Salon.com > Stephen King

Must do’s: What we like this week

Sat, 29 Jun 2013 14:00:00 +0000

BOOKS

Two outsiders to the world of Shakespeare criticism have penned “Stay, Illusion!: The Hamlet Doctrine,” a slim volume on that well-known dark prince of Danes. Laura Miller deems it as "such a treat:"

The authors — a philosophy professor and a psychoanalyst who are married to each other — claim no special expertise and argue no ironclad theory. They investigate, speculate and propose. “We are outsiders to the world of Shakespeare criticism,” they write, and the thinkers they have chosen to respond to (Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamin, Hegel, Freud, Jacques Lacan and Nietzsche) are (arguably) peripheral to the field as well. The result is a slim volume on “Hamlet” that this reader found more invigorating than many a more rigorous work. All you need to engage with it is a modest acquaintance with the play and an open mind. Each of the short chapters in “Stay, Illusion!” is a springy diving board poised over a deep pool of thought. Find one you like the looks of, bounce a bit, then plunge in.

Stephen King’s “Under the Dome” is just the right amount of naughty

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 17:48:00 +0000

When I was a teenager, in the '90s, Stephen King miniseries were even more of a TV staple than they are today. Between 1990 and 1997, event adaptations of “It,” “The Tommy Knockers,” “The Stand,” “The Langoliers” and “The Shining,” among others, appeared on the major networks. Though I don’t remember all the plot details, I do remember how watching them, even just parts of them, felt: like the exact right amount of naughty.

For a teenager, these adaptations were perfectly illicit. Perverse, seedy and creepy, they had enough sex and violence to feel like something you didn’t want to watch with your parents in the room, but weren't so mature as to be totally overwhelming. (King’s books hit this balance too, which is why they are such a frequent entry point into adult fiction for teenagers.) This all flooded back to me with the power of a sense memory when I started watching CBS’s 13-episode adaptation of King’s “Under the Dome,” which premieres tonight and is absolutely going to make some 15-year-old’s summer. It's hard to say about the rest of us.

Stephen King’s biggest fear is Alzheimer’s

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Prolific best-selling author Stephen King held an AMA on Reddit Thursday evening, revealing, among other things, that his fans should not expect sequels to his works. Although fans are anticipating his sequel to "The Shining," due out this fall, when asked whether there will be a continuation of "The Eyes of the Dragon," King responded, "As a general rule, I don't revisit. Too many new stories to tell." But he also said, "I might go back there. I wrote a sequel to 'The Shining,' so anything is possible."

A sequel that definitely won't happen, however? "It": "There will be no 'It' sequel; I don't think I could bear to deal with Pennywise again. Too scary, even for me," wrote King.

King fans may be further disappointed that King also has no plans to give recurring character Randall Flagg, who has appeared in "The Stand," "The Eye of the Dragon" and "The Dark Tower" series, among other novels, his own, full life story. "Giving Flagg his own story would make him too coherent, somehow. He's the guy behind the scenes, pulling all the strings."

John Mellencamp: “I’m as left-wing as you can get”

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

John Mellencamp tells a mean ghost story. Explaining the origins of his latest effort — a collaborative country-rock album written with Stephen King and produced by T-Bone Burnett — he details murder, mayhem and mutilation in grisly detail, with a keen sense of the absurd and a sheepish admission of his own cowardice in the face of creepy. It’s not hard to imagine him holding forth over a campfire, enthralling a pack of Boy Scouts with a spooky tale while toasting marshmallows.

The ghost story in question — recounted below — is all true, Mellencamp says, and it inspired “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,” an ambitious project 15 years in the making. Mellencamp wrote the songs, King penned the libretto, and Burnett assembled an impressive cast of actors and singers, including Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Matthew McConaughey and Meg Ryan. The album was released this month, and a short tour will follow in the fall.

Mellencamp isn’t quite sure what to call “Ghost Brothers,” which recounts two generations of sibling enmity, but he does admit it gives him the creeps. Speaking to Salon, he detailed those eerie origins, explained why it took a decade and a half, and revealed the greatest horror of them all: having your song co-opted by a politician.

Must-see morning clip: John Mellencamp performs Stephen King collaboration

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:26:00 +0000

This week, singer John Mellencamp released his long-awaited "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," an unusual collaboration that uses the gripping writing of Stephen King and masterful music production of T Bone Burnett to tell a supernatural story that LA Times describes as "a macabre tale brimming with sibling rivalry, jealousy, unresolved hatred and supernatural forces of evil":

In the work that was inspired by the real-life incident, the ghosts of brothers Jack and Andy, girlfriend Jenna and a caretaker haunt the cabin 40 years down the line when the youngest brother, Joe (voiced on the recording by Kris Kristofferson) returns as an adult with his wife and two sons.

Joe wants to face haunting childhood memories of the tragedy that resulted in the deaths of his beloved brothers and their girlfriend, hoping that in doing so he can stave off similar feuding between his own sons, Frank and Drake, voiced by country star Ryan Bingham and singer-songwriter Will Dailey. Sheryl Crow sings the part of Jenna.

