This Guy Is Full of Green Light: Burnette's Review of "Golden Years" Episode 4

This is the FOURTH PART of an article by Bryant Burnette summarizing the Golden Years television show.  

This was originally posted at Burnette's blog, thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.com

Episode 4 (airdate 08/01/1991)

The fourth episode begins with Dr. Ackerman calling Crewes in a panic, insisting that he needs protection from Andrews, who -- obviously -- will be coming to kill him. Crewes tells Ackerman to get a grip, and the doctor realizes that he's going to have to protect himself, so he decides to steal a bunch of paperwork and make copies of it, presumably so that he can have some leverage against Andrews. In so doing, he turns into a bumbling idiot; he runs into doors, trips over his own feet, stutters, and generally seems like a nincompoop.

All for naught, too; he gets in his car to leave Falco Plains, and the car promptly explodes. Jude, watching from the shadows, has struck again.

His real quarry, meanwhile, has decided to pull into the barn on an apparently deserted farm and give their stolen hearse a paint job. It's now a Christine-esque shade of red that would undoubtedly catch every eye on the road. Remind me to never allow Terry Spann to be in charge of taking me on the lam. She's made more than a few moronic decisions here, but let's not blame her; let's blame Stephen King, who is clearly not cut out to be a rogue government agent.

There is yet another tender scene between Harlan and Gina in which she expresses dismay at the entire situation, not without merit: this time, she's upset because she feels old for the first time. See, because she and Harlan were aging together, she never actually felt the weight of their years, whereas seeing him growing younger by the day is only making her feel more and more decrepit. King is better-suited to the mechanics of an emotional scene like this than he is to the mechanics of evading capture by state-sanctioned killers. That's not to say the scene is perfect; the dialogue is clunky and repetitive, and if not for decent acting, it wouldn't work terribly well at all. Still, there is a core of emotional truth to it that definitely feels like King's skills as a novelist came briefly to the fore.

That is certainly not evident in a horrible scene involving Toddhunter. One of his new assistants approaches the mad doctor to tell him that preparations of some sort -- they are not explained -- are ready. Toddhunter tells him, "Do it now!" The man is about to respond, but Toddhunter cuts him off to tell him how time is tip-tip-tapping away. He starts hollering "Tip-tippy-tap!" and "Do it now!" and so forth, and the actor goes so far over the top that he threatens to enter Bronson-Pinchot-in-The-Langoliers territory. He doesn't quite get there, but it's close. It's an embarrassing scene, and you can bet your life that director Allen Coulter doesn't have it on any of his demo reels.

Later, Toddhunter has a better scene, in which he visits his father's grave. His watch has stopped working, and while he is speaking to his father, he digs up a metal box, which houses a bunch of other dead watches; he puts this new one with the others. This dude is clearly nuts, and thankfully, this scene shows us a bit of that in a useful, non-annoying fashion.

Jude visits Crewes and informs him that, as per the DSA, he is now in charge of the investigation and manhunt surrounding the Williams case. Crewes is not too pleased about this; he's even less pleased when he discovers that he is barred from leaving the base. Andrews packs up his shit and abandons his temporary office at the local police station, which for some reason pisses off the sherriff or the constable or whoever the guy is. In an additional bit of WTF, Andrews is wearing a black t-shirt during this scene that reads "Let Go and Let God." Huh?!?

While they're chilling out at the conveniently abandoned barn, Terry and Harlan have a talk, in which he wonders what their chances are. Terry tells him that when she was at The Shop, everyone told her that John Rainbird was the best; but she thinks Andrews is better, so if he's after them, they don't have much of a chance at all. Yay, a Firestarter connection!

A few scenes later, Terry concocts a plan: if Harlan and Gina can get themselves arrested for shoplifting, and get put in the care of the local law enforcement, they could then use their one phone call to get a lawyer and thereby get some protection of the legal variety. It's not a bad plan, but later, they all come to the realization that if Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't safe in the hands of local police custody, then a small-timer like Harlan Williams definitely wouldn't be safe.

It's interesting to consider how different the implications of this scene are from the novel King published twenty years later, 11/22/63. Here, clearly, King is playing into the paranoia of the times. Golden Years as a whole feeds off of that paranoia; Andrews counsels Ackerman at one point that perfect paranoia is perfect awareness, and this show is so paranoid that it wants us to believe that not even the government can trust the government. Golden Years came only four years after the publication of The Tommyknockers, in which one character constantly thinks of untrustworthy governmental powers under the umbrella "the Dallas Police" (clearly, a Ruby / Oswald reference). Two decades later, in 11/22/63, King had swung all the way around to be convinced that Oswald had acted alone, and, by implication, that Ruby had, too. I'm conflicted, personally; both sides have their persuasions. I'm not taking a stance, and it doesn't bother me the way it apparently bothers some that King's mind on such topics has changed over the years; but it is interesting.

The episode ends with a scene in which our heroes pass a wreck on the side of the road. At Gina's insistence, they stop to see if they can help, and of course, the first cop who stops by recognizes the trio and tries to apprehend them. Terry, always the genius, steals the policeman's cruiser.

I guess we'll find out how that plan works out next week.

This is not a particularly good episode, what with Terry's constant stupidity and Toddhunter's over-the-top insanity.

Owen King: Double Feature

Owen King will be stepping out with his debut novel about the son of a B-movie actor making his own film. This sounds great to me!  It might  be because I love B-movies.

Amazon.com offers this summery:

An epic debut novel about a young man coming to terms with his life in the process and aftermath of making his first film—from critically acclaimed short story writer Owen King—for readers of Joshua Ferris, Sam Lipsyte, and Chad Harbach. 

Filmmaker Sam Dolan has a difficult relationship with his father, B-movie actor Booth Dolan—a boisterous, opinionated, lying lothario whose screen legacy falls somewhere between cult hero and pathetic. Allie, Sam’s dearly departed mother, was a woman whose only fault, in Sam’s eyes, was her eternal affection for his father. Also included in the cast of indelible characters: a precocious, frequently violent half-sister; a conspiracy-theorist second wife; an Internet-famous roommate; a family friend and contractor who can’t stop expanding his house; a happy-go-lucky college girlfriend and her husband, a retired Yankees catcher; the morose producer of a true crime show; and a slouching indie film legend. Not to mention a tragic sex monster. 

Unraveling the tumultuous, decades-spanning story of the Dolan family’s friends, lovers, and adversaries, Double Feature is about letting go of everything—regret, resentment, ambition, dignity, moving pictures, the dead—and taking it again from the top. Combining propulsive storytelling and mordant wit against the backdrop of indie filmmaking, Double Feature brims with a deep understanding of the trials of ambition and art, of relationships and life, and of our attempts to survive it all.

 Lauren Groff, author of The Monsters of Templeton and Arcadia, called it "a love-letter to cinema" and "a moving exploration of what it means to be an artist."  (amazon)

Check out Owen King's website HERE.

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Colin Ford is DOMED

Colin Ford has been cast to play Joe in the upcoming CBS adaptation of Under the Dome.  Joe is a teenager who is trapped inside the dome while his parents are on the other  side.


Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter gives this short bio for Ford:

Ford voices the title role in Disney Junior Annie Award-winning musical Jake and the Never Land Pirates, with the show's third season scheduled to premiere in February. Repped by UTA, Management 360 and Ziffren Brittenham, his feature credits include features We Bought a Zoo, Push and Eye of the Hurricane. His small-screen roles include playing a young Sam Winchester on the CW's Supernatural, voice roles on Fox's Family Guy and an episode of The Mob Doctor.

The Hollywood Reporter article is HERE

This Guy Is Full of Green Light: Bryant's Review of "Golden Years" Episode 3

This is the THIRD PART of an article by Bryant Burnette summarizing the Golden Years television show.  

This was originally posted at Burnette's blog, thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.com

Episode 3 (airdate 07/25/1991)

In this episode:

Terry is awoken in the middle of the night by an informant, who calls her to let her know that Dr. Akins has been murdered. She visits the scene of the crime, and puts two and two together: Jude Andrews is eliminating people who know about Harlan Williams' curious age problem. She calls Crewes and lets him know about her suspicions, and tells him her plan: she wants to grab Harlan and Gina and go on the run with them. Why? Because she likes Gina, and doesn't want her to end up in a ditch with her throat cut.

She pays the Williamses a call, and convinces them to trust her and go with her. She gets them out not long before Andrews arrives, but she's left him a message: "Just like old times," signed with the initial "T" inside a heart. Andrews recalls the "old times" she is referring to: her blackmailing him to keep him from killing someone. Jude brings in an associate, Fredericks, and the two of them begin liasing with local and state law enforcement, trying to locate the fugitives.

The fugitives, in the meantime, have set a course: they are, at Gina's urging, heading for Chiacgo. Their daughter, Francie, lives there; she, apparently, has been involved with nearly every unpopular anti-government movement imaginable since the late sixties, so she ought to be able to help. Terry agrees, and then decides they need to ditch their car (since it's presumably being looked for) for another. Her solution: she steals them a hearse.

Fredericks has gotten a list of all vehicles reported stolen anywhere near where Terry's car was found, though, and the episode ends on Andrews intuiting that she's is responsible for the hearse that was reported stolen at the same mall.

As a production, this isn't a bad episode; all of the acting is good (with the exception of a weird and pointless crime-scene photographer character), and things move at a good pace. There are a lot of logical problems in the screenplay, though. Like the first two, this episode was scripted by King himself, and he wants us to believe that Andrews would be coming to kill Gina and kidnap Harlan, but that killing a crime-scene photographer would take precedence over that. So Andrews kills Akins, then -- in the same night -- kills the crime-scene photographer, then goes back to his motel and chills out until the next morning. Then, he gets back to it and heads for the Williams house.

Why would Andrews not immediately go for Harlan and Gina? Wouldn't it make more sense to conduct that operation under cover of night, rather than wait to do it on a nice, clear morning?

Even more senseless: Terry's plan to steal a hearse. She rationalizes it by saying that nobody would think to look for them in something as gaudy and noticeable as a hearse. That's good logic, except for the fact that the hearse's owner is likely to report it missing, and it's going to be very easy to be on the lookout for a stolen hearse.

That's just sloppy writing on King's part. I say "sloppy"; really, though, it's downright awful writing, as is Andrews' erratic approach to cleaning up this problem for The Shop.

Otherwise, though, this is a fairly good episode. It was directed by Michael Gornick, who had previously directed Creepshow 2.

This Guy Is Full of Green Light: Bryant Burnette's Review of "Golden Years" Episode 2

This is the SECOND PART of an article by Bryant Burnette summarizing the Golden Years television show.  As Bryant pointed out in the first post, we should not confuse the television series with the 3 hour hashed movie.

This was originally posted at Burnette's blog, thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.com

Episode 2 (airdate 07/18/1991)

The second episode was written by Stephen King and directed by Allen Coulter. [IMDb lists Michael Gornick as the director, but don't you believe it; it says "Allen Coulter" on the episode, and that's evidence enough for me.] [P.S. -- IMDb also lists titles for the seven episodes, but those appear to have been concocted by somebody who had no affiliation with the production. Rocky Wood has verified for me via email that the original screenplays, which he has read, have no episode titles.]

Coulter had only been directing about three years at that point, and had episodes of Monsters and Tales from the Darkside to his name; presumably, it was his association by producer Mitchell Galin -- who worked on both of those shows -- that got Coulter hired for this job. He would go on to direct two more episodes of Golden Years, and after that, things eventually heated up for him a bit: he did three episodes of Millennium, and one of The X-Files, and then got himself a job directing episodes for HBO. Eight episodes of Sex and the City, two of Rome, one of Six Feet Under, and, most importantly, a solid twelve of The Sopranos, which makes him one of the key contributors to one of the great television shows in history. Among his episodes: "College," which is generally considered to be one of the very best.

Lately, Coulter has directed six episodes of Boardwalk Empire, and for cinemas, he directed the excellent movie Hollywoodland, which starred Ben Affleck and dealt with the sad life of Superman actor George Reeves.

Here, Coulter's talents are obviously undeveloped, but nascent; it's cool that such an important director cut his teeth on King material.

The plot for this episode:

Dr. Ackerman meets with Dr. Akins, the eye doctor who performed the re-exam for Harlan; Akins tells him all about how he'd been ordered to fake a passing grade, but ended up not needing to, on account of how Williams passed with flying colors. Unbeknownst to the two doctors, the fellow at the next table over in the coffeeshop is recording their conversation; he later takes it to Jude Andrews. Andrews then pays Ackerman a visit, and tells him to spill the beans, whatever beans he's got; and make sure not to leave anything out. Ackerman does just that; Andrews promises that if he finds out Ackerman has held out on him, he'll be back to perform some radical dental work ... with a power drill. Andrews later pays Akins a visit, too, and shoots him through the forehead.

Meanwhile, Gina confronts Harlan about his advancing condition of incipient youthfulness. Harlan at first tries to bluff Gina into thinking it's not as serious as it seems, but it doesn't work, and he admits that a scar -- one he got when he was 67 -- has gone away completely. There is no denying it: physically, he is getting younger by the day. Gina tells him he has to go see a doctor, even if it's only Ackerman.

Harlan goes, and of course, Ackerman reports the details of their meeting back to Andrews. Ackerman tells Andrews that Williams is getting younger, not merely in empirical ways (such as the lightening color of his hair, and the disappearance of his scar), but in less easily-explainable ways; he likens it to the process by which, when he was younger, fewer people every year carded him when he bought alcohol ... except, in Williams' case, in reverse. Speaking of Harlan, he sees Ackerman meeting with Andrews, and -- correctly -- suspects the worst. He goes home, and tells Gina to pack a bag and be ready to go on the run when he gives the word.

Elsewhere in the episode, Andrews visits the place where Reddings' body is being kept. Reddings was one of Toddhunter's assistants; he died, obviously, but not before glowing green for a while and losing certain scars that he had had for years. Terry discovers the body -- which she planned to use against Toddhunter -- is missing, and is none too pleased. She's also none too pleased by a visit she receives from the annoying Major Moreland, who suspects -- both rightly and wrongly -- that chicanery and hanky-panky lie behind Williams' success at his eye exam do-over. Terry promises the Major that she'll inform General Crewes of his concerns.

Harlan visits a beauty parlor and asks them to dye his hair ... white. Back at home, he's feeling frisky, and he and Gina dance. He twirls her around, and seemingly causes a twinge in her back. "I can't keep up with you," she says, sadly.

