King takes on Poe

The relationship between Poe and King is discussed in Stephen King, A Face Among The Masters.  Here are a couple of short quotes from the chapter, "The Ghost Of Edgar Allan Poe,"

Stephen King’s story, Dolan’s Cadillac, is a brilliant tale of revenge. And guess who’s lurking in the shadows; why, it’s none other than King’s twisted grandpa, Edgar Allan Poe. King’s story is quite reminiscent of The Cask of Amontillado. 

. . . 

The two stories are similar in plot, tone, perspective, and even dialogue. King does more than just update Poe’s story; he adds a layer of richness to plot itself. Why does Montresor despise Fortunato? We’re not told. Frustrating , isn’t it? King supplies a motive for Robinson to so carefully plan Dolan’s demise. Poe was interested in the straight plot of the story, how the revenge might be carried out. King understood that giving the reader an emotional reason to hate Dolan would make his death all the more delightful. And as Dolan dies, the reader is invited to celebrate with Robinson.

Gardner, Brighton (2014-05-04). Stephen King A Face Among The Masters (Kindle Locations 448-450).  . Kindle Edition. (www.amazon.com)

Stephen King v. Edgar Allan Poe

The Shining Scared King

10,000 Magazines, #9993
People Weekly, March 7, 1977

Tame warp back to 1977.  People Magazine is where you would have to go to find out about celebrities; because there was no google.   Funny thing, the magazine pictures are in black and white -- except the ads.

Frank Sleeper's article about King was written just as the Shining was published, and a novel about "a flu" was being edited.  

"It's the first time I was actually scared as I was  writing," says Stephen King, 29, about his latest chiller, The Shining.  The novel set in the shuttered Colorado resort hotel filled with menacing spirits centers on the father who is unable  to control his rages."

The article discusses King's sudden wealth, and the trappings that go with it -- via 1977.  That would be an uh, color TV!

I like these old magazines with King articles because it gives us glimpses of things a little closer to when they happened.  So King discussing his work on The Shining is a little different in 1977 than it is in 2014.  It was still fresh. And, as you'll see in the quotes below, it was pretty raw.

HOSTILE AT THE STANLEY:

"I felt very hostile to my children there," says King.  "I wanted to grab them and hit them.  Even though I didn't do it, I had severe guilt feelings because of my brutal impulses."  

RAGS TO RICHES:

Four years ago King was earning 6,700 a year teaching English at the Hampden Academy in Hampden Maine.  He and his family were living in a trailer and his car was ready for the junk yard.  "We had taken our phone out, because we couldn't pay for it," says King. He was moonlighting in an industrial laundry.  "There was a woman whom I met at the laundry, very strange, always quoting the Bible," says King.  "I thought, if she has children, I wonder what they're like.  That's where I got my idea for Carrie."   

King got a $2,500 advance for it, and movie rights sold for $35,000 plus a percentage of the movie gross.  The paperback rights brought him another $200,000.  "Tabby cried," King recalls.  "We called all our relatives.  It took eight months for it to sink it."
In 1975 Salem's Lot, a nightmarish tale about vampires taking over a Maine community, achieved another hefty paperback sale and a movie price of $250,000. 

 The two books have sold over three million copies, and King now reigns as the book world prince of horror.  "Money actually makes you a little saner," says King.  "You don't have to do the things you don't want to do."  

LIFE:

His success has not slowed his productivity.  He writes for two hours each morning and has finished a fourth novel about a spooky flu epidemic.  "My wife reads everything," he says.  "I set a lot of store by her opinion.  I think Carrie is her favorite because once, when gave up on it, and threw it int he waste basket, she fished it out.  She told me it was terrific."   

Born in Portland Maine, King recalls a hardscrabble early life.  His father, a merchant mariner, left King's mother when the boy was two.  Steve, an English major, graduated from the University of Maine, where he met Tabitha, who was studying history.  Except for their $150,000 three bedroom house in Bridgton Maine, the King's live a fairly modest life. "But we certainly have more material things than before -- a Cadillac, a four year old color TV," says millionaire King.  "We go to the movies.  We swim in the summer.  We went to Hawaii for a couple of weeks, and we went Florida."  

King likes to ski cross-country and play the guitar and a friendly game of poker. He takes pills to keep his high blood pressure under control.  He also munches on aspirin to ease his migraines.  "They are strictly a work symptom," he says.  

On a personal note -- I'm sitting in a hospital room with my wife, who is reading me this article.  She's here for high blood pressure.  She paused when she read that, raising an eyebrow.

For King writing horror fiction is like psycho analyzing yourself in public.  "I'm externalizing my own fears and those of many others," he says.  He admits a few of his literary predecessors -- like Poe and Bram Stoker -- were peculiar types.  But insists, "I'm the nicest sort of fellow you'd want to me."

Someone ought to write a book discussing King and Poe. 

RELEASED: Stephen King A Face Among The Masters

Release Date: Friday, May 2, 2014

Paperback: www.amazon.com
98 pages , $9.89

Kindle, $7.50
The Kindle edition should be out  Monday.  There were issues with the "keywords" since they contained the name "Stephen King" and other  authors in them.  So -- the ebook is back in Amazon's hands.  Here's the deal, if you buy the paperback version, you'll be able to buy the Kindle edition for .99 cents.

Official Table Of Contents:
1. The Long Shadow Of Stephen King
2. The Ghost Of Edger Allen Poe
3. A Modern Charles Dickens
4. Which Book Would Hitchcock Film?
5. Shivering Through The Twilight Zone
6. The man who scared Stephen King
7. Dark Theologian
8. Navigating The World’s Of Stephen King
Afterword, Seven Reasons We Read Stephen King

DESCRIPTION

With dozens of bestsellers and internationally praised novels, Stephen King has become a household name and well-known author worldwide. His novels such as Carrie and The Dark Tower series have captured audiences, catapulting the author to stardom. His “constant reader” base continues to grow and hang on the author’s every published word. However, King isn’t alone in the elite group of writers—authors from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries such as Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Charles Dickens have also penned novels that captured the world.

Upon closer look, King’s stories and characters share striking resemblances to those of the great authors of the past. But, like the works of Poe, Lovecraft, and Dickens, can King’s novels stand the test of time?

Filled with examples from King’s bestsellers, Stephen King: A Face among the Masters examines the author’s inspirations and what makes his books so captivating. Why is Carrie still so relevant, decades after its publication? What makes 11/22/63’s Jake Epping so memorable? How does King master creating such complex worlds in The Stand and The Dark Tower? These are the worlds only a master writer can create.

Stephen King Compared To Classics

reposted from March, 2012


Ever notice how certain books remind you of other books or writers.  Sometimes a storyline in a King book will remind me of another book -- a classic.  So, just for fun . . . let's line King up with some classic authors.

I'll go ahead and put my answers, but I really look forward to reading yours.

1. What King books is most like David Copperfield.

My Answer: The Shining, because it is the most autobiographical.

2. What King short story most reminds you of O'Henry?

Dunno. . . look forward to looking at everyone else's paper on that one.

