/Invision/AP)

The new “Pet Sematary” adaptation is set to release on April 5^th, 2019. Last time I updated you on this one, Jason Clarke and John Lithgow had been cast as Louis Creed and Jud Crandall, respectively. Since then, filming has begun, Amy Seimetz has been cast as Louis’ wife, Rachel Creed, Jeté Laurence will portray the Creed’s daughter Ellie while twins Hugo and Lucas Lavoie are set to play the Creed’s young son Gage. This adaptation is shaping up to be amazing.

Stephen King and Maryland author Richard Chizmar have teamed up again. They co-wrote the novella Gwendy’s Button Box, but this time they have co-written a script for a film titled “Trapped.” Filming recently began, so stay tuned for more updates.

Ewan McGregor has been cast as Danny Torrance in the upcoming adaptation of “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to “The Shining” and Rebecca Ferguson has been cast as the antagonist, Rose the Hat. This is very exciting news for constant readers. McGregor may not have the exact look I had in mind for Danny, but he is an excellent actor and I know he will crush the role.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, writers of the hit 2018 horror film “A Quiet Place,” have been chosen to write a film adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, “The Boogeyman” from the collection “Night Shift.” With the success of “A Quiet Place,” (it was awesome, trust me), we should expect something great from this adaptation.

Stephen King’s 1980 novel “Firestarter” has been tapped for a new adaptation. Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions have brought on Akiva Goldsman and Jason Blum to produce, Fatih Akin to direct, and Scott Teems to write. The original 1984 film was actually decent, but with new technology, this movie could be something special.

The cult classic anthology film, “Creepshow” created by Stephen King and the late George A. Romero, will be remade into a TV series by Greg Nicotero of “The Walking Dead.” The series will air on Shudder. At the moment, information is light, but this seems very exciting.

Lastly, it was announced Monday that King’s 2002 novel “From a Buick 8” has been tapped for an adaptation. William Brent Bell will write and direct, while Addison Mehr and Priya Amritraj will be executive producers. I didn’t love this novel, but I feel like a film adaptation could be really interesting.

Sorry this post ended up a little long winded, but it had been a while since I updated you and, like I said earlier, a lot happened! Anyway, thanks for reading and again stay tuned and keep checking in for more updates.

Stephen King Updates Galore!

The Kingverse has had a busy couple weeks with “Pet Sematary” and “IT” finding possible actors, the rights to “The Long Walk” being bought, “Castle Rock” dropping a new trailer and release date, AND we’re within sight of the release of “The Outsider.”

The second part of director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel, “IT,” is set for release on September 6, 2019. Muschietti promised “Chapter Two” would be even scarier than the extremely successful first part which released in September 2017.

The first part of “IT” followed the children of the Losers Club. “Chapter Two” deals with the children as adults and having to rekindle their friendships to once again face-off with Pennywise, the ultra-scary shapeshifting clown, (who will again be portrayed by Bill Skarsgard).

The children actors who portrayed the Losers Club did an excellent job. King fans everywhere have been waiting “patiently” for news of which actors will be portraying the adult Losers Club. Well, it looks like we know (potentially) who three of the seven will be.

On February 20, it was announced that actress Jessica Chastain would portray adult Beverly Marsh. Chastain and Muschietti worked together in the horror film “Mama.” Chastain has the perfect look for Beverly and she is a great actress so I’m sure she will do very well. Constant Readers can breathe a sigh of relief.

On April 12, two actors joined Chastain for “Chapter Two.” Bill Hader has begun talks to portray Richie Tozier, the Losers Club’s jokester. Hader is best known for his work with “Saturday Night Live” and his new hit HBO show, “Barry.” Hader is funny and can be serious when he wants, he’s a perfect Richie in my opinion.

James McAvoy has also begun talks to join the cast of “IT: Chapter Two.” McAvoy is slated for the very important role of Bill Denbrough, the leader of the Losers Club. McAvoy showed he has range with his recent chiller, “Split,” but he is more known for his role in the newer “X-Men” movies.

McAvoy is a great actor, but something about him seems off for the role of Bill. I think he would be better suited to play adult Eddie Kaspbrak, but I trust Muschietti and I like McAvoy, so if he is cast as Bill, then he will be a great Bill.

“IT” isn’t the only adaptation that cast roles recently. The new adaptation of 1983 novel “Pet Sematary” (my favorite King novel), slated for an April 2019 release, has found its leading man.

Jason Clarke is in negotiations to star as Louis Creed, father of the Creed family. “Pet Sematary” is about the Creed’s and the haunted Pet Sematary behind their house where anything buried there comes back to life… changed.

Clarke has the perfect look for Louis, he even looks like a more grisly Dale Midkiff, the actor who portrayed Louis in the 1989 movie. Clarke is known for his work in the recent film “Chappaquiddick” as well as “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Mudbound,” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

Speaking of adaptations, ANOTHER Stephen King novel had its rights purchased on April 25.

New Line Cinema has purchased the rights to King’s 1979 novel “The Long Walk.” James Vanderbilt will be writing and producing alongside Bradley Fischer and William Sherak.

King wrote “The Long Walk” under the Richard Bachman pseudonym. The novel tells the story of Ray Garraty in a future dystopia where every year the Long Walk contest takes place. The contest pits 100 teens in a walking journey where if you stop or walk too slow more than twice (three strikes and you’re out) then you are shot and left for dead on the side of the road. Last man standing is awarded the prize, which is anything you want for the rest of your life.

