Showing posts with label Castle Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Castle Rock. Show all posts
Stephen King Summer Vacation
Let's have fun. . .
1. If you could go anywhere in the Stephen King universe for Summer Vacation -- where would you go?
2. If you could SEND someone you don't like anywhere in the Stephen King universe, where would you send them?
A few suggested vacation spots:
1. Under The Dome (Chester's Mill)
Points of interest:
- Cloud Top Ski Resort
- The Sweetbriar Rose
- Drippers Roadhouse
- Chester Pond
Talk Stephen King recommends you avoid Big Jim's Used Cars.
2. Midworld
Points of interest:
- The Dark Tower
- Lud
- Gilead
- The Way Station
Talk Stephen King recommends you avoid The Wastelands
3. Castle Rock
FROM: thekingofcastlerock.blogspot.com
Castle Rock is the flagship town in Stephen King’s work, and is located in southwestern Maine, between Rumford and Augusta. The town, created by SK was to be more than a mere location for a story. The Complete Stephen King Universe asserts that it was designed to “function as a scale model of contemporary American society”.
On the surface, Castle Rock is a postcard snapshot of everyday America. It is the exact kind of town that politicians are referring to when they mention “helping Mainstreet America”, and Norman Rockwell painted in his Saturday Evening Post covers. However, this tranquil town, filled with Mom-and Pop stores and community spirit, has had a violent history; most of the tragic events occurred after 1978. Many people wonder what exactly happened in the little rural town in Maine that ultimately led to its destruction.
FROM: Stephen King, A Face Among The Masters:
In Lord of the Flies, the bullies name their headquarters on the island “Castle Rock,” which is what King named his fictional town . More than a few bullies found their way to Castle Rock, Maine, including the gang in the novella, The Body, led by Ace Merrill.
4. Derry
Points of interest:
- The Sandpipe: The Standpipe was a large watertower in Derry. In its earlier days, it remained unlocked so that patrons of an adjoining park could climb a spiral staircase around the tank to look out over Derry from the top. The Standpipe was closed to the public after several children drowned in the tank, most likely the fault of It. The Standpipe was where Stan Uris first encountered It, which took the form of drowned children. After the grown-up Losers Club kills It in second Ritual Of Chüd in 1985, a huge storm ensues, destroying many buildings and landmarks in Derry, including the Standpipe. In Dreamcatcher, Mr. Gray drives to Derry to find the Standpipe, only to discover a memorial featuring a cast-bronze statue of two children and a plaque underneath, dedicated to the victims of the 1985 flood and of It. The plaque has been vandalized with graffiti reading, "PENNYWISE LIVES". In 11/22/63, Jake Epping buys a pillow with a picture of the standpipe on it. He hides a gun in it, the gun he uses to kill Frank Dunning. (SOURCE)
- 29 Neibolt Street, a run-down, abandoned house near the trainyard. It is in this house – or rather, under the house's front porch – that Eddie Kaspbrak first encounters It, which shows itself as a mix between a homeless leper and its familiar Pennywise form. Later, after Eddie tells them his story, Bill and Richie go to investigate the house and are chased off by It, the creature having taken the form of a werewolf. (source)
- The barrens
- The Canal
Talk Stephen King advises you not to feed the clowns.
A FEW MORE:
5. Palm Desert, Ca (mentioned in Duma Key)6. Duma Key
7. Desperation
8. Las Vegas of The Stand
9. Chamberlain (home town of Carrie)
10. Little Tall Island - Just off the coast of Maine (Dolores Claiborne)
11. Tarker’s Mills - The small town of Tarker’s Mills was a nice place to live, except during the full moon. As chronicled in Stephen King’s “Cycle of the Werewolf” (www.syfy.co.uk/blogs/top-10-stephen-king-towns)
12. Haven
13. 'Salem's Lot (also known as Jerusalem's Lot)
14. Dallas (11/22/63) -- NOT!
Of course, if you really want a Stephen King vaction, Stu Tinker, who used to run Betts Bookstore has a tour that has great reviews. "Stu's knowledge, love of the subject, friendship with Mr King all make this tour THE BEST and most important thing to do if you're a King fan. So much knowledge, humour and honesty in this man. Loved it!" tripadvisor.com
3 Overlooked King Classics
Yep, Carrie's good. And it connects. In fact, the book is so good it's produced a play, 2 movies, a television pilot, a musical and then a musical again.