3. King is often compared to Poe.  What King book is most like something Poe would write -- either in style or plot?

I choose The Stand, because there are sections where King is actually playing with the text from the Raven.  (I believe it is in the section with The Judge.)  But I also think Dolan's Cadillac is a prime example of King linking to Poe.  Wow, I better move on, I could go for a while on this subject!  OH!  1922 is very much at Tell Tale Heart.

4. Years ago the King of mystery was Arthur Conan Doyle.  What King book most represents something like a Conan Doyle book?

Humm. . . I can't think of one!  I don't think Conan Doyle would leave a mystery open, so I'm not sure about The Colorado Kid.  I guess I would have to offer up Umley's Last Case -- but it is really more science fiction!  But such fun.

5. Probably the most famous monster book is Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.  Dean Koontz has taken the lore on most directly, but what King book has hints of Frankenstein?

Don't laugh at me -- I nominate Christine.  Though Arnie does not build Christine, or breath life into her -- he does rebuild her.  And though he loves his creation, like Dr. Frankenstein did the monster, the creation is pure evil.

6. What book is most like Dracula?

Easy -- why did I put that there?  Salem's Lot.  I think Dracula was the direct influence on Salem's Lot.

7. What King work is most like Th Phantom of the Opera?

. . . I can't think of one.

8. What King book is most like the work of Shirley Jackson?

Once again I would point to The Shining.

9. Okay, this is a little more modern -- but let's compare the King to Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.  

Once again, I'm stumped.

10. How about Les Miserables?  

A wonderful book!  I would compare it to The Green Mile.  Though Hugo's work was much longer, both are stories of redemption.

11. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men ?

Blaze and The Stand, because both deal with the struggles of the mentally handicap.  Blaze in particular, though.

12. Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath.

I would suggest 11.22.63, since both are historical novels.  Though, 11.22.63 is a romance is disguise!  

13. To change things up a little: What classic character is Carrie most like?

Don't know.

. . . and here's the bottom line: No one really writes like King!

Okay friends -- your turn.  

Stephen King's Twisted Grandfather

Michael Connelly produced an interesting book a few years ago titled, In The Shadow OF The Master.  It was a collection of Poe’s stories with introductions from famous authors.  King provided an introduction to The Tell Tale Heart, and noted that crime writers such as John D. MacDonaldand and Thomas Harris are what he calls “the children of Poe.”

What about Stephen King?  Is he a child of Poe?  Not quite.  King has said that he has been more inspired by other writers; but that writers he loved to read had been influenced by Poe.  Writers like Robert Block, H..P. Lovecraft and Raybradbury are all authors who fell under Poe’s spell and who in turn influenced Stephen King. These are writers King loves, so, King has suggested that Poe is more like his twisted grandfather.

From: Stephen King A Face Among The Masters

REVIVAL

Cemetery Dance gives us this summery of Stephen King's 520 page novel, REVIVAL.  It will be coming out in November, 2014. My favorite words, "nightmare" "Edgar Allan Poe" and "dark."  In other words, it's a Stephen King novel!

From master storyteller Stephen King comes a spectacularly dark and riveting novel about addiction, religion, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town more than half a century ago, a boy is playing with his new toy soldiers in the dirt in front of his house when a shadow falls over him. He looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Jamie learns later, who with his beautiful wife, will transform the church and the town. The men and boys are a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls, with the Reverend Jacobs — including Jamie's sisters and mother. Then tragedy strikes, and this charismatic preacher curses God, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from age 13, he plays in bands across the country, running from his own family tragedies, losing one job after another when his addictions get the better of him. Decades later, sober and living a decent life, he and Reverend Charles Jacobs meet again in a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and the many terrifying meanings of Revival are revealed.

King imbues this spectacularly rich and dark novel with everything he knows about music, addiction, and religious fanaticism, and every nightmare we ever had about death. This is a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.

(Cover picture was taken from: www.pxleyes.com, erathion)

The Man Who Scared Stephen King

I have really enjoyed Gerald Nachman’s book, “Raised On Radio.”  The book leaps neatly from genre to genre, show to show, giving readers the best of each subject and personality.  While some books on old radio are so massive they are nothing more than encylopedia’s – this book does not feel the need to give every detail.

I think radio is really much more scary, and powerful, than television or movies.  In fact, I think two of King’s work have translated nicely to radio – Pet Sematary and Salem’s Lot were both radio plays.  The 3D Mist was also a radio like experience that was nicely done.  I also think The Shining, Dolores Claighborn, and IT would all make great radio plays.

Know who I think would do a good job translating King to radio?  A guy named Arch Oboler.  He was reponsible for a program called “Lights Out Everybody.”  If you haven't’ heart it, quickly rush over to Internet Archive and turn out your lights. Unfortunately, he died in 1986.  Bummer!  (1987 -- that means he could have enjoyed Return of the Jedi without the experience being marred by the prequels!)

Nachman calls Oboler the "Edgar Allan Poe of the genre."

King's love for radio, and in particular Arch Oboler, is discussed on pages 314-315 of the hardcover, in a section titled, "Radio Noir -- Cops  and Grave Robbers."

I do not know where Nachman is getting his quotes from King, because I have long wondered  what King thought of Oboler's work.  I was glad to read these few paragraphs.  Check out the entire book, it's wonderful!

About King (and Oboler), Nachman writes the following:

One o the little boys Oboler scared half to death was the postmodern prince of horror, Stephen King, who has called Oboler “the genre’s prime auteur.”  King heard Lights Out reruns in the 1960s on Dimension X, recalling especially Ray Bradbury’s “Mars Is Heaven!”  “I didn’t sleep in my bed that night,” he remembered.  “That night I slept in the doorway, where the real and rational light of the bathroom bulb could shine in my face.  That was the power of radio at its height.”  Oboler, like Hitchcock, loved merging horror and humor into a gross-out giggle.  “Part of Oboler’s real genius was when ‘Chicken Heart’ ended, you felt like laughing and throwing up at the same time.

Oboler, said King, played on two of radio’s prime strengths: “The mind’s innate obedience, its willingness to try to see whatever someone suggests it see, no matter how absurd; the second is the fact that fear and horror and blinding emotions that knock our adult pins from beneath us and leave us groping in the dark like children who cannot find the light switch.  Radio is, of course, the ‘blind’ medium, and only Oboler used it so well or so completely.”  In radio, King obsverved, we never saw the zipper running down the monster’s back.

On TV, King said, The Shadow and Inner Sanctum over described scenes, whereas Oboler relied on speech, sound, and silence to achieve his effects.  He can’t forget the gruesome, “A Day at the Dentist,” in which a dentist extracts revenge from a patient who, years earlier ruined the dentists’s wife when she was a young girl.  With the patient strapped in his chair, the dentist drills a hole in him (“to let out some of lover-boy”), but the audience is left to guess where – his brain?  Heart?  Genitals?  The lone sound of a burrowing drill left listeners very much in the dark indeed.  Iing singles out radio’s ability to unlock the door of evil without “letting the monster out,” as movies or TV or theater would be forced to, because our eyes demand to know what’s behind the door; our ears leave the solution tantalizingly, and horrifyingly, up in the air.  Yet in the hands of a master radio storyteller like Oboler, we don’t feel heated.  We feel challenged. . . and chilled.

