The Zone

by **Fievel** on Sat May 30, 2009 12:17 pm

The Long Walk is indeed a great story. If you haven't read it, pick up The Bachman Books - which includes Rage. King has said after Columbine and other school shootings that he will never reprint the story Rage again. Rage is okay, but The Long Walk is the best of the bunch for sure and I'd love to see a film adaptation that isn't neutered in any way.

by **Al Shut** on Sat May 30, 2009 1:09 pm

Agreed the book has too many great parts to count but O dear, O dear, O deary,
when the end comes sad and dreary.

But maybe an adaptoin would have an ending that King wished he would have thought of too.

by **Fievel** on Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:28 pm

King's new book Under The Dome comes out on November 10.

by **justcheckin** on Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:20 pm

I just read The Talisman again... trying to decide what I want to read next.

by **Tyrone_Shoelaces** on Mon Oct 05, 2009 1:47 am

Fievel wrote:The Long Walk is indeed a great story. If you haven't read it, pick up The Bachman Books - which includes Rage. King has said after Columbine and other school shootings that he will never reprint the story Rage again. Rage is okay, but The Long Walk is the best of the bunch for sure and I'd love to see a film adaptation that isn't neutered in any way.

Shit, that means he probably won't give up the film rights for it either. I know Vince Vaughn had them at one time.

by **Fievel** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:32 am

Vaughn had the rights to Rage?! :shock:

Wow.
(or did you mean The Long Walk)

by **Cpt Kirks 2pay** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:49 am

justcheckin wrote:I just read The Talisman again... trying to decide what I want to read next.

Someone told me that Desperation is a very scary read and was this guy's fave King book. Justsayin'.

by **Fievel** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:52 am

Desperation is pretty good, but then you have to read The Regulators (by Stephen King's alter ego Richard Bachman).

Do NOT, however, watch the made-for-tv-movie. It is absolutely horrible, as are all King stories done by Mick Garris.

by **justcheckin** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:55 pm

Cpt Kirks 2pay wrote:
justcheckin wrote:I just read The Talisman again... trying to decide what I want to read next.

Someone told me that Desperation is a very scary read and was this guy's fave King book. Justsayin'.

Cool... That might be it then...

by **justcheckin** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:56 pm

Fievel wrote:Desperation is pretty good, but then you have to read The Regulators (by Stephen King's alter ego Richard Bachman).

Do NOT, however, watch the made-for-tv-movie. It is absolutely horrible, as are all King stories done by Mick Garris.

I know... all the King movies are just WTF? I liked The Stand but for the most part... I agree... awful!

by **Cpt Kirks 2pay** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:59 pm

justcheckin wrote:
Fievel wrote:Desperation is pretty good, but then you have to read The Regulators (by Stephen King's alter ego Richard Bachman).

Do NOT, however, watch the made-for-tv-movie. It is absolutely horrible, as are all King stories done by Mick Garris.

I know... all the King movies are just WTF? I liked The Stand but for the most part... I agree... awful!

God help JJ Abrams or whoever DOES make The Dark Tower TV series/Films then.

by **justcheckin** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 2:02 pm

Cpt Kirks 2pay wrote:
justcheckin wrote:
Fievel wrote:Desperation is pretty good, but then you have to read The Regulators (by Stephen King's alter ego Richard Bachman).

Do NOT, however, watch the made-for-tv-movie. It is absolutely horrible, as are all King stories done by Mick Garris.

I know... all the King movies are just WTF? I liked The Stand but for the most part... I agree... awful!

God help JJ Abrams or whoever DOES make The Dark Tower TV series/Films then.

I actually think that Dark Tower is going to be different... I think starting with The Mist, I hope the movies are pushing into a new realm. Hopefully King is being more picky at who he sells movie rights too.

by **Fievel** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:44 pm

The sad thing is that King has openly praised the works of Mick Garris (The Stand, The Shining remake, Riding the Bullet, and Desperation).