Could it be that with so much focus on Carrie, there are some great Stephen King books that are being overlooked? Of course! Here are a few great STephen King books that just havent' gotten their fair share of press:
Pet Sematary. It may not work in as many mediums as Carrie, but it deserves at least an audio version! It is a little hard to picture Pet Sematary the Musical. However, there was a Pet Sematary 2. Yes, there's a reason you probably haven't thought about it in a long time. However, the book is dark, wonderfully written, intense and completely engrossing.
Dreamcatcher. Frustrating at points, slow, long -- but still AWESOME! this book is quite underrated by fans. That might be because we are more familiar with the movie version than the book. The early portions of the novel remind me of IT in so many great way. The novel had twists, turns that I really didn't see coming. Great stuff, and it was written by hand by the King of horror himself. King originally titled this book, "Cancer" but his wife convinced him that was not a good idea. I also love the early scenes at the cabin. Read it -- you'll like it.
Needful Things. I'm passionate about this book. I think it's a strong novel; a really strong novel. King weaves the stories of townspeople together masterfully. What didn't work in Tommyknockers - a big cast -- worked very nicely in this novel. The character development is particularly strong in Needful Things. From Polly's arthritis to the Alan's shadow puppets, these are people we connect with. Not to mention, the novel has one of the freakiest scenes I've encountered. Two women go at it with knives -- to their deaths -- in the middle of the street in broad daylight. It's the end of Castle Rock, and a novel that totally sold me on Stephen King.
REPOST: King Books That Deserve A Sequel
With all the talk about a possible sequel to the Shining, and then all the quick moves to quiet any excitement -- not to mention an addition to the Dark Tower -- got me to thinking about books that deserve a sequel.
Of course, much of King's work has built on itself. There were the Castle Rock stories, Derry stories, and in some cases the Dark Tower actually served as a sequal. In particular Salem's Lot -- Which really serves as redemption for Father Callahan.
Sometimes Hollywood has offered us sequels. Children of the Corn, Salem's Lot, Pet Semetery, Carrie and others I can't think of off hand. None of these were really very good. There was a version of Carrie that had an extended ending (beyond the King book) that I thought was well done.A quick list of books I wish had a sequel. Please offer your own.
1. The Eyes of the Dragon
2. Black House. ? I think there will be one.
3. The Shining. Dr. Sleep, as King has suggested, but not promised. (2012, okay, we now anxiously await the novel)
4. Firestarter. So. . . what did happen to Charlie?
5. Pet Semetary. King style, not Hollywood.
And. . .
6. IT. Did Pennywise really die? Really? Are you sure?
(Originally posted: November 26, 2009)
Stephen King pens introduction to LORD OF THE FLIES
Lord of the Flies is a classic. One of those wonderful books forced down your throat in either junior high or high school. The result: It often takes young people a while to realize what a gem this book is. Somehow books we're required to read don't seem as beautiful as novels we have to sneak past our parents. But, in my opinion, this one ranks up there with Catcher in the Rye. It's wonderful. Like Catcher, the true darker nature of childhood is captured. Guardian has posted news that Stephen King has written a new introduction to Lord of the Flies. Alison Flood writes that the new introduction is "part of celebrations later this summer to mark 100 years since Golding's birth." She says that when King was approached by publishers, he "jumped" at the chance to write the introduction. In fact, he turned in his work early! It has been described as autobiographical -- which is in line with the way King usually discusses books. They are part of his story.
Lord of the Flies has played a role in King literature before. Flood notes that King's fictional town of Castle Rock is named "after the area that Jack makes his fort in Golding's novel." She also points out that a copy of Lord of the Flies "plays a role in King's novel Hearts in Atlantis."
Even without King's introduction, this is a book you should own and read! http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/11/stephen-king-william-golding-centenary
Maine In Literature
In an article titled "Where in the book", Janet Mendelsohn of boston.com reviews how Maine has been highlighted in literature. She writes, "Maine is the backdrop for countless books beloved by children and adults, and the home or stomping ground of writers from Henry David Thoreau to Stephen King."
