Christine Lmited Edition

Kevin Quigley has posted a great article celebrating the Limited Edition of Christine.  He rightly assesses that Christine is not exactly a favorite among King fans.  Quoting Michael R. Collings, it's a "minor" novel.  However, Quigley makes the argument that Christine is actually "underrated."

So what's to love in Christine?  Actually, I do love this book!  It's great.  It is simply not KIng's absolute best.  It's hard to get an A- when you're an A+ student.  I found the book engaging, very scary, and insightful about teen love.  It's a young peoples novel about high school, ullies and even a touch of rock.

Quigley shares this interesting bit of news:

Now, then, seems the perfect time to celebrate the quietly enduring legacy of one of Stephen King’s most underrated novels. Enter PS Publishing, a premier British small press specializing in fine editions of genre work. PS first came on the King scene with the 2007 limited hardcover release of The Colorado Kid, initially released as a mass-market original through Hard Case Crime. The aesthetics of that book impressed fans: PS commissioned work from three different genre artists to create three unique hardcover versions of King’s slim novel, with new covers and new interior art, and all the whistles and bells of a fine limited edition.   

Quigley gives his usual detailed analysis of the new book, and most exciting to me, announcs that the book includes two new essays.  "Richard Chizmar, of Cemetery Dance Publications, provides a short, moving essay about his personal experiences with the novel, recalling his recent afterword in the Cemetery Dance anthology Turn Down the Lights. Michael Marshall Smith (We Are Here, Spares) contributes a lengthy, insightful foreword, bringing to the fore the novel’s major themes of growing up and growing apart."

The full article is at fearnet.com

The Stephen King Companion

I love this book! 

My tattered copy of George Beahm's "The Stephen King Companion" is well worn.  This was the first of many (MANY) books I would own about Stephen King. 

I purchased this book as a teenager at a real brick and mortar bookstore. It was probably 1990.  This was before the era of Internet and instant information.  What we knew, we read in books!  Sheesh, I sound old!  But after reading The Stand and the first couple Dark Tower books, I was totally hooked on Stephen King.  I was way over my head when it came to this new world of books.  I had read a lot of classics, but King spoke to me in a way no one else had.

George Beahm's book was an absolutely wonderful find.  It gave a short biography, explained his work, and best of all -- acted as something of a scrap book.   It is full of short articles, fun tidbits, reviews and even an interview with King.  For someone new to the world of Stephen King, this was exactly what I needed to guide my way.

I still enjoy this companion book quite a bit.  It reflects how King was seen in the late eighties.  What was being said, how was his work viewed.  In particular, before he brought an end to Castle Rock, before the accident. 

So what's inside?  A short tour of the Stephen King Companion:

PART ONE: The Real World Of Stephen King.
This section focuses on what King is really like.  It relies heavily on Douglas E Winter's work.  Also in this section, Beahm refers to King as "the boogeyman of Bangor, Maine."  Interesting, since Beahm would later write a book titled "Stephen King, America's Favorite Boogieman."

• Chronology.  Personal Life.  Published Books (up through Dark Tower 2) , Books About King, Movies, TV Shows, Audiotapes, Screenplays and Teleplays.
• The Long Strange Trip Of Stephen King.  Charts something like a publishing biography, telling the story of King in order of his published works.
• King's Ten Favorite Fantasy-Horror Novels
• Stephen King -- Actor. 
• The playboy interview, with Eric Norden
• An evening With Stephen King.  (Like a transcript of King's visit to Virginia Beach).  This includes an extended discussion about banned books.
• WZON, "Rocking In The Dead Zone!"
• Article by Donald M. grant, "Stephen King as Breckinridge Elkins?"
• Stephen King trivia.  (Did you know the most "expensive flop" was Carrie the musical?  By the end of 1990, there were 29 books about King.)
• A Writer In her Own Right, Tabitha King.
• The House That Horror Built.  Kings Bangor home and office.  Includes article "A Girl's dream Coms True In Mansion Fit for Kings" by Joan H. Smith of the News Staff.  There is an interesting picture in this section of Kings indoor pool.
• Article by Terry Steel titled "Wrought Iron" about the fence and gate around the house.  (I wonder if these names are real!  Terry Steel writes an article titled Wrought Iron. . .)

PART TWO: The Unreal World Of Stephen King
This section looks at the work of Stephen King.  It includes:

