July 4, 2016

Some More Cookies! Dept. Great news! King's creepy, awesome new story "Cookie Jar," is going to be collected in the mass market paperback version of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, due in stores October 18th. Much like how "Under the Weather" made it to the paperback version of Full Dark, Now Stars, this bonus story will be exclusive to the mass market. Pre-order it now: on Amazon!

June 28, 2016

We're #1! Dept. It's official: End of Watch is a #1 New York Times Bestseller! This is important for a lot of reasons. This is Stephen Kings thirty-ninth #1 bestseller - the highest number of #1s for anyone who writes their own books. The Bill Hodges Trilogy is also King's longest series in which all books are #1 - of the eight books of the Dark Tower series, only 3 went to #1; there are only 2 books (so far) in the Talisman series. More remarkably for King's career, this continues his longest string of #1 novels ever. Ever! His previous record was six consecutive #1s: It, Misery, The Tommyknockers, The Dark Half, The Stand (Complete & Uncut), and Four Past Midnight. Now, we've got eight in a row: 11/22/63, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Doctor Sleep, Mr. Mercedes, Revival, Finders Keepers, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and now End of Watch. It's a remarkable feat for anyone. Now, we breathlessly hold our breath for Stephen King's next book. Will it be his fortieth #1? Keep your eyes on this site! (And take a look at my Chart of Darkness page for all the stats on King's chart success!)

June 23, 2016

Free Cookies! Dept. Um, so Stephen King has a brand-new story online called "Cookie Jar." It's been online since the end of May and this is somehow the first I'm hearing of it. It's a "42-Minute Read" on VQR: A National Journal of Literature and Discussion. So: new King fiction, RIGHT NOW FOR FREE! Go, read!

June 15, 2016

Scaring Us to Death! Dept. Some fantastic news coming down the pike from the Dark Tower Forum. In Iowa for the End of Watch book tour, King confirmed that not only will his & Owen King's Sleeping Beauties be out next year, but King has a new solo novel that is "scaring him to death." He also briefly touched on the fact that "the Talisman was due for a third book." ALL good news. Thanks to commenter "roseannebarr" for the information!

June 15, 2016

There's Got to Be a Mourning "After"! Dept So this goes firmly in the "whoa" category. A collector recently discovered that he had an early manuscript of The Shining, back when it was still called "The Shine." Included in this manuscript is the long-lost afterword "After the Play" (the manuscript doesn't even include "Before the Play," which may have been written later.) The piece includes a "Newslog," a Carrie-like segment featuring faux news clippings about the event, plus a version of the "Summer" chapter that completed the book. The good news: both "After" and "Before" are going to be included in the Cemetery Dance limited edition of The Shining, coming this October. The bad news: it's a sold-out print run! Who knows, maybe they will have some for sale later? Either way, this is a one-of-a-kind book! So thrilling that this is finally making it to print!

June 11, 2016

Sleeping on the Job! Dept. There've been rumblings about this in the past, but recently in Charleston on his book tour for End of Watch, King confirmed it. He and son Owen King have collaborated on a novel, titled Sleeping Beauties. This is the fourth time Stephen King has collaborated on a book-length work: his two team-ups with Peter Straub (The Talisman and Black House) and his nonfiction book about the Red Sox with Stewart O'Nan, Faithful, precede it. Sleeping Beauties is set in a woman's prison in West Virginia, but currently we don't know any more about the book. Is it set in the past? Is it contemporary? How did the writing process take place? Who are the characters? Is it horror? All good questions; absolutely no answers.

It's interesting that Stephen King and Owen King are collaborating on a book together. Stephen has worked with Owen on a short work before - "I Hate Mondays" - but it's never been published. More recently, King has collaborated with his other son, Joe Hill, on work that seems to fall more squarely in the horror genre: "Throttle" and "In the Tall Grass," both of which would have been strong additions to King's terrific Bazaar of Bad Dreams collection, but were left out. Owen King's not generally a horror writer. His stellar novel, Double Feature, feels more early John Irving or Nick Hornby; ditto his fantastic novella "We're All In This Together." Then again, one might argue that Stephen King writes a lot less horror than his reputation would seem to indicate - just look at Different Seasons, Dolores Claiborne, 11/22/63, even Joyland (despite its ghost) to know how easily and effectively King works in more mainstream lit.

The book is in its first draft right now, meaning we won't see this book until next year at the very earliest. Keep your eyes on Charnel House and I'll update you as often as I can!

June 1, 2016

Hodges Your Bets! Dept. It's here: my End of Watch review is now up!

May 12, 2016

He Derwent Thataway! Dept. You've been waiting for this since 1977, and now it's yours. In the grand recent tradition of Stephen King revisiting his early, unpublished work (Blaze, The Cannibals, "The Cat From Hell"), the new Cemetery Dance limited edition of The Shining will include the complete & uncut version of "Before the Play," King's masterful prologue. This 5-part appetizer for King's modern masterpiece will be included in all versions of CD's fantastic limited, part 3 of their Doubleday Series. Grab yourself a copy today; supplies are, by their very nature, limited: The Shining: The Deluxe Special Edition.

April 18, 2016

Retro Electric! Dept. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of The Green Mile (yes, it's been twenty years; Charnel House and The Green Mile share an anniversary), Scribner and Amazon have partnered to do an extremely cool re-release: the book will be coming out as initially intended, as a series of six installments. Back in 1996, they were chapbooks that came out about a month apart; now, they're Kindle Singles, with brand-new cover art reminiscent of Penguin Classics, coming every other week. Check it:

You can get volume one right now, delivered direct to your Kindle for the exact same price as "The Two Dead Girls" cost back in 1996. And if you want, you can pre-order the other volumes, too (and, bonus, the whole thing will end up costing less - "Coffey on the Mile," the final volume, cost $2.99 back then; now, it's the same price.) I'm really into nostalgia, so this type of thing is exciting to me, especially those awesome covers. Here's the release schedule:

"The Two Dead Girls," out now
"The Mouse on the Mile," April 26
"Coffey's Hands," May 10
"The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix," May 24
"Night Journey," June 7
"Coffey on the Mile," June 24

Fun stuff! If you've never read The Green Mile before, this is arguably the best way. Enjoy the journey!

April 12, 2016

Just a Little Bazaar! Dept. The mass-market paperback for King's stunning collection of short fiction, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, will arrive in stores October 18th, a little bit before Halloween. With Finders Keepers just out and Doctor Sleep finally coming to mass-market on July 26th, the only King book yet to come back to bookstores as a mass-market is, ironically, Revival. More news as it develops! Pre-order your copy now!

April 10, 2016

There's Got To Be Something Better Than In Between! Dept. In a recent interview with Radio Times (check it out here), King confirmed everyone's fears and also bolstered their hopes:

I’m between [writing projects] now. I’m collaborating on a book with my son Owen ... The book goes back and forth. We’re almost done with it, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do next.

For those of you lucky readers who have read Owen's books, you know his style and Stephen King's are somewhat dissimilar. We're All In This Together, his story collection, headlined with a mainstream literary story and featured some bizarre fantastical tales - all well-written, all somewhat bonkers. His novel, Double Feature reads like a lost John Irving novel, and that's high, high praise. It will be interesting to see and read a collaboration between these two. King has collaborated with his other son, Joe Hill, on the novella "Throttle" and the short story "In the Tall Grass," but this would be the first time he's co-authored a full-length fiction project with anyone in his family (indeed with anyone but Peter Straub). And alas, the idea that he'd be between writing projects is dismaying. Let's hope that changes soon!

April 4, 2016

We Got Title! Dept. Today on his official website, King confirmed the title of his story for the upcoming Lawrence Block anthology, In Sunlight or In Shadow: "The Music Room." Pretty evocative title - is the music room haunted, maybe? - but we've got nothing further to go on yet. While we're all still champing at the bit for a new novel mention, the news of a new short story and a new essay (in the upcoming Hearts In Suspension) is tiding us over nicely.

April 4, 2016

Essays in Sadness! Dept. Ah well, I had a feeling the news was too good to last. As reported by our good friend Lilja over at Lilja's Library (via King's message board), Hearts In Suspension is

...a non-fiction book with essays by Stephen and others about his time as a student at the University of Maine. It's tentatively set for release in October but that's subject to change.

Ah well. At least we know we're getting that new short story in the Lawrence Block collection and now a new essay. I guess we'll just have to wait for a new book. And wait. And wait.

April 1, 2016

Don't Keep Us In Suspense! Dept. Here's something interesting. Today on Twitter, Stephen King dropped a duo of interesting tweets:

University of Maine, 1970, after Kent State. A gold star if you can spot me among the protesters. pic.twitter.com/tsNKVM6Msg

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 2, 2016

Photo's from the forthcoming book, HEARTS IN SUSPENSION. Hopefully this fall.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 2, 2016

Now, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Well, first off: here's King:

Second off: is this a new book? Is this a sequel to Hearts in Atlantis? In Stephen King Goes to the Movies, King revealed that there was a new story titled "The House on Benefit Street," a leftover story that had yet to be written. Perhaps, now, it has ... and perhaps there's a whole new book surrounding it. All I know is, there seems to be a new book coming, and the long wait for news of a post-End of Watch book might be over. Right now, all this is speculation (and, who knows, it might be an April Fool's prank). But keep your eyes on Charnel House, and we'll fill you in as soon as we can. This fall, huh? We can wait till the fall.

April 1, 2016

Not a Joke, Not a Drill! Dept. Well, it's not the new book news we've been waiting for, but it's the next best thing. Lawrence Block, brilliant mystery & crime novelist (whose first book featuring Matthew Scudder appeared as a limited edition featuring a foreword by Stephen King) has edited a curious and exciting new book featuring stories inspired by the work of American emotional realist painter Edward Hopper. The roster of authors is fantastic - everyone from Joe R. Lansdale to Joyce Carol Oates to Block himself - but of interest here is what appears to be a brand-new story by Stephen King. No news on the story yet, but using deductive reasoning (as these are stories written to a theme), it doesn't seem premature to believe this is all new work. The book, In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper is out in hardcover December 6, and you can order it now!

March 23, 2016

Stephen King's British publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, has released a new statement about King's upcoming Bill Hodges' trilogy finale, End of Watch:

The cell rings twice, and then his old partner in his ear... 'I'm at the scene of what appears to be a murder-suicide. I'd like you to come and take a look. Bring your sidekick with you, if she's available...'

Retired Detective Bill Hodges now runs a two-person firm called Finders Keepers with his partner Holly Gibney. They met in the wake of the 'Mercedes Massacre' when a queue of people was run down by the diabolical killer Brady Hartsfield.

Brady is now confined to Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, in an unresponsive state. But all is not what it seems: the evidence suggests that Brady is somehow awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.

When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill's heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.

The clock is ticking in unexpected ways ...

Both a stand-alone novel of heart-pounding suspense and a sublimely terrifying final episode in the Hodges trilogy, End of Watch takes the series into a powerful new dimension.

Still, insanely, no news on a new book following End of Watch, and I'm really hoping that title doesn't prove to be prescient. Keep your eyes here for all the news as it comes!

