The Langoliers Miniseries

Watching the Langoliers on SyFy tonight. I read the novella at a breakneck speed in high school, and loved every bit of it. I mean, absolutely loved it!

For me, this mini-series falls flat -- very flat. It's not that it's bead, exactly, but it's empty -- hollow. a few reasons strike me as I watch this:

1. Length. The story worked as a novella. Might have worked as a 2 hour movie. But at four hours on Syfy, it's like a soap opera. Lots of talking, but a little thin on action. even the flashbacks become cumbersome. Unlike IT and The Stand and even Desperation, which lent themselves well tot he mini-series format, there's just not enough base material in the book. There are no supporting characters, since everyone on earth is gone. So it's just up to these few actors to carry the whole thing.

Each element of the story is introduced with the same energy as my daughter doing her math homework.

2. Special effects. I'm not going to say much about this because it's obvious, the special effects on this movie just aren't there. Or, more plainly, they suck.

Creepshows says: "With much of the budget being spent in other area's, Rubinstein decided against a star cast." I'm not seeing that budget anywhere!

Now, the power lines being crushed is pretty good. Once we get the pac-man's in the sky, the story loses all believability, as it now looks like a bad video game. My wife is cracking up as Craig is chased by the evil pac-man's!

The evil pac-man's remind me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors, with its head detached.

3. Awkward! There are several scenes that are just absolutely awkward. Passengers introducing each other on the plane -- grown woman telling a kid about how she's going to visit a man she's never met -- and more. Even the kiss shared between Bethany and Albert

4. Dialogue. here's a great line, "The later it gets the later it gets." What?

Leaves me wondering: What happened here. Did anyone review this script? Did King sign off on this?

The story itself reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. (Odyssey of flight 33)

Creepshows quotes King thusly from Fangoria, "I wasn't crazy about it. that was more of a TV thing. But given when it was, it was fine. The best thing about it was that it gave Tom Holland and Richard Rubinstein the bona fides they needed to get Spelling Productions to go ahead with Thinner." Right, because Thinner was such a . . . I'll stop now.

IMBD notes, "In the scene were Craig Toomey hallucinates that he is in a board meeting on the runway, the man at the head of the table asking him how much money he has made for the company is Stephen King." (www.imdb.com)

Jan 15, 2015: Check this out -- THANKS CHRIS!

William Castle and Stephen King

William who? William Castle! Shock horror director of the 50's and 60's. He was known for his gimmicks. Castle was the king of promotion. He really thought he'd made it when he got Robert Bloch (Psycho writer) and Joan Crawford (Mommy Dearest). Castle's long time dream was to equal Alfred Hitchcock.

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There's a great documentary on William Castle titled "Spine Tingler! the William Castle Story." He invented Emergo. . . one step beyond 3D. Some films allowed for a "punishment poll" which allowed the audience to vote on the movies ending. Of course, there's no evidence they movies actually had multiple endings, because an audience will always vote for the bad guy to get knocked off.

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So what movies would make great William Castle movies? Well, I'd like to see what he would do with Christine. How about giving him a shot at Children of the Corn, everyone else has messed with it!

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You know a lot of Castle's movies, they include: The House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts, I Saw what you did.

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Castle didn't just direct B-movies. He also produced Rosemary's Baby. His desire was to direct the film, but that honor fell to Roman Polanski.

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Carrie-Carrie- Castle Scary?

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So I guess the real question is: What kind of gimmicks would Castle put with a Stephen King movie? He once offered life insurance for every person going to see his movie -- giving their beneficiary a real check if they died of fear during his movie. He put buzzers in the seats of the theaters to jolt certain audience members and scare them all the more. Now imagine getting shocked at the end of Carrie when that hand comes grasping out of the grave!

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Some King movies frustrate me enough that I think: Might as well give them to someone who would at least know how to ham it up and create some hype. Langoliers comes to mind -- but that's not scary enough for Castle, so I withdraw the nomination. How about Needful things.