• Fans Letters To Stephen King
• A Self Quiz, rating yourself as a King fan.  Ten stages of fan!
• Castle Rock: The official Stephen King Newsletter.  After discussing the end of the publication, we are given a PO Box tow rite to for back issues.  Ah, if only it was still that easy!
• Horrorfest, A Stephen King Convention.
• "My Say" by Stephen King.  An opinion article from Publishers Weekly (about book publishing).  There is a great picture here of Stephen and Tabby signing copies of Danse Macabre and Small World.
• A Kingly Collectible: My Pretty Pony.  Discussing the strange Whitney Museum's limited edition of My Pretty Pony.
• Lord John Press
• Philtrum Press: King's Book Publishing Company.  (The Plant, Eyes of the Dragon.) 
• Specialty Publishers.  Discusses limited editions and small presses.  This includes a listing of specialty publishers who have released Stephen King books.  Beahm included P.O. box contact info so that fans could purchase these items.  Publishers include: Dark Harvest, Donald M. Grant, Hill House Publishers, Land of Enchantment, Lord John Press, Scream Press, Starmont House, Underwood-Miller and Phantasia Press.
• Specialty Dealers. 
• Starmont House.  Includes, Titles by Michael R. Collings. 
• Audio publishing.  Discusses his relationship with Recorded Books.  Of course, this is when audio books was a rather new idea.  It also included a half page blurb by King abotu reading his books aloud.  Under "current offerings" we are given:  The Mist, which sold for $19.95.  Again, if only!  Also, all of different seasons, and Skeleton Crew were offered by Recorded Books.
• "The Mist" on Audiocassette (A Sound Idea).  Discusses the 3D sound adaptation of The Mist.
• Thinner on Audiocassette.  This actually was the recording that caused King to refuse future works be abridged.  (Except, he did allow Desperation to be abridged.  I don't know why.)
• Michael R. Collings, An Interview.  (The book is worth this interview!)
• Stephen King and the Critics, A Personal Perspective by Michael R. Collings.
• Article: "King Helps Spearhead Censorship Referendum Defeat" by Christopher Spruce
• Writing: Clive Barker on Stephen King, Horror, and E.C. Comics.
• An Interview With Harlan Ellison
• Terror in Toontown, by Howard Wornom

PART THREE: A Look At The Books
This section is a book by book look at King's published and unpublished works.  It is presented alphabetically -- which seems a little strange!  The natural way to approach the books would have seemed chronologically.   I really liked this section, and wore each page out as I read the King book.  It was like having my own notes as I went through the books.

• Overview of the books.
• An Interview With Douglas E. Winter

TENish Questions For Kevin Quigley

I really enjoy Kevin Quigley’s website, Charnel House. I also thought his chapter book on Stephen King comics, Drawn Into Darkness, was fantastic! Kevin has been a Stephen King fan – well, like forever.

One of the sections of his website is a set of insightful interviews, usually consisting of ten questions. (Ten questions for Michael Collings, Ten questions for Ed Gorman, Ten questions for Stephen Spignesi – and more.) I thought it would be fun to turn the tables on Kevin and do a ten question interview with him. Only problem. . . it’s hard to keep the questions to ten! But fear not, I hammered it right on down to a faithful ten.

 

I think you're really going to enjoy Kevin's answers, and there's some bits of news along the way!  Let's just say, I can't wait for his next book to come out. 

 

 

1. Hi Kevin, thank you for agreeing to this interview. I really enjoy your website, charnelhouse. You’ve been posting articles, news and reviews there for a solid fifteen years. What made you decide to start a Stephen King website?

The year was 1996. The Internet was new and I was desperate to add something to it. After creating my first website (a bare-bones Jeremy Piven fan page; no, seriously), I set my sights on something more ambitious. I'd been a Stephen King reader since I was nine, and a hardcore fan since I was fourteen, so creating a site celebrating the man seemed obvious. There were some fits and starts; a lot of graphic hyperlinks, blinding backgrounds, Comic Sans fonts, and the early name of the site - The Stephen King House O'Love, wow - hindered it. I've stuck with it, though, and it's grown into something of which I'm quite proud.

2. One of the aspects of Charnel House I really like are your reviews. They are detailed, insightful and always pick up on things I totally missed. What process do you go through to review a Stephen King book?

Thanks! When I was first creating the site, I wanted to contribute something new. King sites in 1996 focused mainly on trivia and some news, but no one was featuring full-length book reviews. I fell in love with Michael Collings's book-by-book reviews in George Beahm's Stephen King Companion, and I wanted to do something like that online, but with my own spin. When writers can't find the thing they want to read, they just go ahead and write it themselves!

Unfortunately, most of my early reviews were simple plot synopses and a hyperbolic final sentence describing how much I liked the book. I've gone back recently and fleshed out the reviews, trying for a scholarly yet accessible approach. When I'm reviewing a King book, I try to determine how it fits in to a historical literary context - if it echoes other works like 'Salem's Lot does with Dracula, or Bag of Bones does with Rebecca. I like to think of King's canon as interconnected, not just literally by characters and locations like Castle Rock or Mid-World, but also in terms of themes, motivations, and imagery. King's career is fascinating, because when he grows obsessed with an idea or a theme, he attacks it from multiple angles in books and stories until he's satisfied and moves on. For example, in the mid-90s, King seemed particularly interested in writing about religion. The Green Mile, Desperation, and Storm of the Century - as well as "The Man in the Black Suit" - all approached the subject from different angles, coming up with different answers. Certain recurring images tie everything together, too: the recent "1922" in Full Dark, No Stars used pig's blood as a central image, creating a bridge between that novella and Carrie. 

Another thing I particularly enjoyed about Michael Collings's reviews is that he reviewed the books critically, but he did so with a "positive thrust." Sometimes books I didn't care for on the first read improved on the second (like Needful Things or Dreamcatcher), so having an open mind is key. I go into each King book or story expecting to like it, and I review each King book explaining why I did or didn't.   