One of the tracks, "Truth," has been premiered exclusively on "The Colbert Report." Give it a listen, below:

What’s 2013′s “Gone Girl”? Here are this summer’s best reads

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:30:00 +0000

Step away from that Dan Brown novel! Better yet, don't let summer's distractions lead you to consider picking it up in the first place. Take our advice now and you won't find yourself scanning the shelves of dispiriting airport bookshops and beach-town drugstores before settling on yet another routine thriller. Contrary to what some mega-selling authors seem to believe, not every page turner has to be packed with ham-fisted clichés, wooden characters, pointlessly frenetic action and cheesy dialogue. Somewhere between Brown's "Inferno" and "War and Peace" lies the sweet spot where literary quality mingles freely with crackerjack storytelling.

“The Walking Dead”: Anti-libertarian critique

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

I watched the first two seasons of “The Walking Dead” over the last couple of weeks, and am as thoroughly spoiled on the events of the third season as one can be without actually watching them. And some of the familiar beats struck me, the worn narrative ruts that other stories have carved, but we rarely pay much attention to.

There comes a moment in nearly all post-apocalyptic stories when the characters are compelled to take to the road. In reality, if there is such a thing, people would do the exact opposite. They stay in familiar halls, linger on the same few streets that are most comfortable. The staples of the genre’s thought experiment would hold true in the real world: the breakdown of order, the need to rummage further and further from home. But that need to expand would likely take place in a widening gyre, not an escape onto a road to the horizon. I Am Legend is perhaps the exception that proves the rule, in which the protagonist stays in his home for the entire tale, fortifying his little suburban ranch house against the end of the world.

Stephen King: My mother-in-law scares me

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Stephen King loves scaring people, but one student at University of Massachusetts Lowell tried to find out Friday what scares him.

"Spiders, snakes ... my mother-in-law," the writer said with a grin.

The author of international bestselling books including "Carrie" and "The Shining" came to the college to talk with writing students.

English Department professor Andre Dubus III, another bestselling author and an old friend of King's, shared the stage for about an hour as students asked questions about their craft.

King told the crowd of about 125 students that his goal is to write stories that sizzle with emotion.

"I'm a confrontational writer. I want to be in your face. I want to get into your space. I want to get within kissing distance, hugging distance, choking distance, punching distance. Call it whatever you want. But I want your attention."

He got that Friday, plus some laughs.

Wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, the 65-year-old writer from Maine peppered his talk with profanity and promised students he was just a regular guy.

He said they shouldn't be in awe like he was when he was a University of Maine freshman and heard a talk from "Catch-22" author Joseph Heller.

Better than “Hunger Games”?

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Ever since the release of the 1932 pre-Code classic “The Most Dangerous Game," hunting humans for sport has been one of the world’s oldest movie pastimes. It allows the audiences to have it both ways: to feel superior to the craven fictional thrill-seekers who implement these hunts, and viscerally partake in the same process.

The genesis of the dangerous game that drives “The Hunger Games” is somewhat more complicated. It is the end product of a true cultural Cuisinart. Some point to the Japanese novel and film “Battle Royale”; others to the over-the-top Italian movie “The Tenth Victim,” based on Robert Sheckley’s 1953 short story. Then, there is Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Richard Dawson’s greatest hit “The Running Man,” or Stephen King’s other futuristic nightmare, “The Long Walk.”

In support of Stephen King

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:35:00 +0000

READING DWIGHT ALLEN'S “My Stephen King Problem: A Snob’s Notes” was like wandering through that part of the mental institution where the inmates are wearing stethoscopes and calling themselves doctors. Smart readers, unite! Let us decry the naked Emperor called Stephen King, and restore our soiled integrity! Uh, okay. After that, can we all play Thundercats?

On a more serious note, I can understand Allen’s frustration. Literature no longer wields the same cultural currency it did fifty years ago. We’re not all talking about the latest Wharton, Updike, or Carver. The Pulitzer in fiction wasn’t even awarded this year (see Laura Miller’s explanation). As corporations bloat into obese, self-perpetuating monsters, our society has fractured into thousands of small, like-minded bubbles. We don’t consume art; we produce text messages. Everybody’s a star! Reality television has-beens, unite!

Stephen King: You can be popular and good

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 22:05:00 +0000

Look, is there any easier target than Stephen King, the self-proclaimed “Literary Big Mac” of American popular fiction?

As I read Dwight Allen's piece "My Stephen King Problem," my personal bat signal went off when I came across the reader comment that “this is the most rambling, dull, unfocused and self-absorbed piece I've ever read in Salon.” Hey, I thought, some guy is stealing my act! And then, suitably outraged, I read the article. Which brings up an entirely different kind of outrage.

How shall I put this diplomatically?

Allen’s article isn’t just a bile-drenched, meandering hatchet job, it is a hatchet job with a rusty, dull blade, devoid of insight into anything other than the insecurities of its writer.