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King On Castle

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Stephen King wrote in Danse Macabre about Castle's film Macabre: "This William Castle feature Macabre -- his first, but unfortunately not his last -- was perhaps the biggest "gotta-see" pictrue of my grammer school days. Its title was pronounced by my friends in Stratford, Connecticut as McBare. "Gotta-Ssee" or not, very few of our parents would let us go because of the grisly ad campaign. I however, exercised the inventiveness of the true aficionado and got to see it by telling my mother Iwas gong to Davy crockett, a Disney film which I felt I could summarize safely because I had most of the bubble-gum cards."

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King spends some time in Danse Macabre describing Castle's gimmicks. (Page 182 of the hardcover). King then says about The Tingler, "a film so exquisitely low budget that afera thousand people had seen it, now escape me, but there was this monster (the Tingler, natch) that lived on fear. When its victims were so scared they couldn't even scream, it attached itself to their spines and sorta . . well . . . tingled them to death. I know that must sound pretty stupid, but in the film, it worked (although it probably helped to be eleven years old when you saw it. )As I remember, one sexy miss got it in the bathtub. Bad news.

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But never mind the plot; let's get on to the gimmick. at one point the Tingler got into a movie theater, killed the projectionists, and some how shorted out the electricity. At that moment in the theater where you were watching the movie, all the lights went out and the screen went dark. Now as it happened, the only thing that could get the Tingler to let go of your spine once it had attached itself was a good loud scream, which changed the quality of the adrenaline it fed on. And at this point, a narrator on the soundtrack cried out, "The Tingler is now in this theater! It may be under your seat! So scream! Scream! Scream for your lives!!" The audience was o course happy to oblige, and in the next scene we see the Tingler fleeing for its life, vanquished for the time being by all those screaming people.

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The Difference

There is a massive difference between Stephen King and William Castle -- quality. We can laugh at some of King's movies, because he didn't do them. But King never feels the need to give us gimmick's. In fact, he sometimes seems a little annoyed at over priced gimmick's -- the work can stand on its own two feet.

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So when my Pretty Pony came out, with a clock embedded in the book, King didn't express a lot of excitement. Unlike Castle, there's not a confidence issue with King. He doesn't try and get the reader to buy the book just because of a gimmick.

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Now, that's not to say publishers don't offer gimmick's! Anyone remember the nightlight that came with Desperation and Regulators? How about a Blockade Billy baseball card? How about a Pennywise magnet? A toy Christine car? And so on.

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King doesn't fill his work with gimmick's, either. That is, there is more than just blood and guts to a Stephen King story -- it's always about the characters.

Four Past Midnight Journal #1

Midnight Journal, part 1

I love the three stories from Four Past Midnight that I've read.  The one I have not finished is The Library Policeman, and I started that the other night.  I loved the Langoliers! -- until I saw the miniseries.  What was tight, intense and one great story became absolutely terrible on screen.  It was more  than bad special effects, it was long and drawn out.

As a teen, when I read the first three stories, the title "Four Past Midnight" intrigued me.  What was four past midnight?  Was that four int he morning?  I read the stories, expecting some late night tale of terror.  At some point I realized, with grim disillusion that "Four Past Midnight" was nothing more than a title.  It might as well have been named "Blades of Grass."

For me, the Langoliers was harmed by the television adaption.  It was so bad, it makes me not want to return to the novel -- which I loved.  The opposite is true of Secret Window, Secret Garden.  The movie made the book better, improving on King's ideas and plot and making me more willing to return to the source material.  Though. . . this story also confused me.  I bought it on audio tape and was "sick" the next day.  I stayed home, ate crackers and listened all day to this story, wondering when they would discover a secret garden.

The Sun Dog left  me absolutely breathless.  I loved it.  I later read revers from people who did not like the novel, complaining it was overly edited.  I'm glad I only read all that later, because I was oblivious!  It thought it was creepy and belonged with the Twilight Zone.

In fact, so far all of these stories would have made great Twilight Zone episodes.  That's what the Langoliers should have been --and hour long TZ!  That season when they tried the hour format for Twilight Zone totally bombed!  They stories just didn't work.  And, Langoliers was just too long.  If only. . . Mr. Serling had written the script for an hour long episode of Twilight Zone based on King's story.