And that's the episode.

It's a fairly good one. The performances continue to be solid, especially Szarabajka, Sternhagen, and Call. The scenes between Andrews and Ackerman stand out; King clearly relishes writing dialogue for Jude Andrews, who reminds me just a wee bit of Alexis Machine, the character "George Stark" wrote about in The Dark Half.

Bonus points to this second episode for airing on my birthday! I turned seventeen that day. Seems like forever ago. (And stirring up a little agita on the subject seems thoroughly appropriate given the subject matter of the show itself.) 

Dread Central Offers More News On UNDER THE DOME

image credit: behance.net

Dread Central's The Woman In Black has posted a newsy article on the upcoming CBS series, Under The Dome. The series will premiere June 24th.  She discusses the promo video for the series, noting some important highlights.

Here's  what I liked:

The King/Vaughan presentation included a few clips and animatics illustrating how graphic the show might be. People and cows sliced in half by the dome landing, a plane crashing into the dome in mid-air, townspeople ransacking supermarkets and washing their bloody hammers from God knows what kinds of murder.

 King and Vauhan discussed some of the specific sci-fi nature ofthe Dome itself.  People sliced in half, planes blasting into the dome, and if you get too close to it, Vaughan  said "pacemakers will explode out of your body."

And there is this note about a major difference from the book:

The novel only covers a short period of time. The idea of the TV series is not to extend it for a week, but months... It’s going to bring out the best in some people and the worst in other people.”

The full article is HERE.

New Carrie Poster

MGM and Screen Gems (Sony) have released a brand new character poster for their upcoming CARRIE film to be released October 18, 2013.  Source:teaser-trailer.com

This Guy Is Full of Green Light: A Review of "Golden Years" EPISODE 1

This is from my friend, Bryant Burnette's blog, "The Truth Inside The Lie."  I liked it a LOT.  Bryant takes the time to build an episode review for each of the Golden Years, something I have not seen. . . well, anywhere.  And I read a lot of Stephen King.

Thanks, Bryant, for letting me repost this.  Be sure to check out his blog -- I always enjoy the "Bryant has issues" posts!

This is the first post, covering episode 1.

Alright, Bryant, take it away. . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

You may or may not be familiar with Golden Years, the four-hour movie written by Stephen King that is available on DVD. I get the sense that it is not terribly widely-seen. I might not be right about that, though; my senses have been known to fail me.

Either way, even if you are familiar with the movie, the odds are pretty good that you have no idea it is an abridged version of the original version: a seven-part series that aired on CBS in the summer of 1991. The first episode was a two-hour broadcast, so all in all, eight hours of the series were aired.

The version available home video is shorter by about 135 minutes; in other words, the equivalent of three hours' worth of the broadcast episodes were cut out, including the original cliffhanger ending (which was replaced with an alternate ending intended to provide at least scant closure).

I had not intended to post this article yet. However, I'm working -- slowly; too slowly -- on another post that covers all of the Stephen King-based episodes of television that have been produced (ranging from The Twilight Zone to The Dead Zone to Haven), and as a part of that I wanted to include some brief plot summaries of what happened in each episode of Golden Years. Problem was, I couldn't remember, nor could I find episode summaries anywhere else. Granted, I didn't look all that hard; but still.

This led to me rewatching the episodes so that I could type up brief plot summaries. 

 

I apologize in advance for not covering the differences between the home-video cut of the "movie" and these episodes; that'll happen at some later date, down the line. But since that version is easily obtainable, any King fan ought to readily be able to watch that version. Therefore, detailing the changes seems less crucial than detailing a bit about what happens in the original episodes themselves.

Here goes!

Episode 1 (airdate 07/16/1991)

You might be wondering: how, dear douche sir, are you so privileged as to have access to the original episodes, whereas the rest of us do not?

Glad you asked. I've got a VHS tape that has all of the episodes on it from when I taped 'em way back in the summer of 1991, as I was getting ready to enter my senior year of high school. It's one of my prize possessions, and I had somebody burn the episodes onto a DVD a few years back. So, yeah, that's my less-than-humble story for the day. Hey, look, I'm single and overweight and likely to remain both as I approach forty; I gots ta take my little victories where I can get 'em at this point, y'all.

The first episode was scripted by King and directed by Kenneth Fink, and begins with Harlan Williams riding his bicycle to work. He is a janitor at Falco Plains, a military-run scientific research facility in New York State. Williams is approaching his 71st birthday, and his job is in jeopardy because he recently failed the eye exam portion of his annual base-administered physical. Major Moreland, an unctuous bureaucrat, wants to fire him, but Williams insists on his right to retake the exam, so he narrowly avoids the canning that has obviously been headed right for him.

He is less successful in avoiding the explosion that is heading right for him: he is injured in the blast emanating from the laboratory of Dr. Richard Toddhunter, who is attempting to find a way to regenerate human tissue for use in helping wounded soldiers return to the battlefield quickly. Toddhunter is responsible for the explosion, having ordered his two assistants to proceed with his experiment despite having a warning red light on one of the lab's sensors.

Harlan's husband, Gina, is visited by Terry Spann, Falco Plains' head of security. Spann brings Gina to the base's hospital, where Gina finds her husband laid up in a bed, but apparently none the worse for wear. Later, however, she will notice that his eyes are glowing green; this is apparently a side effect, but nothing to be concerned about. Gina seems less than convinced by this assertion; she's probably right, what with the series having been written by Stephen King and all.

Meanwhile, Spann and the base's leader, General Crewes, question Toddhunter about his involvement in the blast. They suspect he's not being terribly truthful with them, but they don't have much in the way of proof.

Before long, a new contingent of bureaucrats arrives on the scene with questions of their own. They are led by Jude Andrews, a high-level operative of The Shop (the same dangerous black-ops scientific research agency that served as the villains on Firestarter). Seems Spann used to work for The Shop, too, and was Andrews' partner. When asked how close they were, Terry says they were as close as it got: "We used to kill people together," she says grimly.

Doesn't take long for Andrews to up his body count once on the case. A Lieutenant who overheard the dying words of one of Toddhunter's assistants could implicate the mad doctor, and that, apparently, would run contrary to the agenda of The Shop. So Andrews kills the man and reports back that he has done so. Reports to whom? We do not know.

Harlan, meanwhile, retakes his eye exam, and passes with flying colors. And that's not the only weird thing: Gina notices that his hair is turning from white to brown again...

Nobody circa 2012 is likely to mistake Golden Years for top-flight television, and if they do, you should probably not trust them very much. The production is a bit on the low-rent side, no doubt about it, although the television landscape was a very different animal in 1991 than it is today.

The apt comparison is to judge Golden Years against other tv dramas from 1991, and on that score, I think it holds up reasonably well. The acting is mostly fine; Keith Szarabajka is good as Harlan (and is aided by old-age makeup that still looks great in 2012), as is Frances Sternhagen as Gina. Felicity Huffman is a good, solid, sexy, severe Terry Spann, and I've seen a few other people note that she seems almost to be a template for Dana Scully, who was still two years in the future on The X-Files. It's a skin-deep comparison, but I can see how the comparison gets made.