3. What are some of the unique sections of Charnel House?

Right now, the most unique section is my "Chart of Darkness" page. I've been fascinated with bestseller lists for as long as I've been obsessed with King, and I've had great fun tracking King's progress on the charts. That page shows what position each King book charted on the New York Times Bestseller List in both hardcover and paperback, and highlights which ones hit #1. King remains the author with the most #1 books in history.   

There's also the Short Works section, which started off just listing the uncollected short stories and has now expanded to include all his short fiction - published, unpublished, collected, and uncollected. The page continues to expand; I've broken out King's poetry into its own section, and I'm currently working on a list of King's nonfiction - a very ambitious project!

I've also recently added the Writing on King section, which highlights the most prolific and important authors who have written about Stephen King. In addition to the short highlights, I've also included a sidebar that lists every book ever written on King.

Maybe the most unique section on my page is the King Audio section, a list of every King work on audio. I provide information on who read each work, whether the audiobook won awards, and whether the audio is commercially available.

There's also an Essays section (my essays on King over the years) and an Interviews section (which will be expanding soon). There's more coming, though: stay tuned!

How has the website changed over the years?
I think the site is easier to read and use, certainly. Gone is the black background and white type. It feels more attractively laid out, too, which is sort of a feat considering that writers aren't generally known for their graphic design acumen. Content-wise, the site is far more expansive. The reviews are fresh and in-depth, there's a new spotlight on some of the lesser-known aspects of King's career, and the news is updated more and more frequently. Over the last fifteen years, I've worked to make Charnel House less a "drooling fanboy" site and into a quality destination for learning and appreciation. 

4. You listed IT as your favorite King novel. I love that book, too! What about that novel makes it your favorite?

Where do I start? The characters, I think, are King's best - all with individual personalities and histories. I liked that the book functioned as a history of American towns at the same time it was telling its stories of children and monsters, and how both children and monsters evolve into new things as time passes. I read the book first when I was twelve, a year older than the kids in IT, and I've been re-reading it over the years, discovering new things about it as I grow closer to the age of the adult Losers Club. I loved the multiple timelines, and how they blended together, forging a singular narrative from a dual one. It's not only my favorite, but I think it's also one of his best-written novels; only The Dead Zone, The Shining, Bag of Bones, and maybe Duma Key rival the sheer appeal of the writing itself. Stephen Spignesi once commented that at times, the words seem to get in the way of reading because you're dragged along the current of the writing so swiftly. I couldn't have put it better myself.   

What did you think of the IT miniseries?

I liked it. In fact, seeing the miniseries and then the film Misery - both released in 1990 - solidified my love of King's work. Like most people, I found the first two hours of the miniseries far better than the latter two hours; there was nothing wrong with the adult actors, but they never seemed to develop the rapport that the child actors did. Plus, when you're working with the metaphysical concepts of the macroverse and King's Lovecraftian Spider, portraying it as a generic stop-motion monster undermines everything that had gone before. I would have preferred an entirely different ending from that of the book.

What was your reaction to the news that there might be a theatrical version of IT?

I've heard about this a lot, and my only thought is that it could be done very well or very poorly. I do think it's too big a story to be crammed into two hours - two feature films, like they did with the last Harry Potter films, would work well. I also think that the miniseries blundered big time by separating the children from the adults; merging the narratives worked so well in the books, and I think it would work even better on film.

One of the more interesting ideas was to have the film told from the point of view of Beverly Marsh, similarly to how Silver Bullet was seen from Jane Coslaw's point of view. That's a fresh take on the story, and one I'd be very interested in seeing.

5. You’ve written a couple/few books about Stephen King. Tell us about them.

A few! I've written several chapbooks - small, chapter-sized paperbacks - for the publisher Cemetery Dance. With them, I've expounded on my passion for the lesser-known worlds of Stephen King. Chart of Darkness narrates the whole history of King by way of the bestseller charts. Ink In the Veins 1 & 2 looks at the pioneering and current writers working in the Stephen King field, and includes interviews with nearly all of them. Wetware focuses on King and technology, from the first text-based video games to the latest eBooks, like "Mile 81." You're already familiar with Drawn Into Darkness, which uncovers King's history with comics. Blood in Your Ears, my upcoming title, delves into King on audio, discussing in depth the works King himself has narrated, with further focus on late audio superstar Frank Muller. Almost all the chapbooks (with the exception of Wetware) were limited editions and have gone out of print. Because King is so prolific, though, I've been constantly updating and expanding them. Soon, they will be available on eBook, all with new content.

 I'll also be releasing a new hardcover with Cemetery Dance in the new year. Titled A Good Story and Good Words: The Many Worlds of Stephen King, the book will include the full text of all the revised chapbooks, reviews of every King book released, lists of King short work (along with brand-new reviews of King's most recently-published tales), a section of King on film and a study of King's unproduced screenplays, and an examination of King's writing before Carrie was published. There are also several guest pieces exclusive to the book, including a piece on the Bachman book Blaze by Michael Collings, a piece on the baseball book Faithful by Tyson Blue, a lengthy examination of King's take on sexuality by Tony Magistrale, a look back at directing the "Dollar Baby" film The Last Rung on the Ladder by James Cole, and an illuminating Stephen Spignesi piece about King's short fiction. I also had the opportunity to interview Jay Holben, director of the Dollar Baby "Paranoid" - also exclusive to this book.   

