Shawshank Facts

answers.com has an interesting article (if you can make it through all their pop-ups, flashes, ads and whatever else they've come up with to slow the page) titled, "10 Things You Never Knew About "The Shawshank Redemption."

Here's a couple.

Why is it on cable so much?  "There is a very good reason this movie is on basic cable nearly every day. Ted Turner sold the distribution rights to his network TNT, opening the door for it to be one of the most aired films."

And this is really interesting: "The ASPCA objected to the scene depicting Brooks as he feeds his pet crow a live maggot. The animal rights group declared that it was cruel to the maggot, so the crew had to find one that died of natural causes before shooting the scene, according to IMDB."

That's just great.  I understand animal rights; but do maggots even count as animals?

(A final note of complaint -- I hate articles with short comments that make me click forward and reload a new page for each part of a list.)

A Good Marriage trailer

This looks AWESOME!

It appears there will be a lot more than the book offered.  Which, in this case, is a good thing.

The scene where she discovers the evidence is very much the way I imagined it.  I think-- just based on this trailer -- they captured the heart of the novel.

Authors I Always Wanted To Read -- But Mostly Didn't

So as I wait -- ever so patiently -- for Revival to come out, I am left reading the other guys (and gals.)  Mostly theology lately.  But I realized, there is a small pile of writers I've always wanted to read, but just haven't yet.  Here's my list:

1. Robert Block
2. Leo Tolstoy.  Yes I did try War and Peace.  Too much peace, not enough war.
3. Agatha Christie.  I read Ten Little Indians, and it was pretty dreadful in my opinion.  But I should try again.
4. Zane Gray.
5. Louis L'amour.  I want to read cowboy novels, but they all feel kinda the same.
6. C.S. Lewis Space trilogy.
7.  Dean Koontz.  I keep trying, but have trouble getting into the books.  Maybe I should stop starting on book seven.
8. Alexander Dumas.  I watched the movie.  And the musical.
9. Jules Verne.  Again -- MOVIES!
10. Ken Follett.   I've read a lot of his novels; just wish I read a lot more.

Cast no stones.  Just give me your list.

Stephen King Talks To George Stroumboulopoulos

here is an interview I didn't know existed.

REVIVAL Book Tour Hits Six Cities

FROM STEPHENKING.COM:

Starting November 11th, Stephen will embark on a six-city book tour to promote the release of Revival. The tour begins in New York City and continues through Washington DC, Kansas City, Wichita, Austin and South Portland. Further details regarding the itinerary will be posted on September 15th.  Be sure to check back then for updated information regarding the events, venues and times.

November 11, 2014: New York City
November 12, 2014: Washington, DC
November 13, 2014: Kansas City, MO
November 14, 2014: Wichita, KS
November 15, 2014: Austin, TX
November 17, 2014: South Portland, ME

. . . and the West Coast ?

John Grisham Accepts Stephen King Challenge

I first spotted this at Lilja's Library.

Details On LIFETIME's BIG DRIVER

picture credit: HERE

broadwayworld.com has a good article on the upcoming The Lifetime Original Movie, Big Driver.  Check out the article.  Here's the facts in bullets:

• Premiers Sunday, October 18 at 8pm
• It is the first collaboration between Lifetime and King. 
• The screenplay was adapted by Richard Christian Matheson.  (He's the son of the legendary Richard Matheson.)  
• Thirty of Richard Christian Matheson's stories are collected in Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks with a Foreword by Stephen King.  
• Directed by Mikael Salomon.
• Big Driver stars Maria Bello, Olympia Dukakis, Joan Jett, Ann Dowd, and Will Harris.
• The movie is produced by Ostar Productionsand executive produced by Bill Haber and Jeffrey Haye. 

Matthew McConaughey Might Enter ‘The Stand’

DEADLINE reports further progress on the cinematic adaptation THE STAND, reporting that Matthew McConaughey is "coveted" by Warner Bros to play the evil Randall Flagg, directed by Josh Boone.