I also like Ed Lauter as General Crewes. R.D. Call makes for a menacing Jude Andrews, although his American accent seems to be a bit too slippery for him to keep hold of consistently ... which is really odd, considering that's he's American. Not sure why he sounds like a Brit trying to keep a rein on his American "r"s, but that's exactly what he sounds like. Despite that, he's really good.

Less good: Stephen Root, who plays the annoying Major Moreland, and Bill Raymond, who plays Dr. Toddhunter. Both are kinda campy and over the top, but since that seems to be on purpose on account of the roles having been written that way, let's cut them both some slack, shall we?

Bryant's Review of episode 2 will appear tomorrow.

Under The Dome News

CBS has given June 24th as the official release date for the Under The Dome series. I am really excited.

Christina Radish at collider.com talked to CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler about several upcoming projects. She said that we can expect to start seeing ads for the show during the Super Bowl. That's pretty neat. It means they are serious about getting viewers, and dropping a lot of money on this! She also noted that filming would begin shooting in Wilmington, North Carolina this February.

Tassler said about the script "I read it over the weekend, and I loved it. Ever since Jericho, I’ve loved these big-idea shows. I loved this script. And the auspices aren’t too shabby."

She reminded everyone "You’re talking about Stephen King. You’re talking about Steven Spielberg. We had a meeting with Brian K. Vaughan, who is also not chopped liver, and what we heard was this extraordinary vision for 13 episodes, and beyond."

The beyond worries me a bit. If they leave this open ended it could get frustrating. 

THE STAND JOURNAL 1: Drawn To The Stand

I am back to The Stand.  Hello old friend!

I dived  head first into The Dark Tower, and read with eagerness the first two books.  I started the third when we decided to take a family trip.  Given the options: The Stand or The Wastelands, my daughters chose  The Stand.  (Yes, those were the options.)  They like the movie, why not the book?

Since then, I have been listening to The Stand everywhere I go.  I should  go  back to The Wastelands, but I can't break away.  The story engrosses me even still.  I read the abridged version recently -- via Mr. Gardner.  I am thrilled he did the reading again.  If anything, his performance is even stronger and crisper. 

Reading The Stand this time is like being reunited with old friends.  I feel this  way when I read Pillars of the Earth for the 100th time!  Stu, Larry, Fran and many long forgotten small characters reappear in all their glory to live out the story one  more time. 

I have not read the unabridged version since high school.  There are scene's I really don't remember -- I must have skimmed!  (Okay, I know I did.)  For instance, the scene with Franny's mother was brand new to me. 

King does something I appreciate: He casts characters who hold  moral positions different from his own in a positive light.  He doesn't always stereotype   In particular, he shows a depth of understanding when discussing abortion and the pro-life position.  I believe King is strongly pro-choice, so I cringe when a character goes to discuss the pro-life position   Are we about to get a straw-man argument?  Is he just out to make pro-lifers look dumb?  Well, that's not what King does at all.  He allows a sympathetic character to lay out the view without feeling the need to insert a counter  argument. 

Peter Goldsmith says,

“I think abortion’s too clean a name for it,” Peter Goldsmith said. His lips moved slowly over each word, as if they pained him. “I think it’s infanticide, pure and simple. I’m sorry to say so, to be so ... inflexible, set, whatever it is I’m being ... about something which you now have to consider, if only because the law says you may consider it. I told you I was an old man.”

It's not a scientific case study, just an old man's opinion. But it takes guts for a writer to allow a character to hold a view contrary to their own without painting that character a nut case.

Small nods to the larger Stephen King universe are more evident to me this time.  When I read the novel the first time, it was the first King book I ever thumbed my way through.  I was unaware that King connected his books.  In particular, I was struck by the use of The Shop -- which comes from Firestarter.

Stephen King has an unusually strong grasp on people and characters.  I often find myself agreeing with observations he makes about people -- but surprised that such observations came from what was at the time a young man.  Larry does a lot of introspection.  It is a powerful scene when his mother reveals to him that he's just a user.  Now what's neat is having read the book already, I know that Larry will overcome that trait.  He will take his stand for what he believes is right.  A sign of a good novel is that characters evolve and grow.  That is certainly true of Larry.

Also when it comes to Franny's parents, King does a remarkable job portraying a couple in grief.  Peter has moved on, but is sympathetic to his wife -- who is lost despair and selfishness.  The scene where Peter holds a mirror to his wife's behavior and shows her what she's really like is quite good.  I suspect it would have come across melodramatic had it been included in the mini-series.  But it the writing carried it and did what screen could not have.

Is King Killing Brian Keene's Characters?

Went running again tonight.  Cold, windy, dark night.  I think part of what drives me to keep running at this point is just how creepy it is to listen to Brian Keene's book, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, as I run.  (Discussed HERE)

The plot revolves around a town that wakes up to discover the sun has failed to come up. In fact, the sky itself is just inky black.  At the edge of town the darkness intensifies -- and those who wander into it never come back.  The darkness is held  at bay by strange writings on the ground.

I both really like and dislike this book!  I get weary of all the drug use. And the motif of the crazy homeless guy who is actually very deep -- the only one who really knows what's going on -- is a well worn story line.  Keene goes to some effort to make his lone Christian character a loon.  Not the interesting kind of loon, like Mother Carmady from the Mist, or the Westboro bunch from real life.  This lady is just -- a edgy, unlikable and paranoid.

Why do I keep reading?  Because I'm scared.  And fear is a great motivator!  I want to know what happens.  Though the book opens with a promise that it isn't going to give a conclusion.

At one point the main character gets a group of people to try an experiment   How  about they make a chain and wander out into the darkness to see what's out there.  The idea is that if trouble arises, they can just pull each other back.  Good idea, right?  NO!  Dumb idea!  The problem with dumb ideas in a novel is that the novelist doesn't have enough other real voices near him to say, "Hey, real  people would never ever never ever sign on to this!  Never ever."  Nope -- like lambs lead to the slaughter, people show up to hold hands and walk into the darkness.  Darkness where dead people call for them to come.  Darkness where everyone who has entered has not returned.  Sure!  Hold hands and go on in -- that's a good idea.

So where did this idea come from?  THE MIST!

"Yo" T hopped up  on the hood of the car with me, speaking quietly so that no one else would hear. "We ain't no punks, but we ain't stupid either.  Ain't you ever seen The Mist?"
"Yeah," I admitted.  That's kind of where I got the idea from."
"Well, if you saw that movie, then you know . . . how  it turned out for  those people.  Ain't no way me and my boys are  going out into that...  Know what I'm saying?"

Well, they do agree to go, because our narrator offers them drugs.  Of course!  You'll wander into the depths of darkness for weed.

Did  you get where the great idea to line up as a chain and wander  into the darkness came from?  The Mist!  Not that  there isn't fair warning.  In the Mist  it didn't turn out well, so of course it's a good idea to try it here!  So ideas from the world of Stephen King are spilling over into Mr.  Keene's books and going to get people killed  over there, too.

It's like Stephen King is now killing off characters in other people's books!

All this might make you think  I  don't like the book.  So I must whole heartedly emphasize just how much I am enjoying this little novel.  I really don't know where Keene is going with this.

Dollar Baby IN THE DEATHROOM To begin Shooting

photo  credit HERE

The Extra reports that 27 year old  Stephen Thacker has secured the rights to Stephen King's story In The Deathroom to be filmed as a Dollar Baby.