In addition to A Good Story and Good Words, I also co-wrote a book with Brian Freeman and Hans-Ake Lilja called The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book. So much work went into the book and we're very proud of it, especially the illustrations by living legend Glenn Chadbourne. That book will also be out next year! 

I'm also working on a couple of top-secret projects for Cemetery Dance. You'll be hearing about them soon!

 6. I really enjoyed your book Drawn Into Darkness. This may sound a little nutty, but as I read the book, I found myself wondering how you knew all that! You were dealing with a subsection of King’s work, and I think you were pretty much blazing new trails. How did you research such a unique field of King’s work?

Research, research, so much research! Part of it is having grown up reading not only books by King, but also books about King. The deeper you go into King's canon, the more you learn about all these side-paths and nooks and crannies, so I've had a passing familiarity with a lot of these works for awhile. It also doesn't hurt that I was obsessed with horror comics as a teenager - Tales From the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, Tales from the Vault, Shock Suspen Stories, all the great EC stuff - and that I've grown re-obsessed with comics as an adult. King's connection with Marvel and their take on The Gunslinger and The Stand is wonderful; my hope is that when The Stand wraps up, Marvel will set their sites on It. We're all allowed dreams! It's a further boon that King himself has gotten back into comics after what seems a long hiatus; his work on American Vampire is stellar.

Do you own most of the comics discussed in Drawn Into Darkness?

Yes, although not all. Some are extremely hard to track down. I of course have the Secretary of Dreams collections from Cemetery Dance, most of the individual issues of the Dark Tower series, the entire run of The Stand, and weirdly enough, the piece on Archie. I have a strange love of Archie comics. I didn't realize I already had the Far Side collection until I went searching for it on ebay; I believe that, though it was unintended, that Far Side introduction is the first work of King I ever owned. 

 7. Every Stephen King collection is unique. What are some of your favorite pieces?

 My favorite high-end pieces are the Donald M. Grant limited edition of Christine and the Land of Enchantment hardcover edition of Cycle of the Werewolf. Stephen Gervais's illustrations in Christine and Berni Wrightson's work on Cycle are both amazing. I love my small collection of Castle Rock newsletters. But my favorite piece of all is a used paperback. During a time when I could only afford paperbacks, I was very into collecting all the different covers of King books. I bought the movie cover version of The Shining for three bucks, brought it home, and put it next to my other Shining paperbacks. Years later, I opened it up to look through it, and found that it had been signed by King, and inscribed to someone named Ned (maybe Dameron, illustrator of The Waste Lands?), asking whether he wanted to have dinner at Arthur Treacher's. It was a terrific find.                   

 8. As a Stephen King fan, what have been some defining moments?

 I first read King when I was nine, when a friend brought Cycle of the Werewolf and Creepshow to sleepover camp. A few years later, my grandparents, looking to unload my uncle's old stuff when he went off to college, sent a box of King paperbacks to my Dad's house. I liked the spooky covers so I put them on my bookshelf, maybe or maybe not intending to read them. Later, I picked up Night Shift and was entranced. I read Rage next, then decided to challenge myself with It. That was the first real spark. 

A year later, I went to go see Pet Sematary with my father and little brother. When he first saw Pascow all mutilated, my brother freaked out and hightailed it out of the theater; my Dad followed. I stayed behind. Later, when I raved about how much I loved the film, my Dad bought me the paperback - the first King book bought specifically for me. In 1990, King came out with the uncut version of The Stand and Four Past Midnight. My Mom got me those for Christmas, making them the first hardcovers by any author I ever owned. Two years later, I had a paper route and was thus rich. The first hardcover I ever bought for myself was Needful Things - not a bad way to start.

9. Most King fans also own a small library of books about Stephen King. Do you have some favorites?

I have a LOT of books on Stephen King, and most of them are excellent. Even though it's very out of date, Doug Winter's The Art of Darkness is a must-have for any King reader. Stephen Spignesi's transcendent The Shape Under the Sheet redefined what a book on King could be and I can't recommend it enough, but I do fear it's overshadowed his Lost Work on Stephen King, which is every bit as good and maybe more accessible. Michael R. Collings writes scholarly essays about King, but they are almost uniformly readable by folks without PHDs; I'd recommend any of his Borgo Press books, especially Stephen King As Richard Bachman (or the new Overlook Press update Stephen King Is Richard Bachman) and The Stephen King Phenomenon. Justin Brooks and Rocky Wood's Stephen King: The Nonfiction is one of the most important and necessary books on King's work, highlighting an unheralded side of his writing, and Bev Vincent's The Illustrated Stephen King Companion - with reproductions of letters and drafts of King's work - changes the concept of books on King.

But I think it's safe to say that I would not be the writer I am today without George Beahm's Stephen King Companion. Both editions represent the pinnacle of writing on King accessibly, concisely, and well. Bonus: the second edition includes reviews of all of King's books from Carrie through Insomnia, making a wonderful piece of work invaluable.