The Library Policeman

I started reading The Library Policeman the other night.  I went out running and decided it was time to jump into this short novel --as I enjoyed all the others from Four Past Midnight.  I'm not sure where King is going with this, so he's got my attention.

I've started this one several times, but quit.  I can never remember why I quit, until I start reading again.  This time I'm listening thanks to audible.  And, a good story makes running hurt less.  That's totally not true, but I tell myself that so I won't dread it so much.

It takes a while to get this story off the ground.  What seems like pretty straight forward stuff takes forever to just get moving.

I feels like I know what the early turns in this book are going to be.  Sam writes a speech.  The speech is bad.

He needs a book from the library.  He borrows a book.  He meets a strange Librarian.  He has a sense after seeing the Library Policeman display that he's been here before, as a child.  

And that's where I finally got home from my run.  So I'm pretty sure he'll fail to return the book, and some form of hell will be reigned upon him in retribution for his moral failure.  If it were another author, I'd quit because the story moves so slow.  But I do want to know WHO the Library Policeman is.  What will happen to Sam?  The strength of the other stories in this book make me keep coming back to this one.  Also Stephen King doesn't let down very often, so it's worth sticking with a novel  even when the magic isn't there at first.  I just can't let this be another Talisman!

It is especially cool that this is dedicated to the staff and patrons of the Pasadena Library.  I lived in Pasadena as a teenager and have spent a lot of time at that library.  Does anyone know why the dedication?

Underrated Stephen King Novels

Just so we all understand, by underrated I mean overlooked.  These are the books I think were actually pretty good -- if not great  -- novels that are so often just overlooked.

Here are the five most underrated (in my opinion) -- offer your own list.  I love it!

5. Christine.  When released, this novel was overshadowed by the publication of Pet Sematary.  Also, there is the awkward situation with the change in narration --1st person to 3rd person to 1st person.  But don't let a little issue of point of view keep  you from this truly gruesome novel!  It's good stuff, trust me.  (talkstephenking : CHRISTINE Journal)

4. Dolores Claiborne.  I think this is King at his best!  Yet, it seems to just fall in the pile with other books when King discussions come around.  Why?  This book is as tightly woven as a Ken Follett spy novel and as rich as a Dickens character drama.  The first person narration that drives  this story is so strong, it's hard for me to believe King wrote this and not a female.

Now, there is a pretty good movie and play about the book.  But still, I don't sense that people really appreciate just how well told this story is.

3. The Langoliers. This one suffers from bad press because of bad Hollywood!  A novella stretched into a mini-series turned into total mind-numbing boredom.  However, the story is great.  I found it to be a page  turner, anxious to find out what  had happened.

2. The Sun Dog.  Is this one great writing?  Maybe not.  But it's a good story -- very Twilight Zoneish.  I liked it a lot, but never hear much about it.

1. The MOST underrated? --  Needful Things.  

Needful things is creepy, all out gory and well told.  In fact, it's very well told!  Interconnecting plots, great characters and gutsy story telling keep this thick novel moving.  King has said he saw it as a parable of the 80's.  I didn't see that.  Honestly, I just saw  a really good novel!  The book is held together by a very bad man and a very good Sheriff.  Needful things has some of the scariest scenes I've ever encountered in a book.  When the two women have a knife fight in broad daylight right in the middle of the road. . . that's getting pretty crazy!

The end of Needful Things was not as strong as the rest of the novel.  I liked the fight and all the bits King pulled together  there; but Pangborn being confronted with video of his wife's death seemed out of place.

What really drives this story -- as with any good King story -- are great characters.  Much like in Tommyknockers, this is the story of an entire town becoming possessed.  We see various addictions formed as people get what  they think they want.  Want to make love to Elvis?  Want to spend your time betting over a toy racetrack?  Need a sure cure to that terrible arthritis?  Needful Things has it all.

What really hurt  Needful things was the terrible screen adaptation.  Fans should be screaming for a recall!  The movie started great, but went downhill quickly.  Unfortunately, I suspect many think they know the book by the movie.

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Your turn!  What King novels (or novella's) just don't get their deserved press?