The article quotes Thacker:

“I graduated two years ago and have been working in television, but I’m always looking for things to do – this is really my calling card, to get my name out as a filmmaker. . . I’m a big fan of Stephen King, so when I noticed he was doing the Dollar Baby scheme, I jumped at the chance and wrote to him”

Filming is scheduled to begin at the end of January in Clarkston and Busby.

Oswald Apartment Mentioned In 11.22.63

photo credit dallasnews.com

Randy Johnson surveys the dilapidated apartment building 

that is under a court order to be demolished, 

where Lee Harvey Oswald once lived, at 600 Elsbeth Street in Oak Cliff. 

(Louis DeLuca/Staff photographer)

I found an article by Emily Trube titled "City’s demolition Of Oswald apartment building is underway" interesting.

Trobe writes in part:

The city of Dallas has begun the demolition of an apartment building in the Bishop Arts District that Lee Harvey Oswald used to call home. A crew is removing drywall and the roof this week. Bulldozers are expected to tear the 1920's era building down on January 14th. 

Oswald and his wife Marina moved into a ground floor apartment at 600 Elsbeth Avenue in November 1962 and lived there for a little over a year. Oswald would move two more times before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. 

The building has no historical designation and had been largely forgotten until last year's publication of Stephen King's novel "11/22/63", in which he writes about 600 Elsbeth. It is also referenced in the Warren Commission's report. 

Full article at cbs19.tv

I wonder if the screen adaptation will attempt to use any historical locations.

How Many Really Good SK Horror Movies Are There ?

In announcing a screening of  The Dead Zone, Ken Hanke of Mountain Express asserts this:

Let’s be honest about it. There are only three film adaptations of Stephen King’s horror stories that seriously qualify as really good movies: Brian DePalma’s Carrie (1976), Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and this film, David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone (1983). (There are quite a few other film adaptations that are entertaining enough, but…) And, yes, Cronenberg’s film is the least of the three.  (mountainx.com)

 Wait a minute. . . there's only three really good  horror movies from King's work?  I assume we are not counting Shawshank and the like as "horror."  Still, doesn't The Green Mile count as a horror flick?  Well, if the Dead Zone counts as a horror film, Green Mile certainly does!

Here are some of my favorite King horror films -- and there are more than three!  In fact, here's ten:

• Cujo
• The Shining
• IT
• The Mist
• Carrie
• Creepshow (1-2)
• Salem's Lot (1979)
• Misery
• The Dark Half
• 1408

That's 11 if you count Creepshow 1 and 2.  I liked 2 better than the first.  I also thought the 1979 Salem's Lot was flat out creepy!  And IT, though it is not consistent, has some scary moments.  The Dark Half is scary, especially in the beginning.  

1408 I have my own issues with.  They are genre issues mostly.  It seems that once in the room anything can happen -- thus the story has no framing or rules of its own.  If oceans  need to fall out of pictures, so be it.  Never mind oceans don't fall from pictures -- all reality is suspended without explanation.  That means the viewer is held hostage to anything the writer can think of.  Still, it's a scary flick!

My list didn't even include a few like Dreamcatcher and Maximum Overdrive.  I liked Maximum Overdrive a lot!  But, I'm not sure it would be listed as a "really good" horror movie.  

Here is the screening information for those of you in the Ashville NC area:

The Thursday Horror Picture Show will screen The Dead Zone Thursday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. in the Cinema Lounge of The Carolina Asheville and will be hosted by Xpress movie critics Ken Hanke and Justin Souther.

So tell me: What are you favorite Stephen King horror movies?   

Upcoming 2013

Well, it looks like a it's going to be a pretty good year to be a Stephen King fan.  The constant reader can look forward to two King novels -- Doctor Sleep and Joyland.  We can also expect several books about King, and we will find Mr. King all over the television.  Both Syfy and CBS will be running Stephen King television shows.

Here is a short list of some things we can expect in the upcoming year:

2013: Haven was renewed by Syfy for  another year.

2013: Stephen King Desk Calendar.

2013: Screamplays.

Cemetery Dance still lists this book coming out in 2013.  I ordered it in. . . 2011ish ?  I wonder if they remember!  I'm looking forward to it.

2013: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book.  (More HERE)

Cemetery Dance describes the book, saying, "1,000 questions to test your knowledge of the movies, miniseries, and television episodes based on ideas conjured from the imagination of the King of Horror, along with more than 50 special illustration-based questions from Cemetery Dance favorite artist Glenn Chadbourne."

January 23, 2013: Limited Edition of The Shining. Subterranean Press.  (More HERE)

March, 2013: Ghost Brothers Soundtrack CD/DVD Coming March 2013

April 2, 2013: The Dark Tower Companion, Bev Vincent.

I discussed this book with Bev Vincent in my recent interview.  In part, Vincent said:

This is the first book to address the Marvel adaptations and their place in the canon (or not). I look at each graphic novel series and underline the places where it provides new scenes or material, and the places where it diverges from or contradicts King’s novels. I also provide summaries of the extra material found in each issue for people who haven’t read the graphic novels. 

Check out the full interview at: talkstephenking.blogspot.com

Summer 2013: Under The Dome goes to CBS

June 4, 2013: Joyland

What's not to like?   Stephen King sets a killer loose in a theme park.  Nifty.

September 24, 2013: Doctor  Sleep

Here's a book I'm really looking forward to!  It's a sequel to The Shining!  King doesn't revisit his works ver often,and I think this is a great one to go back to.

October, 2013: CARRIE

I agree with the sentiments Rod Pocowatchit at The Wichita Eagle expresed: "I’m generally not a fan of remakes, but it’s rumored this new version is truer to King’s novel than Brian DePalma’s film that made Sissy Spacek a star. And the casting is inspired — Moretz is one of the best young actors today, and Julianne Moore should chew up the scenery nicely as Carrie’s crazy-pants mother." (HERE)

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/01/05/2626108/2013-movie-preview-on-the-horizon.html#storylink=cpy

WILMINGTON watch out for the DOME!

photo credit: wilmingtonfilm.com

Dear good people of Wilmington, watch out!  The Dome is unforgiving, unmovable and impenetrable.  You might want to flee. . . NOW.

13 episodes of "Under The Dome" is headed to CBS.  So what city has been chosen to represent Chester's Mill?  According to jdnews.com the filming location will be  in Wilmington, North Carolina.  The article says that Under The Dome "is expected to open production offices at EUE/Screen Gems Studios next week."

Does that mean Wilmington itself will represent Chester's Mills, or it is just the site of the studio being used?  I suspect the city itself would work fine for the exterior shots as well.

Wilmington is turning into a popular place to film, according to Jen Wilson at Charlotte Business Journal.  Wilson says, "North Carolina attracted nearly 50 movie and television production projects in 2012 that brought in more than $376 million in direct, in-state spending, according to a previous report from the North Carolina Film Office. It was a second consecutive record-breaking year for showbiz in the Tarheel State."  (www.bizjournals.com)

Special Edition Of The Regulators Auctioned To Help Needy

picture credit HERE

This is pretty neat  from wabi.tvnews.  A special slip case limited edition of the Regulators is being auctioned off to help Emmaus Homeless Shelter in Ellsworth with their "fuel fund."  The fund helps those who cannot afford to heat their homes during those cold Maine winter.