And to make matters worse, Garris has his hands in Bag of Bones and From a Buick 8. Neither have started filming, but both have pretty cool stories (and the slightest Dark Tower connections) and I hate to see those get fucked up.

by **Tyrone_Shoelaces** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:15 pm

Fievel wrote:Vaughn had the rights to Rage?! Wow.
(or did you mean The Long Walk)

I meant "Rage." I read an interview, I want to say in the late 90s, and he talked about branching out beyond acting in film. He said he had the rights to "Rage" but wasn't sure how to turn it into a movie. If I remember correctly he said he wanted to do it independently but figured he would have to take a role in it to do that and wasn't sure how that could be done. I remember being intrigued because I had read the story myself and thought it would make a good movie. It also happens to be the only one of the Bachman books I've read. I think the interview was around the time of Colombine but I have no recollection if it was before or after.

by **Fievel** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:40 pm

Wow... that could have been cool, especially if they focused not on the shooting but the actual dialogue in the book (which I thought was pretty good).

I started Just After Sunset today and got through Willa. I immediately figured out what was going on so that story was kind of a waste, but I did appreciate some of the things going on there.
I've already heard Gingerbread Girl, which was VERY good so I skipped that and went on to start Harvey's Dream.

by **justcheckin** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:42 pm

My favorite ones from Just After Sunset are The Things They Left Behind, N. and Stationary Bike...

by **Fievel** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:49 pm

justcheckin wrote:My favorite ones from Just After Sunset are The Things They Left Behind, N. and Stationary Bike...

Having heard previous things about those three, those are the stories I'm most looking forward too. Especially The Things They Left Behind.

by **justcheckin** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:52 pm

Fievel wrote:
justcheckin wrote:My favorite ones from Just After Sunset are The Things They Left Behind, N. and Stationary Bike...

Having heard previous things about those three, those are the stories I'm most looking forward too. Especially The Things They Left Behind.

Have you ever read Peter Straub's short stories? He is the author that co-wrote the Talisman with King. His stuff is creeper but cool to check out.

by **Fievel** on Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:06 pm

justcheckin wrote:
Fievel wrote:
justcheckin wrote:My favorite ones from Just After Sunset are The Things They Left Behind, N. and Stationary Bike...

Having heard previous things about those three, those are the stories I'm most looking forward too. Especially The Things They Left Behind.

Have you ever read Peter Straub's short stories? He is the author that co-wrote the Talisman with King. His stuff is creeper but cool to check out.

No... my only Straub experience is The Talisman & Black House.... and who knows who did what in those books.

by **travis-dane** on Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:17 am

Fievel wrote:
justcheckin wrote:
Fievel wrote:
justcheckin wrote:My favorite ones from Just After Sunset are The Things They Left Behind, N. and Stationary Bike...

Having heard previous things about those three, those are the stories I'm most looking forward too. Especially The Things They Left Behind.

Have you ever read Peter Straub's short stories? He is the author that co-wrote the Talisman with King. His stuff is creeper but cool to check out.

No... my only Straub experience is The Talisman & Black House.... and who knows who did what in those books.

Black House is a great book, it is my favorite "Tower tie in" book.
And it has a strong ending...

by **Fievel** on Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:29 am

I couldn't believe how related to the DT series Black House became. The "real world" story was fascinating enough.... and then to hear Parkus talk about Gunslingers.... :shock:

I nearly shit a brick while I was driving listening to that part of the audiobook. The ending WAS very good (a rarity for King books... Straub must have worked the ending) but it did leave the door wide open for a third Jack Sawyer book (which King has said that they are slowly working on).

I'm still seriously pissed that Jack never made it into the DT books considering all the other characters that showed up.

by **travis-dane** on Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:17 am

Fievel wrote:I couldn't believe how related to the DT series Black House became. The "real world" story was fascinating enough.... and then to hear Parkus talk about Gunslingers.... I nearly shit a brick while I was driving listening to that part of the audiobook. The ending WAS very good (a rarity for King books... Straub must have worked the ending) but it did leave the door wide open for a third Jack Sawyer book (which King has said that they are slowly working on).

I'm still seriously pissed that Jack never made it into the DT books considering all the other characters that showed up.

I would like some more adventures with Hollywood Jack and his pals.

by **justcheckin** on Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:19 pm

travis-dane wrote:
Fievel wrote:I couldn't believe how related to the DT series Black House became. The "real world" story was fascinating enough.... and then to hear Parkus talk about Gunslingers.... I nearly shit a brick while I was driving listening to that part of the audiobook. The ending WAS very good (a rarity for King books... Straub must have worked the ending) but it did leave the door wide open for a third Jack Sawyer book (which King has said that they are slowly working on).