Interview With Matt Jacobs of SK Fancast

Glad to present an interview with the man behind the Stephen King Fancast. If you haven't listened to the most recent Fancast, I encourage you to -- as well as his movie reviews.  My favorite section actually is the movies! 

The interview is below, but first the links. . .

• The Stephen King Fancast
• The Stephen King Movie Club
• On FACEBOOK
• The Movie Club on YOUTUBE

Matt is like Sponge Bob. . . he's everywhere!

Okay, now the interview! 

Talk Stephen King: Hi! I know you are very serious about the world of Stephen King. Tell me about yourself.

Matt Jacobs: I started as a fan of Stephen King because of his Movies. My wife has always been a big fan of King's novels and I started "reading" them at her recommendation. By reading I clearly mean listening to.

Seeing as how I am a huge proponent of the podcast scene, I started a podcast based on King fandom, unknowing that the Kingcast already existed. So I guess I owe Bob an apology for treading all over his territory.

Non-King stuff about me. I am married to my high-school sweetheart. We have been together for almost half of my life and I love her more than anything else. I also love heavy metal music, pop divas, dubstep, Twitter, my beard, anything to do with Nerdist and British TV. My iPhone too. I have no children and have no intent on having any, a choice that my mom and grandma remind me is a bad idea on a daily basis. LOL!

TSK: Is your family enthusiastic about this obsession?

Matt Jacobs: Only my wife. She is wonderfully supportive! I know she will read this even though she doesn't have to. Love you sugarfoot! #Petnames My family barely knows the internet exists. They think it's that wonderful thing that streams them movies and holds their Facebook pages and that's it.

TSK: Do you own a dog named Cujo? A child named Carrie? A pet buried in the Pet Sematary? How messed up over this King stuff are you?

Matt Jacobs: My wife wouldn't allow me to name the dog Cujo or Pennywise, although I tried both.

TSK: Well, I guess if it's between a dog named Cujo and a wife, I would choose the same. 

Matt Jacobs: I guess my obsession goes to the extent of my blog, podcasts and the fact that I own 5 or 6 King related t-shirts. If you were to math out the amount of time I spend writing, recording and editing audio or video, it's nearly a full-time job. Now if I could convince my readers, listeners and viewers to pay me to do it, I would be a happy camper. Then again, I doubt that I have the audience that Bob has podcast wise, and you and Honk have me beat on readers and hits, I'm sure. My site is growing though, so I am hopeful.

TSK: I enjoy Stephen King Fancast. It is a unique site in the mix of many Stephen King websites. What makes the Fancast different?

Matt Jacobs: I think my site stands out because, in my opinion, its very media heavy. Whether you want to read about King, hear about King, or watch videos having to do with King, you can get any of that.

I know that you, Honk and Lilja have been at this for a while, so if I am going to try to leave my mark, I will have to make sure that virtually any King fan can find something they are interested in.

I am also trying to appeal to the nerd crowd. It's my opinion that King fans are already pretty nerdy, so it's not much of a jump to get nerds into King, or I would like to think.

TSK: What is your favorite Fancast episode?

Matt Jacobs: My favorite episode... wow. I had a BLAST with Stephen Lindsay, Jeff Lane, Bob and Bryant! Bryant stands out the most, but it's also the most recent. I am huge fan of everything all of them do, as well.

I think my episode with Luanne was my favorite though. I have been friends with her since we attended community college together 10 years ago. We lost track of each other for a few years, due to our own university agendas and various other things. That episode of the fancast was a great friendship being re-kindled after years of dormancy. All those nostalgic nights of RPG's (the super nerdy old school kind that require books!) and endless hours in the smoking section at the school comparing notes on Psych classes. I know that we both looked back on those times with great fondness. Now we have an excuse to do that again, just with King instead of psych or RPG's. That's pretty biased, but I also believe those dudes would understand. Still waiting for you to get Skype and join me on an episode... #UnderPressure Then again, I made your blog's FB page, so I should know how resistant you are to tech. Which is a little hilarious, considering you're a blogger. LOL!

TSK: I know you have big plans for the website. . . tell us more.