Flagg is the personification of evil, a demonic figure who wreaks havoc after a plague kills most of the population. He was played in haunting fashion by Jamie Sheridan in the miniseries adaptation. This is by no means a firm situation, but it’s understandable why the studio thinks McConaughey would be a compelling and persuasive force of evil in the film. Flagg was such a force of evil that King used him in several of his works including The Stand.

Boy, this is a turn I didn't see coming.  And if it comes to be, I think it'll be a good sign for The Stand.

Has The 1994 Miniseries THE STAND stood the test of time?

Stephen King's novel, The Stand, has made a lasting impact on American culture.  I suspect it will be read and reread for many decades to come.  But what about the 1994 miniseries directed  by a King favorite, Mick Garris?  Will it stand the test of time?

avclub.com's Emily L. Stephens posted an article  titled, " 1994’s The Stand does not stand the test of time."

I'll list Stephen's concerns in a simple list format, as her article is long and pretty detailed.  The quotes are from the article:

1. The Stand is locked in the time it was filmed in.  

"Everything from casting choices to wardrobe to musical cues cements The Stand firmly in the mid-’90s, sacrificing any timelessness in favor of an already dated sensibility. It’s not the self-aware frolic of Clueless or the drab naturalism of Office Space. This is 1994 as an ’80s hangover, complete with former members of the Brat Pack and an 8-year-old Top 10 hit already milked for nostalgia."

2. The acting is bad.

"It doesn’t help that the performances are so flat."  She specifically picks on Ruby Dee, who is "hampered by King's tics of dialogue."  And Jamey Sheridan's portrayal of Randall Flagg, who she finds far too affable.   

Wait -- she ain't done.  There is discussion on Rob Low (who I thought was great in this film), but she calls "inept at expressing inner life through gesture and expression."

Of course, she gives kuddos to Gary Sinise's portral of Stu and is silent -- and then moves on to Frannie; who mostly gets knocks for her wardrobe.  "Frannie’s endless assortment of distinctively ’90s floral dresses highly unsuitable for a post-apocalyptic road trip--"  I didn't notice!

3. The miniseries took the book to literal:

In the miniseries, this metaphorical hand of God becomes literal, its massive glowing fingers wrapping themselves around the A-bomb to spark the obliteration of the city, to kill Flagg and his disciples, and to dismantle all the stakes established in the story so far. This burst of micromanaging by God undermines the gravity and compassion of the protagonists by making their path a sure and holy one, rather than a journey of agonizing doubt.

Wait a minute. . . in the book it was not a "metaphorical hand of God" -- it was literal.  And I know the script got it right, because King wrote the script.

4. The Stand fails to make the needed point: 

Stephen King’s script wipes out the point he built up so potently in the book: that ordinary people might gravitate toward Flagg for complex, even sympathetic reasons—a craving for order in the post-plague chaos, the lure of structured society that values their skills and dedication, the belief that they’re helping to re-establish discipline and law—and that, once having found their place in that well-ordered society, they’re resistant to challenge or change. It’s an unsubtle but trenchant critique of middle-class comforts and the seductive ease of hypocrisy.

Oh -- that was the point?  I've been reading the Stand wrong all these years.  I thought the point was: Faith must be tested.  Evil is real, and good is real; but good cannot simply count on God to fight evil, as moral beings we must also be willing to take our stand against wickedness.  But hey, maybe I'm wrong. But honestly, her description of The Stand's purpose reads more like Needful Things.

Two quotes from A Face Among The Masters:

King might not have angels and demons duking it out, like in This Present Darkness, but the spiritual warfare is still very real in The Stand. (Gardner, Brighton, Stephen King A Face Among The Masters)

In 2008, King told novelist John Marks in Salon magazine that The Stand was his attempt to give God his due. “Too often, in novels that are speculative, God is a kind of kryptonite, and that’s about all that it is, and it goes back to Dracula, where someone dumps a crucifix in Count Dracula’s face, and he pulls away and runs back into his house. That’s not religion,” King told Marks. “That’s some kind of juju, like a talisman. I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to explore what that means to be able to rise above adversity by faith, because it’s something most of us do every day.” He then said that he wanted The Stand to “be a God trip.”