“The Long Walk” is one of my favorite Bachman books, and I have it very high in my King rankings, so I, and all other constant readers, are hoping for a stellar adaptation.

Remember way back, when we discussed the upcoming show “Castle Rock” based on King’s haunted city? Well, on May 2, Hulu released a brand new chilling trailer and a release date (FINALLY) for the anthology series.

Creepy right? Well I don’t know about you, but I am very excited for July 25. J.J. Abrams and Hulu did a good job with their adaptation of King’s time-travel novel “11/22/63,” so I am expecting good things from “Castle Rock.” The show has been shrouded in mystery and I think that is a good thing and will ultimately make for a better viewing experience for fans.

So I have done a lot of talk about all these movies and TV shows based off Stephen King’s books, well guess what? The Man is still writing! Yeah, that’s right, and we are in release month!

“The Outsider” is set for release on May 22, and I am stoked. The 576 page novel sounds absolutely chilling. The mysterious and somewhat vague synopsis sounds like we are being set up for some classic King twists and thrills. I have been “patiently” waiting for this since I pre-ordered it in October and I will be waiting by the door for the mailman on release day.

Stay tuned for more updates and reviews and as always: thanks for reading!

Review Time: “Lisey’s Story”

“Lisey’s Story” was my 65th Stephen King novel and it was definitely one his most beautiful works yet.

Baby. Babyluv.

“Lisey’s Story” tells the tale of Lisey Landon who lost her husband Scott two years ago. Scott was a famous author, and Lisey is in the process of attempting to clean out his study.

Published in 2006, this 509-page novel received relatively good reviews, with some negative ones, as all novels will. I personally loved it. It was fantastic. Paced well, tender, honest, imaginative, and emotional.

Stephen King said this is one of his personal favorites. He said he came up with the idea when he returned home from the hospital following a fight with pneumonia and saw his wife was redecorating his writing studio and had a lot of his things in boxes. This sight gave him the thought, “this is what it will be like when I die.”

This is a very sad novel. We as constant readers relive Lisey’s time with Scott. King intertwines Lisey’s memories and flashbacks of specific events with her husband and her present efforts to finally finish the grieving process.

King seamlessly weaves the past and the present, showing us Lisey’s heartbreak, but also showing us her strength. I cried a couple times, was shocked quite a few times, and even caught myself with a goofy smile on my face a couple times.

I said it was sad, but “Lisey’s Story” is heartwarming, shocking and has its scary bits too.

Below I am going to go into a bit of a spoilery review, so if you haven’t read yet, I highly recommend you do and you can continue reading this review, it won’t ruin the book, but it may not surprise you as much when you do read it.

If you have read, please, continue reading this review. If you haven’t, continue if you want, and whether you stay or go, make sure you read this vivid and amazing story.

This may be one of King’s most imaginative books to date.

King introduces us to Boo’ya Moon, another world, adjacent to ours, that Scott discovered when he was a child.

Scott grew up with his older brother Paul and their insane father. Scott adored his older brother, but his father would torture the poor boys. To escape and recuperate, Scott would take his brother to Boo’ya Moon, a world adjacent to ours. A world where you are not safe at night.

King’s vivid descriptions of Boo’ya Moon are absolutely incredible. The flowers, the tall grass, the trees, the pool, the laughers, and of course, Scott’s creepy “long boy.” (I won’t go any further into details)

While cleaning out Scott’s study, Lisey often hears the voice of her late husband and his terms of endearment, “Baby. Babyluv.” Hearing his voice and his other quirky sayings trigger the flashbacks.

One day, Lisey receives a call from John Dooley. Dooley wants her to give Scott’s unpublished work to a professor at Pitt. Dooley threatens Lisey with her life if she does not cooperate.

Dooley shows up at Lisey’s home one night and maims her as a warning. Once he is gone, she travels to Boo’ya Moon and takes a dip in the pool, healing her wounds.

Once healed, Lisey returns to this world and visits her catatonic sister Amanda. She travels back to Boo’ya Moon and brings her sisters conscious back to the real world, waking her up. Together, Amanda and Lisey confront Dooley and bring him to Boo’ya Moon where he meets Scott’s long boy.

This novel is truly fantastic. The writing is flawless, the pace is perfect. There are some creepy bits, some beautiful bits and some heartbreaking bits.

Overall this novel is intricate and complex, but not hard to understand, and it will blow you away. I highly recommend you check it out.

5 out of 5

Ranking Stephen King’s Work

Stephen King is the author of more than 70 books in a little over 40 years. His stories reach into almost every genre you can think of and they are all truly works of art. I have read 63 so far (I’ll post another ranking once I’ve finished them all) and I truly love all of them. I haven’t read anything by King that I would consider bad, but some are just much better than others.
Below, I ranked the books I have read. Feel free to leave comments at the end, and if you disagree with me, tell me why, I’m open for discussion. So, without further ado, here we go:

63: “Charlie The Choo Choo” – 20 pages; 2016; 3/5

This is King’s children’s story found within the pages of “The Dark Tower” series. He wrote this under the name Beryl Evans. The story is good and the art by Ned Dameron is better, but having read most of it in “The Dark Tower 3: The Waste Lands” already, the standalone story seems a bit pointless.

62: “The Dark Man” – 76 pages; 2013; 3/5

King wrote this poem when he was very young, and it is disturbing, but honestly the illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne are better than the poem. This is the basis for Randall Flagg though, so it is pretty cool.