March 23, 2016

The stars of 11.22.63 are digging my reviews of the show on Decider! James Franco:

Nice recap of the 💥11/22/63💥 episode I directed:

Link in bio:https://t.co/9qT6rqgZfT https://t.co/cHaVvdgO4K

— James Franco (@JamesFrancoTV) March 16, 2016

(Direct link here.)

And Kelly McCormack:

MY FIRST GIF!!! Thanks @Kevidently for the lovely shout-out in @decider for my role in @112263OnHulu #112263onhulu https://t.co/NHHrKo3kn4

— Kelly McCormack (@kelmccormack) March 22, 2016

This is awesome! More reviews to come: keep following me on Decider.com!

February 23, 2016

Just found this. Anyone know what it is?

February 22, 2016

More Miniseries Madness Dept.! My new review for the second episode of 11.22.63 is now up on Decider.com. It's called "The Kill Floor" and I compare it, favorably, to Quantum Leap. YES!

February 16, 2016

Miniseries Madness Dept.! I've mostly stayed away from reviews of visual adaptation of King's work here on this site (the closest I've gotten is the The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book), but now I'm writing episode reviews for the JJ Abrams miniseries adaptation of 11.22.63! The first episode review - for "The Rabbit Hole" - is up now! Check it out and I hope you like it!

February 2, 2016

Our Desperation Has Been Regulated! Dept. Whether it was a plan on along, or Audible started listening to my increased Twitter pleas, both the unabridged versions of Desperation and The Regulators are now available on audio!

This is especially important for any fans of audiobooks, for several reasons: 1. the previously available versions of the audiobooks were both well-read by Kathy Bates (Desperation) and Kate Nelligan (The Regulators) ... but both were unfortunately unabridged. 2. These current versions have never been released commercially, though libraries loaned them as books on tape when the novels were contemporary (1996). 3. The readers could not be any better. The unabridged Desperation is read by Stephen King himself, while The Regulators is read by the late, great superstar of audio, Frank Muller! Both books come to life on these audio recordings - if you've ever enjoyed a Stephen King reading (especially The Waste Lands, Wind Through the Keyhole, or Needful Things) or a Frank Muller (especially Green Mile, Different Seasons, or non-King books as varied as 1984 and Moby-Dick), you owe it to yourself to check out these recordings.

Both books are available on Audible right now, so if you have some credits or are willing to drop a few bills, grab these long-sought audiobooks ASAP. Now the wait begins for Pet Sematary....

January 7, 2016

20 Years Strong! Dept. We are officially twenty years old, folks. Remember way back when I was first up? My url was entragian.com, because Desperation was new and I was so excited. My page background was black and all my text was white, because I thought it was easy to read. And fun! I had a .gif of a chain breaking, and if you clicked on it, you could visit Stephen King LINKS. Oh man, the weird old days.

It's 2016. Looking to make some cosmetic changes to the page this year, starting with the banner. As always, I'll be bringing you the best content as it comes, including a full-length review of End of Watch, plus whatever else comes up. WILL anything else be coming up? We finally got word from Ms. Mod over on the official King message board today, when someone said what we were all thinking: "It worries me that we have no news on any projects coming down the pike past END OF WATCH."

That won't be the last book. He's working on a couple projects at the moment but I can't say more than that.

Okay, okay. SIGH OF RELIEF. What could the new work be? Talisman 3? A new Dark Tower midquel - Battle of Jericho, maybe? Or my preference: something completely new? Sadly, we have to wait. And, like Tom Petty said, waiting is the hardest part.

See you around 2016!

November 14, 2015

Bazaar of Bad(ass) Sales! Dept. Stephen King's newest book, the uncommonly strong The Bazaar of Bad Dreams has hit #1 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction bestseller list, making it King's thirty-eighth #1 novel, making him still the author with the most #1 books he actually wrote. This particular achievement is exciting for a number of reasons, not the least of which because it's the first #1 book of shorter fiction since 2002's Everything's Eventual. While it's unusual for any author to place a book of short stories at #1, King's collections have been a little up and down throughout his career. Coming right after The Shining, King's first hardcover bestseller, Night Shift (1978) failed to place, making it King's last mass-produced fiction hardcover to miss the chart entirely. King's first novella collection, Different Seasons (1982) and his follow-up story collection, Skeleton Crew (1985) - both released at the height of King mania - hit the charts in a big way, slamming into the top spot. Seasons stayed there for three weeks, and Crew an astonishing ten.

Four Past Midnight, King's second novella collection, followed in 1990, and stuck fast at #1 for five weeks, but Nightmares & Dreamscapes, released just three years later, stalled at #2. Everything's Eventual, King's first short-works collection in the Scribner era, hit #1 in 2002 and stayed there for two weeks before dropping back down. Since, though, collections have seemed to follow the Nightmares & Dreamscapes method: the masterful Just After Sunset only rose to #2 in 2008, as did his third novella collection, Full Dark, No Stars, in 2010. So this Bazaar of Bad Dreams is terrific news, not just for King fans but fans of the short story. A terrific collection that will hopefully sell well through the holiday season, and maybe stick around at #1 for awhile. Congratulations to Mr. King for the big 3-8!

Bad Dreams for Review! Dept. My review of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is now up! Check it out!

November 10, 2015

I'm Waiting for the Paperback! Dept. Our long national nightmare is nearly over. Since 1998, Scribner has been angling to make King seen as a prestige author - horror, sure, often, but also a Serious Writer. Bag of Bones had blurbs by Amy Tan on it instead of Jack Ketchum, for instance. One of the side-effects of this has been the method of release. The hardcover still comes first, but it's now followed about six months later by a trade paperback, as opposed to about a year for the mass market, as had been the practice for most King books since Carrie. Wherefore the mass market paperbacks? Sometimes they delay. Sometimes they don't come out at all. It took five years and the popularity of the TV show to get Under the Dome out in mass market. King's enormously popular 11/22/63 has been out since 2011, with no mass market in sight. Ditto the Stoker Award-winning Doctor Sleep, out in 2013.

Now, all that is about to change.

I'm declaring 2016 the year of Stephen King mass market paperbacks ... even though we're starting a little early. The first book in the Bill Hodges trilogy, Mr. Mercedes, is coming to paperback on December 29, 2015 ... and that's just the start. In rapid succession, we're then getting 11/22/63 (likely due to the tie-in possibilities of the new Hulu series) on January 26, 2016. Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges #2) comes to mass market paperback on March 22, followed by Doctor Sleep on July 26th (with a stopover in hardcover country when End of Watch, the final Bill Hodges novel, arrives in early July).

This is great news for a lot of reasons, most importantly that here's a significant portion of King's readership who remain paperback readers. He's still a hit with teens and young people, and paperbacks are still all they can afford. These releases will allow everyone who wants a Stephen King book to get a Stephen King book. Plus, I now get to plug the gaps in my paperback collection. Hooray!

November 2, 2015

How Bizarre, How Bizarre! Dept.: IT'S RELEASE DAY! Today, Stephen King's newest book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams hits store shelves and online-ordered porches today! Bazaar follows a rich tradition of Stephen King short story collections. As early as his fourth book - Night Shift (1978), King has been consistently collecting and presenting his short stories (and occasionally poems) to the world at large every six to nine years or so. From the popular high water mark of 1985's Skeleton Crew to the sprawling and occasionally brilliant Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993), the return to #1 with Everything's Eventual (2002), and the creative peak of Just After Sunset (2008), these collections have dotted the King landscape like little islands in a vast sea of novels. In his introduction to Bazaar, King answers plainly why he still writes short stories: simply, because it's fun to do it, and because it helps him work on his craft. This continued enthusiasm for the short story is heartening, especially after his more equivocal introduction in Everything's Eventual, where he seemed to hit a low point in wanting to write shorter fiction, and his renewed excitement for the form in Sunset.

A full review to come!

October 27, 2015

So, here it is: I've been running Charnel House for nearly half my life (seriously: started when I was twenty-one, and now I'm forty) and in all that time, I've never asked for donations. But it's a monthly site and I pay for it out of pocket, so I figure, why not try it now? There's a little donation link under the banner, so if you want to send Charnel House some dough to pay for upkeep, feel free! Thanks for reading and being amazing!

October 12, 2015

Backlist Boogalo Dept.! Scribner just got the majority of King's back catalog from Viking. The press release!

Major Publishing Agreement Includes Print, Digital and Audio Formats To be Published by Scribner, Pocket Books, Gallery, and Simon & Schuster Audio

NEW YORK, October 12, 2015—In a landmark publishing agreement, Stephen King’s publisher of twenty years Scribner has acquired North American and Open Market print, e-book, and audio rights to almost the entirety of the bestselling author’s body of work. The 27 titles in the agreement include classic Stephen King novels such as: IT, Misery, Dolores Claiborne, Christine, Cujo, The Dead Zone, and Firestarter; the novella collections Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight; and the first four volumes of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series (please see below for a full list of titles). E-book and e-audio editions of the acquired titles will be available from Scribner and Simon & Schuster Audio beginning on January 1, 2016. Print editions in trade and mass market paperback from the Scribner, Pocket Books, and Gallery imprints will follow. News of the agreement was announced today by Nan Graham, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Scribner and Stephen King’s editor.

“It’s a no-brainer, really,” said Stephen King. “Good publishing and good relationships equals happy writers and long shelf life. I know from experience that this group of people—at Scribner, at Pocket, at Simon & Schuster Audio, and throughout the company—values the work I do, and wants to find as many readers as possible for the books I write, both now and in the future. Trusting them with this large body of work is my pleasure. We are excellent allies and good friends.”

“Since we first began publishing Stephen King with Bag of Bones, he has continually challenged and inspired us, bringing to us new and exciting books of astonishing range and variety, that are each and every one an event for reader and publisher alike,” said Carolyn Reidy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster, Inc. “So after nearly twenty years in which he has energized and touched nearly every part of our company, we well know and understand the strength and power of his backlist, and are simply overjoyed to have this rare opportunity to bring to Simon & Schuster this vibrant and vital catalog of Stephen’s earlier works.”

“As we are daily grateful to Scribner’s Max Perkins for F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, our successors will be grateful to us for Stephen King, whose books will get under the skin of readers long after we are gone,” said Nan Graham. “Scribner is honored and thrilled to have published Steve for two decades, to look forward to a future of publishing him, and to take on this magnificent backlist. In addition to being one of the greatest storytellers of all time, Stephen King is a stellar citizen of the book world. We love his writing. We love him.”

“For almost the entire course of my long career in publishing, Stephen King has been a towering feature of the international book publishing landscape,” said Susan Moldow, President of the Scribner Publishing Group. “Empires have risen and fallen, but Stephen King has continued to both dominate bestseller and year-end best-of lists. It is a joy beyond imagining to welcome these core titles to Scribner’s venerable backlist.”

“Pocket Books enthusiastically embraces adding these wonderful books to our existing King backlist program which continues to provide robust sales for all of our booksellers in paperback,” said Louise Burke, President of the Gallery Books Publishing Group.

“Stephen King’s support for the audiobook medium is unmatched by any author,” said Chris Lynch, President and Publisher, Simon & Schuster Audio. “From his willingness to publish original audiobooks to his advocacy of the joys of listening to his occasional stints behind the microphone, Steve has been the perfect publishing partner from day one. We are thrilled to expand that partnership.”