Is A Good Marriage Set To Scare?

Clark Collis Entertainment Weekly article proclaims, "'We went in fearlessly': Stephen King on adapting 'A Good Marriage' for film."

Based on a short novel in King's collection, Full Dark,  No Stars; A Good Marriage is one of my favorites.  Probably because it discusses something truly horrifying!  What if you discovered someone you love is actually a serial killer?

A Good Marriage stars Joan Allen, Anthony LaPaglia, Stephen Lang, and House of Cards actress Kristen Connolly.  Most important, the screenplay was written by none other than Stephen King.

King explained why he wanted to writ the script: “I’ve seen enough movies adapted from my work to know that the things that work the best are the things that aren’t too long and aren’t too short."

Revealing he was  never on set (so don't expect a cameo), King promised not to take the story in the "wrong direction." King said the script was about the length  of Shawshank Redemption.  Actually,  the  novel moved pretty quickly until the end, when the detective tried  to figure out what really happened.

This is from my book, "Stephen King, A Face Among The Masters":

Another tough woman appears in the short story, A Good Marriage, in which Darcy Anderson lays a clever trap of her own to knock off her serial killer husband. How does she kill a man who has made a habit of killing  women? And how does she accomplish it without getting caught herself? It is interesting to watch the change in Darcy. She goes from being a “normal” 1950s-ish housewife, to a woman ready to send her beloved husband to the pit.

Even  better, King notes that he likes it because the story is from a woman's point of view.

Stephen King Ice Bucket Challenge

King challenges John Grisham to the ice bucket challenge.

Stephen King Goes To HOLLYWOOD

This article was originally published 8/6/2012 at Talk Stephen King.

I love books about Stephen King!  Of course, not all books about King are equal.  There are some stinkers in the mix, but most are a joy.  My favorite book about King's movie's is Jones' "Creepshows."

Some of my favorites are old stuff.  Among those, Stephen King goes to HOLLYWOOD is great!  With a copyright date of 1987, it covers King movies from Carrie to Stand by Me.  The book has a lot of photo’s, both color and black and white.  It is written with attention to detail a journalist would be proud of, while maintaining the energy of a fan.

Written by Jeff Conner, this is the kind of book that is just fun to thumb through.  There are articles on each movie (up to 1987), and sprinkled throughout are boxes with little facts and quotes.  For a small book, it’s actually pretty meaty.

Highlights From The Interview

image credit: HERE

Stephen King goes to Hollywood begins with an interview with Stephen King. The focus of their talk is primarily Maximum Overdrive, which King directed.  King, always humble and fun at the same time, begins by discussing his weaknesses as a director.

What’s neat about this is that it is not King reflecting on the film years later – he is discussing it right on the heels of its completion.  In the interview, King is still in love with his movie.  Kinda refreshing!  You can sense his hope and energy and passion for this film, even though he would later be good humored about it’s failings.

Asked what effect he was aiming for in Maximum Overdrive, King says, “I wanted it to move fast.  It’s a wonderful moron picture, in that sense.  It’s a really illiterate picture in a lot of ways.  There isn’t a lot of dialogue in it.  It’s fast.  A lot of things explode.”

When he was asked If he paid attention to character relations in the story, King said,

I’m interested in my people.  One of the few really sensible things that anybody said at the story conference that we had at MGM in L.A. – those people, what an alien mentality! – But somebody did say that if the characters don’t stand out and this is just a movie about machines, it’ll be a bad picture.  Their solution was to suggest that a lot of dialogue and scenes between the major characters be added fr character and texture.  I was always calling them the jumbo “John!  Oh Martha!” scenes, because they’re like soap operas.  We shot ‘em.  We just cut ‘em all out in the editing room, every single one.”

King indicates that he prefer’s Hitchcock, because the characters that are most interesting in his pictures are the ones in the supporting roles.