I'm still seriously pissed that Jack never made it into the DT books considering all the other characters that showed up.

I would like some more adventures with Hollywood Jack and his pals.

Me too! I really liked Talisman and Black House...

by **justcheckin** on Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:25 pm

Fievel wrote:
justcheckin wrote:
Fievel wrote:
justcheckin wrote:My favorite ones from Just After Sunset are The Things They Left Behind, N. and Stationary Bike...

Having heard previous things about those three, those are the stories I'm most looking forward too. Especially The Things They Left Behind.

Have you ever read Peter Straub's short stories? He is the author that co-wrote the Talisman with King. His stuff is creeper but cool to check out.

No... my only Straub experience is The Talisman & Black House.... and who knows who did what in those books.

I just read Magic Terror and I think his style is similar to King but maybe a little more psychological and less supernatural. However, that is only reading one book of short stories. Not too bad to check out if you have some time.

by **Fievel** on Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:42 am

Under the Dome Trailer

by **Maui** on Thu Oct 29, 2009 11:56 am

Fievel wrote:Under the Dome Trailer

Looks good Fievel, although the trailer reminded me of this:

by **Fievel** on Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:02 pm

Yeah, when I first heard the story's description that's what I first thought of as well.
The picture on the book's cover didn't help change that.

by **so sorry** on Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:27 pm

Fievel wrote:Under the Dome Trailer

A trailer for a book?

by **Maui** on Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:38 pm

Fievel wrote:Yeah, when I first heard the story's description that's what I first thought of as well.
The picture on the book's cover didn't help change that.

I was surprised to read that King spent 30 years writing this.

by **justcheckin** on Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:43 pm

so sorry wrote:
Fievel wrote:Under the Dome Trailer

A trailer for a book?

Why not? Good way to commercialize...

by **Fievel** on Thu Nov 12, 2009 12:35 pm

According to someone who saw King at a speaking engagement in NYC:

He also said that a sequel to Black House is still in the works (known info), but also he has always wondered what happened to Danny Torrence. He'd be about 40 now, says King....

Danny Torrence being the little boy from The Shining.

There's also this bit of news:

According to Ms Mod, Stephen Spielberg optioned the rights to Under the Dome, which King said in NY he thought would be an HBO miniseries.

Ms. Mod is the moderator of Stephen King's message board.

by **justcheckin** on Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:06 pm

Fievel posted this in the other room but I think it goes here too...
http://www.liljas-library.com/section.php?id=72
It is a Q&A from King's book signing at walmart yesterday.

by **Fievel** on Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:52 am

Spielberg, King team on 'Dome'

by **TheBaxter** on Fri Nov 20, 2009 11:13 am

Fievel wrote:Spielberg, King team on 'Dome'

it would be much more interesting if he was directing, not just producing.
still, i hope this means that mick garris will be kept far, FAR away...

by **Cpt Kirks 2pay** on Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:05 pm

If it works, maybe it means that The Dark Tower series could be CLOSER.

by **justcheckin** on Fri Nov 20, 2009 6:39 pm

Cpt Kirks 2pay wrote:If it works, maybe it means that The Dark Tower series could be CLOSER.

I hope so!

by **justcheckin** on Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:48 pm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34403601/ns/us_news-giving/

Pretty Cool

by **TheBaxter** on Mon Dec 14, 2009 10:35 am

Julie Eugley, one of King's personal assistants, told the Bangor Daily News that the Kings were approached about giving $13,000.

But Stephen King thought the number 13 was a bit unlucky, so the couple pitched in $12,999 instead. Eugley chipped in $1 to make for an even $13,000.

at least they didn't ask for $19,000.

by **justcheckin** on Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:11 pm

TheBaxter wrote:
Julie Eugley, one of King's personal assistants, told the Bangor Daily News that the Kings were approached about giving $13,000.