The author of The Shining, Carrie, and Misery remembers how, when Inner Sanctum left radio for TV, it finally made the creeding door visible, “And visible, it certainly was horrible enough – slightly askew, festooned with cobwebs – but it was something of a relief, just the same.  Nothing could have looked as horrible as that door sounded. . .”

There were weaknesses in Oboler's writing.  He was particularly fond of the monologue.  I guess in radio, it's one of the few ways to convey what's going on -- but sometimes Oboler's went on-and-on-and-on.

My favorite Arch Oboler "Lights Out" play was titled "Revolt Of The Worms."  (Brian Keene has a book that reminds me of this short radio play.)  The story "Murder Castle" reminds me very much of the documentary about H.H. Holmes, America's First Serial Killer.

Like King, Oboler was incredibly prolific.  He was a fast writer, known to leave a dinner party at 11pm and return at 1am with a finished script.  Where did he get his ideas?  Nachman fills in this interesting detail, "He often got  ideas  from listening to sound effects records, and took special delight in devising grotesque effects.  His scare tactics included the sound of a man frying int he electric chair (sizzling bacon), bones being snapped (spareribs or Life Savers crushed between teeth), heads  being severed (chopped cabbages), a knife slicing through a man's  body (a slab  of pork cut in two) and, most grisly of all, somebody eating human flesh (wet noodles squished with a bathroom plunger.)"

Does this sound familiar: Nachman quotes Oboler, "I didn't write about little green men. .  . monsters with dripping talons and grotesque faces from the special effects department. . . I wrote about the terrors and monsters within each of us."  (Well, he did write about worms!)  But the quote is very close to King saying he is more interested in the characters than the monsters.

INTERVIEW WITH ROB HEINZE: Old Dirt Road

I really liked  this book!  

Rob Heinze’s novel, Old Dirt Road, is a suspense/horror novel that draws inspiration from the work of Stephen King. (Buy it here on Amazon)

In the novel, Eddie Glenn discovers that the dirt road behind his house (sandwiched between the housing tract and the highway) holds a scary secret. When Eddie is out on a walk with his dog, he finds a construction sign on the dirt road that says, "End Construction." Only, someone crossed out "Construction" and wrote "Life." YIKES! Eddie’s dog is not interested in investigating further. In fact, the pooch is flat out scared! Eddie begins to think there is something to this ominous warning when a bee crosses the sign and drops dead.

Eddie begins to test his theory, throwing various animals into what he calls "The Great Gulf." Some animals die instantly. . . but some of those boogers come back! When Eddie discovers that one of his friends isn’t really such a nice guy, be begins to ponder how he might send him on a one way trip into The Great Gulf.

Here is my interview with Rob:

Talk Stephen King: Hey, thanks for agreeing to this conversation. Your book was great! Tell me a about yourself.

Rob Heinze: Thank you for the compliment. I worked hard on OLD DIRT ROAD and worried that it would fall short with readers. As for myself, I am 30, father of two and a business owner in NJ. I started writing at the age of 19, but somehow always wanted to write because I had this active imagination. I always wrote horror, too, though I started out writing “sword and sorcery” type horror. When I first read Stephen King, at the age of 20, it was like a revelation. I felt like I was already geared and lubricated to write horror, but reading it from the master was a shot of adrenalin. I read everything King wrote in about a year and a half (this was back in 2002) and wrote constantly, every day, usually forsaking friends and a social life for the joy and compulsion of writing. I struggled with trying to break into the business for six years. I secured four NYC literary agents, connected to about a dozen editors, wrote revisions to some older books on specification for these people, and ended up with nothing but a bad case of frustration.

So I basically gave up and focused on starting a business, family and getting a house. I returned to writing just this year, when I discovered that anyone could self-publish and have their books on Amazon and iBooks and NOOK for free. I wrote a book called THE SWARM in about 8 days, spent a little time on revisions, and put it on sale. It went on to sell like 11,000 copies in the first six weeks and continues to sell anywhere from 500-1,000 per month, mostly on NOOK devices. I have been reinvigorated by this, and so I wrote OLD DIRT ROAD a couple months ago and now we’ll see what happens with it.

TSK: Your novel, The Old Dirt Road, is a twist on the Stephen King novel, Pet Sematary. You reference Pet Sematary twice in the novel itself. What is it about this book that makes such a deep connection with you?

RH: PET SEMETARY is the scariest book I have ever read. It was one of those books where I kept hearing noises in the house while I was reading it. There are only four (4) books that really induced that level of terror in me. They are Shirley Jackson’s THE HAUNGINT OF HILL HOUSE, King’s THE SHINING, THE STAND and of course PET SEMETARY. PET SEMETARY ranks at the top. King’s use of language and prose really unsettles the reader, coupled with the omnipresent power working against the character (see the quote at the beginning of OLD DIRT ROAD for one of my favorite dread-evoking scenes in the book). The book gets below your defenses without being gory or violent. It’s the sort of helpless, you-can’t-win-because-something’s-working-underneath that is the key ingredient of every nightmare. We all want to believe, as humans, that there is a God (or gods) and that someone is watching over us. PET SEMETARY erases that possibility. I explored that concept in OLD DIRT ROAD too. I also think PET SEMETARY is a complicated book with a lot of hidden meaning. Overall, it’s a book about secrets and how they can destroy us. Here is a link to a post on Stephen King’s discussion forum where I expound upon that www.stephenking.com

TSK: You reference both Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. Obviously you have a love for both. Okay, tough question –which one is your favorite?

RH: I think King is my favorite because he has a tremendously larger volume of work, and I can relate to his characters more. Poe was a tremendous word-smith, though, as is evident in THE RAVEN. I wish he had lived a less troubled life and churned out more work. It would also be cool to see what he might do with today’s computers and word processing technology. I am not sure if his power would have translated into the novel form. There are a great many writers who seem to be gifted to create short stories, but who cannot sustain the energy of the story for a full novel (Ray Bradbury comes to mind).

TSK: Do you have a favorite Poe story or poem?
RH: I like the CASK OF AMONTADILLO from Poe. It’s referenced heavily in OLD DIRT ROAD.

TSK: Were your four main characters, Eddie, Nancy, Sal and Marie based on real people – or are they drawn directly from your messed up imagination?


RH: Every character I write about is based on observation, or hybrids of people. I can say that Eddie, the main character, is as close to me as any of my characters. Much of the book and Eddie’s thoughts after discovering the spot at the end of the dirt road reflect my thoughts. Nancy is very close to my wife. Certainly Eddie’s view towards her is the same view I have towards my wife. OLD DIRT ROAD ended up being a love story, which I’ll talk about later in another question, though it might not seem like it. Sal Rosse and Marie Rosse are based on a hybrid of observations and past acquaintances. It’s sad to say that there are still a fair amount of men who want control—total control—of a wife or girlfriend and I knew people like that in my youth. Almost every “bad male character” in my writing is based off of one person I knew.

TSK: Okay, let’s talk God. . . in the novel, Eddie doesn’t believe in God because of the chaos of the end of life zone. Does Eddie’s beliefs reflect your own?