61: “Roadwork” – 204 pages; 1981; 3/5

“Roadwork” is a Richard Bachman (King’s pseudonym) book about a man attempting to deal with the eventual loss of his home due to the construction of an overpass. The novel is sad but boring and I struggled to get through it. There were some interesting bits, but overall its just alright.

60: “The Running Man” – 159 pages; 1982; 3/5

“The Running Man,” another Bachman book, is about a man who enters in a life or death game show. It was a very interesting concept and honestly it wasn’t horrible, but it just wasn’t good. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would and it could have been a lot better.

59: “Blaze” – 260 pages; 2007; 3/5

Yet another Bachman book (they’re not all bad I promise). This one is about a mentally challenged man who kidnaps a wealthy family’s baby for ransom. It was a bit like “Of Mice and Men,” but not nearly as good. This one did make me cry at one point, but overall it was dull.

58: “Dreamcatcher” – 617 pages; 2001; 3/5

Shit weasel aliens. Pretty much the most memorable part of this one for me. There were some aspects that hit your feels, and a return to Derry was nice too, but I couldn’t get into this one. I know a lot of people really enjoy it, but it just wasn’t for me.

57: “From a Buick 8” – 351 pages; 2002; 3/5

Very cool concept about a car that is a portal to another dimension, but the whole thing is told in flashbacks until the very end. While each flashback was cool, the surrounding parts were so dull and aside from a few, most of the flashbacks were disappointing too. There were a couple tear-jerk moments but in the end, it fell flat.

56: “Sleeping Beauties” – 700 pages; 2017; 3/5

King wrote this giant with his youngest son Owen. Before reading this, I was so excited. All the women around the world become covered in a sort of cocoon when they fall asleep, and they won’t wake up. Trying to open the cocoon results in violence. Sounds cool right? Well, it was… but it was also boring and so drawn out. The Kings got too artsy and didn’t focus enough on the good stuff. There were some awesome parts, but the boring outweighed the good.

55: “Full Dark, No Stars” – 386 pages; 2010; 3/5

“Full Dark, No Stars” is a collection of four novellas: “1922,” “Big Driver,” “Fair Extension,” and “A Good Marriage.” This collection wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. “1922” was the only real highlight and it was very good. “Big Driver” was just weird and very reminiscent of the movie “I Spit on Your Grave.” “Fair Extension” was cool but needed more. It felt too quick. In “A Good Marriage,” King writes about a very strong woman, but the story is just okay, and it is a little lengthy and slow.

54: “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” – 219 pages; 1999; 3/5

A story about a little girl who gets lost in the woods of New England. This is a creepy tale and especially real but there is really only so much King could do with the subject matter. It wasn’t a bad story by any means and I did really enjoy it, but it was quick and ultimately not super exciting.

53: “Cell” – 350 pages; 2006; 3/5

A cellphone signals turns everyone who is on them into a zombie. This story was cool and started out with a huge punch, one so good you expect that the whole time… but no. The middle events of this novel are too quick. It could have been a lot better.

52: “The Colorado Kid” – 178 pages; 2005; 3/5

I actually really enjoyed this one. An aspiring journalist listens to two old newspaper editors tell her the story of an unsolved death. The story was intriguing but a bit slow and the ending leaves you with no answers. I liked it but would have liked it more if we had come to a resolution of sorts.

51: “Cycle of the Werewolf” – 127 pages; 1985; 4/5

This is a quick graphic novel about a werewolf terrorizing a town for a year. The story is creepy and a good mystery, but I wanted more. The illustrations by the late Berni Wrightson are amazing. King should turn this into a novel because the concept and story are there waiting to be expanded.

50: “Skeleton Crew” – 566 pages; 1985; 3/5

This is a collection of 22 short stories. The collection is good but has a lot of stories I just couldn’t get into. There are a few like “The Mist,” “The Jaunt,” and “Survivor Type,” that are amazing, but in the end, the duds outweigh the studs, forcing “Skeleton Crew” to fall down the rankings.

49: “The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole” – 307 pages; 2012; 4/5

“Dark Tower” 4.5. This story is about Roland telling the Ka-Tet a story from his youth where he tells a young boy a fairy tale. Its storyception… a story within a story within a story. I enjoyed this little tale (tales) though. It was tightly written, and the stories were interesting. This one falls just because everything else above it is better.

48: “Thinner” – 282 pages; 1984; 4/5

Another Bachman book. A gypsy curses a man to lose weight. Doesn’t sound like a curse does it? Well it is because the weight loss doesn’t stop. This book was chilling and an interesting idea. It wasn’t overly wordy but the subject matter was a little silly and not a lot happens before the ending (which is great).

47: “Four Past Midnight” – 763 pages; 1990; 4/5

A collection of four novellas: “The Langoliers,” “Secret Window, Secret Garden,” The Library Policeman,” and “The Sun Dog.” All four stories are good but not great. They all have a lot of good things but they all also have their issues and these issues cause this collection to fall.

46: “The Tommyknockers” – 563 pages; 1987; 4/5

This novel is crazy. King said he wrote this novel with bloody tissues hanging from his nostrils after doing too much cocaine… you can tell. The novel is fun and very intricate and intriguing, but it feels disorganized at times and some of the events are just so out there.