And, even more cool -- it's signed.  How did it get signed?  The article reads in part:

"There's only 550 of these that were boxed this way," explained Scotties Bookhouse Owner Michael Riggs. 

The book was donated by a regular bookstore customer who'd like to remain anonymous. The donor had a plan for what to do with the book's sale, but first he wanted to know what it was worth. 

"I told him the book would be worth more if he could get Mr. King to sign it," said Riggs. 

We don't know the details of that transaction, but we do know that if you open the cover now you'll find that Stephen King signed and dated it.

The article quotes the director of the Shelter, Lucille MacDonald, "I just think it's an ingenius way of being able to get a little bit extra to help people out."  Is this the first time a nun has gotten excited about selling Stephen King books?  I wonder.

I like this quote from MacDonald, "People come in and their tanks are empty and they have children and babies and the elderly. The other day an 85-year-old woman came in to the shelter and I was able to give fuel for her."  That's great.

The article states:

The book is on display at Scotties Bookstore at 209 Route 1 in Hancock. 

You can place bids in person, by phone at 667-6834, or by e-mail at scottybooks@yahoo.com. 

Carrie: Doomsday May Have To Wait

Looks like the upcoming Carrie movie has been postponed to October.  Chloe Grace Moretz's Carrie was expected in March.  This will make for a Halloween release of the film -- and a long wait for a much anticipated film.  The new date is October 18th.

Cinema Blend's Eric Eisenberg writes:

So now let's talk Carrie. The remake, which stars Chloe Moretz and is directed by Kimberly Peirce, was originally supposed to be released on March 15th of this year, but apparently a light bulb has turned on in the collective heads of the folks over at Screen Gems and today is was revealed that they have moved the film closer to the most haunted date on the calendar. Moved back almost exactly seven months, the movie is now scheduled to be released on October 18th. The day is the last weekend before the release of Paranormal Activity 5 and it will directly face off against Luc Besson's Malavita and the Jeff Bridges-starring fantasy flick The Seventh Son. 

If you're wondering why this didn't happen sooner, there's a pretty obvious answer: Screen Gems originally already had a movie coming out that day. No Good Deed, the new thriller starring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson was originally going to come to theaters on that same date, but now it's been pushed back to January 17, 2014 where it will go up against the cop comedy Ride Along, starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube.

Full article at cinemablend.com

On another note. . . I  like the new poster a lot!  Of course, the date is wrong.  But the poster is AWESOME!

Interview with BEV VINCENT part 2

This is part 2 of my interview with Bev Vincent, author of The Road To The Dark Tower.  

You can read part 1 of the interview at talkstephenking.blogspot.com.


Talk Stephen King: Twenty-First Century King is a collection of reviews about King’s work. Does 21st century mean that the reviews were written by you since the year 2000, or that the books reviewed were all written after 2000? Can you tell us more about this book?

Bev Vincent: The books reviewed were all published after 1999. Brian Freeman at Cemetery Dance asked if I would be interested in doing a chapbook that collects my reviews of King’s work. When I started to assemble the text, I tried to come up with a theme. Since 1999 was such an important year in King’s life, with the near-fatal accident, I decided to focus on things published after that, starting with “Riding the Bullet” and ending with The Wind Through the Keyhole. I ended up with 21 reviews, and the manuscript came in at 21,000 words, so it seemed like there was some sort of synchrony at work. The 50-page chapbook has a nice glossy cover and was beautifully designed by the folks at CD. It’s limited to 750 copies, and every one is signed by me.

Talk Stephen King: You discussed recently in a blog post what you called "Narrative lapses and shortcuts." When an author messes up their story with inconsistencies. Do you spot many of these when reading King? 

Bev Vincent: The Dark Tower series is almost a study in narrative lapses! There are so many continuity errors in the early books (which were never copy edited prior to publication) that King decided to use some of them as an important component of the story. Others he simply ignored, such as character names that change from one page to the next or from one book to the next.

In that essay, I discussed characters who do things without sufficient motivation, or storytellers who drop important threads. I don’t observe things like that too often in King’s works, in part because he has fearsome editors who put his work under close scrutiny and catch any of these potential lapses or errors. People might complain about the odd typo or factual error that gets past everyone (the misspelling of Killeen throughout 11/22/63, for example, or gaffes involving the details of guns that King often makes), but in terms of dropping the ball narratively, I don’t see that in his work. He’s such a natural and intuitive storyteller that seems to know how to handle all the threads of the tale and when it’s time to come back to something.

My biggest complaint about something he does every now and then is that he has a narrator hide something from the reader. I remember this specifically in From a Buick 8 but it has happened elsewhere. A first person narrator details his movements step by step until he puts something in his pocket. The narrator doesn’t say what that is, because King wants it to be a surprise when it comes into play later, but in my opinion that’s cheating. Not playing fair.

Talk Stephen King: Are you a Dark Tower purist? Does it bother you when King revises the Dark Tower stories? Were changes made to the entire series, or only to the first novel?

Bev Vincent: I’m not a purist. I don’t mind when changes are made to books when they’re adapted to film, for example, though I know that it disturbs a lot of people, especially when the changes seem arbitrary. I don’t always agree with the changes King makes. I think it was a mistake to move The Stand forward a decade when he issued the restored edition in 1990. I know that he wanted to include echoes from the AIDS crisis, but he created so many anachronisms that it didn’t seem like a wise decision. A babysitter who was paid a dollar for an evening might have made sense in the 1970s, but it certainly didn’t fifteen years later.

To date, The Gunslinger is the only book in the series that he has revised. Every now and then he says he wants to go back over the whole thing and smooth it out, but I doubt he’ll do that. In fact, I asked him about that specifically during the interview for The Dark Tower Companion, but you’ll have to wait for the book to come out to hear what he said!

Talk Stephen King: We know that the Dark Tower reaches far beyond the pages of the eight books King has written that bear the title "A Dark Tower Novel." Does the Tower extend into the works of authors other than Stephen King? (For instance, Has Straub ever referenced it?)

Bev Vincent: Without King’s permission, other authors couldn’t do that. The characters are King’s intellectual property and he doesn’t often let other people play in his sandbox. It was Straub’s idea to incorporate Dark Tower elements into Black House, the sequel to The Talisman, which was written at a time when almost everything King worked on was steeped in Dark Tower mythos. So, in a way, Straub has “referenced” it. There is one element that goes in the other direction, though. Bango Skank, the never-seen graffiti artist from the Dark Tower series first appeared in a Straub story, “The Buffalo Hunter.” He and King talked about using the character in The Talisman, but they never did. With Straub’s permission, Bango Skank became a semi-regular apparition in the Dark Tower series.

Talk Stephen King: You interviewed Stephen King for The Dark Tower Companion. What was that like?
Bev Vincent: I’ve known King since about 1997, though the first time I met him was at a signing in Houston in 1988. We’ve corresponded off and on over the years, and I’ve met him on a number of occasions, most recently at the world premiere of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. We watch some of the same TV series (Sons of Anarchy and Dexter, for example) and read a number of the same authors, so we sometimes discuss these things. But I’ve never interviewed him before. I asked him the occasional question by e-mail while working on The Road to the Dark Tower, but never a formal live interview. It all went very well, though. I got some great quotes, and he knows how to manage the allotted time to best effect.

Talk Stephen King: Does the book come with his blessing, or is this "unauthorized"?