In the two decades since Scribner became Stephen King’s publisher, he has written many of his most critically-acclaimed books, from Lisey’s Story to On Writing, from the culmination of the Dark Tower series to Under the Dome and 11/22/63. In this time, he has also won numerous literary honors, from the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to the National Medal of Arts, recently presented by President Obama. King’s audiobooks have won multiple Audie Awards, including Best Fiction wins for Doctor Sleep, Duma Key, and The Talisman and Audible Audiobook of the Year wins for 11/22/63 and Doctor Sleep. Stephen King’s short story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams will be published by Scribner on November 3. Nan Graham negotiated the agreement on behalf of Scribner, Gallery/Pocket Books, and Simon & Schuster Audio with literary agent Chuck Verrill of Darhansoff & Verrill.

Here's the full list of titles:

Christine
Cujo
Cycle of the Werewolf
The Dark Half
The Dead Zone
Desperation
Different Seasons
Dolores Claiborne
The Eyes of the Dragon
Firestarter
Four Past Midnight
Gerald’s Game
IT
Misery
Needful Things
Rose Madder
Skeleton Crew
The Tommyknockers
The Long Walk (writing as Richard Bachman)
Roadwork (writing as Richard Bachman)
The Running Man (writing as Richard Bachman)
Thinner (writing as Richard Bachman)
The Regulators (writing as Richard Bachman)
The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower series)
The Drawing Of The Three (The Dark Tower series)
The Wastelands (The Dark Tower series)
Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower series)

Also acquired earlier: Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Talisman, Black House and Pet Sematary.

Not yet acquired: The Stand, Danse Macabre, Joyland, Colorado Kid, and Night Shift.

Let's see what all this brings! My big hope? Pet Sematary on audio, and King's version of Desperation and Frank Muller's The Regulators out commercially!

October 9, 2015

Watching the Detectives Dept. Release date! Description! Cover art! It looks like the final part of the Bill Hodges trilogy, End of Watch, will be released on June 7, 2016 (currently, King's only scheduled book for next year). From the book jacket:

IN ROOM 217 OF THE LAKES REGION TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY CLINIC, SOMETHING HAS AWAKENED. SOMETHING EVIL.

Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.

Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibney, who delivered the blow to Hartsfield's head that put him on the brain injury ward. Brady also remembers that. When Bill and Holly are called to a murder-suicide with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put not only their lives at risk, but those of Hodges’s friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Because Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Bill Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.

In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the supernatural suspense that has been his trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and up-all-night entertainment.

Will this book hit #1 like the other two books in the series? Will we get an announcement about a new book any time soon? Will King return to the trilogy at any point in the future? Keep an eye on this space for all those answers and MORE!

September 21, 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Dept. Today, Stephen King turns 68! He's got four decades to catch up with Mother Abigail; let's hope he keeps writing till then. Happy birthday, Mr. King, and once again, thank you!

September 9, 2015

Suck It, Harold Bloom Dept.! Tomorrow, President Obama will be awarding a National Medal of Arts to Stephen King for "for his contributions as an author. One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, Mr. King combines his remarkable storytelling with his sharp analysis of human nature. For decades, his works of horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy have terrified and delighted audiences around the world." This is an absolutely thrilling validation of King's talent and influence on the world at large. We here at Charnel House believe it couldn't go to a better novelist.

For more, click here!

August 28, 2015

Fecundity Dept.! King has written an insightful article titled "Can a Novelist Be Too Productive?" for the New York Times, discussing writers who have written over 400 books to those who have written three or four. This is one of those essays that absolutely belongs in a book of King nonfiction, should he ever choose to release a collection like that.

July 30, 2015

Cover Me Dept.! We now have a cover for the US paperback of Finders Keepers, a lot more sepia and moody than the more colorful hardcover. Judging by the dimensions, it seems as if this won't be a trade paperback, but will be one of those oversized paperbacks that are for some reason (there are a few reasons) are all the rage. Recently, I was in Paris (yes, webmasters sometimes get to leave the country) and they were selling the "international edition" of Mr. Mercedes, and it was the size of the mass market paperbacks as they were before the 2000s. So, if you're in need of symmetry, look into that concept. If you're not, go nuts on this version! Release date to come!

July 1, 2015

Self-Promotion Dept.! All! I wrote a book! It's true! I wrote it over the course of the last few years for Cemetery Dance. It's called 13 Years: Stephen King in the Twenty-First Century Since 2000, I’ve been writing and publishing my Stephen King thoughts through a variety of media. I’ve been running this site since the antique year of 1996. Some of these pieces were initially published as portions of chapbooks through Cemetery Dance Publications. More of the recent work originally appeared on FEARnet.com. Not a lot has been written about King’s most contemporary work. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was an explosion of writing on King. Since the turn of the century, however, the (somewhat scant) books on King seem to remain focused back on those “glory days,” even though King is doing some of his best and most interesting work now. Recent work, like Bev Vincent’s Twenty-First Century King, point the way toward correcting that. With 13 Years, I hope to forward the momentum. There’s a lot of great stuff out there, just waiting to be unearthed. Here’s a shovel.

June 12, 2015

Watch Out Dept.! It seems as if the title for the third Bill Hodges book will not be The Suicide Prince, as previously believed. Ms. Mod on King's message board has confirmed that the title is now End of Watch. While it's a perfectly fine title and makes sense as the final book in a series, it's a bit more generic than the more evocative Suicide Prince. Ah well. Still looking forward to it!

June 4, 2015

Emma Let You Finish Dept.! Stephen King talks all about his literary life in this super fun new interview with The New York Times. Books he loves, books he hasn't read, books he's championing - all right here! Check it out!

June 2, 2015

Laydown Dept.! Folks, today is the day! Finders Keepers is out in bookstores and online retailers right now! It's a terrific book (you can read my review on my Finders Keepers page), and you'll want to snatch it up as soon as you can! Happy reading, all!

June 1, 2015

We Found It! Dept. My review of Finders Keepers, mostly spoiler-free, is now up on its own Finders Keepers page, right here on Charnel House. The short of it: it was fantastic. King said it was probably better than Mr. Mercedes, and I have to think he's right, even though I loved that book. The book comes out tomorrow and you guys should buy it at once.

May 24, 2015

Butterflies At Night Dept.! The full cover for The Bazaar of Bad Dreams has now been revealed - eerie and desolate and frightening. With this on the horizon and Finders Keepers coming next week (next week!), 2015 is going to be a full, exciting year for King fans!

April 20, 2015

How Bazaar Dept.! We finally have a TABLE OF CONTENTS! And it's a little weird, so let's look at the Scribner press release and the TOC first...

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is a thrilling collection of twenty stories – some brand new, some published in magazines, all entirely brilliant and assembled in one book for the first time – with a wonderful bonus: in addition to his introduction to the whole collection, King gives readers a fascinating introduction to each story with autobiographical comments on their origins and motivation. This will delight all his readers including those who loved his insight into the craft of writing in his non-fiction title On Writing.

Stephen King is the master of the short story form – the No. 1 bestselling writer has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of novellas and short story fiction since his first collection Night Shift was published 35 years ago. He describes the nature of the form in his introduction to the book: "There's something to be said for a shorter, more intense experience. It can be invigorating, sometimes even shocking, like a waltz with a stranger you will never see again, or a kiss in the dark, or a beautiful curio for sale laid out on a cheap blanket at a street bazaar."

And indeed in this collection there is a curio for every reader – a man who keeps reliving the same life, repeating the same mistakes over and over again, a columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries, a poignant tale about the end of the human race and a firework competition between neighbours which reaches and explosive climax. This latter, excitingly, will be launched initially as an audio-only edition – find out more here.

"I made them especially for you," says King to his Constant Reader. "Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth."

Table of Contents:

Author's note
Introduction
1. Mile 81
2. Premium Harmony
3. Batman and Robin Have an Altercation
4. The Dune
5. Bad Little Kid – New
6. A Death
7. The Bone Church
8. Morality
9. Afterlife
10. Ur – First Time In Print
11. Herman Wouk is Still Alive
12. Under the Weather
13. Blockade Billy
14. Mister Yummy – New
15. Tommy
16. The Little Green God of Agony
17. That Bus is Another World
18. Obits – New
19. Drunken Fireworks – First Time In Print
20. Summer Thunder

Okay, so let's get into this a little. "Blockade Billy"? That was unexpected. In 2010, small publisher Cemetery Dance released it as its own slim book; Scribner followed suit, and the book as a book hit #9 on the New York Times bestseller list. Now, it's always been an unusual book in and of itself: extremely short for a full-on novel, so much so that it was paired with "Morality" in the Scribner version to up the page count. As it stands now, it seems as if it holds two places in the official canon, much like when the movie tie-in version of The Mist was released as a separate paperback (which, huh, also went to #9. Serendipity?)

Moving on: anyone else disappointed to not see some classic uncollected works in here? In recent years, Cemetery Dance has published both "Weeds" and "The Crate" in their Shivers anthologies, and "The Glass Floor" in the magazine. When "The Cat From Hell" showed up in Just After Sunset, I had hopes that some of these older pieces would show up in new collections. And whither "Squad D"? Maybe King could do a new version of Six Stories and just publish all these stories that superfans have wanted collected for years. Maybe?

I'm also a little surprised at "Under the Weather." No, it wasn't officially part of the four-novella construct of Full Dark, No Stars, but it did appear in print with those stories in the paperback version. There's a bit of a factual error in the press release, too: both "The Bone Church" and "Tommy" are poems, not stories - King's first officially collected poems since "Brooklyn August in Nightmares & Dreamscapes.

What is VERY exciting is the brand-new stuff: "Bad Little Kid" (new for US audiences), "Mister Yummy" (never even heard of this one), "Obits," and "Drunken Fireworks." "Fireworks" will be released on audio before the book comes out, but I won't listen to it until after (similar to how I bought the New Yorker with "A Death" but haven't read it. Also, of course, King's new intro will hopefully give us some insight into his process and his career at this point, and it will just add to his non-fiction lineup.

It's looking to be a great year for King readers. Finders Keepers is getting strong early press and this will be a great way to fill out the year. Still nothing on 2016, but hopefully soon!

March 24, 2015

King for a Day Dept.! For one day only, you can pick up an e-copy of Dark Screams, Volume 1 for only a buck! The book contains the short story "Weeds," by Stephen King, which has never been collected in a King anthology. "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" was a great adaptation, but the story is darker, sadder, and vintage King. In addition, you get short works from these other giants: Kelley Armstrong, Bill Pronzini, Simon Clark, and Ramsey Campbell! Edited by Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar, this is a compulsory collection. But it won't be a dollar for long, so grab it today!

March 18, 2015

JOYLAND COMES TO HARDCOVER FOR THE MASSES! But first, some brief history of King's paperback originals. When The Green Mile came out in 6 monthly paperback installments in 1996, it was a worldwide phenomenon. No hardcover printings were forthcoming. But because King's contract for rights with New American Library was shorter than most of his books, when King made the jump to Simon & Schuster/Scribner, his new publisher capitalized on his recent success with Bag of Bones and Hearts In Atlantis and released a collected hardcover edition for a mass audience (a limited edition from Subterranean Press came much later).