10. I love your energy/passion for Stephen King and his work. Do you find it difficult to connect with other writers the same way you do Stephen King?

To a degree, yes. For several years, I ONLY read King. It took awhile to break out of that, because there's so much other terrific writing out there. I'm far more well-read now, but I will say that writers that affect me as deeply as King are rare.

 What other writers do you enjoy? 

John Irving is one of my absolute favorites. The World According To Garp, Until I Find You, and A Prayer For Owen Meany were life-changers for me. I love Robert Parker's novels, especially the Spenser books and a relatively unknown novel called Wilderness. I'm a huge fan of Harlan Coben - I'm proud to say that I was reading his Myron Bolitar books before the bestseller lists ever heard of him - and Dennis Lehane. I especially love William Goldman, who is famous for the screenplay for Misery and the novels The Princess Bride and Marathon Man but who wrote a bunch of other great fiction titles besides. His The Color of Light is a defining novel for me, as is Douglas Coupland's Microserfs, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, John O'Brien's Leaving Las Vegas, and James Dickey's Deliverance. While I disagree with his politics and the way it's crept into his later work, I love Orson Scott Card's first four Ender novels, particularly Speaker for the Dead. John Steinbeck is brilliant; The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Travels With Charley are three of my favorite books (I love East of Eden so much I have the last work of the book tattooed to my body). I've long been a fan of Lewis Carrol's Alice books, and his epic poem The Hunting of the Snark makes me giddy. I've recently gotten into Kurt Vonnegut and I think his Bluebeard is unfairly overshadowed by more well-known (and, yes, brilliant) books like Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions. 

I've also read the young adult novel Singularity by the late William Sleator thirty-four times.

10.1. What non-King writing have you done?

Foggy Night In The City
Buy it HERE

 Interestingly, I think of myself more as a novelist than a nonfiction writer. At current, I've written seventeen novels - sadly, all are yet unpublished. I don't generally write horror, either (I stick more to what's affectionately known as "dick lit," stories about guys and their weird lives and dating and work and sex and growing up), though I have three horror novels that I'm currently shopping around. The dick lit is difficult to market nowadays - straight dramatic stuff is hard to place. But I'm working on it! I'm midway through the second draft of my newest novel, American Storm, and there is nothing like creating whole worlds of your own.

 I also have a poetry collection called Foggy at Night In the City currently available on Amazon, and I'm working on a new collection of poems and verse called Surf's Up. I've also written a few dozen short stories, and I'm hoping to put those together into a collection soon.

Buy WETWARE here

Building A Unique S.K. Collection, Part 1

The advice for anyone getting into Stephen King collecting is to start with first editions. That is a great place to start. I'm still hunting my first edition Carrie, Salem's Lot and Gunslinger!

.

As you get a little deeper into collecting, you'll discover it is not hard to develop a collection that is absolutely unique. Why? Because there is so much Stephen King stuff out there! No two collections, even the super duper collections, are not the same. No one has everything Stephen King! In fact, I found myself wondering if Stephen King really has a complete Stephen King collection.