RH: I want to correct you on that. Eddie questions his belief in God after he finds the spot at the end of the old dirt road. I think more importantly, the concept of chaos being so easy while construction, love and order is so hard really makes him question God’s existence. Eddie has a thought in the book that gravity created the universe and holds everything together; therefore, gravity is God. In the same thought, there is talk about “quarks” often.

Quarks are part of particle physics. It is theorized that quarks (and there are a few different types theorized) exist at the sub-atomic level. That is, you can take an electron, neutron or proton (the three components of an atom) and look deeper to find that they are made up of “quarks”. It’s theorized that even quarks have gravitational pull. For instance, in proximity to each other, quarks might pull together to form a neutron or electron, and then other quarks do the same and you have an atom. I use the term quark to describe Nancy and Eddie, and how they met through gravitational grace. And since Eddie believes gravity is God, the fact Nancy and him came together is evidence of God. And the fact that she continues to stay with him is evidence to him that God exists…because God is gravity. Phew!

Hopefully that’s not some wild, confusing stuff! OLD DIRT ROAD ended up being pretty complicated, sort of like PET SEMETARY, and I wanted it to be that way with the story readable as a weird, scary story. I do believe in God personally.

TSK: You said in the introduction that you almost didn’t finish the novel. Why? Also, what caused you to press on?


RH: The novel got me depressed. I was depressed writing it because it has that something-working-below-the-surface theme, where you feel that no matter how hard you work or how persistent you are, you will lose (this pretty much mirrors my efforts to break into publishing). I felt depressed even at night or in the evenings, when I was writing it. I was going through some stuff too, and a lot of that is reflected in the book. I pushed on because I felt the book was a love story to my wife, but mainly because I wanted to know what was going to happen.

The best part of writing fiction for me is that I get to see a movie for free. It really is like that. I got front row seats, the theatre’s empty, and I’m revved up. I wanted to know what was at the end of the dirt road and what would happen if a person went passed the End Life sign and into the Great Gulf. I wanted to know why the sound of the highway haunted Eddie, and was there any connection to the spot at the end of the dirt road. It might seem strange to say that, but I rarely every know what will happen at the end of the story I’m writing, and often I’m just as surprised as readers when I get to it.

TSK: That is actually really sweet!  You mention "quarks" several times. What made you think of "quarks" as an imagery? Did you study physics?


RH: I don’t study physics, but it was one of my favorite classes in college and I have a nerdy habit of watching the Science Channel constantly. I love the concept that no matter how much we contract or expand our explorations into the universe (either looking further, or looking deeper into atoms) we keep finding another layer. Whatever put us here doesn’t want us to find out, that’s for sure. It’s like chasing a dark shape down a tunnel that keeps getting narrower and narrower or wider and wider.

TSK: When you write, do you run with an idea, or do you outline ahead of time?   What was the writing process for the Old Dirt Road like? How long did it take you to hammer this one out?

RH: I don’t write with an outline. This might be why I can’t get published. Every agent or editor is always talking about “plot” and “character development” but the concept that either is essential to writing a good book is stupid. After all, how many people do we know in life that change? There are some that come to points in their life where they make decisions, or their focus shifts, but overall people’s personalities, the way they react to situations, etc…don’t change much from when they’re children. Also, I know King is a proponent of “non-plotted” books.

I usually have a well-rounded idea in my head, which has been building and has made some connections to other things. Like the inspiration for OLD DIRT ROAD was initially seeing a construction sign that said “END CONSTRUCTION” on a highway, except the word “construction” was all faded. I thought, what if someone played a joke and wrote “END LIFE” instead? Then I thought, what if it wasn’t a joke…what if it was a warning? Months later I remembered my grandparent’s house (which is pretty much the same as the Glenn’s house in the book) and how they had this old construction road. It was all dirt and grown over, and when I was probably 6 or 7 (maybe even younger), I remember my grandfather walking me down it but we always stopped at one spot because there was this huge patch of overgrown grasses. I always wanted to know what was beyond those grasses. I started with that and wrote the book in about 2-3 weeks, then spent another month or two revising and rewriting.

TSK: Who’s been your biggest encouragement in the area of writing?


RH: My biggest encouragement is difficult to say. My wife is reluctant to say “go to it”. After all, I am the only bread-winner and there are two kids. I approach writing (and everything else) in my life with an “all or nothing” view. It’s not enough for me to write a couple hours a day. When I am working on something, it usually consumes all my mental power and energy and I let everything else slide. After I got diagnosed and treated for ADHD, this has toned down a bit and I have more control, but it’s still there. I have always seen writing as what I was meant to do, and would someday be successful at it. But my inability to understand the desire of editors and agents, and to conform to what “they want” and not what I feel “compelled” to write makes even encouraging myself difficult. In fact, after I finished OLD DIRT ROAD, I have written a thing and feel no desire to. I am pretty upset THE SWARM didn’t break into the widen business. Though I will mention that a very well known literary agent read OLD DIRT ROAD and said I needed to change some things (mostly make it longer). I gritted my teeth and gave it a shot. It’s the first time I really pushed hard to write something per another person’s comments. We’ll see what happens…

TSK: What future works do you have on the horizon? Any partnerships with Mr. King?

RH: Stephen King doesn’t even know who the hell I am, but if he wanted to collaborate, I’d have to think about it (just kidding). No, I have sent excerpts of my book, THE SWARM, to his office…hoping that the 1 in a million chance he’d read it would be in my fortune. That was four months ago and I’m pretty sure it was tossed by his assistances with the other thousands of similar things the office gets. I have the hope of someday talking to Mr. King about his craft, his writing, and sharing some of my experiences with creating as well (not that mine would hold any value to him). I also have this unlikely fantasy about Mr. King doing the introduction to my first “officially published” book of short stories. We can dream, can’t we?

TSK: King refers to his fans as "constant reader." You have a more – unusual term: "Celestial Sea Wanderer." What in the world is a Celestial Sea Wanderer?


RH: The first book I published was called SKETCHES FROM A CELESTIAL SEA. This was self-published. It’s a book of short stories. I started marketing this book, and THE SWARM, through Facebook. I have a page called SKETCHES FROM A CELESTIAL SEA. I guess it’s supposed to mean an otherworldly sea, or sea in a strange galaxy. Almost all of my stories are imaginative, so I thought it’d be cool to call my readers “Celestial Sea Wanderers”. I like to imagine walking the shore in the dusk, seeing dark shapes washed ashore and wondering what they are. To me, these flotsam and jetsam of some other world’s ocean are my idea, inspiration and gifts. I hope to find some more soon.

TSK: That’s cool!  Hey, thanks for taking the time to do this!  I hope you sell a billion copies of The Old Dirt Road and hook up with Stephen King someday!
RH: THANKS!

Check out Rob's books here:

THE SWARM
SKETCHES FROM A CELESTIAL SEA
THOSE OF  LIGHT AND DARK
STRANGE PLACES
OLD DIRT ROAD

Keene Headed Back To Print

picture credit HERE

If you’re a Stephen King fan, you’re probably already familiar with Brian Keene’s work as well.  I find his writing a lot of fun.  Keene recently got in a battle with his publisher, Dorchester books, who decided to sell his books without paying him. See how I make a long story short?  The full story, from Keene's angle at least, is at www.briankeene.com.   Keene blogged aboutt his crisis over the last year and the chaos it created in his life.  It’s not fun when a publisher messes with you.