45: “The Dark Tower 4: Wizard & Glass” – 781 pages; 1997; 4/5

This book is great, Rolands backstory is truly tragic, but it was too slow at times. This was the one “Dark Tower” novel I had to push through. The beginning and end were great, but the middle build-up is too slow for me and it felt like a huge pause in Roland’s journey to the Tower.

44: “The Dark Tower 6: Song of Susannah” – 411 pages; 2004; 4/5

The 6^th volume in the “Dark Tower” series was fast paced and just a set-up for the grand finale. It was good, but at this point in the series, you are just waiting for the end. There wasn’t enough action and it ended too abruptly.

43: “The Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla” – 709 pages; 2003; 4/5

The 5^th “Dark Tower” novel is a good one for sure, but it is a tad slow and another pause of sorts. There was an air of mystery throughout and a certain character from another novel appears and tells us where he has been for the last 30 years, vaulting this novel over “Song” and “Wizard.”

42: “The Eyes of the Dragon” – 326 pages; 1987; 4/5

King wrote us a nice fairy tale here. he switched up his style and it almost feels like a bedtime or campfire story. It is really good, but the writing style makes everything seem light even though a lot of the subject matter was not.

41: “End of Watch” – 429 pages; 2016; 4/5

The finale of the Hodges trilogy was very good, but king didn’t really stick to what made the first two so good. The first two were realistic while in this one, he reverted to the supernatural which normally is great, but just felt out of place in this series. There were still some great events and disturbing scenes and the ending was water-works worthy though.

40: “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” – 495 pages; 2015; 4/5

This collection of 15 short stories is truly impressive. King went modern with a few and they were killer. He even drudged up some older subjects and works and put them in this collection and they were great. The few duds brought “Bazaar” down to 40, but the good ones are what keep it here.

39: “Revival” – 403 pages; 2014; 4/5

The title is the subject matter here and it’s a goodie. “Revival” is deep and sometimes overly religious and bashed religion some too but still a great and sad story. The ending is NUTS.

38: “Gerald’s Game” – 332 pages; 1992; 4/5

A woman is chained to her bed during sexual play when her husband dies. This novel is disturbing as hell. Sometimes it gets a bit uncomfortable, especially during the eclipse of 1963, but I really enjoyed this one. The Space Cowboy is one creepy figure too.

37: “Dolores Claiborne” – 305 pages; 1993; 4/5

King delivers another strong female character. Dolores is a badass. Written like a testimony, this novel is only in Dolores’s voice and its still amazing. King never ceases to amaze.

36: “Gwendy’s Button Box” – 164 pages; 2017; 4/5

This novella, co-written with Richard Chizmar, is the return to Castle Rock. A truly beautifully written novella that is too short. Seriously I finished it in two days, I want more!! The story was great, setting was great, characters were great, but it falls because it deserves a full-length novel.

35: “Finders Keepers” – 431 pages; 2015; 4/5

The second novel in the Hodges Trilogy delivers. I really enjoyed this tale and loved the reminiscent feelings of “Misery.” Falls to its predecessor because Morris Bellamy, as creepy as he is, was no Brady.

34: “Desperation” – 690 pages; 1995; 4/5

I really enjoyed King’s messed up trip to the Nevada desert town of Desperation where we get to meet the creepy and disturbed force, Tak. The aspects of possession and the totally deserted town made this a great and creepy tale. It got preachy at times and the backstory was a bit drawn out, but I still liked this a lot more than I thought I would.

33: “Needful Things” – 690 pages; 1990; 4/5

This was subtitled: The Last Castle Rock Story, and King definitely wrote it with that intention. I really enjoyed the slow build to a MAJOR bang finish. The huge cast of characters got a little confusing at times and the final showdown was super stupid. Other than that, this novel was fantastic and absolutely chaotic (in a good way).

32: “The Talisman” – 646 pages; 1984; 4/5

King teamed up with Peter Straub to write this epic adventure about young Jack Sawyer who is in search of the mythic Talisman to help his dying mother. Concept, story, delivery, characters, setting: killer. All amazing. The antagonist is great and there are even some “Dark Tower” nods too. This only falls so low because it gets drawn out a bit at times.

31: “Black House” – 625 pages; 2001; 4/5

The sequel to “The Talisman,” again written with Peter Straub. The sequel beats out its predecessor because the novel is so dark and disturbing, and I got super excited when all the blatant “Dark Tower” ties were said. The novel falls to 31 because the narration at points is like a flyover. I had to force myself through the first 70 pages, but beyond that… WOW.

30: “The Regulators” – 475 pages; 1996; 4/5

Written as Richard Bachman, this is the sister-novel to “Desperation.” The character names are all the same, but instead of the desert, we’re in perfect suburbia Ohio. Tak is our villain again, but the way he torments the protagonists in “Regulators” is just so damn cool.

29: “Under The Dome” – 1072 pages; 2009; 4/5

King wrote a giant masterpiece here. Drop a semi-permeable dome over a small Maine town and see what happens. Shit hits the fan, as the saying goes. This novel is great in so many ways but falls here because the ending was just… just lame. If King could have put a better finish, this one would be higher.

28: “Firestarter” – 428 pages; 1980; 4/5

I really enjoyed this little chase story about a young girl and her father, both with powers, being chased by a secret government agency, The Shop. This story is intense for the most part and an awesome concept. It falls a bit due to some overly wordy explanations and a middle section that felt like it needed a push.

27: “The Dead Zone” – 426 pages; 1979; 4/5

A man gets into a tragic car accident and is in a coma for five years. When he wakes up he discovers he has precognitive abilities. This novel was intense and extremely well written with great characters and a gripping story. There were some slow bits, but I loved this tragic tale. The politics are a solid aspect of the novel too.