King also reveals what he thinks is the scariest moment in one of his films. . . he says it is when the hand comes from the grave in Carrie.  Asked if he had any idea it was going to happen, he says yes, but it still scared him.  He says his first screening of Carrie was in Boston, and that the theater was entirely full of black people.  King began to wonder how the audience was going to react to little Carrie withher “menstrual problems”!

And that’s the way it started, and then, little by little, they got on her side, you know, and when she started doing her shtick, I mean, they’re going, “Tear it up!”  “Go for it!” and all this other stuff.  These two guys were talking behind us, and we were listening to them, and at the end they’re putting on their coats and getting ready to leave.  Suddenly this hand comes up, and these two big guys screamed along with everyone else, and one of them goes, “That’s it!  That’s it!  She ain’t never gonna be right!”  And I new it was going to be a hit.

Captions

I don’t think I’ve ever noted picture captions. . . but the book is full of not only great pictures, but all out funny captions.

Here’s a few favorites:

• Picture: Knife wielding Piper Laurie: “Shades of Norman Bates and Lizzie Borden: piper Laurie cuts a fine figure as Carrie’s mommie dearest.”
• Picture of destruction at the prom: “Curfew time is no problem at the prom as Carrie uses her telekinetic powers to wish everyone a safe drive home.”
• Picture: Barlow choking Mark, “Free dental floss or the kid gets it!  Reggie Naldr does his Nosferatu imitation as Barlow in Salem’s Lot.”
• Picture: Cujo licking the bloody window of the car: “Cujo washes Wallace’s windows with his tongue, but she’s not appreciative in the least.”
• Picture of Nielsen holding a pistol: “The time for marriage counseling has passed as Nielsen plots revenge on his unfaithful wife.”
• Picture of corpses: “The corpses come home to roost when Dansen and Gaylen Ross return from a quick dip in the ocean.”
• Picture of Neilsen talking to Ted Danson, who is buried in sand:  “Leslie Nielsen discusses his favorite band, The Talking Heads, with sandman Ted Danson.”
• Picture of an axe cutting through the door as Wendy screams he brains out:  “Axe and ye shall receive: Wendy should have remembered to put out the ‘No Peddlers’ sign.”
• Picture of fire raging in a bedroom: “Johnny accurately predicts that he should have worn flame-retardant pajamas to bed.”
• Picture of teens destroying Christine: “Hell hath no Fury like Christine scorned.  Arnie’s pals will soon receive a nasty lesson in body work.”
• Picture of corn stalks coming from car: “Not event he auto club can lend a hand when the Children of the Corn stalk their victims cars.”
• Picture of Charlie setting fire to good: “Young Charlie shows her budget-minded parents how to avoid the expense of a new microwave.”
• Picture of Drew Barrymore listening to George C. Scott: “Drew Barrymore listens attentively but still has trouble figuring out how Scott ever managed to win an Oscar.”

Boxes Of  Quotes!

The book is filled with little boxes that make it fun to dig through.  Here are some of my favorite box notes:

– Speaking of The Shining with Christopher Evans

“Somebody said, ‘What do you think Kubrick wants from THE SHINING?’  And I said, ‘I think he wants to hurt people.’”

–Speaking of The Shing with Bhob Stewart

“The idea for the hedge maze is Kubrick’sand not mine.  I had considered it, but then I realized it hadbeen done inthe movie THEMAZE (1953, directed in 3D by William Cameron Menzie the same year he did INVADERS FROM MARS] with Richard Carlson, and I rejected the maze idea for that reason.  I have no knowledge as to whether or not Kubrick has ever seen that movie or if it happens to be coincidence.”

 –Speaking of The Shining at Bellerica Library.