When King released The Colorado Kid for Hard Case Crime in 2005, it was the same story initially. Enter limited edition publisher PS Publishing, who offered myriad hardcover versions to the collector's market ... but for whatever reasons, King's first book for Hard Case never really gripped people as hard as some of his other books. It's a great little book, but it never really got the mass appeal as, say, The Shining or The Dark Half.

Joyland, on the other hand, was a bona fide phenomenon. It was a six-week #1 success over the summer of 2013 in paperback - King's first #1 paperback in over a decade and Hard Case Crime's first #1 ever. Limited edition publisher Titan Books released a hardcover of only 1,500 copies worldwide (plus even smaller signed lettered and signed numbered editions) - an alarmingly small printing for a huge success like Joyland.

Well, for those of you who have clamored for a hardcover that everyone can get their hands on, worry no longer! On September 8th, a fully illustrated, mass market hardcover version of Joyland is coming. The press release:

Hardcover Edition from Hard Case Crime to Feature Never-Before-Seen Art by Glen Orbik, Robert McGinnis, Mark Summers and Pat Kinsella.

Hard Case Crime, the award-winning line of pulp-styled crime novels from editor Charles Ardai and publisher Titan Books, announced today that in September 2015 they will publish a new illustrated hardcover edition of their bestselling title of all time, Stephen King’s JOYLAND. The acclaimed coming-of-age story set in a possibly haunted small-town amusement park spent more than 25 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller List in paperback and ebook format. Aside from certain extremely limited editions for collectors, however, no hardcover edition of the book has ever been published.

The new edition will feature a brand new cover painting by popular Hard Case Crime artist Glen Orbik, whose other covers for the series include books by Gore Vidal and Michael Crichton; a map of the Joyland amusement park illustrated in the classic ‘mapback’ style by Susan Hunt Yule; and more than twenty interior illustrations by acclaimed artists Robert McGinnis, Mark Summers and Pat Kinsella.

SUPER exciting news! Plus, you can now pre-order the book here! With Finders Keepers and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, this is a great way to round out 2015!

March 3, 2015

NEW STORY ALERT! Coming soon in the March 9th issue of The New Yorker comes the new Stephen King short story, "A Death." This, along with the new audio-first tale, "Drunken Fireworks," will be included in King's apparently massive upcoming collection, Bazaar of Bad Dreams. While we wait for the full story list, we can actually read the story on the New Yorker's website! Whoa! The first new King in 2015!

January 30, 2015

WE HAVE COVER!!!

Finally, the cover of Finders Keepers, the sequel to last year's awesome Mr. Mercedes. Finders Keepers is coming this June! Now, if only we could get a story list for Bazaar of Bad Dreams...

January 22, 2014

We're in the quiet time of Stephen King news, which is quite a change from the flurry of excitement at the end of last year! As we wait for Finders Keepers and the story list for the Bazaar of Bad Dreams, let's get excited about a new book about King that's going to be kick-ass!

That's right, kids! A THIRD edition of George Beahm's seminal work on Stephen King, The Stephen King Companion, will be released this year! And PS, I have an essay in it! YEP! Keep an eye out for new information as I get it!

November 20, 2014

We found it! Scribner has just released a bit of a description for the upcoming sequel to Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and it sounds awesome:

“Wake up, genius.” So begins King’s instantly riveting story about a vengeful reader. The genius is John Rothstein, a Salinger-like icon who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.

Morris hides the money and the notebooks, and then he is locked away for another crime. Decades later, a boy named Pete Sauberg finds the treasure, and now it is Pete and his family that Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson must rescue from the ever-more deranged and vengeful Morris when he’s released from prison after thirty-five years.

Not since Misery has King played with the notion of a reader whose obsession with a writer gets dangerous. Finders Keepers is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also King writing about how literature shapes a life—for good, for bad, forever.

Amazing website Lilja's Library also reports that the moderator of King's message board offered some tidbits about the book. You can apparently leave your perceptions at the door ... and watch out for an intense ending:

No. I can't say too much without giving away more of the plot but you won't feel like it's a rehash of Misery.

What I will say is that I do want to reread this one as there have been edits since the first draft. I still get goosebumps every time I think about the ending so am glad that part hasn't been changed from what Steve told me when I asked.

Getting more and more excited about this by the day!

November 12, 2014

More Missing! This is something I wish books on Stephen King would do more often. Last year, Stephen King expert Rocky Wood published a revised edition of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished, with direct input by Stephen King himself. Now, Wood has released a slender new volume that updates all that material - new uncovered work, new information on work previously uncovered, and new clarifications and confirmations by King himself. This 2014 is an invaluable and unique resource, a supplemental guide for readers interested in the lost work of King, and for fans of Wood's highly readable and endlessly fascinating other work. There's great stuff in this little book, including a full description of a play King wrote and starred in when he was a senior in high school. Published by the Overlook Connection Press, Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - 2014 Update is available for purchase NOW!

November 11, 2014

REVIVAL RELEASE DATE! Today's the day, folks. King's final novel of 2014 is out today, and boy is it a doozy. Go check it out, and then take a look at my mostly spoiler-free review of Revival!

November 8, 2014

WE'VE GOT TITLE! In an interview with the Toronto Sun titled, "Stephen King Is Going As Fast as He Can," King revealed the title of his new short story collection: called The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, he describes it as being, "a pretty fat book" containing "about 20 short tales." Any previously unpublished? We'll see! The release date is November 20th, 2015, and will reportedly collect no stories with which he's collaborated with other writers. Wow! More information on content to come. Next year's looking pretty amazing!

Check out the entire Toronto Sun interview here!

November 7, 2014

The ... Fall? In a terrific new interview with GoodReads, King revealed that he is musing on a lot of new ideas about his older work. He seems to have at least one more Dark Tower novel in him, this one about the fall of Gilead. And, interestingly, he has a short story about The Stand in mind, featuring a trope he's given into a couple times in the past:

There's one Stand story that still needs to be told, although it's not a long one. I happen to know that when [Stand characters] Stu Redman and Frannie Goldsmith headed back to New England (with their baby), Frannie fell into a dry well. That's all I know. I'd have to write the story to find out what happens.

Check out the whole interview here!

November 6, 2014

Misery Revisited? We got the first description of King's upcoming sequel to Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, today from Simon & Schuster:

A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far, a book about the power of storytelling—starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes.

Sounds sort of like Misery by way of JD Salinger. I'm intrigued! The release date is June 2nd, 2015. I'll let you know as soon as I know more!

October 29, 2014

Beyond "what scares you?" In issue 1221 - with a cover date of November 6, but due out this Friday - Rolling Stone magazine has an in-depth and probing interview with King. There are some choice insights - his true feelings on The Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher, his take on the symbolism of Annie Wilkes - and a lot of terrific questions that go quite a bit deeper than the standard puff piece. Well worth your time seeking out!

September 21, 2014

HAPPY 67th BIRTHDAY, STEPHEN KING!

It's been a pretty good year for Stephen King so far. Mr. Mercedes got good reviews and hit #1. Doctor Sleep won Best Novel at the Stoker Awards. Joyland hot mass market paperback and ebook. Cemetery Dance announced their Stephen King Doubleday Book Series. The short works, "The Ring," and "That Bus Is Another World" arrived, along with a promise that a new short fiction collection will be coming next fall. And soon, a return to full-on horror in King's upcoming Revival. Thanks for never slowing down, Mr. King.

On a personal note, I decided to take a picture of three of the earliest King books I owned. I've had the newest of these paperbacks, Christine, for twenty-four years. The other ones were inherited; I got Drawing of the Three (two years before The Gunslinger!) in 1989 and Night Shift ... wow, I got Night Shift in 1987. Twenty-seven years; most of my life. Thanks again, Stephen King. You've been defining fiction for me since I was twelve, and this thirty-nine-year-old still loves it.

June 29, 2014

NEW STORY ALERT! "That Bus Is Another World," a new short story by King, will be featured in the August issue of Esquire magazine, where, in past years, one could find "The Gingerbread Girl" and "In the Tall Grass." Keep a look for this issue at newsstands wherever fine magazines featuring Cameron Diaz's butt are sold!

June 27, 2014

New story collection coming! We've been waiting for this news for a couple years: the mod on King's message board confirmed that a new short story collection is coming in fall 2015. The contents haven't been set in stone, but apparently, "Bad Little Kid," the story that was published exclusively in French and German earlier this year, will be in it. (Someone online recently stated that if King does another book or story that wasn't available to every single person in the world, they would burn all their books. I wonder if this news will stay the immolation?!)

June 13, 2014

Even more book news? Maybe? Recently, King published a statement about his 2015 publishing roster. There's more info on Finders Keepers and hints at a new short-fiction collection. The meat of it goes like this:

Dear Constant Reader,

Mr. Mercedes is the first volume of a projected trilogy concerning Bill Hodges, his friendsÖand his enemies. The second volume, Finders Keepers, is finished (in first draft, at least) and will be published in the first half of 2015, perhaps followed by a book of new stories in the fall (or not). Anyway, these three novels seem to revolve around the City Center Massacre that opens Mr. Mercedes. Because of that, I wanted to post a complete list of those killed and injured in Brady Hartsfield’s attack. Some of these unfortunates have other parts to play. As always, I’m glad you’re along for the ride, but be warned: there are some sharp turns ahead, and I’m a really crazy driver.

Stephen King

To check out the full "toll" list, click here. It just gets better and better!

June 13, 2014

We're #1, Again! In its debut week on the chart, perhaps buoyed by good reviews and promise of a trilogy, Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes hits #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. For those keeping track at home, Mr. Mercedes marks King's thirty-fifth #1 bestseller; he remains the author with the most #1s in history. Another thing to be proud of: this has been King's longest streak of hardcover #1s since the early 2000s. His last four hardcovers - 11/22/63, The Wind Through the Keyhole, Doctor Sleep, and now this one have all hit #1. If the upcoming Revival hits #1, it will surpass his 4-book streak of 2001/2002 (Dreamcatcher, Black House, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual). The last time he had a run of five #1 hardcovers in a row was the span of 1987-1991 (Misery, The Tommyknockers, The Dark Half, The Stand, and Four Past Midnight.) Very exciting times to be a King fan AND a chart nerd!

Take a look at my page The Chart of Darkness for more on King's chart history!

June 10, 2014

More Mercedes!? Earlier today, King tweeted this:

MR. MERCEDES is the first novel in a projected trilogy. Hodges, Jerome, and Holly will return in FINDERS KEEPERS next year.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 10, 2014

Meaning not only do we have confirmation on a new NOVEL, but confirmation on a new SERIES, of which we've all just read Part One. How cool is THAT!? The second book in the proposed trilogy, Finders Keepers, will be out sometime in 2015 ... more on that whenever I have it! Who would have thought that, this late in his career, King would not only craft his first pure suspense thriller, but also spin it into a three-book series? There are always surprises, folks! Wow!

June 6, 2014

Holy 1982, Batman! I normally don't post stuff like this, but our friend Hans-Ake Lilja, over at Lilja's Library, has been posting a lot of "Classic King" tidbits. This one may be one of the best, a 1982 interview with Harry Nevison from the UMO Magazine. So much of it is fascinating, especially King's declaration that he won't ever adapt one of his own works again, and the previews of then-new books Christine and It. King looks relaxed as he discusses his work, the movies, and the horror field in general. Keep in mind, his most recent book to this point was Creepshow. Just a fascinating look at King as he was about to go from wildly successful to a bona fide phenomenon. Enjoy!