.
If you look, you can find stuff that's special.
.
Some suggestions:
.
Here's some things I think are great for collecting and make your collection a little more unique.
.
1. Some first editions really are worth their weight in gold. Carrie is one of those, and it doesn't seem to be THAT hard to find. I see a lot of ex-library copies out there. However, I am not a fan of the ex-library stuff. There is a Salem's Lot first edition with a famous mistake on the dust jacket regarding Father C. That's worth a blog post of its own, though. The price of first editions starts dropping with The Shining.
.
2. Obviously, anything signed is desirable! His signature seems to increase the value of a book at least 100%. Under The Dome went for $75 special edition -- but a hefty $200 for the signed edition.
.
3. Books signed by others. Anything signed by the author is a little more special. No, I don't know why! I like it, but I have yet to figure out why I think it's so cool. I have a signed Michael Collins book. Also a special edition of Talisman, signed by Peter Straub. The artist editions of the Dark Tower books are also pretty cool, and come signed by the author. I have a Dark Tower 7 signed by Whelan.
.
4. I like to collect old magazines with King's stories in them. Of course, some the really early stuff I don't collect because. . . uh. . . they're in nudie mags! However, there is still a lot out there. King has written so many short stories and articles that have been published all over the place!
.
I like to hunt down the original Dark Tower stories in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I was also excited to find a copy of X-Men Hero's Of Hope which included a contribution by King.
.
5. Any special edition books are great. They're not all that hard to find, but they are far more valuable than mass produced first editions. So, the Talisman/Black House double edition in slip case is obviously a good find (and not that expensive). Some stuff is just impossible. Try finding a Cemetery Dance edition of From a Buick 8! I can't. Or how about the zipper edition of Skeleton Crew? What I'm saying is that when you have a chance to get a special book, snatch it up if the price is right.
.
Lately Cemetery Dance has offered King books in special edition. Blockade Billy came with its own baseball card, which is neat. And they also have a great edition of Full Dark No Stars, which came with a slip case. So far, everything from Cemetery Dance has been very nice. I still wish Cemetery Dance would put out a special two volume edition of The Stand / Swan Song. Hehe.
.
You can also hunt those red leather books. I have about five of them. Honestly, once I had a few, I decided not to continue hunting them. Other than the binding, there's nothing really all that awesome about them. I did spot an entire set -- the whole thing! -- on ebay. I meant to go back and bid, but I forgot. When I showed up 5 minutes too late, the huge lot had gone for $30. OUCH! I wept.
.
6. Promotional stuff. Things like the Dark Tower Wizard And Glass booklet that was released with the Desperation/Regulators. Posters and all kinds of things the publisher sends book stores to hype a book.
.
7. Introductions. I don't collect introductions by King, because there are so many out there! I don't have enough book shelves to do that. His introductions are always a lot of fun! I love his chatty style of talking right to the reader.
.
8. Audio books. Earlier advice was that the audio books would have no value. That's still pretty true! There is little point in collecting the audio books. However, that's not universally true. The Stand and The Mist are both worth the hunt. Ebay often has The Stand on tape going for around $100-200.
.
9. Odds and ends. You know, Magnets, book bags, book covers, documents, letters (letters by King can be very expensive). I have a bunch of court documents from King's lawsuit in the Lawnmower Man case. I got it in a huge grab bag of stuff from Betts bookstore. That thing was loaded with strange stuff! You can find a toy metal Christine, or a Christmas tree ordainment of King's House (that's a little strange, if you ask me!)
.
10. Old publications about King. By that, I mean all those publications that were out before the Internet became our primary means of information. Stephen King had a pretty neat newspaper, called Castle Rock.
.
Fan publications are always cool to find, though they may not have much actual "value" in terms of dollars. I enjoy them! There was a publication called The Red Letter. I don't know much about Red Letter, except that it was small and pretty interesting.
.
There was also a publication called SKIN. It stands for Stephen King Information Network. It was in publicationf rom 1994 to 1995 and produced eighteen newsletters. Read more here: http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com/2009/09/history-of-skin.html
.
11. Books about Stephen King. These are just all out fun. He may not like how many books have been written about him, but some of them are awesome! Try Bev Vincent's "Stephen King Companion" which has tons of reporductions fo original manuscripts. Also, Lilja's Library is a great print version of the website, including his reviews and interviews.
.
I like just about anything by Stephen Spignesi, Michael Collins, Douglas Winter, and George Beahm. Beahm's biography "Stephen King, America's Best Loved Bogeyman" was very good. In fact, I wish he'd update it.
.
Are Stephen King books a good investment?
.
I think you should not buy Stephen King books as an investment. Of course, I don't buy gold, either!
.
Here's the deal: Collect what makes you happy! If you're collecting only to resell, I don't know that the market is big enough for that. I suspect the super collectors end up selling their collections for a loss (but I don't know that!).
.
Because I don't collect to resell, I open everything! That means, when something comes to me shrink wrapped, I open it up! Hey, I bought it to enjoy, not to sit wrapped up like it belongs in a store. I never feel bad cutting that shrink wrap off! Well, with the exception of Desperation/Regulators with the book light attached to it. So maybe the best way to say it is that collecting for profit is not a good route for me.
.
So tell me, what do you like to collect? What pieces where you most excited to find?

Now that's a great gift!

My wife's brother and his wife were in town this week. They delivered my birthday gift; totally unexpected. What was it? A paperback copy of Stephen King As Richard Bachman. To my even greater surprise, the book was signed by the author, Michael Collins.

Michael Collings On Kubrick's Shining

Many who read The Shining and then watched the movie left deeply disappointed. Of course, I saw the movie as a child or teenager long before I read the book. So Kubrick's version was already stamped in my minds-eye as the official telling. I was certainly surprised at the complexity and strength of the story when told by Stephen King.

.

If there is a Stephen King scholar out there, it's got to be Dr. Michael Collings. He doesn't simply make connections to the Dark Tower, or show us how the books are innerconnected; Collings is able to dive pretty deep when it comes to King.

.

Dr. Collings has a very enlightening article on The Shining, Kubrick and King simply titled, "On Kubrick's The Shining."

.

By the way, I'm currently reading a book --textbook, I think -- titled: The Many Facets Of Stephen King. Good stuff, and I'll review it soon.

.

Concerning Kubrick's The Shining, Collings takes time to explain where Kubrick was coming from. Why did Kubrick fumble when given such strong matereal? (Collings will argue that Kubrick didn't stumble or fumble at all). Dr. Collings seems to think that Kubrick's need to give the work his own stamp ended up changing the heartbeat of the story. Collings writes that Kubrick "adds his own imagistic complexity to the film" and he concludes that "at every level from script to casting to set design, Kubrick imbues The Shining with his own personality, his own vision."

.

Beyond simply digging into Kubrick, Collings gives us the added gift of showing us what makes the Shining such a strong text. Collings offers three thoughts: First, the novels ability to draw in other texts naturally. Second, the unique ability to ease the reader into Jack's head, until for both Jack and to some degree the reader -- fiction and reality are lost. Finally, he notes the novels ability to create symbol. By the way, the most important section of "symbol" that Collings discusses is wasps -- something Kubrick left out all together.

.