“When Stanley Kubrick was gonna do THE SHINING, we were living in a little town in western Maine, and I was up one morning shaving my face and my wife came in.  The phone had rung and she said, ‘It’s for ou.’  And I said, ‘Well, who is it?’ She said, ‘Stanley Kubrick from London.’  I had shaving cream over half my face and I just sort of picked up the phone and said, ‘Stanley, how are you!’  He wanted to talk about ghosts, and wasn’t the horror story or the story of ghosts always fundamentally optimistic because it suggested that we went on afterward?  And I said, ‘Well it is, Stanley, but what if a person died insande and came back?’  There was a long silence.  And I also said, ‘What about hell?  What if there really is hell?’ And Stanley said, ‘I don’t believe in that.’  So I said, ‘Well good, cool, do what you want.’”

– speaking of Stand By Me at Bellerica Library.

“One day at their summer camp, or whatever it was, a story circulated that a dog had been hit by a train and the dead body was on the tracks.  These guys are saying, ‘And you should see it man, it’s all swelled up and its guts are fallingo ut and it’s real dead.  I mean it’s just as dead as you ever dreamed o anyting being dead.’  Andyou could see it yourself, just walk down these tracks and take a look at it, which they did.   George said, ‘Someday I’d like to write a story about that,’ but he never did.  He’s running a restaurant now, a great restaurant.”

 –Speaking of Children of the Corn with Tim Hewitt

“And then, the second, very moral question is: do you have any right, just because you’re a big shot, to steal screen credit from somebody who’s an unknown.  What if it’s a great film?  So, I thought about that one very very hard for about three days, then Id ecided that essentially I couldn’t trust new World Pictures.  I sent a telegram to the screenwriters guild and said that I didn’t want to respond to Clayton’s petition to have sole screen credit on the picture, so he was granted sole screen credit.  I’m delight that he was on both counts.  Number one, the picture was a dog: it was a shuck-and-jive situation.  What they had sent me and represented as the final screenplay had nothing in common at all with what finally mad it to the screen.  It was basically, I think, and effort into accepting a screen credit that didn’t belong to me.”

–Speaking of Creepshow with Edwin Pouncey

“The comic, that was my idea.  They wanted a novelization, they wanted to farm it out, and I told them I’ve never allowed anything to be novelized and I said that if we’re going to do this then let’s do it in the spirit of the movie itself, which is of the EC comics, the horror pups, let’s go ahead and do a comic book. 

So we hired a guy called Berni Wrightson to do the panels and I just did the continuity.  It was kinda fun.”

About The Shining's Alternate Ending, discussed in Stephen king Goes To Hollywood, see my article HERE.

Listed under Coming Attractions:
The Running Man, Creepshow II, Pet Sematary, The Stand, The Talisman, Graveyard Shift, Return to Salem’s Lot, Apt Pupil, The Cat From Hell, IT, The Mist, Sorry, Right number.

You can buy Stephen King Goes To HOLLYWOOD at amazon.com

Shaun Lawton's Review Of "Stephen King, A Face Among The Masters."

This is a review by Shaun Lawton of my book, "Stephen King, A Face Among The Masters."  It is also posted at amazon.com

If you've read the book, tell me what you think.

Here's  Shaun's review:

The Face Behind The Mask Revealed

Stephen King: A Face Among The Masters, by Brighton David Gardner, published earlier this year (2014) is a quite useful analysis of King's writing which I highly recommend to any one who loves to read fiction, regardless of whether they are a Stephen King fan or not.

To the "constant readers" of King, this overview of the author's history is indispensable. Gardner breaks his book down into eight chapters which trace King's development as a horror writer from his sensational first novel Carrie right up through his latest books.

One of the things that makes A Face Among The Masters such a great read is the fact the author himself is a "constant reader," and therefore very familiar with King's raison d'être. I myself who have been reading King since Salem's Lot was published gained a tremendous amount of insight into King's writing methodologies, thanks to Gardner's detailed analysis.

Gardner begins the book by describing King's extensive list of influences, among them past masters such as H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, and others. Gardner's keen insights really bring the reader into the shady realm that marks King's still evolving literary world. He also goes so far as to make a connection between King's novels and the films of Alfred Hitchcock by asking the reader to think about which Stephen King books would Hitchcock have loved to adapt. In this chapter, Gardner lists nine King books which would have made excellent Hitchcock movies; it's a compelling list and provides the reader with a lot of interesting insights.