26: “Everything’s Eventual” – 459 pages; 2002; 4/5

This collection of 14 short stories is amazing. There were very few, if any, duds. All 14 were creepy and so good. We even got a mini Roland story and another tale, the title story, was about another “Dark Tower” character.

25: “Cujo” – 319 pages; 1981; 4/5

“Cujo” is about… well you know, who doesn’t know? Cujo is a good boy. This novel was surprisingly good for such a simple concept. The terror and realism in this novel make it extra chilling and the way King connects you to the characters makes it extra easy to become invested. That ending turned on the water works.

24: “Mr. Mercedes” – 436 pages; 2014; 4/5

The first novel in the Bill Hodges Trilogy was fantastic. I fell in love with this novel within the first 10 pages. King wrote possibly one of his best villains ever and an amazing hero too. The story was fast paced and kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

23: “Night Shift” – 326 pages; 1977; 4/5

King’s first crack at a short story collection is his best. I think there were only one or two stories I didn’t enjoy. Aside from those, the collection was incredible. We got a prequel to “The Stand” as well as a prequel AND sequel to “Salem’s Lot.” King even managed to make me ball my eyes out with a 12-page story.

22: “Christine” – 471 pages; 1983; 4/5

This haunting coming of age story about a very strange love triangle was a lot better than the concept originally seems. A killer car… must be a joke, right? Oh no, Christine is quite chilling, and it is truly a great read.

21: “The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger” – 231 pages; 1982; 4/5

The start of “The Dark Tower” saga was great. This quick and easy read gets you instantly sucked into the greatest literary series of all time. I was hooked from the famous opening line: “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

20: “Doctor Sleep” – 528 pages; 2013; 5/5

The sequel to “The Shining” was the perfect way to follow up the 1975 novel almost 40 years later. We get to see how Danny is as an adult, can you say nostalgia? This novel was beautiful in every way. King was able to make it original and touch on important aspects from its predecessor.

19: “The Long Walk” – 183 pages; 1979; 5/5

A Bachman book, this story is about a dystopia where teen boys must walk until they drop… and when they drop, they are shot. This novel is dark and suspenseful yet beautiful at the same time. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Great characters, great concept, well executed, and some nice twists too.

18: “Carrie” – 199 pages; 1974; 5/5

King’s first novel is a tragic tale about an awkward high school girl who discovers she has telekinetic abilities. This novel is so well written, and the way King subtly hints and mentions the ending throughout the novel was very clever and he still manages to amaze you once you get there.

17: “The Green Mile” – 399 pages; 1996; 5/5

This tragic tale about a man wrongly accused of murder and the guards in charge of watching him while on death row. The guards soon discover this man is very special. Originally released as a serial novel (one part each month for six months), this novel is beautiful. I’m sure you have seen the movie, but trust me, the book is better.

16: “Misery” – 338 pages; 1987; 5/5

Another novel that has an incredible film adaptation. This dark and disturbing novel is every author’s worst nightmare and is guaranteed to give you the creeps. Annie Wilkes “rescues” famous author Paul Sheldon from a car accident. To this day, 4 years later, this book still creeps me out.

15: “Joyland” – 300 pages; 2013; 5/5

This beautiful noir novel is about a college student who spends his summer, and then the following semester, working at an amusement park and attempting to solve a murder at the same time. King wrote this for Hard Case Crime and it is truly a work of art. I personally have never related to a character more than Devin Jones and this novel made me cry like a baby. I’ve said it already, but it is truly beautiful.

14: “The Dark Half” – 431 pages; 1989; 5/5

King wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman for a while, and that was the inspiration for this dark and violent novel. An author’s pseudonym comes to life and is on the hunt for its creator. I tore through this novel. It is fast paced, chilling, violent, and a fun read. People dislike this story because it gets a bit barbaric at times, but that is part of the appeal for me.

13: “Rage” – 124 pages; 1977; 5/5

Probably King’s most controversial novel, “Rage,” written under the Richard Bachman name, is about a boy who kills two teachers and holds a classroom full of students hostage. Understandably, King removed this novel from publication. As screwed up as the concept is, this novel and the story are actually really good. If you can get your hands on it, give it a read.

12: “The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower” – 830 pages; 2004; 5/5

The finale of “The Dark Tower” series was everything a Tower Junkie could have asked for. It was truly an incredible and tragic wrap to an amazing series. Some people complain about the ending, but really it was the only way to end the story and if you look back, King hinted at it pretty early on. I cried multiple times throughout this giant and I loved every word of it.

11: “The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three” – 399 pages; 1987; 5/5

The second installment in “The Dark Tower” series is where Roland really starts to get his ka-tet together and this is where the saga starts to get really good. The way King described certain aspects of this novel was truly incredible. Also, this is the book where we get to meet my all-time favorite King character: Eddie Dean.

10: “Different Seasons” – 518 pages; 1982; 5/5

A collection of four absolutely beautiful novellas. “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” “Apt Pupil,” “The Body” and “The Breathing Method.” All four of these stories are truly incredible. Three of which have been turned into amazing films, “Shawshank Redemption,” “Stand By Me” and “Apt Pupil.” The realism in these stories make them especially good.