In particular Collings interest is why it is such a popular novel for University level scholarship. In fact, Dr. Collings calls the Shining one of the most "teachable" novels for a classroom text. He also notes that the novel is popular in the classroom because of its many literary nods. Collings notes, "It becomes in some senses a compendium of the literature which has preceded it, summarizing and transforming multiple themes, techniques and moves through its own narrative of hauntings and madness."

.

Of course, the primary subject at hand is Kubrick's version of the Shining. Collings deals with several of the major diversions from the King story. For instance, the decision to use a hedge maze instead of a topiary garden. Collings writes, "Again and again, Kubrick replaces critical points in the novel, constructing his own narrative that touches only tangentially on King's."

.

Collings cites David Schow as saying that Kubrick "proved himself incapable of handling King's material." That is not Collings conclusion, though. I'll not say quite what his conclusion was -- check out the link.

.

Collings has been writing on King since 1985, and hasn't lost interest yet. According to charnelhouse (Kevin Quigley's wbesite), Michael R. Collings is author of the following books:

• Stephen King as Richard Bachman (1985)
• The Shorter Work of Stephen King (1985; with David Engebretson)
• The Stephen King Concordance (1985; with David Engebretson)
• The Many Facets of Stephen King (1986)
• The Films of Stephen King (1986)
• The Annotated Guide to Stephen King (1986)
• The Stephen King Phenomenon (1987)
• The Work of Stephen King (1996)
• Scaring Us to Death (1997)
• Horror Plum'd (2003)
• Stephen King Is Richard Bachman (2006)

Read Collings essay at: http://www.starshineandshadows.com/essays/2007-05-30.html

Time Warp: CASTLE ROCK July 1989

Do you remember the Castle Rock -- The Stephen King Newsletter ? Let's go back to July, 1989 -- Vol. 5, no. 7. Back in the day, this would have cost $1.75. These days, closer to $5. By the way, I really like the newspaper format for a newsletter, this was very professionally done. In 1989 I was in Middle School -- the closest place to hell next to a concentration camp. In 1989 George Herbert Walker Bush was president. There was no Internet. And Stephen King was still King of the hill when it came to horror.

.

Notes:

The paper was 12 pages long.

.

The papers primary focus in this issue was the 1989 Horror Fest at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado with 300 attendees. As Ray Rexer said, it was raining "Church's and Cujo's" at the convention. The paper was full of photo's from the event. Don't I wish I could have gone -- but alas, I had to go to middle school.

.

There was a short review of the audio version of Silence of the Lambs, letters to the editor with questions about books and movies. In fact, letters to the editor is interesting, since there was no Lilja's library back then ready to give us the world of Stephen King in a single blink. There was also a short story (part of a short story contest), this one titled "Lullaby Haven." The paper includes several book reviews, and an advertisement to make reservations for My Pretty Pony by a store named Time Tunnel in NJ. The cover price for My Pretty Pony was $50. My wife liked the ad for WZON's T-Shirts, "Creep Shirts" which say, "Welcome to the Rock and Roll Zone" with S.K.'s signature. There was also an article by Barry Hoffman on censorship.

.

Classified ads were kind of an ebay of 1989. People both selling and looking for S.K. books. Want to buy the Dark Tower 2, mint condition -- $59. How about Startling Mystery #6 with King's first short story for $100? A Different Season's for $30. And M. Smith from Little Rock was looking for a first edition of Carrie. I wonder if he ever found it. Oh wait, Guy from Oakland wants to sell is entire S.K. collection, which includes every first edition, limited edition and magazine appearance. (I doubt it). He says his prices are very reasonable. I would buy it, but remember -- I'm on that middle school budget in 1989. Yep, $25 a week mowing grass. Crud.

.

George Beahm's book The Stephen King Companion was due out in October. G.B. publishing was offering a thousand copies of the limited signed numbered editions for $35. (Any takers?) Or a deluxe edition in a slip case for $75. Gosh, I was born at the wrong time!

.

There is a cool note that coming next issue Michael Collings will have an article on early Stephen King. Now, back then you would go, "oh, wow, I've got to make sure to get one of those." But today you say, "Man, how do I find that now?"

.

Finally, a blackjack dealer from Las Vegas got to take Stephen King home from the Horror fest Convention for $46. Pretty cool, but the Stephen King he got to take home was a cardboard cut out.

.

UNDER THE DOME CONNECTION?

.

One writers submitted a short story for a contest that didn't win. He wrote a complaint that he was "violently angry" at the editor for declining his short story as one of the six finalist. He said that his story reveals a "shocking truth about Stephen King and his obsession with offing woodchucks."

.

WHOA! Maybe someone needs to warp back in time and give this guy a medal. He nailed it! Anyone remember how UTD began? With a woodchuck getting knocked off. What are the chances? Ask Michael Collings to analyze that! And the poor dudes story still wasn't accepted into the finalist category. Put that under the heading: Even when you're right, life stinks.

.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

From Tom Cooper, Boca Raton Fl

.

To the editor,

upon hearing that Misery will soon be made into a movie I was excited since it's one of my favorite books by King. Recently, I found myself mentally juggling the possibilities of who'd play Annie Wilkes and Paul Sheldon. I figured Castle Rock readers would have fun considering the possibilities as well.

.