Gardner goes on to associate King's writing style with the old television show The Twilight Zone, in Chapter 5. Once again the reader is guided by Gardner's deep knowledge of King towards understanding the integral connections the world's most famous horror author has with Rod Serling's classic TV series.

Chapter 6 guides the reader through the nearly forgotten world of radio plays, exemplified through the spooky narratives of Arch Oboler and Orson Welles. The various connections which Gardner makes between King's techniques and these old radio plays which held a nation in the grip of fear are wonderful and once again quite insightful.

Chapter 7: Dark Theologian is my favorite part of this book. In it, Gardner brings his extensive knowledge of theology to the table for what I consider to be the most enlightening chapter. He takes readers on a profound excursion focusing on the King novels The Green Mile, Pet Sematary, The Shining, Salem's Lot, The Stand, and The Dark Tower series. Brighton does a remarkable job of explaining to readers just how Stephen King has woven religious and spiritual themes into these narratives. The results are fascinating and represent one of the best reasons to read A Face Among The Masters.

In short, readers both familiar and unfamiliar with Stephen King's novels will find a motherlode of interesting information inside the pages of Brighton David Gardner's insightful and illuminating treatise. I can't recommend it enough, so be sure to get it either for your Kindle or e-Reader of choice, or buy the print version because it's easily worth twice the cover price.

If you're interested in learning more about Stephen King, be sure to visit Gardner's popular blog Talk Stephen King, you can Google it easily or just copy and paste the following url into your browser: http://talkstephenking.blogspot.com -- and maybe I'll see you there in the comments section. Gardner started this blog devoted to all things Stephen King five years ago, and he shows no signs of stopping or even slowing down. There is a plethora of interesting posts archived already, with more coming almost on a daily basis.

One of the reasons for this is the happy fact that the subject of mutual interest here is Stephen King, clearly the best-selling and most popular horror writer of all time. Brighton David Gardner's excellent book explains just why that is in an approachable and easygoing manner, and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Stephen King certainly does belong on the short list of the Grand Masters of literature, and may consider himself far more than just a mere horror writer or the "literary equivalent of a Big Mac." So don't hesitate to get your copy of Stephen King: A Face Among The Masters by Brighton David Gardner. I promise that you'll be glad you did.

Posted from: amazon.com/review

Ukrainian Joyland

Here is a hardcover, Ukranian Joyland.  It's selling at ebay for $21.47.

The Scariest Novel Of All Time

graphic credit: artcocktail.mallforarts.com stephen-king-characters-become-alive-in-digital-art

I was  headed running tonight and decided to download a new audible book.  I typed into google, "Scariest novel of all time."  I came upon Emily Temple's article, "The 50 Scariest Books of All Time."  Sounds pretty good, right?

Guess what #1 on her list is -- IT

About IT, Temple writes:

All right, let’s get this out of the way up front: Stephen King is the you-know-what of horror, and if there wasn’t this pesky rule about keeping it to one book per author, this list could almost be wholly populated by his terrifying reads. This book might be the scariest of the lot, and has the added bonus of being about fear itself — the scariest thing of all. There’s also a murderous, shapeshifting clown.

What do you think is the scariest novel of all time?

Get Immersed In Carrie

It's not enough to read Carrie, or see the movie, or listen to the musical -- it's time to experience it.

deadline.com posted news that Los Angeles' La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts will be converting its space on La Mirada Boulevard into into Ewan High School.  They are creating an “immersive theater” event that will put the audience "at the center of the action."  They are calling it "enviromental staging."  The program will open March 18, 2015.

DUTCH Revival Cover

source: liljas-library.com

This is the Dutch cover for Revival. I found this at Lilja's Library.  Lilja is currently seeking obscure foreign editions of Stephen King's work.  It's a pretty neat project.  Of course, Dutch isn't obscure.  AND -- I like this cover A LOT.  It may be just the complete let down of the American edition.