Matt Jacobs: Well, I wanted my Constant Listeners (which is what I call my podcast listeners), blog readers and Movie Club viewers to be able to guide the hand of what is to come with my website and fund it if they are interested.

What they don't know, is that I have every intention on re-building and re-branding the website and creating a mobile app whether I get funded or not.

I am really excited about the mobile app, mainly because then people can read blog posts, listen to the Fancast or watch the movie club from their smartphones, for only 99 cents. I am going to charge a tiny amount for the app simply to cover the cost of the app and future time invested for updates and such that I will have to make.

TSK: Okay, now the gloves come off. Star Wars or Star Trek?
Matt Jacobs: Star Trek, if I must pick one.
TSK: Is that a typo?  I'm sending a star destroyer your way, and there is nothing captain Kirk can do about it.
Matt Jacobs: But I would give up both of those for Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock.


TSK: More seriously – like, on the level of things that actually matter in life. . . what is your favorite Stephen King book?
Matt Jacobs: Either Cell or Black House. I really like Black House because I tend to identify with the character of Beezer St. Pierre.

TSK: What is your reaction to King adding stories to an already complete series with Wind Through The Keyhole?
Matt Jacobs: All things serve the beam... including King.

TSK: Oh, and while on the topic. . . what did you think of the revision of Gunslinger?
Matt Jacobs: I never got into the series until the newer version of Gunslinger was released. I haven't gotten around to reading the old version yet.
TSK: Wasn’t the end of the Dark Tower a lot like the reboot of Star Trek? Just restart the timeline. . .
Matt Jacobs: Sure. I always thought it would be cool if the DT movies were made from the perspective of being that reboot. DT 2.0, if you will.
TSK: That would be cool!  And keep people from saying "it wasn't like the book."

TSK: This is important: Do you think we’ve seen the last of Richard Bachman, or are there more trunks full of forgotten manuscripts out there? We all know you know, so tell us, okay.
Matt Jacobs: We haven't seen the end of Bachman...

TSK: Do you have other favorite writers? . . . Are you secretly a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan?
Matt Jacobs: LOL! The only Wilder I enjoy is Gene.
TSK: What do you think of Joe Hill’s work?
Matt Jacobs: I am a big fan of Joe Hill. I also am a big fan of Jeff Lane, Stephen Lindsay, Aldous Huxley, the Classic Greeks, Doyle, and Rowling.

TSK: WOW! I loved your review of the Langoliers! Laughing very hard. Only, you punished us by showing us the ending sequence twice. I’ve got to be honest, I don’t know that I ever made it all the way to the end of that movie. I’m glad you’re not afraid to tell the truth about some of these movies, because the Stephen King universe has certainly produced its fair share of stinkers! Any other movies stand out as just absolutely bad in the Stephen King movie bucket?
Matt Jacobs: Where to start... First off, my favorite King movie, is "Storm of the Century," so I really like your logo.
TSK: I put it there just for you, Matt.
Matt Jacobs: Sleepwalkers and Lawnmower Man stand out as being horrible. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching them however.

TSK: You mentioned in the review that it reminds you to the Twilight Zone episode, The Odssey of Flight 33. Are you a Twilight Zone fan? Any outstanding episodes come to mind?
Matt Jacobs: Yes! I love the Twilight Zone! I grew up watching those holiday marathons that they have.
TSK: Me too!  It wouldn't be the fourth of July without the Twilight Zone. The founding fathers were watching a TZ marathon while they waited for John Hancock to sign his name.
Matt Jacobs: I still watch them to be honest. I also have a 10 disc boxset. "Time Enough at Last" is my absolute favorite. "Real Steele" is good as well, I'm not sure if the upcoming Hugh Jackman movie is a take off of that or not, but I intend to find out.

TSK: What did you think of the recent Bag Of Bones?
Matt Jacobs: It was pretty bad... They completely lost the feel of the story, to me. That feeling was desperation. A man at the end of his rope to the point where he was ready to accept his own madness rather than fight against his fears. I didn't get that from the mini-series at all.

But I'll buy it when it comes out... Sometimes I feel like I know how Star Wars nerds feel. George Lucas has their undying love and affection, so he can put out a real piece of garbage and all they do is complain and buy it anyway. Not that different... LOL!