But Stephen King thought the number 13 was a bit unlucky, so the couple pitched in $12,999 instead. Eugley chipped in $1 to make for an even $13,000.

at least they didn't ask for $19,000.

or $1999.00 or $1919.00

by **TheBaxter** on Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:30 pm

i'm about 400 pages into under the dome right now, and i feel like, having gotten this far, i have to finish. but i'm not sure i want to.
this has to be one of the clearest examples of king's inability to write decent, believable characters who aren't cliche'd and don't speak in terrible dialogue that is nearly george-lucasian at times. every single caricature, i mean, character in this book, i've seen or read somewhere else... often even in one of king's own books. and considering the book is a huge ensemble character piece, without a lot of plot going on just yet, it's not very encouraging for the rest of the book. i'm just hoping things will get going, i'll start finding out what the hell the dome is and who's behind and so on, and maybe then things will get more interesting. though i'm afraid it may end up being more about the townspeople turning on each other, forming sides, etc... which would be fine, if any of the characters were interesting or i had any emotional investment in these people, which i don't.

you know what this book reminds me of right now? it reminds me of that tv show, jericho. that's not really a good thing.

by **justcheckin** on Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:36 pm

TheBaxter wrote:i'm about 400 pages into under the dome right now, and i feel like, having gotten this far, i have to finish. but i'm not sure i want to.
this has to be one of the clearest examples of king's inability to write decent, believable characters who aren't cliche'd and don't speak in terrible dialogue that is nearly george-lucasian at times. every single caricature, i mean, character in this book, i've seen or read somewhere else... often even in one of king's own books. and considering the book is a huge ensemble character piece, without a lot of plot going on just yet, it's not very encouraging for the rest of the book. i'm just hoping things will get going, i'll start finding out what the hell the dome is and who's behind and so on, and maybe then things will get more interesting. though i'm afraid it may end up being more about the townspeople turning on each other, forming sides, etc... which would be fine, if any of the characters were interesting or i had any emotional investment in these people, which i don't.

you know what this book reminds me of right now? it reminds me of that tv show, jericho. that's not really a good thing.

I think I said the same thing... it's Jericho meets the Mist. I made a topic thread for Under The Dome if you want to blab there. I am about the same place as you in the book. I had to stop for a week or two for the same reasons that you are struggling to keep going.

by **TheBaxter** on Thu Oct 14, 2010 9:51 am

for the month of halloween (yes, it's a whole month, DAMMIT!), i am currently reading Pet Sematary. last time i read it was in middle school.
this is definitely one of King's darkest, creepiest books. and it also, thankfully, keeps the typical King goofiness to a minimum, and just delivers a solid, scary story.

by **caruso_stalker217** on Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:00 am

Bought the new Stephen King publication Full Dark, No Stars today. I look forward to reading it in three to five years.

by **TheBaxter** on Wed Dec 01, 2010 3:51 pm

i am reading stephen king's "full dark, no stars". i just finished the first story, "1922". it's ok; not bad, but not terribly original either. pretty much like king's take on poe's "the black cat" or "the tell-tale heart", with a smattering of lovecraft's "the rats in the wall" mixed in. the next story, "big driver", sounds like king's take on "i spit on your grave" based on the blurb on the inside jacket cover. the last 2 stories sound a bit more interesting, we'll see how it goes.

by **TheBaxter** on Thu Dec 09, 2010 5:32 pm

so i finished FDNS. i already mentioned "1922" so i'll start with the 2nd story, "big driver". as i guessed, it's kind of similar to ISOYG except not nearly as graphic or intense or extreme; so basically, a kinder, gentler ISOYG. probably the weakest story of the 4.

the 3rd story, "fair extension" is the best. despite kind of a lighthearted tone, it is i think the darkest of the stories in the collection. its also the most morally subversive, in part due to the lighthearted tone, but largely due to the way the story plays out -- a guy curses his lifelong friend basically out of jealousy, and then when the friend's life goes to complete and utter shit, he sits back and takes immense joy out of his friend's misery. we're talking schadenfreude to the extreme here. but moreso than that, you fully expect there to be some comeuppance in the end; after all, he made a deal with the devil, and in most fiction that comes with a catch. but not here. the only consequence to his jealousy and immorality is complete and total happiness.