June 3, 2014

MR. MERCEDES IS NOW OUT! Today's the day you've been waiting for, Charnel Housers! The release date of a new Stephen King novel is always a cause for celebration, but it always feels better when a book is as good as this one. Mr. Mercedes is available in every conceivable format, from hardcover to ebook to CD audio to digital audio. Pick it up today, and when you're done, why not check out my lightly-spoilered review. Enjoy!

May 30, 2014

JOYLAND FINALLY OUT IN MASS MARKET PAPERBACK That's right, kids! Joyland is now out as the sort of paperback you can slide into your back pocket, fulfilling the original intention of the Hard Case Crime line. This new printing of Joyland is only $7.99, and, like the two Under the Dome volumes before it, is the normal mass-market size, not the new, "tall" mass market size that came into being when Cell was first printed. Is this a trend? Can 11/22/63 be coming any time soon?

One last question: will this new paperback copy burn up the bestseller lists as last year's trade paperback edition did? For an analysis of how major Joyland was last summer, check out my article over at FEARnet!

And get your copy of Joyland today!

May 23, 2014

REVIEW NOW UP! Good afternoon, all! The big news today is that I have read Mr. Mercedes, and it is GOOD. My full-length review of the book is now up, so go take a look and get even more excited for June 3rd. WARNING: there are some spoilers in the review, so if you're squeamish about having anything ruined for you, avoid the review! It'll be waiting for you June 4th!

Mr. Mercedes, out June 3rd online and in stores everywhere!

May 16, 2014

STOKER NEWS. In a bit of an upset, King's Doctor Sleep won for Best Novel at the 2014 Bram Stoker Awards, beating out NOS4A2 by his son, Joe Hill (as well as novels by Lisa Morton, Sarah Pinborough and F. Paul Wilson, and Christopher Rice). This marks the sixth time King has won the stoker for Best Novel, following Misery, The Green Mile, Bag of Bones, Lisey's Story, and Duma Key, and his fourteenth nomination! Way to go, Stephen King!

May 9, 2014

PREVIEW DAY IS HERE. Suddenly, as if out of the blue, there's a preview of Stephen King's newest novel, Mr. Mercedes, available to you in a couple different ways.

First, check out the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly to see the print preview:

THEN, you can hoof it on over to the Facebook page "Stephen King Superfans," and check out a digital copy - 14 full pages of Mr. Mercedes, hot and ready for you:

May 4, 2014

Hey there, e-readers! What you've all been waiting for: King's fantastic Joyland is now available as an ebook!

May 4, 2014

Check out this intense video preview for Mr. Mercedes, "Letter to Detective Hodges." Super creepy stuff direct from King's website itself. This book's going to kick ass!

April 7, 2014

Cemetery Dance's HUGE announcement is here! CD announces The Doubleday Years, a six-part Stephen King special edition extravaganza! Focusing on the books King published through Doubleday (Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, Night Shift, and - a little surprisingly - Pet Sematary), this project aims to capture and highlight what was special and important about these landmark books.

A few words from Cemetery Dance themselves:

Announcing the "Stephen King Doubleday Years" Six Volume Collection!

Launching This Summer With Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition

Carrie Will Be a Collectible Limited ONE TIME PRINTING Featuring an Introduction by Stephen King, an Afterword by Tabitha King, Six Color Paintings by Tomislav Tikulin, and Special Bonus Features Exclusive to This Edition!

We have extremely exciting news to share with our collectors today, just a few days after the 40th anniversary of the original hardcover publication of Carrie by Stephen King:

We've signed an exclusive deal to produce a six volume set of special collectible editions of Stephen King's early books that were originally published by Doubleday back in the 1970s and early 1980s! These books are Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, and Pet Sematary, six classics of the horror genre and all-time Stephen King fan favorites!

These are the books that launched King's career and made him a household name, and our special editions will be beautiful and oversized volumes like we've published for From a Buick 8, It, Doctor Sleep, and many other King books over the years.

The first title in this special six volume set is Carrie, which will be published later this year and is available for preorder immediately. Other volumes in this series will follow approximately every six months after that and several acclaimed artists are already creating stunning art for these books. These special editions will feature exclusive bonus features such as introductions, afterwords, artwork, and even deleted material in some cases.

We expect extremely strong demand for these special editions of Stephen King's extraordinarily popular early books, and collectors who preorder Carrie directly from us will be the first collectors offered the opportunity to order the next volume before the general public.

Please note that our last Stephen King Gift Edition sold out in just ONE WEEK, so please don't wait because you could miss out and there will be NO second printings.

"These were the ghosts which kept trying to come between me and what I was writing, kept insisting that I combine them, somehow, into a story that would tell what could have happened if there really was such a thing as telekinetic energy..."

— Stephen King, from the introduction

Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition (Volume One in the "Doubleday Years" Collection), by Stephen King

Featuring full-color wrap-around artwork by Tomislav Tikulin and six full-color interior paintings printed on a high-quality glossy stock and tipped into the book!

Special Features Exclusive To This Deluxe Special Edition:

an introduction by Stephen King detailing why he wrote the book

a lengthy afterword by Tabitha King discussing the book's unbridled exploration of adolescent terror, sexuality, and the unknown

deluxe oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches) featuring two color interior printing as part of the page design

printed on a heavy interior specialty paper stock that is much thicker than the paper in a normal trade edition

epic wrap-around full-color dust jacket artwork by Tomislav Tikulin

a different full-color dust jacket for the Artist Edition painted by Tomislav Tikulin

six full-color interior paintings by Tomislav Tikulin

interior artwork will be printed on a heavy glossy stock and tipped into the book

high-quality embossed endpapers and fine bindings for all editions

full-page reproduction of the telegram Doubleday editor Bill Thompson sent Stephen King to announce the publisher was buying the book

extremely collectible print run that is a tiny fraction of the TENS OF MILLIONS of copies of this novel you've seen in bookstores over the last 40 years!

March 21, 2014

What's happening April 7?

Something very big is happening at Cemetery Dance Publications. We will know more on April 7, but here's what we know now, as reported by Brian James Freeman on the Dark Tower Message Board:

...[T]his week we're signing deals with three different New York Times bestselling authors. Not all of those deals will be announced this year, though. It's just been a tremendously good week in terms of landing very interesting projects from well-known authors ... Looking back at our history, we've only done little teaser sites and "save the date" announcements for one author, so... that seems very likely to me.

Keep your eye on this space for any news!!!

March 17, 2014

While we wait for Mr. Mercedes to hit bookstores, why not do something awesome and support the Kickstarter for my new crime novel, PANIC TOWN?

A murdered crime novelist from the 1940s left behind a beautiful widow ... and a secret manuscript, called PANIC TOWN. Now, a publisher of vintage crime novels wants private detective Wayne Corbin to track town the manuscript, lost for over half a century. As Wayne starts uncovering the mysteries surrounding PANIC TOWN, he is forced to ask whether it's a book worth killing for ... or worth dying for.

Some of you have been reading my nonfiction work about Stephen King for some time, and maybe you've delved into my fiction. My short story, "I Am Become Poe," appeared in Shivers 7 last year alongside King, Clive Barker, and others, and my short story collection, This Terrestrial Hell is available through Cemetery Dance Publications. Now's your chance to help fund a full novel - not horror, necessarily, but bloody fun just the same.

There are some great prizes, including ebooks of all my work on Stephen King for Cemetery Dance! Check out the Kickstarter site for PANIC TOWN, see if you like the idea, and donate what you can! Thanks, everyone!

March 14, 2014

My review of Scott Von Doviak's book is now up on FEARnet.com!!! Check it out and remember to "Like" the review if you like the review! "this book is compulsively readable. It is extremely difficult to put down."

March 14, 2014

My new article for FEARnet.com, "'The Ring' and the Tricky Nature of Stephen King Nonfiction" is NOW UP!

March 8, 2014

This is the cover for Revival, out November 11!!!

February 28, 2014

Stop the [Foreign] Presses! Dept. The mystery of the foreign-language King story has been revealed. As a gift to his French and German fans for being so kind to him during his tours there, Stephen King is releasing a brand-new story as an ebook exclusively to those countries (in those languages). Translated as "Bad Little Kid" ("Sale Gosse" in French, "Böser Kleiner Junge" in German), the synopsis is as follows:

Remember, it comes back in the shape of a kid...

A diabolical kid who causes the inevitable death of your relatives, a bad little kid who has led George Hallas, accountant, to the death row. And that may, one day, cross your path...

Not a whole lot to go on, and with no English-language version currently announced, we here in America (and England and Canada and Australia, etc.) have to wait for translations. Unusual publishing is business as usual for King; this is an exciting time for his French and German fans, and time of delicious anticipation for the rest of us. Both "Sale Gosse" (published by Albin Michel) and "Böser Kleiner Junge" (published by Heyne) will go on sale March 14th. Keep watching this space for more news on this mysterious little story!

February 28, 2014

To celebrate a very important anniversary - namely, Stephen King's 40th year as a published novelist - PS Publishing is releasing a 40th Anniversary Edition of King's first novel, Carrie. Having not anticipated how quickly their releases of Pet Sematary and Christine would sell out, they are upping the print run for Carrie to 974 copies. The rest of the important details:

This ultra-deluxe 40th Anniversary edition will feature a bevy of specially commissioned pen-and-ink illustrations and colour paintings from fan favourite Glenn Chadbourne plus an Introduction from James Lovegrove and an Afterword from Kim Newman. James, Kim and Glenn will be signing copies and there will be a facsimile signature from the author.

Because we failed to meet the high demand on both Christine and Pet Sematary we’ve increased our numbers with this hugely important milestone in genre fiction to one thousand copies of which 974 will be housed in a full-colour slipcase like the first two titles in this Anniversary series. The additional 26 oversized lettered copies will be individually remarqued by Glenn Chadbourne and will be issued in a custom-made illustrated traycase. We’re still considering other material to include but we’ll make an announcement closer to publication.

Keep an eye on this space for further information! For a peek at the other illustrations and details, check the PS Publishing website!

February 26, 2014

What the Hey!? Dept. Over on the French website Club Stephen King, a brand-new image has appeared that is getting clearer every day. Explains the site:

Discover a new hint regarding the gift that Stephen King wanted to offer to his French & German fans, to thank them for the warm welcome he received during his visit in Europe in 2013. Come back on Friday in order to get the full picture.

Here's the blurred-out picture as of today:

We have no idea if this is a brand-new book, a story with an illustration, or something completely new. The "Replay 48" on the baseball cap seems like an echo of Revival, but that's stretching it. I guess we'll know more on Friday! In the meantime, keep checking here, or over on the Club Stephen King site!

February 22, 2014

New Essay Alert! From Ms. Mod on the official Stephen King message board:

...a new non-fiction essay by Stephen titled "The Ring" [will be] published in Tin House, Issue, 59, Volume 15, Number 3. I'm not sure when it hits newsstands but we got the contributor copy yesterday. The theme for that issue is Memory and Steve's essay (only 2 pages) is about their wedding rings and the day [he and Tabitha] got married.