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About King, Mendelsohn writes, BANGOR King’s characters inhabit at least 30 places statewide, real and imaginary, including Sanford (“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’’), and Castle Rock, a fictional town northwest of Lewiston, where King, who owns a house in Bangor, set the series that ran from “Different Seasons’’ (1982) to “Needful Things’’ (1991). Novelist Tabitha King, Stephen’s wife, invented another small town for her Nodd’s Ridge, Maine, series.
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Notes On The Dark Half
I just finisehd The Dark Half. Wonderful! In fact I would suggest that it is King mastering has craft.
the sparrows are flying againGore Galore
theThis book feels like a mix of Stephen King and Richard Bachman. It is dark -- very dark -- much like a Bachman novel. But it has elements of the supernatural, like a King book. Mix the gore and the spooks, and you have two great minds working together.
sparrowsSome have complained about the violence and gore. My suggestion to them: Don't read Stephen King. It's called "pay-off" gang! King takes his time building a story, and when it gets gory, we want to enjoy it.
areIn The Dark Half, Thad Beaumont writes under the name George Stark. Unlike Thad, George doesn't use a typewriter or wordprocessor, just lots of very sharp pencils. As a child Thad had terrible headaches and passed out. It is discovered in surgery that he has in his brain . . . well, I'll let King tell you: "the assiting O.R. nurse saw it first. her scream was shrill and shocking in the operation room, where the only sounds for the last fifteen minutes had been Dr. Pritchard's murmured commands, the hiss of the bulky life support machinery, and the brief, high whine of the Negli saw."
flyingSo what did she see? "thad Beaumont's brin was the color of a conch shell's outer edge -- a medim gray with jsut the slightest tinge of rose. Protruding from the smooth surface of dura was a single blind and malformed human eye. the brain was pulsing slightly. The eye pulsed with it. It looked as if it were trying to wink at them. It was this -- the look of the wink -- which had driven the assisting nurse from the O.R." That's wonderful!
the
Why is there an eye (and other things) in Thad's brain? Because in the womb, he was a twin. But he was the stronger of the two, and he absorbed his twin. But, little brother still had an eye. . . in Thad's brain! Shivers, that's good.
sparrows
When Thad is exposed as the real George Stark, he creates a mock photo shoot and "kills" ole George. But George doesn't stay dead. In fact, he goes on a killing rampage to rival his own character, Machine. It all ends with the sparrows. . .
the sprarrows are flying again
A Difficult Book To Write
theA Difficult Book To Write
That the book was not easy for King to write is noted by Michael R. Colling's, who gives this interesting behind the scenes look at The Dark Half:
sparrows
"With The Dark Half, he continues his journey through the darkness of creativity, centering his attention on a writer whose pseudonym has recently been publicly unmasked -- very like King's experiences in 1985 with Richard Bachman, to whom the Dark Half refers in the introductory authors note, an exercise in tongue-in-cheek humor and irony. "I'm indebted to the late Richard bachman for his help and inspiration. this book could not have been written without him."
are
"That writing the Dark Half was difficult for King is suggested by Stephanie Leonard's editorial comments in the November 1988 Castle Rock: The Stephen King Newsletter: It is true that Stephen has written a book by this title. But at this time he has no plans to publsih it."
flying
That looked a lot like the situation that had developed with Pet Sematary. Both novels are intensely personal for King, touching on his darker thoughts. Is he save to show us this "dark half" of himself?
again
Not only was this a difficult book for King to write, it has been reported that it was also his wife Tabby's least favorite novel. King said in the Bachman books that The Dark Half is "a book my wife has always hated, perhaps because, for Thad Beaumont, the dream of being a writer overwhelms the reality of being a man; for thad, delusive thinking overtakes rationality completely, with horrible consequences."
the sparrows
George Beahm in King's biography says, "For King, the Dark Half could be perceived as a fictional form of closure on that matter of the Bachman revelation, putting it to rest."
the sparrows are not nice to George
Hitchcock Would Be Proud
what if Machine got a crack at the sparrows?