King's books are awesome, mostly, but the movies are rarely good or live up to my expectation.

TSK: You noted recently that your favorite method of book consumption is audio. YES! So, for those who say that isn’t really reading (I’m not saying who would say such a thing, but their initials are Bryant Burnette), do you have any response?
Matt Jacobs: HAHAHAHA! Oh snap! He got you honk... I would say to them, let's sit down over Skype and see who has a better grasp on the story. "Reading" or not, understanding is what you should take away from a story, not the fact that your eyes were able to gobble up more words than anyone else's. That is not aimed at anyone, but I have had my fair share of naysayers on the topic... yet none of them have joined me for a Skype session either. #WINNING Did I really just use that hashtag... so over. Sorry to anyone that feels awkward after seeing me use such an outdated hashtag.
TSK: I think reading the books is dangerous. . . you might smudge that nice first edition.
Matt Jacobs: In my house there is always the fear that my wife will spill something on it. She's kind of clutsy. Sorry Lovebutt! #MorePetnames
TSK: HAHAHA!  My wife READ my first edition Dark Tower 7 and smudged it.  She said she had to, as she had to finish the series and could not wait for a paperback.  I complained, and she bought me an atist edition. 

TSK: The web is a tangled place for Stephen King fans. There are some really great websites. What are some of your favorite haunts?
Matt Jacobs: TSK, Kingcast, Honk, Club Stephen King (a must if you have Twitter), Tower Junky and this new one I found called Discordia19... It's pretty good. He also runs a podcast, but not King dedicated.

TSK: I liked your interview with the Honk Mafah. He always shoots straight! I’m just so happy you both love bacon so much – But seriously, how can you talk to someone who won the contest at Lilja’s? And he knows more about the Stephen King Universe than I do. That makes me mad.
Matt Jacobs: Honk is my guy! He's a big fan of my beard... check the iTunes reviews of Stephen King Movie Club if you don't believe me. LOL! He is more dedicated to the King universe than anyone I know. It kinda makes me feel guilty...
TSK: And by the way, I'm one of "THOSE PEOPLE" you and Bryant refer to -- who like the books more than the movies. So what are you and Bryant going to do about it. . . HUH?
Matt Jacobs: Not a damn thing good sir. :) I refer to "THOSE PEOPLE" in a lot of different ways on my blog. I'm sure I have encompassed every person by now... including myself. HAHAHA!

TSK: Do you collect the books? If so, any treasured pieces?
Matt Jacobs: My wife and I have a pretty big collection. We are pretty proud of a first edition of "The Shining" that we have. I have a couple of variant cover DT comics that I show off now and again.

TSK: Thanks for taking time to do this. We are all expecting great things from the fancast as you take over the internet one byte at a time.
Matt Jacobs: That is my plan exactly. Look out Lilja! There's a n00b in the building! (I was shooting for funny there...) Thanx so much for having me! It was a real pleasure to be interviewed by someone as prolific as you! :)

Full Dark No Stars heads into sunlight

Reviews are popping up everywhere. Along with them, Dread Central posted news that a third trailer has been released on youtube. All very nice! I can hardly wait.

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So here are the necessary links to get yourself ready for a serious reading frenzy this coming week.

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Third trailer: http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/40785/third-official-trailer-stephen-kings-full-dark-no-stars

Here's a rather cranky review. You know, you should read cranky reviews of King sometimes, just to remember how messed up critics are. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8111101/Full-Dark-No-stars-by-Stephen-King-review.html

The peninsulaqatar is much kinder to King's latest offering. After musing about the possibility of another set of four novels in another 20 years or so, the review dives in with almost gleeful joy. "These are stories of retribution and complicity: of crimes that seem inevitable, of ways that we justify the world to ourselves and ourselves to the world. Powerful, and each in its own way profoundly nasty." Ah, we all hope so! http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/saturday-editions/131592-stories-of-retribution-and-complicity.html

Comparing It To Different Seasons:

All the reviewers cannot help but hearken back to Different Season's and Four Past Midnight. Often they come away feeling Full Dark No Stars is a lesser work. But I would suggest that at least in the case of Different Seasons, the stories have gotten better with time. First, many of us have been endeared to them because of great audio performances by the likes of Frank Muller. Then they were brought to life before the camera. As I recently read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, I came away thinking the movie made the story better. The stories get better with age.