So awesome! Visit the Tin House website for more information and updates!

February 10, 2014

Release date confirmed! Revival will be released in the US and the UK on November 11! Now that it looks like we have spring/summer and fall/winter covered for novels, let's hope for some surprises!

February 8, 2014

Your faithful servant and webmaster got himself some new ink.

February 3, 2014

Big-Ass Book News! A description of Revival, coming sometime this year!

From master storyteller Stephen King comes Revival, 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.

January 27, 2014

Finally, Joyland is coming to mass-market paperback AND ebook! From today's press release:

Hard Case Crime, the award-winning line of pulp-styled crime novels published by Titan Books, today announced it will release two new editions of Stephen King's JOYLAND, the acclaimed coming-of-age story set in 1973 in a small-town amusement park that is the scene of an unsolved murder. First published last June, and recently named a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award (the mystery genre's most prestigious honor), JOYLAND has appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller list for more than 24 weeks. On May 27, Hard Case Crime will publish the book for the first time in the classic rack-sized "mass-market" paperback format typical of pulp crime novels in the 1940s and 50s. The company will also release the novel for the first time in an e-book edition, in April 2014.

"Joyland is a look back at a long-gone time, and I wanted people's initial experience of the book to be like my experiences reading crime stories when I was growing up, back when a book was always something made of paper and ink and glue," said Stephen King, one of the most beloved storytellers of all time, with more than 300 million books in print. "I'm thrilled that Hard Case Crime is going back to its roots with a paperback edition that'll fit in your jacket or the back pocket of your jeans. And now that Joyland is coming up on its second year, I'm also happy to bring it out as an ebook for people who prefer reading that way."

Since its publication, JOYLAND has won raves worldwide. The Washington Post called it "a moving, immensely appealing coming-of-age tale" while Canada's National Post called it "a small marvel of a book, a novel of loss and heartbreak, of growth and discoveryÖone of the writer's finest works." Entertainment Weekly called it "some of King's most graceful writing"; the New York Times wrote, "The book delivers chills [and] a mournful sense of life's fragility"; and the Guardian in the U.K. called it "a far gentler, deeper, more thoughtful bookÖand all the more intriguing for it."

Ebook in April, mass market in May ... right after the paperbacks of Under the Dome are released. It's the SPRING OF KING!

January 27, 2014

Coming in February and March: Under the Dome FINALLY comes to mass market paperback. Check out my article, "The Long Road to Under the Dome in Paperback," on FEARnet.com!

Click on the pictures to pre-order from Amazon!

December 18, 2013

After scads of research and writing, I'm finally able to bring you this: 2013: The Year in Stephen King! My annual recap of everything textual in the world of Stephen King is now up on FEARnet.com for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy it, and please hit "like" on the page if you like it!

December 16, 2013

Ladies and gentlemen, the cover to Mr. Mercedes:

December 10, 2013

Behold! The press copy for Stephen King's upcoming novel, Mr. Mercedes!!!

In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.

In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the "perk" and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.

Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again.

Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.

Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

You can preorder this new book through Cemetery Dance, and add a custom slipcase to your order! Exciting news!

December 3, 2013

It's official! Revival WILL be released next year. No official date yet, but both that and Mr. Mercedes will be 2014 titles! HOORAY! More details as they come!

November 14, 2013

BIGGEST DAMN NEWS. Stephen King's newest novel, Mr. Mercedes, will arrive at bookstores on June 3, 2014. It's rare for King to release novels in the summer - the last non-series hardcover written under his own name to arrive in the summer was Rose Madder, way back in 1995 - but the unqualified success of this summer's Joyland must have been encouraging. Also encouraging? A summer announcement gives us hope that there might be another book, just in time for Christmas 2014. Keep watching this space for more info on Mr. Mercedes, and everything else.

November 14, 2013

My review of Doctor Sleep is now up here, on Charnel House! Check it out!

November 12, 2013

BIG DAMN NEWS. This December, Cemetery Dance is releasing a brand-new anthology titled Turn Down the Lights, featuring a killer roster of writers ... including Stephen King! King's new story, "Summer Thunder," kicks off a stellar collection boasting new work by Peter Straub, Ed Gorman, Jack Ketchum, and more. From CD's press release:

It was December 1988: George Bush had just defeated Michael Dukakis in the Presidential Election. Pitcher Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers had beaten the Oakland A's in five games to win the World Series. People were waiting in line at movie theaters to watch Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin and Anne Rice's The Queen of the Damned were atop the bestseller lists. The most acclaimed genre books of the year were Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs and Peter Straub's Koko.

And twenty-two year old college student Richard Chizmar had just published the premiere issue of a horror magazine named Cemetery Dance.

Twenty-five years later, there have been seventy issues of Cemetery Dance magazine. There have been more than 275 signed Limited Edition hardcovers in the Cemetery Dance book line. There have been awards including the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Critics Guild Award, and the HWA Board of Trustees Excellence in Specialty Press Publishing Award, as well as nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, just to name a few.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of that premiere issue of Cemetery Dance, we're proud to announce Turn Down the Lights, an anthology of authors who helped make the magazine what it is today. These original horror stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub capture the genuine love of the genre that pushes Cemetery Dance Publications forward year after year.

Now, turn down the lights, flip the page, take my hand, and start the dance…

Nice! Here's what's inside:

"Turn Down the Lights..." an introduction by Richard Chizmar
"Summer Thunder" by Stephen King
"Incarnadine" by Norman Partridge
"The Western Dead" by Jack Ketchum
"An Instant Eternity" by Brian James Freeman
"In the Room" by Bentley Little
"Flying Solo" by Ed Gorman
"The Outhouse" by Ronald Kelly
"Lookie Loo" by Steve Rasnic Tem
"Dollie" by Clive Barker
"The Collected Short Stories of Freddie Prothero" by Peter Straub
Afterword by Thomas F. Monteleone

A new King story would be cause for celebration, but this list is just astounding. The trade hardcover will be out this December - new King for Christmas! - and the signed editions will be released in 2014. Check out the Cemetery Dance site for all the information!

October 7, 2013

We're #1!!! Doctor Sleep easily dominates the hardcover chart this week, debuting at #1 while Joyland holds pretty at #7 on the paperback chart. Doctor Sleep marks King's 34th stay at the top of the NYT hardcover bestseller lists; he remains the author with the most #1s in the history of the chart. Learn more at the NYT Bestseller Chart.

September 25, 2013

My review of Doctor Sleep is NOW UP on FEARnet.com! Check it out, and click "Like" if you like it! Enjoy!

September 24, 2013

TODAY'S THE DAY. Pick up your copy of Doctor Sleep online or at fine brick-and-mortar stores everywhere! And look for my review coming soon, exclusively at FEARnet.com!

September 10, 2013

The Cemetery Dance Collector's Club is BACK! And my book is a part of it! WHAT?! Yes!

From Cemetery Dance:

Members receive many exclusive items not available to the general public including:

Exclusive Discounts & Advance Notice on New Books

A FREE Signed Limited Edition with a retail price between $30 and $40

A Brand New Exclusive "Short Story" T-Shirt

An Exclusive Signed Limited Edition Chapbook By Richard Chizmar

An Exclusive Halloween Poster By Alan M. Clark

A Stephen King Art Mouse Pad

The First-Ever Cemetery Dance Keychain

The Opportunity To Order Books & Specials Not Available to the General Public!

Advance Notice On Exciting New Books Including STEPHEN KING Limited Editions!

PLUS: Members will receive the only Signed Limited Edition of A GOOD STORY AND GOOD WORDS: THE MANY WORLDS OF STEPHEN KING, by KEVIN QUIGLEY - a groundbreaking new look into the works of Stephen King that would have retailed for $65 if it was available to the general public!

** Read more or place your order before time runs out: http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/X_CDCC4

Guys, this is your EXCLUSIVE chance to get my very first solo hardcover, A Good Story and Good Words. Hundreds of hours of research and three years in the writing, Good Story is my first major statement on the work of Stephen King. I really think you're going to like it, and I hope you jump into this awesome club. Thanks!

August 16, 2013

My brand-new article on FEARnet.com is up, titled "How Joyland Broke a Decade-Long Dry Spell and Dominated the Summer". It's one of my more fun articles, all about King's tumultuous journey on the paperback bestseller lists and the ongoing appeal of his most recent novel. Enjoy!

August 8, 2013

The new book I co-wrote with Hans-Ake Lilja and Brian Freeman, The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book, just got a glowing review on Ain't It Cool News!

From AICN:

And, in case you are wondering: yes, THE ILLUSTRATED STEPHEN KING MOVIE TRIVIA BOOK realizes that changes may be made when adapting a book or short story for the screen - character names may be different, locations switched, what have you. It does not care. It will ask questions that it knows you will get wrong because you're thinking of the book instead of the movie, and then it will taunt you for not knowing the difference.

We're not really that mean, by the way. Well, maybe. There are questions about sandwiches.

AICN also has this nugget of wisdom:

[Kevin] Quigley likewise runs an amazing King website, Charnel House (charnelhousesk.com)

Well, right there, AICN mentions this site and me by name, so I can die happy now. HOORAY! And buy the book, available to order now!!!

July 25, 2013

Not only is Joyland the first Stephen King paperback to reach #1 since 2001's Black House, it has managed to hold that spot for five weeks. A much more impressive showing than The Colorado Kid, King's last Hard Case Crime novel, which only hit #5.

Check out the New York Times bestseller list, and my entire Chart of Darkness!

June 29, 2013

Late author Rick Hautala was a legend in the horror field. When he died, he left behind an autobiography called THE HORROR ... THE HORROR, which has now been published. Read my review and pick up the book - it's quick, breezy, fun, and absolutely worth your time.

Review: The Horror ... the Horror

June 29, 2013

In which I unbox my brand-new hardcover copy of Joyland!

June 24, 2013

It is with a heavy heart that I report Richard Matheson, one of America's best and most important writers, has died, at age 87. Matheson, credited as the writer who influenced Stephen King more than any other, leaves behind a legacy of writing nearly unparalleled in the speculative field. Author of Hell House, I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, Now You See It... (his most underrated novel) and so many more. He wrote brilliant teleplays for The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. He wrote "Duel."

i09 has a great article on the man. Check it out, and then do yourself a favor and read everything you can by him. A fantastic writer whose presence will be missed by so many.

June 21, 2013

Big novel news!!! During his CBS Livechat, Stephen King revealed that not only is Mr. Mercedes (title still tentative) finished, but he's also halfway through a new novel called Revival. No further news, but this is AWESOME!

June 20, 2013

My brand-spanking new review of HARD LISTENING - by Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Greg Iles, and way more - is NOW UP. Not to inflate my ego or anything, but I think this might be the best-written review I've ever done. Read it now at FEARnet.com.

June 20, 2013

And now for something completely different: "How Rick Springfield Lost and Found His Signed Stephen King Book". This thing is AWESOME.

June 19, 2013

My review of Stephen King's surprise summer title, THE DARK MAN is now up on FEARnet.com! Check it out - I loved it!

June 12, 2013

Hey all! Check out my review of Joyland on audio, read by Michael Kelly, exclusively on FEARnet.com! Hit "like" if you like it!