I previously posted a question asking what King book Hitchcock would make into a movie. I think he would have loved The Dark Half! Why? The birds, of course. But King goes further than Hitchcock did. We literally get to see poor Stark torn to bits by the sparrows.
Machine makes Stark look like a nice guy
In many ways this actually makes me think of Rod Serling gone bad!
the sparrows are flying
Who is George Stark?
he's not a very nice guy
Former Residence:
Mr. George Stark
P.O. Bo 1642
Brewer, Maine 04412
and he doesn't stay dead
Epitaph:
Geore Stark
1975-1988
Not a Very Nice Guy
it's hard to keep a good man down
George Stark is the ghost of Thad's unborn twin. Wrap your head around that plotline, huh! He's also the ghost of Rirchard Bachman. It's pretty obvious that King is having some fun with his own life story. You know, George Stark and Jack Torrance have some strange similarities. They both have trouble writing when the tension builds, and both have a very bad mean streak. Did I say very bad? We're talking, very very naughty. In the Shining, Jack becomes something of "machine" in a George Stark novel. Nothing more than a crazy killing machine.
the sparrows are flying
Sheriff Alan Pangborn reappears in Needful Things. In the novel, the Sheriff suffers from nightmares and thoughts of George Stark. In Bag Of Bones we learn that Thad Beaumont killed himself.
the sparrows
The Stephen King universe suggests that "It's quite likely that King named Thad Beaumont in honor of Charles Beaumont, an author who is best remembered or writing some of the most chilling episodes of the television classic The Twilight Zone." (164)
are
Adaptations:
flying
The Dark Half Video Game: Yep! It's out there. However, it did not get good reviews at the time. It appears some collectors now seek it out, but I honestly don't know why -- usually games, audio recordings, video's and DVD's do not have much value to King Collectors. You can get the book and the game here: http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/595/Dark+Half,+The.html
again
The Dark Half movie, starring Timothy Hutton and directed by George A. Romero (Christine). This is a great movie! Faithful to the book, it manages to hold the novels "flavor." Remember in Firestarter where the complaint was that though it was faithful to the book, something was missing? Well, The Dark Half faithfully captures the story and mood of the novel. And, Stark's end is aptly nasty. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106664/#comment
the sprarrows are flying
The movie, and book for that matter, do not do much with the aftermath. King will clean things up in later books, but with bodies left all over, how does Pangborn get Thad off the hook? does he just explain, kindly, to the FBI that Thad's alter-ego's ghost did it? I may have missed something here.
the sparrows are flying
Oddly, because of financial issues, the movie was made in 1990, but not released until 1993. One would think that the producers would have wanted to play on the hype of a recently released book.
the sprarrows are flying
There is no audio edition of this book that I'm aware of.
the sparrows are not nice to George
See: The Complete Stephen King Encylopedia, Stephen J. Spignesi
Stephen King's Maine
What does a California kid know about Maine? Well, nothing, actually. See, I've been totally messed up by Stephen by a place called: "Stephen King's Maine."
Dolan's Cadillac
Just finished Dolan's Cadillac-- wow! A very intense, fantastic read. Long enough it felt like a Novella more than a short story. Revenge pure and simple. I really liked the fact that the details are light and easy while the revenge is thick and heavy. Reminds me of the Tell Tale Heart -- as I'm sure it's supposed to. Absolutely brilliantly executed.
.King allows the reader time to deeply inhale the sweet taste of revenge. He isn't afraid to tell the story! When King comes up with a plot that good, I have to admire his restraint in not creating an entire novel. But he let the story tell itself.
.The trap Robinson builds is complicated enough, I found myself wanting a drawing. seriously -- i can picture this, until you add pavement and so on.
.The story is set to be a movie released in December of 09. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963965/
.Check out Lilja's library for a review of the film. Since I haven't seen the movie, all I can say is, "Uhhh, I liked the trailer.":
..
Dolan's Cadillac was orginally printed as a five part series in Stephen King's newsletter Castle Rock. from February 1985 to June 1985. See stephen J. Spingensi's: the Complete stpehen King, p.506-507
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