Dorchester also publishes Richard Laymon books. Too bad to see some great works in the horror industry mishandled.

Well, Brian Keene is back!  In a partnership between Thunderstorm Books and Keene (called Maelstorm) several limited run small press books will be published.

Blu Gilliand at examiner explains the plan:

In a nutshell, Maelstrom, a partnership between Keene and publisher Thunderstorm Books, is a new line of collectible, limited-run books designed specifically for the small press market. Maelstrom releases will consist of three signed hardcovers limited to 250 copies: a Keene novel, a Keene novella, and a novel by a new author that Keene himself will select. Each set will be priced at $125.  (Gilliand’s full article is HERE.)

Books include A Gathering of Crows, The Rising: Deliverane and Kelli Owen’s debut novel, Six Days.

Keene's writing is scary, engaging and at times frustrating.  But frustrations aside, I like his work, and thus I forgive those things that drive me crazy and just keep reading.  Okay, so what drives me crazy?  In "Darkness  on the Edge of Town" it seems like everyone is a druggie!  It's a town on the edge of a drug bust.  And they sure see a lot in the dark.  Okay. .. but none of that is worth getting hung up over.  The novel has been compared to Under The Dome.  I don't think so!  More like Poe, I would say.

I suspect the grind of publishing can get to a writer.  King recently said:

As of right now, if I died and everybody kept it a secret, it would go on until 2013. There’s a new Dark Tower novel, The Wind in the Keyhole.That comes out soon, and Dr Sleep is done. . . .
. . . I do want to slow down. My agent is dickering with the publishers about Dr Sleep, that’s the sequel to The Shining, but I held off showing them the manuscript because I wanted time to breathe.”

Time to breathe.  Why?  Okay, I'm guessing here. . . but I suspect it is not King's publisher that might be the issue here, but the demands of publishing a Stephen King book.  He doesn't just release a book, he does a whole big book tour.

King's Currently Writing Dr. Sleep

FairfaxCityPatch has an article on King's appearance at George Mason University's Center for the Arts, where King accepted the "Mason Award."  It is chalk full of King news.

Dr. Sleep Is Next!

At the ceremony, King revealed (and read from) the book he is currently writing -- Dr. Sleep!  King said, "I've always wondered what happened to that kid in The Shinning."  Well, over 30 years later, we'll find out!  I am really, really looking forward to this book. 

Where Do Idea's Come From?

Larson says that King related that King did not intentionally become America's boogie-man.  This lead him to share  some thoughts on why he writes what he writes.  Of course, there is his usual answer, he doesn't really get to chose what he writes.  He shares the basis for IT was distantly related to the Three Billy Goats gruff.  IT was intended to be his final word on kids and monsters.  He also notes that he doesn't know where some ideas come from. 

"In some ways the mother force [of my writing] comes from the horror comics of the 1950's," he said.  He also cited such influences as Edgar Allan Poe (Tell Tale Heart in particular) and H.P. Lovecraft's "The Rats In The Wall."  (I shiver at just the title!)

Here is what King said about his upcoming 11/22/63:

King said he tried to write this book in 1972, but the wounds were too fresh and the research required was too great for a kid his age at the time. "I was about 17 when Kennedy was assasinated," he said. "For us back then, that was our 9/11."

So What's Left?

Larson says that when King was asked if he ever leaves projects unfinished, the answer is yes.  Of course, we knew that.  But the number is a surprise -- about 40!  One of them includes a half written novel titled "Hatchet Head."  Sounds interesting.

Larson's full article is at FairfaxPatch

Duma Key Journal 1

About Journal Entries. . .
With The Stand finished, I dived into another long novel -- obviously it was Duma Key.  Hopefully I can read fast since I want to read the new books coming out in the fall.  The journal entries are my notes as I read, they are not book reviews. 

I choose to let wiser/sharper pens than mine review the books.  Lilja is always the best, and Charnel House is very good.

• http://charnelhouse.tripod.com/dumakey.html
• http://www.liljas-library.com/showreview.php?id=162

If you haven't read the book, then the Journal's are going to be full of spoilers -- because I'm actually talking about the book!

  

On To Duma Key. . .

First Person: It is interesting that King uses the first person in such a large novel.  I was once told by a writing friend that publishers don't like big first person novels. 

 

Edgar Allan Poe is referenced when Edgar sees the house, and notes that the sea is taking a toll on it.  It will groan, he imagines, like the House of Usher.

 

The Angry Man: I really like it that Edgar is such an angry, messed up dude!  His wife leaves him when he tries to strangle her; though he doesn't remember the incident.  Closer to his heart is the time he stabbed her with a spork!  (Spellcheck says spork is not a word.  Probably becuase to a computer, a spork is illogical.  Besides, it was actually a plastic fork.)  Anyway, his meanness has cost him his marriage. 

Object freely if I am wrong, guys --  I think most men will identify with Edgar and his anger.  Maybe it's not the raw, open, oozing anger that Edgar experiences; but I talk to a lot of guys, and almost all of them struggle with anger. 

Edgar lashes out at the people around him; people who want to help him.  He is in search of peace -- both physically and emotionally.  Like Jack from The Shining, he wants to find a place to go and practice his art.  For Jack, it was writing a novel.  For Edgar, it is painting.  Jack did not have the means to choose his path of escape -- he had to take the first open door to him, which was the Overlook.  Not so with Edgar.  He has the financial ability to seek out any place of refuge he wants.  Does he want to live alone on the Florida Keys?  Well, he can write a check and make it happen.  So for Jack, a bad situation became worse.  For Edgar, this does not start out as a bad situation.  It is one of his own choosing.  But can paradise become hell?  Ask Adam and Eve. (And it is worth noting, King gives a full half page to discussing Adam and Eve getting kicked out of paradise.  Now, tell me there's not some foreshadowing there, eh!)

Limitations: As we often find in King novels, our hero (?) has some serious limitations.  While most writers give us supermen, King gives us people we know and relate to because they are broken.  Well, Edgar is a very broken man!  Edgar has lost an arm, and has had serious physical and emotional damage done due to a serious accident.  The results are evident on the page in front of the reader!  Edgar can't think of the right words to use in given situations. 

Now imagine making someone who can't think of the right word -- the narrator!  That's gutsy!

1978 The Stand Journal 9: Welcome Edgar Allan Poe To The World Of The Stand!

King's love for Edgar Allan Poe can be spotted in a lot of his work (follow the tag at the end of this post for more).  The theme of revenge in Dolan's Cadllic is quite reminiscent of “The Cask of Amontillado."  King honored Poe's short story The Tell Tale Heart with his short story The Old Dudes Ticker.

Note these similarities between the Cask of Amontillado and Dolan's Cadillac:

1. Both are stories of revenge.
2. Both use the idea of being buried alive. Dolan in his car, Fortunato is buried in the wall.
3. Both are told in the first person.
4. Both Dolan and Fortunato die very slowly.
5. Both Fortunato and Dolan have similiar pleas:

Poe writes:  “For the love of God, Montresor!”  "Yes”, I said, “for the love of God!”
King writes:  “For the love of God!” he shrieked. “For the love of God, Robinson!”  “Yes,” I said, smiling. “For the love of God.”