the final story, "a good marriage" is also pretty good, about a wife who finds out a secret about her husband -- she finds out that he is a serial killer, who was obviously based on the BTK killer (king even says so in the afterword, though it's pretty easy to figure out on your own based on the details of the story). i liked how it played out, and in a way it makes a good companion piece to "big driver" because both involve serial killers, a woman who knows the killer's identity and ends up killing him, and both end with the woman having a conversation with someone who could turn them in or arrest them, but who actually sympathizes with them and also because the woman in big driver plans her revenge killing, but makes some terrible mistakes that could get her caught, while the woman in a good marriage kills her husband practically on a whim, with no planning, yet does it so well it's easy to get away with it. however, i do think there was a possibility for a more interesting story here -- something where the secret is maybe less extreme than finding out he's a killer... something on a smaller scale, but kind of insidious -- and then watching the secret simmer and slowly destroy this couple, rather than having it blow up all at once but that would have been a different story, so for what it is, this story is pretty good.

by **Nice Marmot** on Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:01 pm

King's new novel, '11/22/63', out in November. Time travel in order to prevent the Kennedy assassination???

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/announcement/

by **Fievel** on Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:59 pm

Nice Marmot wrote:King's new novel, '11/22/63', out in November. Time travel in order to prevent the Kennedy assassination???

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/announcement/

Just saw this. The story sounds like it could be extremely cool.
Could be.

by **Nice Marmot** on Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:40 pm

Fievel wrote:Just saw this. The story sounds like it could be extremely cool.
Could be.

Yeah, until the spider shows up at the end.

by **TheBaxter** on Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:05 pm

the whole what-if premise of going back in time to prevent the assassination of jfk is pretty interesting. so interesting, in fact, that it's been done several times before in short stories, twilight zone episodes, etc.

that said, it sounds like maybe this story will be less about trying to prevent the assassination and more about this guy going back in time, with the jfk subplot just being there as a story device. it could be interesting if it avoids the normal cliches and pitfalls of this kind of story. and of course, if there's a giant intergalactic spider at the end.

by **TheButcher** on Mon Sep 26, 2011 2:59 am

Fievel wrote:According to someone who saw King at a speaking engagement in NYC:

He also said that a sequel to Black House is still in the works (known info), but also he has always wondered what happened to Danny Torrence. He'd be about 40 now, says King....

Danny Torrence being the little boy from The Shining.

There's also this bit of news:
According to Ms Mod, Stephen Spielberg optioned the rights to Under the Dome, which King said in NY he thought would be an HBO miniseries.

Ms. Mod is the moderator of Stephen King's message board.

From io9:
Listen to Stephen King read a chapter from the sequel to The Shining

Cyriaque Lamar wrote:At an awards ceremony at George Mason University last Friday, Stephen King regaled audiences with a chapter from Doctor Sleep, his upcoming novel about a grown-up Danny Torrance from The Shining.

In the book, Danny is a hospice worker who uses his powers to help ill patients to pass away without pain. Unfortunately, he runs afoul of a gang of wandering psychic vampires who feed on people's energy.

King is almost finished with the book — and here I imagined the sequel would be called The Shining 2: Johnny's Back!

Via Lilja's Library. Thanks Gregory!

From Reel Loop November 25, 2009:
Stephen King is working on ‘Doctor Sleep’, a sequel to ‘The Shining’

Acclaimed author and Entertainment Weekly columnist Stephen King (I love his articles on movie theater candy, seriously) announced that he is working on a sequel to arguably his most popular novel, The Shining.

While King was promoting his new Under the Dome story in Toronto, he told fans and reporters that his current project is a story entitled Doctor Sleep.

King believes that the first novel never explained what happened to young Danny and his super-cool psychic powers and that the events at the Overlook Hotel left the lad with “emotional scars.”

“Danny is now 40 years old and living in upstate New York, where he works as the equivalent of an orderly at a hospice for the terminally ill,” says King. “Danny’s real job is to visit with patients who are just about to pass on to the other side, and to help them make that journey with the aid of his mysterious powers. Danny also has a sideline in betting on the horses, a trick he learned from his buddy Dick Hallorann.”

Stephen King’s 1977 novel, The Shining, was adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick for screen in 1980.

Source: Torontoist