June 6, 2013

Amid all the massive awesome news about Joyland, let's not forget that Stephen King has a brand-new short story out, too! Check out my review of "Afterlife" on FEARnet.com!

June 5, 2013

JOYLAND IS NOW IN STORES! And we here at Charnel House have your full coverage!

First, check out my review of Joyland, either on FEARnet.com, or in a slightly modified version right here on Charnel House.

Then, take a look at a fantastic interview with Charles Ardai, founder of Hard Case Crime, over at ComicBookMovie.com. After that, read Ardai's awesome essay about Hard Case Crime and Joyland over at BoingBoing.com.

There are still limited-edition gift copies of Joyland in hardcover available for pre-order. Go to ForbiddenPlanet.com for all the details.

And finally, either visit your local bookstore, or pick up Joyland at any of these online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Better World Books.

May 29, 2013

Charles Ardai, genial and brilliant publisher and novelist at Hard Case Crime, has written a terrific essay about Joyland, Stephen King, and crime novels. An excerpt:

...they scratched a powerful itch I hadn’t even known I had. And when, years later, I found myself reminiscing about them with a friend over drinks, we decided the world needed more books like that, damn it. That’s how Hard Case Crime was born.

I love articles like this, and you will too. The article is exclusive to BoingBoing.com! Go there, read, enjoy, and then come back here and revel in more Joyland coverage!

May 29, 2013

In his terrific Fresh Air interview, King indicates that the amusement park on which he based Joyland was Canobie Lake Park, in Salem, New Hampshire. I just so happen to visit Canobie every summer, and it's awesome. Give a read to this Retro Memories post about Canobie in the 70s, with a few sepia-toned photos to get you in the mindset of Joyland, out June 4! May 29, 2013

There's a great new interview with King on NPR called "On Growing Up, Believing In God, and Getting Scared". Some great answers and discussion, especially about his fantastic new novel, Joyland.

May 27, 2013

Well, this blindsided me. Stephen King's short story, "Afterlife," which King origianlly read aloud at UMass Lowell last year, is NOW OUT IN PRINT in Tin House magazine's Summer Reading issue. Website Lilja's Library posted this picture:

I've been to the official Tin House website and for some reason, you can't get the summer reading issue there yet. I'd say to check your local bookstore for now; this will hopefully surface soon!

May 24, 2013

This is a really neat little interview by Ken Tucker with King from Parade magazine. Nothing too revelatory, but fun and smart. There's also a great behind-the-scenes video with some narration by King, touching on his reputation as a horror writer. Enjoy!

May 22, 2013

Hey all! Check out my in-depth review of Joe Hill's N0S4A2 over at FEARnet.com! If you like Hill's previous novels, Heart-Shaped Box and Horns, or you've read his Eisner Award-winning series Locke & Key, this book is a treat.

As always, hit "like" on the FEARnet site if you like the review. Thanks for reading!

May 18, 2013

Check out Larry Fire's exclusive interview with Joe Hill over on his blog, The Fire Wire. If you guys aren't checking out The Fire Wire on a daily basis (along with Charnel House, Lilja's Library, and Talk Stephen King, of course), you're missing out!

Oh, and PS: the King boys are really terrific writers. I'm nearly done with N0S4A2 right now, and it's Joe Hill's strongest book yet. I just finished Owen King's Double Feature, and it's just fantastic stuff!

May 17, 2013

With all the excitement about Joyland (and seriously, be excited), you might have missed out on another Stephen King release coming this June. Hard Listening the new ebook by and about the Rock Bottom Remainders, will be out June 18 ... and we have some really cool new information:

On June 18, 2013, a new eBook will be released by Coliloquy.com titled Hard Listening, an anthology written by members of the Rock Bottom Remainders. Of particular interest to fans of Stephen's: his contributions to the book include a new essay, a new short story, and several candid email exchanges. There is also a featured writing contest, in which several of the authors (including King) contributed short stories written in the author’s style. Readers then get to vote on which piece was actually written by King before seeing the results.

Emphasis mine ... but OMG, what emphasis! Hans-Åke Lilja, Lilja's Library, reports that one of the things definitely written by King is an essay titled "Just a Little Talent". This will make a swell bookend to his essay, "In the Neighborhood of the Beast," the first essay he wrote about his Remainders experience, first published in Mid-Life Confidential and later in Secret Windows.

With this stuff and The Dark Man coming from Cemetery Dance, this is going to be one exciting Stephen King summer!

May 15, 2013

My review of Stephen King's NEW NOVEL JOYLAND is NOW UP ON FEARNET.COM! Check it out, and hit "like" if you like it. You guys are going to LOVE this book!

May 14, 2013

THE DARK MAN is coming...

In a surprise announcement, today Cemetery Dance let the world know that they would be publishing one of Stephen King's best and most resonant poems - "The Dark Man," - as its own book, illustrated by master artist Glenn Chadbourne. Written while King was in college, "The Dark Man" is our first introduction to Randall Flagg, King's longtime villain. For decades, this poem has remained stubbornly uncollected in a King work (though it and a number of King's early poems had been collected in the anthology The Devil's Wine, edited by Tom Piccirilli). The fact that this fantastic poem will finally be available to a wider audience - and in a sumptuously illustrated edition, as with The Secretary of Dreams - is cause for celebration.

From Cemetery Dance:

"Randall Flagg came to me when I wrote a poem called 'The Dark Man' when I was a junior or senior in college. It came to me out of nowhere, this guy in cowboy boots who moved around on the roads, mostly hitchhiking at night, always wore jeans and a denim jacket. I wrote the poem in the college restaurant on the back of a placemat, but that guy never left my mind."
— Stephen King

NOTE FOR COLLECTORS: The first 5,000 trade hardcovers printed will be SLIPCASED and shrink-wrapped with a bonus, collectible Glenn Chadbourne Limited Edition bookmark featuring a Dark Man drawing that doesn't appear in the book!

Stephen King first wrote about the Dark Man in college after he envisioned a faceless man in cowboy boots and jeans and a denim jacket forever walking the roads. Later this dark man would come to be known around the world as one of King's greatest villains, Randall Flagg, but at the time King only had simple questions on his mind: where was this man going? What had he seen and done? What terrible things...?

More than forty years after Stephen King first wrote his breathtaking poem "The Dark Man," Glenn Chadbourne set out to answer those questions in this World's First Edition hardcover featuring more than 70 full-page illustrations from the talented artist behind The Secretary of Dreams.

This Cemetery Dance Publications hardcover is a true marriage of words and art, with Chadbourne pulling the images from King's imagination and illustrating them in magnificent detail. This incredible blending of King's words with Chadbourne's art creates a unique page turning experience you can return to again and again, always finding new details hidden on every page. You'll discover hidden layers and mysterious secrets for years to come.

So who is the Dark Man and why is he traveling the country? The answers are terrifying....

Key Details About Our World's First Edition:

printed in a very limited and collectible print run — a tiny fraction of what a New York publisher normally prints for a new release

heavily illustrated — a story told through the blending of King's words and the artwork

the only trade hardcover edition planned at this time in any market

beautifully designed with both the collector and general reader in mind

the first 5,000 copies of World's First Edition, First Printing trade hardcover will be given the deluxe treatment: shrink-wrapped with a different dust jacket, a custom-made slipcase, and a collectible Glenn Chadbourne bookmark featuring a Dark Man drawing that doesn't appear in the book.

For more information, visit the Cemetery Dance Dark Man site!

May 13, 2013

JOYLAND LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER COMING SOON. Today, British publisher Titan Books announced that it would release Joyland in a hardcover limited in three states. In minutes, the signed lettered and the signed numbered sold out. But you can STILL PREORDER the Gift Edition! The word:

Joyland will be published in three limited edition hardcover formats. All three hardcover editions feature both a new cover painting and nine black and white interior illustrations by the legendary Robert McGinnis, the painter responsible for more than 1,000 classic book covers as well as the iconic movie posters for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the original Sean Connery James Bond movies.

26 Copies: A very rare, lettered, hardcover edition of the book, presented in a black clam-shell box, bearing the Hard Case Crime logo in gold foil, and signed by Stephen King. Featuring nine gorgeous illustrations from master artist Robert McGinnis and a map of the Joyland amusement park, created especially for the hardcover limited editions by Susan Hunt Yule.

724 Copies: A sumptuous numbered hardcover edition of the book, limited to 724 units and signed by Stephen King, illustrated by Robert McGinnis and featuring the Joyland map by Susan Hunt Yule.

1,500 Copies: Featuring all the illustrations and the Joyland map, but no King signature.

This will be the only hardcover edition of this book. If you liked PS Publishing's hardcover editions of The Colorado Kid, this thing will be equally exciting. Order now and enjoy! http://forbiddenplanet.com/picks/stephen-king-joyland/

April 29, 2013

MAJOR UNPUBLISHED WORK NEWS! Recently, news of a previously unheard-of Stephen King work leaked to the internet. King experts didn't know about it. I didn't know about it. The only people who knew about it were Stephen King and the person for whom he wrote it (more details as I get them).

The work is called "Phil & Sundance", an unfinished 80-page novella Stephen King wrote in 1987. Numerous sources have checked and it is, indeed, a legitimate Stephen King piece of fiction. French website Club Stephen King posted a scan of the very first page, with a note from King on it, indicating that it might be a piece intended for young people. You'll see that page to the right (click on it to read it more clearly).

Right now, no one knows what the plans are for "Phil & Sundance." Will King finish it and publish it? Will he post the unfinished work to his site, a la The Cannibals? Will it remain unfinished and unpublished, like "Comb Dump"? No one knows. In any event, this is one of the most exciting Stephen King finds in the last decade, and you can expect the Stephen King community to be abuzz about it for awhile. As of right now, books by Justin Brooks (Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography) and Rocky Wood (Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished) are delightfully out-of-date.

April 25, 2013

Check out my BRAND-NEW review of Justin Brooks' stellar Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography, a book packed with a whole bunch of surprise new information. If you like the review, don't forget to click "Like" on FEARnet. Thanks!

April 23, 2013

It looks like the cat's out of the bag on this one; we've been sitting on this information for awhile, but since it's being reported elsewhere, here goes: the new Rock Bottom Remainders book, Hard Listening will include NEW FICTION by Stephen King - an all-new, extremely recent short story (no word yet on the title...) So, now even more reason to clamor for what seems to be a very exciting new title. More information as soon as we're able to report it!

April 22, 2013

And now a treat for all you Rock Bottom Remainders fans out there: coming soon, Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (Of Authors) Tells All! Coming from ebook publisher Coliloquy, Hard Listening is an ALL-NEW work (not a reprint of Mid-Life Confidential):

Over 350M books sold. 40 New York Times #1 Bestsellers. One lousy band.

In 1992, a cadre of the world’s bestselling authors formed a rock band. Twenty years later, they’re hanging up their guitar picks, drumsticks and leather whips, but not without a look back on two decades of friendship, love, writing, and the redemptive power of rock’n’roll.

Hard Listening is a voyeuristic view into the private lives of your favorite authors, combining essays, fiction, candid email conversations, Q&As, and interactive parlor games. See Stephen King, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, Dave and Sam Barry, Roy Blount Jr., Mitch Albom, James McBride, Ridley Pearson, Matt Groening, Greg Iles, and rock legend Roger McGuinn at their most unguarded.