9: “The Dark Tower 3: The Waste Lands” – 509 pages; 1988; 5/5

The third, and my favorite installment in “The Dark Tower” series is where the journey to the Tower truly starts. The ka-tet is whole, and the journey rolls on. This novel is intense from the beginning and it explains a lot of the background info the first two novels were missing. From start to finish, “The Waste Lands” is a roller coaster.

8: “The Shining” – 447 pages; 1977; 5/5

King’s 3^rd novel is creepy as hell. Jack Torrance, his son and his wife, stay alone in the Overlook Hotel in Sidewinder, Colorado during the winter months to take care of the place. The hotel is alive with past spirits and its haunting. Seriously this novel is so good. A slow build to a big bang, but the entirety is filled with creepiness that gives you permanent goosebumps.

7: “Salems Lot” – 478 pages; 1975; 5/5

King’s take on vampires is terrifying. He slowly builds the story and makes you feel like you are a part of the little Maine town, then slowly turns the place into Hell. It is truly incredible how subtly he does this and how good it is. Barlow is a great villain and Ben Mears is an awesome protagonist.

6: “11/22/63” – 842 pages; 2011; 5/5

A man goes back in time to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The research, time and effort King put into this one is truly admirable, and it shows throughout the story. With such a singular topic, he somehow managed to add other plot developments that made the story roll along at a perfect pace. This is a masterpiece… much like the next 5 novels you will see.

5: “Insomnia” – 787 pages; 1994; 5/5

This giant novel is pretty much a “Dark Tower” novel that takes place in Derry and has a lot of “IT” mentions. It is truly a work of art. King went all in on this one and I absolutely adored it. I cried like a little baby at the end… no shame. Read my review to see how much I loved this one.

4: “Duma Key” – 609 pages; 2008; 5/5

Okay, this novel is amazing. After reading this I really felt like it made me a better person. Following along with Edgar Freemantle as he slowly reinvents himself was truly heartwarming. The way King slowly and easily inserts creepy and mysterious elements were amazing. Another tear jerker, “Duma Key” is one of those books that leaves a lasting impression.

3: “The Stand” – 1153 pages; 1978; 5/5

King’s longest and most epic novel is… well its EPIC. A virus known as Captain Tripps wipes out most of the population and the remaining people are split into two factions. A good vs evil story sprawled out across over 1000 pages of pure awesomeness. We are also introduced to the ultimate King bad-guy, Randall Flagg. This book has everything. The page count may seem daunting, but its worth it.

2: “IT” – 1138 pages; 1986; 5/5

King’s scariest novel to date, about a shape-shifting clown who terrorized a group of kids in Derry Maine is an amazing story. This group of kids, The Losers Club, stand up to the entity as kids and again as adults. The way King writes this novel, jumping from 1958 to 1986 is masterful. Not only is this story amazing, but it will scare the crap out of you too.

1: “Pet Sematary” – 374 pages; 1983; 5/5

A seemingly perfect family moves into a new house and behind their new home, lies an ancient Indian burial ground where if the dead are buried there, they will come back. This novel is terrifying, beautiful, tragic, and amazing all wrapped into one. This is the perfect novel. The five previously mentioned novels have everything, and this one has everything… but better. I truly love this novel. It moved me in ways I didn’t think previously possible.

As a whole, “The Dark Tower” series belong here, at #1, but because I did each novel individually, its not. It is truly the greatest literary series ever created. “The Dark Tower” is known as King’s magnum opus and the center of his storybook universe.

Anyway, if you made it here, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading my opinions and I hope you agree, but if you don’t, that’s fine, everyone feels differently, everyone sees things and interprets things differently. That is the true beauty of books. Again, thanks for reading and leave some comments!

Stephen King’s poem “The Bone Church” to be adapted for TV

The next few years are shaping up to be pretty exciting for Stephen King fans after the rights to his narrative poem “The Bone Church,” were picked up by Cedar Park Entertainment. It looks like we’ll be seeing King’s name on our TVs or computer screens once again.

“If you want to hear, buy me another drink. …There were thirty-two of us went into that greensore, Thirty days in the green and only three who rose above it.”

Chris Long and David Ayer, founders of Cedar Park Entertainment, acquired the rights to Stephen King’s narrative poem “The Bone Church.” Long and Ayer plan to turn the eight-page poem into a TV series.

Chris Long is no stranger to King’s work. He was an executive producer on Audience Network’s adaptation of “Mr. Mercedes.” Long was programming chief at Audience for 18 years but left to form Cedar Park with Ayer.

David Ayer is best known for his work directing the DC comics film “Suicide Squad” as well as the hit Netflix movie “Bright.” After “Bright’s” success, Ayer signed a deal with Netflix to direct and write “Bright 2.”

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Stephen King wrote “The Bone Church” in the 1960s but didn’t publish it until 2009 in “Playboy Magazine.” The poem was later revised and republished in his 2015 short story collection “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.”

“The Bone Church” is a tale of a drunk man telling a story about when he and 31 other explorers trekked into the jungle in search of the mythic Bone Church. Throughout the story, the narrator asks for more drinks and describes the deaths of every traveler except himself and two others. For the mathematically challenged, that’s 29 deaths.