Welcome Edgar Allan Poe To THE STAND:

In the scenes when The Judge is making his way toward Las Vegas, he encounters some a crow.  The lines about the crow are direct references to Poe's The Raven.

Here's some snapshots from The Stand, chapter 51,

Tap tap tap on the window . . .
Tap tap Tap like the raven that had flown in to roost on the bust of Pallas.
Will I get any idea what chinks there might be in the dark man's armor?  Nevermore.
Will I get back safe?
nevermore.
tap, tape, tap. 

• Like The Raven, the judge is very lonely.  The lonely man in the Raven is filled with sorrow for his lost Lenore.  The judge misses The Freezone.  In fact, he is so lonely, he compares himself to Cain, outcast by God.
• The lonely man in The Raven distracts his mind with books.  As the Judge rests, he occupies his mind by reading.
• The lonely man is interrupted by a "tapping."  As cited above, the King section of The Stand is blocked by "tapping" both at the beginning and the end of the section.
• Both men are interrupted by a bird: A Raven / A Crow.  Crows in King's work represent omens.
• The raven perched on the bust of Pallas.  That is the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology.  King writes: "Tap tap tap like the raven that had flown in to roost on the bust of Pallas."  (p.629, pb)
• When the lonely man asks the name of the Raven, it answers "Nevermore."  The same line repeated several times to The Judge.
• The lonely man understands that the bird does not speak for wisdom, but has been taught "by some unhappy master."  Likewise, The Crow is not a crow, but the Dark Man!
• My mom noted that the meter of this section matches Poe's as well.

Read The Raven here: http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven.html

Magistrale to give S.K speech at University Vermont

The Associated Press has released news that Vermont Professor Tony Magistrale will be giving a speech on Stephen King on May 4th.  Magistrale is cited as an expert on Edgar allan Poe, and is also the author of Hollywood's Stephen King.  I hope he spends some time demonstarting connections between King and Poe.

May 4
Goodrich Memorial Library
Newport, Vermont

http://www.wcax.com/story/14490037/vermont-professor-plans-speech-on-stephen-king

Full Dark Journal 5: A Good Marriage

I am sure there are spoilers here. I try not to give too much away... but I also think you should not read reviews and essays on books if you haven't read them. If you need a review to tell you to go read this book, then I'll put it right here at the beginning. . . go read this book. There. Now we shall proceed.

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A Good Marriage is a good story.

This is my favorite novella of the four in Full Dark No Stars. I found it genuinely scary. The story often moved in directions I did not expect.

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Darcy Anderson is in a genuine predicament. King masterfully explains why she chooses not to call the police. Not so much an issue of her love for her husband, but her own need for stability. But justice ultimately trumps her own needs.

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Edgar's Ghost

King cites Edgar Allan Poe's short story (weren't they all short?) "The Cask of Amontillado." That's cool, since 1922 had hints of the Tell Tale Heart. In Poe's 1846 story, The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor uses wine to trap his "friend." Montresor literally builds a wall, while Darcy walls her victim in by incapacitating him. In each case, the victim is betrayed by someone they trust.

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Mirrors and Coins:

Both mirrors and coin collecting play important minor chords in this novella. They not only move the plot, but are the kind of details that enrich the story as a whole.

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BTK:

The story is based on BTK . The documentary BTK Killer Next Door starts with this intro: "Known to his neighbors as a Boy Scout leader, a church goer, a family man. . . but a murderer?" That is exactly the angle King takes.

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Blading and pudgy, Bob Anderson even looks like Dennis Raider. Also, Like Raider, Anderson managed to stop for a period of time.

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King picks up on a serial killers inability to feel guilt over their crimes. "Hollow" is how Darcy describes it. He is just a hollow, empty shell of a man. Anderson claims that two men live inside him. After observation, that is not Darcy's conclusion. In essence, she decides that the good man doesn't really exist. It's not Jekyll and Hyde -- it's just Hyde.

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The mystery of marriage was explored more tenderly in Lisey's Story.

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Killers Among Us:

How can serial killers move among us seemingly unknown? I told this before, but it bears repeating. My Grandfather was a pastor. His church had a photo director. One morning I flipped through the photo directory and I stopped on the picture of Bill Suff. He was a serial killer in Riverside and Lake Elsinore, California. He also sang in the choir at Grandpa's church!

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Serial Killers and Stephen King:

My list will be no where near complete, but here is a list of Serial Killers in Stephen King's fiction. Please add to my list in the comments section, and I'll update this post. I'm not counting monsters as serial Killers (ie: Pennywise, Christine, Flagg) or animals (Cujo).

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Under The Dome, Junior Renny

IT, Henry Bowers

The Dark Half, George Stark

Gerald's Game, Raymond Andrew Joubert (The Space Cowboy)

The Dark Tower, The Pusher

The Green Mile, William Wharton ?

Big Driver, Big Driver and Little Driver

A Good Marriage, Bob Anderson

Frank Dodd, The Dead Zone (thanks Eva)

"Springheel Jack" - Strawberry Spring (Night Shift) (Thanks Eva)

The Man Who Loved Flowers (Night Shift) (thanks Eva.)

Lloyd Henreid and Andrew "Poke" Freeman - The Stand (Thanks Eva)

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Wikipedia says this about Annie Wilkes in a discussion about "angel's of mercy": "The character Annie Wilkes in the Stephen King novel Misery seems to be a serial killer of this type." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_Mercy_(serial_killer)

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In IT, King showed a serial killer in league with the devil. Henry Bowers works under the influence of Pennywise. However in more recent works, King appears to be showing us the evil comes from within. It is not so much the work of the devil, as it is the heart itself. This was true of Big Driver, Junior Renny and Bob Anderson.

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However, in IT the serial killer was best portrayed by Pennywise himself. The monster was based on John Wayne Gacey

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Hell:

Holt Ramsey, a retired detective mentions that Anderson is now being punished in hell "according to the Old Testament." That struck me as a strange comment. I know, Ramsey is a detective, not a theologian. But it implies that Hell is an Old Testament doctrine as opposed to a New Testament teaching. However, hell in the Old Testament is simply Sheol, the shadowy underworld of the dead. It is simply not a developed doctrine. Hell is actually a New Testament teaching. It is particularly advanced by: Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), 1 Peter, Jude and The Revelation.

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Uplifting:

I found this to be the most enjoyable of all of the novella's. It was, frankly, uplifting. An encouragement to peer in at Darcy as she deepens in her convictions and carries out revenge. It is a redemptive novel, from Darcy's end. She is able not only to rise above the monster within (the monster is passivity), but also able to crush the monster who lives with her.

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If 1922 and Fair Extension were truly FULL DARK with not even a hint of STARS, I would have to say that we at least get moonlight in A Good Marriage and Big Driver.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRPS0x66ncM

Full Dark Journal 2: 1922

I just finished reading 1922. I liked it a lot.