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Comparisons To Four Past Midnight

Four Past Midnight is getting a lot of lumps these days. I do not think it has necessarily aged as well as Different Season's has. The reason? Same as above. But instead of getting better with age, Hollywood has caused some of these stories to spoil in our minds. In particular, The langoliers is a great novel that is painful to watch on screen. But, as King has pointed out, no matter what they do in the movie, the book is still there to read. The story is not hurt one bit.

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I once heard someone complain that The Sun Dog showed King's obsessive editing. I read that story as a teen, and loved it. I gulped it down. It was literally a page turner for me. And being young, I wasn't paying attention to how the story was crafted, how the meal was cooked, I was just enjoying the meal. I liked it a lot. I came away saying, "This thing is just like a Twilight Zone!" In fact, it might be worthy of one of those hour long Twilight Zone's!

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I do think that the story Secret Window was made better on screen. It was sweetened. Some seeming loose ends were tied up.

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My point in all that is simply to suggest that anyone reviewing a book before it's even been released to the public might judge it too quickly. Give a book time to settle into our culture.

Plan 9 v. The Langoliers

I read several comments recently that compared the Langoliers to Ed Wood's now famously bad movie Plan 9 from Out Space. "No!" I thought at once. "This wasn't nearly as wonderful as Plan 9!" Of course, Plan 9 sinks so low it can be nothing but enjoyable.

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Just for fun. . . let's do a quick review of Plan 9 and then see if the Langoliers rises to the occasion.

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Here's my notes from Plan 9,

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This is the funniest film I’ve seen!
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My favorite channel, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) gave this introduction to Plan 9 From Outer Space: "Here at TCM we pride ourselves in bringing you some of the best movies ever made. Coming up next, we will fail. We have the film that has for years been touted as the worst movie of all time. After watching it, you’ll agree."

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Plan 9 From Outer Space is about aliens attempting to make contact with humans. However, the earth leaders have denied their existence and refused to talk. The angry aliens turn to "plan 9" to destroy earth. What is plan 9?
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Plan 9 was made by Ed Wood Jr., who started the movie with his friend Bela Lugosi leaving his home. Lugosi, who was supposed to be the star of the film, died after shooting that opening spot. So what did Ed Wood do? He got his wife’s chiropractor to stand in. Of course, the chiropractor didn’t look anything like Bela Lugosi – but that’s okay, because he holds his cape up over his face to that we will all think it’s Bela Lugosi. But, we can all tell: "Hey, mom, that’s not Bela Lugosi!"
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Now to get financing to this film, Ed Wood made friends with a local Baptist Church. The Church was going to make 12 movies of the Apostles. But they only had money for one film. Wood convinced them that if they made one popular movie, the profits would be so great they would have money to make their other 12 films. So the Baptist put up the money. The movie was originally called, "Grave Robbers From Space" but the Baptist objected. So, it was renamed Plan 9 From Outer Space. Reportedly the Baptist made Ed and crew get Baptized before they put up the money. I’ll withhold any comment.
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The movie also stars Vampira, who would later sue Elvira for stealing her act. Director Ed Wood was voted worst director ever, and Plan 9 was voted wort movie ever. Wood was a transvestite (wore women’s underwear), but often clarified that did not mean he didn’t like women. No sissy, Wood stormed the beach of Normandy! (He claimed he did this wearing a red bra. Good thing he didn’t get shot and rushed to the hospital.)
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Some really great lines:

Policeman standing over dead body, "This is murder, and somebody is responsible." (Uh, yeah! Beats that murder where no one is responsible.)

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Grave digger 1: "Did you hear anything?"

Grave digger 2: "I thought I did. I don’t like hearing noises. Epically when there ain’t supposed to be any."

Grave digger 1: "yeah, kinda spooky like."

Grave digger 2: "Maybe we’re getting old."