As a poem, “The Bone Church,” is a different read but the style doesn’t take away from the creepy nature of the tale. This eight-page poem is guaranteed to give you chills. It is just one of 20 short stories in the “Bazaar of Bad Dreams” anthology. Other notable stories include:

“Ur” about a mysterious pink Kindle that contains books, newspapers, and other written works from other dimensions, and the future. This tale even has some connections to King’s magnum opus, “The Dark Tower.”
“Obits” is another good one about a young man who discovers he can kill people by writing their obituaries prematurely.
In “Mile 81” a young boy explores an abandoned rest stop and discovers a car that eats people. Sounds silly, I know, but it has little hints of King’s other car related novels, “Christine” and “From a Buick 8.”

Almost every story in “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” is a hit and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some others getting their own adaptations soon.

“The Bone Church” joins a long list of King stories set to hit TV screens or movies theaters:

“Castle Rock” debuts this summer.
“IT” part one was a huge success in September 2017. Part two begins filming this summer.
In January, Mike Flanagan, director of the adaptation of King’s novel “Gerald’s Game,” signed on to adapt “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to King’s famous novel “The Shining.”
“Mr. Mercedes” season one was a huge hit. Season two began filming in February.
The rights to a re-adaptation of King’s famous novel (and my personal favorite) “Pet Sematary” were picked up by Paramount in December 2017. The new movie is slated for an April 19, 2019 release.
Last, but certainly not least, following the film’s flop in the summer of 2017, “The Dark Tower” will be rebooted for TV thanks to Amazon.

In case I lost you up there, here is a list of the novels and short stories. These should get you ready for the adaptations out currently and all the hopefully amazing movies and TV shows we will see in the coming years!

“The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” (2015) (495 pages) (Collection of short stories)
- “The Bone Church” (8 pages) (no release date for TV show yet)
“IT” (1986) (1138 pages) (TV movie 1990) (film 2017, part one. 2019, part two)
“Gerald’s Game” (1992) (332 pages) (film 2017)
“Mr Mercedes” (2014) (436 pages) (TV show 2017)
- “Finders Keepers” (2015) (431 pages) (season 2 of Mr. Mercedes set for 2019)
- “End of Watch” (2016) (429 pages)
“The Shining” (1977) (447 pages) (Film 1980) (TV movie 1997)
“Doctor Sleep” (2013) (529 pages) (presumable 2019 or 2020 release)
“Pet Sematary” (1983) (374 pages) (film 1989) (remake 2019)
“The Dark Tower” (series of 8 novels) (1981-2004) (over 4000 pages) (film 2017) (TV show coming soon on Amazon)

You should know by now what I am about to say: read the books before seeing the movies or watching the shows! I know there is a lot of material listed there, but you can do it. Some were listed in previous posts anyway, so you should have a head start… right?

Amazon Saves The Day; Purchases Rights To “The Dark Tower”

Amazon has purchased the rights to “The Dark Tower” series; planning a complete reboot of Stephen King’s Mangum Opus.

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

Amazon has purchased the rights to Stephen King’s expansive sci-fi/fantasy/western series, “The Dark Tower.” The intention is to create a TV series. This is great news to every King fan out there because the 2017 film adaptation just didn’t cut it.

After production finished for last summer’s film, starring Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger of Gilead, and Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black, Roland’s nemesis, director Nikolaj Arcel announced he would be working on a TV series related to the backstory of Roland.

The film more or less tanked. It was a sad excuse for an adaptation and the 90-minute run-time didn’t nearly cover enough of the material from a SEVEN book series. Due to the films failure, plans for the series were dropped. In comes Amazon to the rescue!

The new show, rumored to be helmed by “Walking Dead” executive producer Glen Mazzara, is supposedly going to be a complete reboot of the series. HALLELUJAH!

“The Dark Tower” is Stephen King’s magnum opus. It is a seven book series which also includes an eighth book that is more of a side story.

“Magnum Opus: a large and important work of art, music, or literature, especially one regarded as the most important work of an artist or writer.”

What is “The Dark Tower?” Here’s a short synopsis: “The Dark Tower” series tells the tale of Roland’s search for the Dark Tower, a tower that stands at the center of the world, the axis from which everything else revolves around.

Roland’s world is dying, and he believes if he reaches the Tower he can fix it. Of course, there are people attempting to stop him; people who want to see the world destroyed; people like The Man in Black and the Crimson King.

Throughout his journey, Roland makes new friends; Eddie Dean, Susannah, Jake Chambers, Oy (a billy bumbler which is a sort of fox/raccoon-like creature). Together, they form a Ka-tet (definitions of all the weird words used are at the bottom).

Roland and his Ka-tet face many hardships on their journey to the Tower. They save lives, shoot bad-guys and travel between dimensions through doorways or portals. The series is a roller coaster from start to finish.

The seven book series, written from 1981 to 2004, contains over 4,000 pages of material and even expands into King’s other works. “The Dark Tower” is considered the center of King’s storybook universe.

Below, is a rudimentary diagram of how his other novels and stories connect to “The Dark Tower.” There are also more possible connections that haven’t been confirmed or denied yet.

If you have read previous posts, you may notice some familiar titles such as “One for the Road,” and a lot, if not all, of the Castle Rock stories.

Listed here are all “The Dark Tower” novels in order, but the diagram above features 19 other novels, 4 novellas and 8 short stories that have ties to the series. There are also 16 comics for the “The Dark Tower.” “Gwendy’s Button Box,” a novella by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, was written after the diagram was created, but it also contains possible ties to “The Dark Tower.”