For Annie Wilkes, I was thinking about Rosanne Bar, but I don't know if she's ready for a major film yet, especially a King adaptation. My number one pick for Annie, hands down, is Louise Fletcher. My friends agree that there's probably no one better suited to play the role.

.

For Paul Sheldon I think Richard Dreyfuss and Robin Williams should be considered, since we don't want a square jawed, uncharacteristic wall playing the role. My number one pick, however, is someone not even remotely related to suspense: Gene Wilder. My friends said he'd be an awful choice, but when given an extra moments consideration, you find that Wilder can put a lot of zest into his acting, spirit an actor will surely have to have for playing the part. Not to mention that he's an underrated actor.

.

Who would you like to play the roles? Any word as to who will really play them?

.

EDITORS REPLY:

For Annie Wilkes I like Glenn Close. She showed her true talents as the insaniac in Fatal Attraction. For Paul Sheldon lets be bold and try English actor Jeremy Irons. Those of you who caught Irons in his duel role as twins in Dead Ringers will have no trouble imagining him as the persecuted punctuator. As for who will actually fill the roles, no word as yet.

.

(For those of you holding your breath, that was covered by James Caan and Kathy Bates, directed by Rob Reiner. Just didn't want to leave you hanging there.)

The History Of SKIN

SKIN: Stephen King Information Network
The following is by Lori Zuccaro. I'm reprinting it from a 2 page typed document -- I found it very interesting.
.
They say that there's a time and place for everything. well, if that's true, it's obviously the time for Stephen King newsletter. The last King newsletter was publishedbetween 1985 and 1989. It was called Castle Rock. In one of the last issues of this newletter, Ray Rexer wrote a poem titled, "I don't care what people say, Castle Rock is here to stay." It has been said many times that SKIN is the next Castle Rock. Maybe it is. . . I don't know, but what I do know is that it's an honest attempt to simply combine the knowledge of many people who admire and study King's works and share them with others.
.
I don't like people to call it a "Fan Club" or a "Fanzine" beause I think there's much more to King than stardom. In fact, his stardom is the least interesting to me personally. What I like about King is his love of writing and his honest attempt (and success) of putting thoughts onto paper and making them come alive. It's his literary abilities that I try to incoperate in SKIN and try to avoid being too fanish. OF course, you can't avoid all of this, and not all of that is necessarily bad. It's okay for us to idolize someone who is extremely talented. But it's not okay to distort the true talent someone has and create a Hollywood image of them. Anyway, let's move on to the heart of what SKIN is and where it's come from.
.
SKIN (Stephen King Information Network) began in April, 1994 on a computer online system called America online. One night I sat down and typed a message on one of the bulletin boards dedicated to King. I wrote and asked people who wanted to participate to email me any news or comments they have regarding King. I then promised to summerize the responses on a monthly basis.
.
That was the beginning of what I didn't know at the time, a Stephen King newsletter. I had many many responses. People wrote and asked me questions and asked to be included on my mailing list. I got so much mail that I decided the best way to summerize this news would be in a newsletter format. So I did it. I sent the first issue in May and had loads of wonderful letters asking for more SKIN. Once July came around, I had people asking for subscriptions to the newsletter, especially those who didn't have access to America Online. Things moved very quickly. . . and still are I might add! I established a subscription fee that would simply cover the cost of producing the newsletter, mailing it, etc. During the following month I also made business cards, letterheads, registered the name of the newsletter, consulted the copywright office, etc. I guess you could say things were pretty official and busy once July started.
.
I had the fortune of meeting many wonderful people who helped me more than I can say. This newsletter would not exist if weren't for the many devoted members and friends of SKIN. One of my first members, Charlie Fried has become an indisposable friend and contributor. He's helped me decide on subscription fees, how distribute SKIN, contributes monthly articles, plus hundres of other things.
.
In September, Louise Dragon created the logo of SKIN. It made its appearance in the October issue and is now a sort of trademark you could say. Then I began to have the pleasure of corrospondance of Steve Spignesi, George Behm, Michael Collings, Dave Hinchberger, Stu Tinker and too many other to mention. My point is that I didn't create SKIN by myself. It was created by many people who wrote to me often with ideas, news, comments, etc., and contributed time and love to the newsletter. SKIN has become more than an internet of people who enjoy King and his works. It has become an internet of friends which will last a lifetime. I have had many compliments on the newsletter and hope that all will continue to enjoy it as much as I enjoy producing it.

http://www.librarything.com/author/zuccarolori

Stephen King From A to Z article: (this is a good book)
http://books.google.com/books?id=2BcECkYB7uoC&lpg=PA195&ots=XaI3xq7qdj&dq=Lori%20zuccaro%22&pg=PA195#v=onepage&q=Lori%20zuccaro%22&f=false

The overlook says: "From 1994 to 1995, SKIN (Stephen King Information Network) produced eighteen newsletters. SKIN began as a newsletter on the internet, but soon discovered that people with no access to computers, also wanted to receive current King information. With news, illustrations, and articles by authors Stephen Spignesi, George Beahm and others. Each newsletter is stamped Certified Skin Original' as issued.'"
http://overlookconnection.com/product_info.php?products_id=1312