Bev Vincent: I would call all three books authorized in that I have always sought King’s “blessing” to do them and he has participated to some extent in all of them. For The Road to the Dark Tower, he provided the manuscripts of the final three books two years before they were published so my book could come out soon after The Dark Tower. Then he provided a generous quote for the cover. Then he allowed us to reproduce all that rare material for The Stephen King Illustrated Companion. For the new book, he provided an early manuscript of The Wind Through the Keyhole and again supplied a cover quote.

Talk Stephen King: The Dark Tower movie is on – then off – then on. (I honestly can’t remember at the moment where it is!) How well do you think The Dark Tower will translate to film?

Bev Vincent: It’s on hold, pending funding. Akiva Goldsman wrote a script that was with Universal for a long time. When they declined, he wrote a new version for Warner Bros. Ultimately they passed, too. The next day another company declared their interest in backing the project, but I’ve heard nothing concrete since then.

It’s a difficult project. For one thing, it isn’t ingrained in culture the way The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are. It’s difficult to summarize in a way that describes exactly what it’s all about. I spoke with Ron Howard about his ideas, and was fascinated by the concept they had come up with. It wasn’t one that was going to make everyone happy but, as I said before, I’m not a purist, so I was eager to see it. Then I talked with Akiva Goldsman at greater length for The Dark Tower Companion. He was the person who brought the series to Howard and convinced him it would make a fantastic series. I still hope they will get to do it. It’s an innovative approach in that it combines both the big scope of the cinema and the narrow, personal focus of television.

This final question and answer concerns the last Dark Tower novel and the conclusion to the series.  If you haven't read it. . . you've been warned.

Talk Stephen King: I have a nerd question that I have to ask about the Dark Tower. You are welcome to banish me to the wastelands for asking. I know you are not the author, but maybe you can explain: Throughout the series we are given the impression that the universe is breaking down, and at a greater speed until Roland reaches the Dark Tower. There is a sense of impending doom unless he gets there quick enough. However, when he gets there. . . he just resets into the desert. Wouldn’t his failure to complete the mission cause something really bad to happen? Have I misunderstood something essential in the Dark Tower?

Bev Vincent: I talk about this at some length in The Dark Tower Companion in a chapter called “The End and What It Might Mean.” That title indicates that it’s definitely open to interpretation. Here are my thoughts in a nutshell: Roland does not have to reach the Dark Tower—he has to save it from destruction. He wants to reach the Dark Tower for personal reasons that are tainted by hubris. He wants to face whoever abides at the top of the Tower for a reckoning and, perhaps, so he can get this entity to take back all the bad things Roland had to do to get there. Roland’s ka-given task is essentially complete when he frees the Breakers from Algul Siento. The stress on the Beams is removed and they will begin to heal. Some of the broken ones may even regenerate.

The Crimson King is trapped outside the Tower, though, and he has proven his ability to wreak havoc even from that perch, so it is perfectly understandable that Roland feels the need to dispatch or banish him, too. So, maybe he does have to go to the Tower after all. Once he eliminates the Crimson King, though, my feeling is that he should say his prayers and utter the names of all those he sacrificed along the way, and the turn on his heel and go away. I think of him returning to Calla Bryn Sturgis to spend the rest of his natural days with Rosalita. Maybe he’d be the town sheriff or maybe he’d grow beans. His fatal flaw is that he always enters the Tower. He allows pride to rule him, and he is punished for this. Doomed to repeat and repeat and repeat until he “gets it right.”

For an alternate take on this element of King’s philosophy (something that shows up in other works, such as Kingdom Hospital), listen to his reading of the short story “Afterlife” from his December 2012 appearance at UMass Lowell.

THANK YOU BEV VINCENT!
Check out Bev Vincnt's website at www.bevvincent.com

Interview With Bev Vincent part 1

Do you read Cemetery Dance?  I do!  And the first place I turn is to Bev Vincnt's column.  Even when there's a Stephen King story.  I was absolutely thrilled when Mr. Vincen allowed me the opportunity to ask him a series of interview questions.  This was really a gift of time on his part and I am supremely thankful.

On a personal note, this was exciting for me for two reasons.  First, Mr. Vincent is one of my favorite authors about Stephen King.  I've been using his book The Road to the Dark Tower as I read through the series again and have found it very helpful.  His book The Stephen King Companion is all out fun!

Second, this gave me an opportunity to ask some questions about the Dark Tower and the Stephen King Universe that I've thinking about ever since I read The Dark Tower 7.

Bev Vincent's The Stephen King Illustrated Companion was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award as well as  the 2009 Bram Stoker Award.

THE INTERVIEW

Talk Stephen King: Tell me a little about yourself. Do you focus primarily on King, or do you also write fiction? 

Bev Vincent: I’m originally from eastern Canada, though I’ve been living in Texas since 1989. In 2012, I became a dual citizen.

I write just about everything: non-fiction, book reviews, essays, blogs, short stories and novels. After a long hiatus from writing, I started working on short stories in 1999 and had my first one published the following year. In 2001, Rich Chizmar at Cemetery Dance asked me if I would consider writing the Stephen King news column that appears in each issue of the magazine, and I’ve been doing that ever since. I’ve written three books to date and edited one (The Stephen King Illustrated Trivia Book). I’ve published over 70 short stories, hundreds of book reviews and dozens of essays.

Talk Stephen King: You have a doctorate in chemistry – which suggests you do a lot more than just write books about Stephen King! What else do you do?

Bev Vincent: I have a Ph. D. in chemistry from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. My specialty is a type of analysis known as X-ray diffraction—specifically, X-ray crystallography. We shoot X-ray beams at crystals and analyze the scattering pattern to determine the molecular structure of the compound and how the molecules pack together to make the crystal. This type of analysis has many uses, and may practitioners have won Nobel Prizes for determining the structures of biologically interesting molecules using the method. The company I work for manufactures and sells the equipment and software used for a wide range of X-ray analysis techniques. That’s my so-called day job. I’ve worked for the same company for 23 years.

Talk Stephen King: I’ve been reading The Road to the Dark Tower as I read through the Dark Tower novels. I saw you have a new companion book to the Dark Tower coming out (The Dark Tower Companion). How is it different from The Road to the Dark Tower?

Bev Vincent: When King published an eighth Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, people asked me if I was going to update The Road to the Dark Tower to incorporate the new volume. I thought that sounded like a good idea, but my agent suggested that a completely new book would be even better. The Road to the Dark Tower is intended for people who have read (or are reading) the series. It looks at the series as a whole and explores it in detail. I liken my role to that of a tour guide escorting someone through the series, pointing out all the links, details, connections and references that a casual reader might otherwise have missed, especially on a first reading. The spoilers come early—only Chapter 1 is spoiler free. That was the only way I could see to do it at the time. You can’t talk about what happens at the Way Station after Jake and Roland leave, for example, without referring forward to Wolves of the Calla.

The impetus for The Dark Tower Companion was the news of a possible film adaptation of the series, together with the Marvel graphic novel adaptations. It seemed to me that there might be people who came to the series from sources outside the series books themselves. People who’ve read Insomnia or Hearts in Atlantis, too, who might be curious about who the Crimson King is, or what Breakers are. The new book is less analytical in some ways, although there are several chapters at the end where I wax philosophical about what it all means.