“The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger” (1981) (231 pages)
“The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of the Three” (1987) (399 pages)
“The Dark Tower 3: The Wastelands” (1991) (509 pages)
“The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass” (1997) (781 pages) This novel is mostly about Roland’s past
“The Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla” (2003) (709 pages)
“The Dark Tower 6: Song of Susannah” (2004) (411 pages)
“The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower” (2004) (830 pages)
“The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel” (2012) (307 pages) This novel is about Roland’s past and a fairy tale his mother used to tell him as a child.

As mentioned before, there are other novels and stories that may have connections to the series, but they have yet to be confirmed or maybe no one has noticed them yet. That’s on you to read, discover and theorize on your own (or find a group of King fans to nerd out with… trust me it’s fun).

“The Dark Tower” contains a plethora of strange words, phrases and places, so, as promised, here’s an extremely small list of definitions:

Ka: life force, consciousness, duty, destiny, fate
Ka-tet: a group of people summoned together by Ka
Thankee: thank you
Sai: sir or madam
Gilead: fabled city where Roland grew up, located in Mid-World
Mid-World: one of the many worlds or levels of the Tower. It is the world Roland inhabits
The Dark Tower: the center of all creation

As always, read the books before the show! Don’t even bother with the movie. The series is truly incredible, and the connections are endless. Once you get started, you will never want to put these books, or any King books, down. Enjoy, and as always feel free to leave comments and don’t forget to follow!

“Castle Rock;” King Fans Most Anticipated Show and How You Can Be Ready For It

The new Hulu series from J.J. Abrams, Castle Rock, based off the world and ideas of Stephen King, is set for release this summer. Here’s how you can get ready for one of 2018’s most anticipated shows.

Most of Stephen King‘s stories are set in Maine, where he grew up and currently lives. Many of these stories take place in the fictional town of Castle Rock. This summer, director J.J. Abrams is releasing a ten-episode television series on Hulu based on King’s haunted town.

The show, titled “Castle Rock” (of course), is set to release this summer but no exact date has been announced yet (COME ON MAN). There is a lot of mystery surrounding the show, especially since it isn’t based off one of King’s novels, but rather his haunted city, his ideas and his world.

Constant Readers (for those that don’t know, this is the nickname King gave to his readers), are chomping at the bit to get any-and-all information they can about “Castle Rock” before its release. The theories surrounding the show’s possible events and story line are endless.

After viewing the trailers and checking the cast on IMDb a lot of King fans will recognize familiar names and faces.

Sissy Spacek is known in the King-world as the original “Carrie” from the 1976 adaptation of his very first novel by the same name. Spacek was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for her performance. In “Castle Rock,” she plays Ruth Deaver, the adopted mother of main character Henry Deaver, played by Andre Holland.

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Actor Scott Glenn is portraying every King fans favorite cop, Alan Pangborn. In King’s novels, “The Dark Half” and “Needful Things,” Pangborn was sheriff of the Castle Rock Police Department, but in the show, he looks to be a bit older and (most likely) retired.

Melanie Lynskey, who played Rachel Wheaton in “Rose Red” (a tv movie King wrote), plays Castle Rock real-estate agent Molly Strand.

Lastly, Bill Skarsgard, an actor returning to the King-verse who many, not just King fans, may know (especially the ladies). Skarsgard is known for his work on the Netflix tv show “Hemlock Grove,” and more recently as the horrifying clown Pennywise in the 2017 adaptation of King’s 1986 novel “IT.”

In “Castle Rock,” Skarsgard plays a death-row inmate at Shawshank Prison (yeah the same Shawshank that was featured in “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”). On IMDb, Skarsgard is cast as “Shawshank Prisoner,” creating even more mystery around the show and his character.

In other news, Skarsgard is set to reprise his role as Pennywise in “IT Part Two,” slated to hit theaters September 6, 2019.

**Side Note: This is not the first time Abrams and King have worked together. Abrams developed a series on Hulu in 2016 based on King’s novel “11/22/63” where a man travels back in time to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Another novel I highly recommend once you have gotten through the Castle Rock stories)**

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Now, back to the topic at hand: Some of you may be totally lost, and that’s understandable. You’re probably reading all this like, “’Castle Rock?’ What the heck, how am I supposed to get into a show I know nothing about?” That’s where the following list comes in.

As previously mentioned, “Castle Rock” isn’t based off any of King’s stories exclusively, rather a modern look at how King’s haunted city is doing nowadays. “Castle Rock” will take aspects from a lot of King’s work related to the city, so here is a list of novels and stories set in Castle Rock (many of which have been adapted into movies and shows) that you should get and read to prepare yourself for what looks to be the show of the summer.

“The Dead Zone” (1979) (426 pages) (Film released in 1983 and TV series released in 2002)
“Cujo” (1981) (319 pages) (Film released in 1983)
“The Dark Half” (1989) (412 pages) (Film released in 1993)
“Needful Things” (1991)(690 pages) (Film released in 1993)
- Subtitled “The Last Castle Rock Story” It is EPIC.
“Gwendy’s Button Box” (2017) (164 pages)
- King co-wrote this novella with Richard Chizmar, founder of Cemetery Dance Publications based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Chizmar recently released a novella, “Widow’s Point,” which he co-wrote with his son Billy.
“Elevation” (October 2018) (144 pages)

“Elevation” is set to release October 30, 2018. The novella will be the newest addition to the Castle Rock stories and King’s second literary release of the year after the novel “The Outsider,” hits stores May 22, 2018.

Anyway, enjoy the books and keep checking for more info on the show and updates on anything King-related. As always, feel free to comment with any questions, concerns or whatever else your heart desires!