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1922 is the kind of story King would never write just for reviews. It's the kind of thing that gets written just to please one's self, and the constant reader. But it won't win you a lot of friends among the literary snobs. They might still see him as nothing more than the literary equivalent of a big mac. Of course, the constant reader has learned that the meat in a Stephen King big mac is rat meat.

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This story has a lot of rats. Note the picture above; you can't say you weren't clued in. Lots of them. Disgusting, nasty, horrible, biting, rats. Aggressive little devils. And the queen of the rats rules her minions to do her bidding. It's really quite brilliant, if not disgusting. I'm trying hard not to give away too much, except that this is truly the stuff King fans love; and have been wanting for quite a little while.

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The story plays out like a Shakespeare tragedy. Or, perhaps even more importantly, it is a longer version of Poe's Tell Tale Heart.

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I do not know why the book is titled Full Dark No Stars; but I will venture an opinion having read just one of the four novella's. The book is brutally dark. This is not just a dark story, it is so dark that there is not even starlight. Total blackness. Hopelessness. No redemption what so ever.

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Regarding the all important "hundred acres" (no, it's not a Winnie The Pooh reference), the story is very much about the little man verses big business. In that way it's like a Bachman novel. Roadwork and the Running Man.

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Anyway, here's the bottom line; if you get paid to review books, don't bother with this one. If you read books for the joy of a good story; and if you read King because you love his sick, twisted stories -- then you should rush out and read 1922.

Full Dark Journal 1: The Journey Begins

I got an audio copy of Full Dark No Stars yesterday. Of course, I immediately started listening. I also had to stop the tape until my daughter was asleep because. . . it's a Stephen King book.

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One frustration

A frustration with the audio book is that the stories are not labeled on the CD's. This means you cannot listen to the novella's in the order that you want. Not a big deal when it's short stories, you just trudge through. But in this case, you have to listen to entire Novella's! A little frustrating.

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1922

The book starts with a story titled 1922. It is grim. Delightfully grim! The story is wonderful, dark and well told.

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So far a likable character has not appeared. The narrator, Wilfred James, has a wonderful way of explaining his actions as that of almost a different person. "I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger . . ." Of course, the good man is himself... but the bad man who does the naughty things, that man is another man living inside him. I realize that sounds really lame when I write it, but King plays this well enough that it would have pleased Robert L. Stevenson.

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The stories are all stories of revenge... I think. Told in the first person, at least 1922 -- it is reminiscent of Poe. Thus far, I can say confidently that this stuff is raw horror. Honestly, it's the reason most of us read King.

Carrie On Stage -- In drag!

This looks crazy! How about Carrie White in drag? Not really a fan of drag; but for Carrie White, it seems strangely right. I don't know, my head is spinning around like the Exorcist on this one! Wish I was in Philadelphia to go see it because everything about this looks fresh, creative and very energetic. Brat Productions is calling this a "comic horror thrill ride" -- nice! CARRIE. The play will run from October 2 through November 7, 2010; appropriately the Halloween season.

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PHILADELPHIA –

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This October, Brat Productions presents Carrie like never before in a black comedy by Erik Jackson, based on the legendary 1974 novel by Stephen King. Fresh from last Halloween’s critically acclaimed Haunted Poe (Best Production of a Play, Philadelphia Weekly), Brat offers another distinctive theater experience with the gender-bending Philadelphia premiere of Jackson's adaptation of King’s bestselling novel.

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Carrie begins previews October 2, opens on October 7 (press night), and runs through November 7, 2010 at Underground Arts at the Wolf Building (340 North 12th Street, Philadelphia). Tickets, ranging from $15 – $29, will be available soon at www.bratproductions.org and through TicketLeap.

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Directed by Brat Productions’ Producing Artistic Director Michael Alltop, Carrie features puppets and costumes from Haunted Poe’s Alisa Sickora Kleckner and stunning special effects – exploding light bulbs, flying knives, electric shocks, a car crash, and a burning high school – created by a team that includes Sickora Kleckner, along with set designer Chris Kleckner, lighting designer Paul Moffitt and Michael Christaldi . Erik Jackson’s Carrie includes all of the magic and blood-drenched horror of the original bestselling novel with surprising and hilarious new twists.

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Adding a gender-bending spin, New Jersey-based actor, drag performer, and musician Erik Ransom (off-Broadway’s My Big Gay Italian Wedding) will play the iconic telekinetic outcast, Carrie White.

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The cast of nine features notable Philadelphia actors: Leah Walton (EgoPo’s Spring Awakening and Azuka Theatre’s Nerve) as Carrie’s religious fanatic mother Margaret White, Bradley Wrenn (Swim Pony’s SURVIVE!, ’09 Philly Fringe’s The Annihilation Point) as Carrie’s love interest Tommy Ross, Bethany Ditnes (Luna Theater’s Sick) as the quintessential mean girl Chris Hargensen, Mariel Rosati (Montgomery Theater’s Moonlight and Magnolias) as Sue Snell, Jess Conda (Brat’s Haunted Poe, and the ’10 reincarnation of a 24-hour Bald Soprano) as Norma Watson, Justin Jain (Brat’s Haunted Poe) as Billy Nolan, Colleen Corcoran (company member of Madhouse Theater Company) as Miss Gardner, and Jarrod Yuskauskas (Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) as the principal, Mr. Morton.

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Brat has salvaged lockers and curtains from a closed high school to add a layer of reality to the oppressive school environment, setting the scene for Carrie’s fiery rage-filled prom night massacre, which The New York Times applauds, saying, “The story’s big prom-night finish has never been more fun.”

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Says playwright Erik Jackson, “I was lucky enough to be introduced to Michael Alltop, and Brat Productions through a mutual friend when Michael was looking for a writer on another project, and I really admired the excellent, adventurous work they were doing. I can't wait to see what they do with Carrie. Michael has let slip a few things already that have made my jaw drop.”
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Alltop says, “Halloween is about imagination, a time in which even adults get into the spirit of the season and play ‘dress up,’ assume an alter-ego, and let go of inhibitions. These are qualities that all theater artists employ on a daily basis, but it’s unusual for most ‘normal’ people. By producing a show every Halloween, we aim to get people out of their comfort zones and close the gap between artists and audiences. Our goal is to show just how engaging a work of theater can be.”

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ABOUT THE PLAY
After playwright Erik Jackson wrote an impassioned 6-page letter asking Stephen King to entrust him with one of his great bestsellers, the world-renowned novelist agreed to allow Jackson and Theatre Couture (creators of the off-Broadway hits Charlie! and Tell-Tale) to mine Carrie for humor, developing it into a dark comedy for 2006’s sold-out off-Broadway run at PS122 in New York, featuring the internationally-recognized drag queen Sherry Vine (aka Keith Levy) as Carrie White.

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Carrie – which has also been a 1976 feature film directed by Brian De Palma, a 1988 Broadway musical, a 1999 feature film sequel, and a 2002 television movie – tells the story of young Carrie White who is painfully shy, unfortunately naïve, and telekinetic. Carrie's fundamentalist Christian mother Margaret has been tormenting her for years, and things are even worse at school. When a terrified Carrie gets her first period in the school locker room's shower, her classmates taunt her and pelt her with feminine products. Banned from the prom for the locker room harassment, the gorgeous but cruel Chris Hargensen hatches an awful plan to exact revenge by humiliating Carrie in front of the whole school at the senior prom. But, what Chris doesn't know is that Carrie can move things with her mind, and she'll soon find out that she picked the wrong girl to mess with.