Now wait! Getting old doesn’t cause you to hear things... it causes you NOT to hear things!
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Pilots wife: "The saucer is up there, the cemetery is out there, but I’ll be in there."
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Conclusion: "My friends, you have seen this incident based on sworn testimony. Can you prove it didn’t happen? Perhaps on your way home, someone will pas you in the dark, and you will never know it – for they will be from outer space!"
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Mistakes:

1. The police officer in the graveyard keeps scratching his neck and pointing with his gun.

2. When the UFO flies by the airplane, the string can be seen holding the UFO. Guess that’s it umbilical cord to the mother ship.

3. The scenes keep switching between day and night. That’s right, night turns to day and day turns to night. (9:13 , 9:25 , 28:10, 31:494. The inside of the flying saucer is awesome! What does an alien space craft look like? Why, a desk surrounded by black curtains, of course. See, the aliens have learned that walls are really unnecessary.

5. The outside view of the cemetery is different than the inside.

6. The aliens raise the dead... but he can hardly get out of the grave! Seriously, this resurrection stuff is a tough gig.

7. When the police inspect the grave, notice how shallow it is. Guess that six feet under is the stuff of legend.

8. Colonel Edwards arrives at Jeff and Paula's house with the detective, but he wasn't in the car when it pulled up!

9. Are those tombstones made of cardboard?

10. Ed Wood claimed he used models for the spaceships, but they sure look like hubcaps!

11. The minister at the funeral never says anything, he just stares at his Bible. Maybe it’s his first funeral.

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Now, for the big question: Is the Langoliers this good? Or, more aptly, does it rise to this beautiful level of badness? The comments are open, so feel free to share your deep thoughts on this subject.

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My opinion: Does Langoliers compare with Plan 9? -- Sadly, it does not. It's just not bad enough to fall in line with Plan 9, because if it was that bad, it would be wonderful!

THE SHOP

Fire Starter has peaked my interest in the mysterious government institution "The Shop." The Shop is headed up by Captain James Hollister, better known as Cap. The Shop is a heavily guarded scientific institution backed up by a few not-so-nice hit men. Of course, the first handful of hit men turn out to be completely incompetent! (Namely, my already mentioned, a killer named O.J. go figure!)

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The Stephen King Universe has an entire section that looks at stories that incorporate The Shop. The book notes, "Two observations can be made. First, though operating in the prime reality, the Shop seems to share certain facets with the low men in yellow coats from Rolands reality (Hearts in Atlantis). Second, if there are thinnies between the prime reality and any of the others, the shop is almost certainly aware of them." (SK Universe 248)

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Formal Name: The Department of Scientific Intelligence

Location: Longmont, Virginia

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King says this about Shop headquarters in Fire Starter:

Two handsome Southern plantation homes faced each other across a long and rolling grass lawn that was crisscrossed by a few gracefully looping bike paths and a two lane crushed-gravel drive that came over the hill from the main road. Off to one side of one of these houses was the hill from the main road. off to one side of one of these houses was a large barn, painted bright red and trimmed spotless white. Near the other was a long stable, done in the same handsome red with white trim. Some of the best horseflesh in the South was quartered here. between the barn and the stable was a wide, shallow duckpond, calmly reflecting the sky.

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In the 1860's, the original owners of these two homes had gone off and got themselves killed in the war, and all survivors of both families were dead now. The two estates had been consolidated into one piece of government property in 1954. It was Shop headquarters. (Fire Starter, p.63)

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The Shop appears in:

Firestarter

The Tommyknockers

Golden eyars

The langoliers

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The Shop Crossovers:

This is from http://www.malakoff.com/sklnklst.htm.

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THE LANGOLIERS (Four Past Midnight)—FIRESTARTER“The Shop” is mentioned in The Langoliers. Presumably the same “Shop” as in Firestarter.

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THE TALISMAN—FIRESTARTER The Rainbird Towers, a New York condominium complex, is mentioned in "The Talisman." Rainbird is the name of The Shop operative assigned to Charlie McGee in "Firestarter."

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THE TOMMYKNOCKERS—FIRESTARTERAfter all the excitement was over in The Tommyknockers, “The Shop” came to Haven to investigate.