I  wrote to Cemetery Dance and asked them if they would be producing a special edition of Revival.  I opted for the CD edition of both Doctor Sleep and Full Dark, No Stars, over a First Edition.  Their books are always beautiful.  However, the publisher emailed back to say that they did not have plans for a special edition of Revival.

What exactly is Revival?  There is a book description out, that still doesn't reveal much.   King said it was a nasty little novel.  Are we in for a treat?

The Wisdom Of THE STAND

shortlist.com has a fun set of quotes from THE STAND in an article titled, "Wisdom from The Stand."

My favorite: “The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet.” 

Star Wars Shoes

. . . Because VANS doesn't make Stephen King shoes.

But if they did, what would you put on them?

Book covers, characters, the Dark Tower art. . .

Buzzfeed: 13 Ordinary Things Stephen King Made Scary

buzzfeed.com has a fun article titled, "13 ordinary things Stephen King made scary."  Check out the website for the text.

 1. Cell Phones

2. Home Gyms

3. Your Car

4. Reality TV

5. Beer

6. Hotel Rooms

7. Trains

8. The Garage

9. Sewer Drains

10. Toy Monkeys

11. Sneakers

12. Electric Knives

13. Sinks

Unearthed & Untold World Premiere In September

Unearthed and Untold, The Path to Pet Sematary announcted:

Our documentary will be having its world premiere in the county where it all started: Hancock, Maine. On Saturday September 13 Unearthed & Untold will be playing at the Grand Theater in Ellsworth - one of the primary towns featured in the original film. This event is being billed as a double feature: They will also be showing Pet Sematary just before the documentary!

We will be in attendance as will some local cast and crew from t...he film. If you are in New England or the New England-area please consider coming to the September screening. Tickets may sell quickly, so go to the Grand Theater website to buy now! (grandonline.org)

This is hugely exciting and a real milestone for what has been a long, challenging, and rewarding journey. *To date, NO official distribution plans have been made, though we are working on it. Once we know HOW and WHEN you can see it, of course we will let you know. See you in September!

Remember The Time. . .

When you enjoy a person, you have some great memories of them.  When you don't actually know the person, the stories you remember are stuff  you got second or third hand.  We all have favorite stories of famous people. 

Here are a few of my favorite Stephen King antidotes:

Remember the time. . .

He slipped into a bookstore and started signing his own books.

A bookstore manager was stunned when she saw someone enter her bookstore and begin writing in the books. The person quickly left, causing the employees think they were the victims of vandalism. 

Ms. Ellis said, "So we immediately ran to the books and lo-and-behold here was the signature in several books. We sort of spun around on our heels, [saying] 'where did he go, where did he go. . . So I went over and introduced myself ... He was lovely, very nice, charming." 

King signed a total of six books. I don't know, I just find something fun about that story! Imagine going to the bookstore, not a specialty store or something like that, just a regular store, and choosing to buy a Stephen King book -- and it turns out to be signed! Cool.
www.abc.net

The time the lady told him WHAT?!!!

King told Neil Gaiman at journal.neilgaiman.com this fantastic story:

I was down here in the supermarket, and this old woman comes around the corner this old woman – obviously one of the kind of women who says whatever is on her brain. She said, 'I know who you are, you are the horror writer. I don’t read anything that you do, but I respect your right to do it. I just like things more genuine, like that Shawshank Redemption.'

“And I said, 'I wrote that'. And she said, 'No you didn’t'. And she walked off and went on her way.”

Stephen King was so messed up, he forgot writing Cujo.

I'm not kididng! King has said that he was so drugged and drunk at the time he wrote Cujo, he doesn't remember the process of writing it.

