REPOST: King Books That Deserve A Sequel

With all the talk about a possible sequel to the Shining, and then all the quick moves to quiet any excitement -- not to mention an addition to the Dark Tower -- got me to thinking about books that deserve a sequel.

Of course, much of King's work has built on itself. There were the Castle Rock stories, Derry stories, and in some cases the Dark Tower actually served as a sequal. In particular Salem's Lot -- Which really serves as redemption for Father Callahan.

Sometimes Hollywood has offered us sequels. Children of the Corn, Salem's Lot, Pet Semetery, Carrie and others I can't think of off hand. None of these were really very good. There was a version of Carrie that had an extended ending (beyond the King book) that I thought was well done.

A quick list of books I wish had a sequel. Please offer your own.
1. The Eyes of the Dragon
2. Black House. ? I think there will be one.
3. The Shining. Dr. Sleep, as King has suggested, but not promised.  (2012, okay, we now  anxiously await the novel)
4. Firestarter. So. . . what did happen to Charlie?
5. Pet Semetary. King style, not Hollywood.
And. . .
6. IT. Did Pennywise really die? Really? Are you sure?

(Originally posted: November 26, 2009)

Truly Scary

Stephen King isn't afraid to scare you. He's not afraid to tick you off, get under your skin, or really make you mad. From curse words to truly gory stuff, he has it all. The only thing he doesn't do is explicit sex scenes. Personally, I could live with characters who don't have a potty mouth, but I understand his reasoning.

A big reason for reading King, at least for me, is the fear factor. This guy writes some scary stuff! Just a few scenes I like:

• Larry Underwood crawling through the tunnel in The Stand. That was great! Too bad it translated so poorly to film. I remember as a teenager sitting up breathless as Larry went from car to car, over dead bodies to get out of that tunnel.

• The rats in Graveyard Shift. Truthfully, though, the bigger the rats get, the less scary they are.

• Blood that adults can't see in the novel IT.

• Polly fighting the spider in Needful THings.

• The "person" in the room in Geralds Game. Not my favorite book, but it was a scary scene.

• Annie's revenge in Misery.

• Pet Semetary, the entire books is scary. Really scary. Think about it, this book deals with the dark side of Resurrection. That is the key concept in Christianity, always expressed as a hopeful epectation. But what if the dead could come back? Would we let them? The theme is played out well, and the entire book is dark and scary.