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“The essential nature of the story to me is the examination of the outsider, the outcast, the loser,” says Jackson. “I think most everyone on the planet at one time or another has felt like that person. I was intrigued by the idea of exploring a reverse Cinderella story: the put-upon ugly duckling gets the guy, goes to the ball – and then it all goes to hell, quite literally. I love extremes in my own work, and have always been drawn to the contrast between King's novel's sweet, quiet moments and the gruesome spectacle.”

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ABOUT BRAT PRODUCTIONS
Founded in 1996, Brat Productions is committed to “thinking outside the proscenium” with performance pieces that are surprising and incendiary, entertaining and unsettling. Brat’s mission is to create an audience of the future by producing theatre that breaks the rules; theatre that tests conventions; theatre that rocks! Over the years, Brat has established itself as one of Philadelphia’s most adventurous theatre companies and is known for using unusual performance venues to enhance original and noteworthy productions. Its numerous productions have included Three Chord Fiction, winner of the Ted and Stevie Wolf Barrymore Award for New Approaches to Collaboration, Haunted Poe, A 24-Hour The Bald Soprano, A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant and Eye-95: Retarred.

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CARRIE ONLINE

For an insider look at Carrie, regular updates on the show, tips for audience members and more, follow Brat Productions online:

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Official Website www.bratproductions.org

Become a Fan of Brat on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bratproductions?ref=ts

Check out Brat on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bratproductions

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Carrie has been funded by the Wyncote Foundation. Brat has received 2010-11 season support from the William Penn Foundation, Haas Trust “A”, Samuel S. Fels Fund, and the Independence Foundation.

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Dates: October 2 – November 7, 2010

Previews run October 2-6

Opening night is Thursday, October 7
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Location: Underground Arts at the Wolf Building
340 North 12th Street (at Callowhill)
Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $15 – $29

Some-Are Reading Recommendations

The ground was hot enough to make me put on shoes today. I was digging a planter for my kids to put pumpkin seeds. The heat and the preparations for a pumpkin patch are reminders that Summer vacation is on its way. -- Yes, this is the right time of year to plant pumpkins if you want them big and fat in October.

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Lots of places publish their Summer reading list. I'm always happy to know that Some-Are still reading!

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I started to give you a Stephen King List, but that's pointless. Read all of them. Start with The Stand or IT or Eyes of the Dragon. Don't start with: Tommyknockers, Gerald's Game, Christine or the original Gunslinger.

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The world is bigger than Stephen King. Smile, you need this message. As horror writer Brian Keene said, "9 out of 10 people are aware of horror writer Stephen King. 5 out of 10 people are aware of horror writer Dean Koontz. 1 out of 10 people are aware of the rest of us." We should fix that.

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Bucket List:

There are some books you should read before you die. Books to impress girls, understand the past or know the purpose of life. So, to impress girls you should read Charles Dickens Great expectations, Dickens. This is Dickens at his best -- Sorry David Copperfield. Of course, you'll only be impressing smart girls. You'll thank me in 20 years. Books that help us understand the past and the world we now life in, I would recommend Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Well written, and it doesn't feel like historical fiction. Finally, under books that will show you the purpose of life -- that would be the Bible. Anyone ever tell you where not to start in that? Well, don't start in Isaiah, okay! Try Luke.

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Now, for a Summer reading list!

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1. Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett. If you read Pillars, go ahead and read the sequel World Without End. Pillars of the Earth has a strange main character -- a church! It is the story of the long construction of a medieval cathedral. Politics, religion, sex, murder, war and more.

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2. Night of the Moonbow, Thomas Tryon. This author was also an actor who lived a rather interesting life. I liked this book a lot and really don't think it's very popular. I love the scenes with the Lan Chaney showing of Phantom of the Opera.

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3. Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. We often need to be called back to the short story, and if you like horror then Poe is the place to start. By the way, if you want to understand King, you've got to read Poe. King's work is laced with Poe references and influences.

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4. Swan Song (or Boys Life) by Robert R. Mccammon. I really like Mccammon and wish his work was on audio. Be aware that his earlier books are not as strong as his work after Swan Song.

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5. The Conqueror Worms, Brian Keene. An old man narrates how planet earth was taken over by worms. The kind of story I once heard on Arch Obler's Lights Out. Also check out City of the Dead. An easy zombie story. True beach reading. But first go to the worms. Also, Keene has a nice post titled: The last 5 minutes of LOST explained, http://www.briankeene.com/?p=3970

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6. This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti. Piercing the Darknes is better, but you should start here. This book takes you into the world of demons and angels and an invisible war raging around mankind.

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7. The Beast House, Richard Laymon. You've got to read Laymon some time in your life, just because he's cool and brutal, and you might as well start out with The Beast House. Laymon is edgy in a really uncomfortable way. I know that won't inspire you to read him, but he will mess with your head. You'll think, "I didn't know you were allowed to write like this -- or about this."

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8. A Man Called Peter, Catherine Marshall. The life story of Dr. Peter Marshall, the famous pastor to the senate as retold by his wife Cathrine. The story is fresh, her writing is insightful and tender.

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9. Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Anne Burns. This is the story of an old man in the deep south who after the death of his wife asks a very young, beautiful woman to marry him so he'll have a house keeper and a cook. The town is stirred, the family is enraged, and the old man is in bliss! I loved it all and couldn't believe that some people gave it bad reviews on Amazon. Then my own family said it rambled about. Well, I don't care what they say, this is a great book!

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10. Short Stories of O'Henry. Everyone reads gift of the Magi, so you should, too. But I recommend The Ransom of Red Chief. I won't spoil this for you, but I swear the movie version of Dennis the Menace got its spark from this story. But, of course, O'Henry is better. Gosh I want to tell you what this is about... go read it before I spoil the whole thing! GO! NOW! READ IT!

Poe and Dolan's Cadillac

Dolan's Cadillac is another example of Edgar Allan Poe's influence on Stephen King. King honored Poe's short story The Tell Tale Heart with his short story The Old Dudes Ticker. Dolan's Cadillac is shows the markings of the Cask of “The Cask of Amontillado."
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Just some quick notes:
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1. Both are stories of revenge.
2. Both use the idea of being buried alive. Dolan in his car, Fortunato is buried in the wall.
3. Both are told in the first person.
4. Both Dolan and Fortunato die very slowly.
5. Both Fortunato and Dolan have similiar pleas:
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Poe writes:
“For the love of God, Montresor!”
“Yes”, I said, “for the love of God!”
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King writes:
“For the love of God!” he shrieked. “For the love of God, Robinson!”
“Yes,” I said, smiling. “For the love of God.”
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I found this fantastic article that goes into some depth on the subject of the two short stories. Check this out: http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showthread.php?t=4893
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More on The Cask Of Montillado:
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/poestories/section11.rhtml
http://thecaskofamontillado.info/