Stephen King and his wife went to see Carrie in the theater:

In Stephen King Goes To Hollywood, King shared:

The first time I saw Carrie with an audience they previewed it about a week and a half before Halloween.  They didn't do a screening in Maine, but they did one in Boston, so my wife and I went down to the theater, and I just looked around in total dismay, because the regular picture that they were showing was Norman, Is That You? with Red Foxx.  The theater was entirely full of black people.  We looked like two little grains of salt in a pepper shaker, and we thought: This audience is just going to rate the hell out of this picture.  What are thing going to think about a skinny little white girl with her menstrual problems?  And that's the way it started, and then, little by little, they got on her side, you know, and when she started doing her shtick, I mean, they were going, "Tear it up!" "Go for it!" and all this other stuff.  These two guys were talking behind us, and we were listening to them, and at the end they're putting on their coats and getting ready to leave.  Suddenly his hand comes up, and these two big guys screamed along with everyone else, and one of them goes, "That's it!  That's it!  She ain't never gonna be right!"  And I knew it was going to be a hit.  (p.ix) 

Stephen King threw Carrie away:
Yeah, you remember that one.  But  what I love more is the story of the day he got the call Carrie was going to be a paperback.

Stephen King used another persons author photo for Richard Bachman

Richard Bachman's author photo taken by Claudia Inez Bachman. The actual subject of the photo is Richard Manuel, the insurance agent of Kirby McCauley, who was King's  literary agent. (Source: Wikipedia)

Stephen King bought the van that almost killed him. 

"Yes, we've got the van, and I'm going to take a sledgehammer and beat it!" King told the Bridgton News of Bridgton, Maine. (chicagotribune.com)

The Crapper

This is from Tom Barton's short piece on King's speech in Savannah:

King, who was in his mid-20s at the time, was in the Steel City on a book tour, promoting his first novel "Carrie." Part of his job, he said, was to appear on morning TV shows (AM Pittsburgh), along with jitterbugging grandmas, to plug his book to the locals.

That evening, King said, he had a command performance at a dinner that the local newspaper hosted at a fancy restaurant. Unfortunately, the author was suffering from homesickness and a far worse malady -- an intestinal disorder that forced him to make an emergency trip to the joint's opulently appointed restroom.

This was a place that had its own restroom attendant. King remembered him as an ancient man who appeared to be about 108 years old.

Unfortunately, there was one necessity that this restroom lacked: Doors to the stalls. So as King was sitting on the toilet, the attendant approached the young author, carrying pen and paper.

"He said, 'You're Stephen King, aren't you? I saw you on AM Pittsburgh. Can I get your autograph?' I gave my first autograph sitting on the crapper."

Emily Shultz Spent Stephen King's Money

This is one of my favorites.  In 2006, Emily Shultz wrote a book titled Joyland.  A lot of people bought the wrong book!  

Schultz writes at her website:

I'm Emily Schultz. My first novel came out eight years ago. It was called Joyland. Last year Stephen King released a print-only novel with the same title. That was cool, until a few King readers bought the e-book version of my novel by mistake and started leaving negative and confused Amazon reviews. I asked Amazon to change their search results to keep people from buying the wrong book but never heard back. 

Apparently there were a lot of confused readers as this week I got a—for me—big royalty check for those mistaken books. I'm not so upset anymore. Sure, it's more a pleasant surprise than a fortune, and I'm stuck with those reviews, but I thought a blog detailing how we're spending the Stephen King money would be a nice way to end this funny and strange story.  

So what do you do when Stephen King's money starts to roll in?  Well, obviously, if you're a writer, you write about it!

Schultz has started a delightful blog titled, "Spending The Stephen King Money"  With each purchase she records, she also asks the question, "Would Stephen King like it?"  This includes: furniture from Ikea, a haircut for Brian, the deductible for bumper repair, books, Dinner for two at a place called "Junoon" . . . and more.  She notes that she bought a new Apple computer, and asks if Stephen King would approve. 

 King told Entertainment Weekly that he is “I’m delighted for her."  And, what's more, "I’m going to order her book.”  So there's a real sale!  And, from none other than Stephen King.  Schultz said in turn that she would be buying King's book. Of course, she'll be buying King's book with King's money.  A nice way to go!

What's your favorite (REAL) Stephen King Story?