However, it starts off generally. What is Mid-World? What is the Dark Tower? Who is Roland? What is the nature of his quest? Questions of that sort. The chapters on the individual books are more self-contained, without much by way of forward-reaching spoilers.

The book has a comprehensive glossary of people, places and things, separated by those that are part of “our world” and those from Mid-World. It isn’t a Concordance (like Robin Furth’s). It doesn’t tell you on what pages you can find every mention of a character, although it does list the books in which a character (or place or thing) appears. The glossary tells you everything you might want to know about these entries, though.

This is the first book to address the Marvel adaptations and their place in the canon (or not). I look at each graphic novel series and underline the places where it provides new scenes or material, and the places where it diverges from or contradicts King’s novels. I also provide summaries of the extra material found in each issue for people who haven’t read the graphic novels.

I interviewed a lot of people for the book. Stephen King told me a few things about the series that he’s never said before. Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman explained in detail how they plan to adapt the books to film and television if they can find a partner willing to fund the project. Brian Stark discusses the Discordia interactive game on King’s website. I also interviewed Robin Furth about the Marvel adaptation, as well as most of the major artistic contributors: illustrator Jae Lee, colorist Richard Isanove, scripter Peter David and several artists who stepped in after Jae Lee left the project.

There’s a chapter on the history of Mid-World and another on its geography. I tried my hand at creating a map of the parts of Mid-World that we know from the books, and I was surprised at how neatly it came together. Information from The Wind Through the Keyhole helped place a lot of it in context (the relative location of Gilead, for example) and, despite some contradictions within the text and the variable nature of direction and distance in Mid-World, it all came together nicely. I’m nobody’s cartographer, but I think people will be interested by the map. I also created a Dark Tower tour guide to Manhattan, which points out as many of the places in the city that are mentioned in the series as I could, along with a second map.

The book is 50% longer than The Road to the Dark Tower and, unlike the first book, is completely footnote-free! And it’s all new text.

Talk Stephen King: My favorite Stephen King companion book is The Stephen King Illustrated Companion. Not only is the text great, but it is full of reproductions of first drafts and early copies of the manuscripts. How did that book come together?

Bev Vincent: That was a fascinating and fun project that came to me out of the blue.  The book chain Barnes & Noble had published reader’s companions to Poe and Jane Austen and decided they wanted to do one on King. They reached out to the same book packager who had done the previous books, a company called becker&mayer! that specializes in design-heavy books. Their editor contacted me on the strength of The Road to the Dark Tower and asked if I would be interested in writing the book’s text.

The challenge was to write something meaningful that combined the concepts of biography and light literary analysis. Given the limited page count, I clearly couldn’t cover King’s entire bibliography (nor would I have wanted to—that would be a person’s life work!). I worked from a few governing principles: I wanted to focus on books that almost everyone has heard of, even if they aren’t King fans. I needed to pick books that spanned his writing career to that point (otherwise I could have gotten bogged down with the famous books from the 1970s and never made it to the 2000s). And I wanted books that either had a significant autobiographical or semi-autobiographical aspect to them, or ones that were written when there was something interesting going on in King’s life.

Once I chose the books and had my outline approved by the editor and Barnes & Noble, it was simply a matter of writing the text, which took about six weeks. I finished ahead of schedule, which meant that the documents specialist had the full text to work from when selecting the photographs and other accompanying materials that are a hallmark of their reader’s companions. These books aren’t simply read—they’re experienced. You can spend hours with one and never read a word of the text! We obtained King’s permission to search his archives at the University of Maine and reproduce anything we wanted. King had veto power, but he never employed it. He also provided access to a personal photo album. The book became a real treasure trove of never-before-seen material. The fact that it was so handsomely produced and inexpensive means that it was available to anyone who wanted it. It sold so well, there was a second printing within about a year. Sadly, it’s now out of print, but I have hopes that B&N will bring it back out again in the future.

One interesting spin-off from the book is that I was interviewed extensively for an updated version of the King profile for the Biography Channel. The person who interviewed me for it drew a lot of material from the book. Her copy was full of post-it notes and book marks. This version is only available internationally—it never airs in the US.

Talk Stephen King: Do you have some favorite non-King writers?
Bev Vincent: Indeed I have many. So many that my mind freezes whenever I’m asked the question. I read a lot of crime fiction by authors like Ian Rankin, Jonathan Kellerman, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, Kate Atkinson, George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane. I read Alexander McCall Smith’s novels to my wife, along with the humorous essays of fellow Canadian Stuart McLean. I don’t read a lot of horror and very little science fiction and fantasy these days, though I once did.

I’ll read anything Peter Straub, Dan Simmons, Ian McEwen and Graham Joyce publish. I’ve lately become fond of foreign crime writers like Jo Nesbo, Steig Larsson, Natsuo Kirino and Keigo Higashino. I’m currently reading NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, and I really liked Owen King’s debut novel, Double Feature, which will be out in April. I’ve been enjoying Justin Cronin’s trilogy, am a fan of Stephen R. Donaldson’s fantasy series, and am challenged by the novels of Umberto Eco. To get an idea of what I’ve read over the past several years, check out my review page: www.onyxreviews.com

Talk Stephen King: Do you have a favorite Dark Tower book? 
Bev Vincent: I have a hard time making top ten lists or picking favorites. My mind doesn’t work that way. However, that said, I would have to choose The Gunslinger as my favorite.

Talk Stephen King: Why?
Bev Vincent: I know that wouldn’t be the obvious choice—a lot of people haven’t gotten into the Dark Tower series because that can be a difficult book—but I love it for the overall mood it casts. I first read it in 1984 and for a number of years it was the only Dark Tower book. I’ve read it many times over the years. It’s compact and dense, the protagonist isn’t terribly likable, but it has this haunting aura that charmed me.

Talk Stephen King: A favorite non-Tower King book? 
Bev Vincent: When I’m asked this question, I almost always think of Bag of Bones, his first book with Scribner, and its bookend partner, Lisey’s Story. I consider them a matching set. The writer without his wife; the wife without the writer. There’s a lot going on in Bag of Bones that makes it feel like a highly personal novel. I was also impressed by the writing process—how King wove in a crucial subplot that wasn’t present in the first draft. It becomes one of the most important facets of the story, but King put it in like an artist painting highlights on a nearly finished works. Little daubs of paint here and there. It was a lesson in the craft of writing.

Talk Stephen King: Is there any Stephen King book you just don’t like or couldn’t make it through? 
Bev Vincent: None that I couldn’t make it through, but a few that I dislike. I enjoyed the opening section of The Tommyknockers. I liked Bobbi and Gard a lot and was frustrated when King abandoned them for hundreds of pages to tell us about all these other people about whom I cared not a whit. I kept wanting to get back to Bobbi and Gard, which made it feel like I was just flipping pages. King thinks people missed the point on Needful Things, but my problem with the book is that it was missing the key element present in the rest of his work: likable characters. I hardly liked anyone in that book. And the wonky pseudoscience in Cell wrecked the book for me. It’s fine to have wibbly wobbly bits in a book so long as the story doesn’t rely on them. The whole “save to disk and reboot” concept didn’t hold water, so I couldn’t enjoy the book.

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PART TWO WILL POST JANUARY 2, 2013

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Check out Bev Vincent's website at www.bevvincent.com