You can sign up on the site to be notified when Hard Listening is available. According to King expert Bev Vincent, the book is going to feature "all manner of really cool stuff in it." I can't wait!

April 18, 2013

Interesting news: Cavalier Magazine has just released an ebook collecting some very important interviews that first appeared on their pages - Andy Warhol, Barbra Streisand, and Bob Dylan - as well as the full roster of Stephen King short stories they originally published. "Battleground," "Suffer the Little Children," "The Cat From Hell," "Trucks," and "Weeds" are all available here, but there are a couple of catches:

1. According to Stephen King expert Rocky Wood, many of these are the "original Cavalier stories." Wood says

The marketing of this book claims that these stories are reprints from 'Cavalier' magazine. However, on checking the three stories that were later collected in King's books with significant variations from the original 'Cavalier' magazine text I find that each is actually a reprint of the version in King's books. Which of course makes me wonder about the provenance of this whole book. Certainly, you will not be buying a 'Cavalier Archive'. The stories that differ are 'Battleground', 'Trucks' (both collected in 'Night Shift') and 'Suffer the Little Children' (collected in 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes') - you will be reading the same version as published in those King collections. 'The Cat from Hell' is collected in 'Just After Sunset' and anyway does not vary from the original 'Cavalier' version.

2. To reiterate some of the above, all these stories are available in other formats. Every story but "Weeds" has been collected in a Stephen King anthology, and "Weeds" is being published in Shivers VII, from Cemetery Dance this spring. Shivers VII will also feature short stories by Clive Barker, Ed Goreman, and me. Yes. Me. It's called "I am Become Poe" and you'll like it, so buy that book, please, thank you.

April 9, 2013

Big exciting news in the world of writing on King: Justin Brooks has released his updated, revised version of Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography through Overlook Connection. This ebook is radically expanded, including a whole bunch of exclusive entries on unearthed (and previously unheard-of) Stephen King works. For those into looking a little deeper into the world of Stephen King, this book is essential.

Take a look here - this thing is under $7 and will blow you away. Full review to come, but color me impressed.

April 8, 2013

Publisher's Weekly releases its preview/review of King's upcoming Hard Case Crime release, Joyland:

A haunted carnival funhouse gives a supernatural spin to events in Thriller Award–winner King’s period murder mystery with a heart. In the summer of 1973, 21-year-old college student Devin Jones takes a job at Joyland, a North Carolina amusement park. Almost immediately, a boardwalk fortune-teller warns that Devin has “a shadow” over him, and that his destiny is intertwined with that of terminally ill Mike Ross, a 10-year-old boy who has “the sight.” Shortly after Devin meets Mike, Mike makes a cryptic comment: “It’s not white.” This proves a vital clue when Devin begins investigating an unsolved murder committed four years before at the carnival’s Horror House, and quickly stumbles into more than he bargained for. King (The Colorado Kid) brings his usual finesse to this tale’s mystery elements, and makes Dev’s handling of them crucial to the novel’s bigger coming-of-age story, in which Dev adapts to the carny life and finds true romance. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff & Verrill. (June)

Still two months to go, kids, and I can't WAIT...

March 27, 2013

The King boys are busy this year. We here at Charnel House are trembling in excitement for Joe Hill's novel, NOS4A2, due out next month. Owen King's first novel, Double Feature, was released last week, to some pretty terrific reviews. Today, his dad, Stephen, chimed in:

"If you are in the mood to laugh your ass off, Double Feature will perform that surgery and painlessly. I am proud of my son, Owen, and in awe of his talent. The book might be a little difficult to locate at Barnes & Noble but if you seek, there or elsewhere, you will find it."

You can efficiently locate the book on Amazon.com, but hopefully your local bookstore will have it front and center. (Or, if like me, you're "reading" the book on audio, it's read by Holter Graham and it's at Audible.com.)

If nothing else convinces you to read Double Feature, this picture of the King boys surely will:

March 21, 2013

Check out my brand-new review of Bev Vincent's brand-new upcoming book, The Dark Tower Companion. Read the review on FEARnet.com, hit "Like" there (please) and pre-order this awesome new book! Thanks!

March 5, 2013

Don't forget, tonight's Jeopardy! will dedicate an entire column to Stephen King! Get your buzzers ready and check your local listings! More info: King Column on Jeopardy!

March 2, 2013

This is Doctor Sleep.

September 24 can't come quickly enough.

February 22, 2013

My review of Max Allen Collins' terrific new crime novel, Seduction of the Innocent is now up on FEARnet.com! If you've ever read and loved Tales from the Crypt and other horror comics from Way Back When, you'll love this tale of hot dames and cold murder set in the tumultuous anti-horror comics furor of the 1950s. Plus, Seduction is published by Hard Case Crime, the folks who did King's The Colorado Kid and his upcoming Joyland, among a slew of other fantastic crime novels. Check out the review (please click "Like") and then check out the book - it's fantastic!

February 20, 2013

Watch my video and revel in how excited I am about literally everything:

February 19, 2013

Self-Interest Department: Hey guys! You like reading my stuff here, right? Yay! But did you also know I wrote fiction? It's true!

Last year, I completed a novel called I'm On Fire, a horror novel due out on ebook from Cemetery Dance fairly soon. I think it's pretty good, with a couple of go-for-the-gullet twists. I'll talk more about that when it comes out!

Right now, I'm working on a new book, called Roller Disco Saturday Night. It's not a horror novel, but it's in the same sort of coming-of-age small-town genre as Bradbury's Dandelion Wine and McCammon's Boy's Life is. But there's also a roller disco. And motorcycles. And guy who carries around a stuffed raccoon called Metro. It's a weird book.

In order to finish it, I want to take a month or so off one of my jobs. I work six jobs! I know! And in order to take some time off to work on fiction, I'll need some backing.

Which is why I've begun a Kickstarter for my new novel. I'm trying to raise $3100 - enough to take two months off of one of my "regular" jobs and work on fiction. As of today, I'm halfway there. Hooray for supporting original fiction!

There are prizes at every level of donation. You'll get digital copies of this book and other books I've written (including a never-before-compiled anthology of my work). You'll get some physical copies of my chapbooks. If you donate $50, I will write you a poem about you. If you become a major backer and donate $250? I will name a character for you in the book.

Please consider donating to my novel. Fiction is hard, but it's easier when you don't have to take extra bar shifts. Thanks for supporting my site and my dreams for so long. It really is appreciated!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/521727074/roller-disco-saturday-night

February 12, 2013

Today, fantastic audiobook distributor Audible released King's recent essay, "Guns," as an audio single for 99 cents. Says King:

The overwhelming response from readers of the Kindle Single edition of Guns underscores the great need for thoughtful discourse on the issue of guns in AmericaÖI’m thrilled Audible is bringing Guns to the quickly growing audience of audiobook listeners.

Narrated by Christian Rummel (young adult classic My Side of the Mountain, Vonnegut's Player Piano, and scores more), this edition of "Guns" is also charitable: King's earnings from its sale will go to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

You can purchase "Guns" on audio here. And don't forget to check out my review of the essay on FEARnet.com!

February 4, 2013

In a bit of stunning news, Cemetery Dance Publications announced their upcoming deluxe limited publication of King's Doctor Sleep. According to Cemetery Dance's website, "The exclusive Cemetery Dance Special Limited Edition of Doctor Sleep by Stephen King will be published in three states, all of them printed in two colors and bound in fine materials":

Deluxe Slipcased Gift Edition ($95)

Deluxe Signed & Traycased Limited Edition ($450)

Deluxe Signed & Traycased Lettered Edition ($2500)

Special Features Exclusive to this Collector's Edition:

deluxe oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches) featuring two-color interior printing

full color cover artwork by Vincent Chong

six color paintings by Vincent Chong printed on a high-quality glossy stock and tipped into the book

twenty black & white full page illustrations and six black & white spot illustrations by Erin S. Wells

high-quality embossed endpapers and fine bindings for all three editions

full-color signature sheets in the signed editions

extremely collectible print run that is a tiny fraction of the print run of the trade hardcover edition from Scribner — and you will NOT find our edition in chain bookstores!

CD offers some ordering instructions:

Ordering Multiple Copies:
There is a limit of one (1) Limited Edition and one (1) Lettered Edition per person or household. There is currently no limit on the Gift Edition, although that might be changed in the near future due to the low print run. Please note that we cannot combine multiple orders later on, so if you want to save on shipping, please place one order for all of the editions you want.

Matching Numbers or Letters:
If you would like us to match your Number or your Letter from It: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition, you will need to REPLY to your Doctor Sleep order confirmation email and tell us right away what the Number and/or Letter is. If multiple people request the same Number or Letter, we will give that Number or Letter to the customer who can provide proof they still own that copy of It: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition when it is time to ship Doctor Sleep.

For all the information about this surprise deluxe limited you could possibly want, please visit Cemetery Dance's website. This will make an amazing companion piece to Subterranean Press's deluxe limited of The Shining, also coming soon! Doctor Sleep is expected to sell out super quickly, so place your order today!

February 1, 2013

An extended version of the interview Stephen King did with Entertainment Weekly about Doctor Sleep is now online! And he talks about superfan Rocky Wood, who is awesome. Check it out!

January 31, 2013

Check out my review of King's Kindle single, "Guns." I think it's an important piece, and of specific interest to King fans, as it involves a long discourse on King's novel, Rage, and why he felt it necessary to pull the book from publication. Great stuff.

If you like the review, please hit "Like" on the FEARnet page! While you're there, check out my other FEARnet.com reviews and articles. Thanks for reading!

January 25, 2013

Today, Stephen King released a non-fiction essay through his own Philtrum Press titled simply "Guns." Meant to stir debate on the gun control issue, "Guns" is available exclusively.as a Kindle Single. King stated:

“I think the issue of an America awash in guns is one every citizen has to think about,” said King. “If this helps provoke constructive debate, I’ve done my job. Once I finished writing ‘Guns’ I wanted it published quickly, and Kindle Singles provided an excellent fit.”

Amazon had a brief press release:

In a pulls-no-punches essay intended to provoke rational discussion, Stephen King sets down his thoughts about gun violence in America. Anger and grief in the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School are palpable in this urgent piece of writing, but no less remarkable are King’s keen thoughtfulness and composure as he explores the contours of the gun-control issue and constructs his argument for what can and should be done.

Extremely interesting and timely. This provocative essay - King's first nonfiction digital-only work - is available for 99 cents on Amazon. Whatever your stance on the issue, I encourage everyone to read the essay and get talking.

January 23, 2013

Subterranean Press is now taking pre-orders for its limited edition of Doctor Sleep. Preorder today!

January 11, 2013

Issue #1242 of Entertainment Weekly (January 18, 2013) features a new interview with King on Doctor Sleep. It's a bit of a fluffy piece (and the story keeps trying to insist King has never written a sequel, equivocating on the Dark Tower stuff and flat-out ignoring The Talisman and Black House), but it's a neat article besides. Apparently there's an Easter egg involving 'Salem's Lot, which I'm particularly keen on. Read and enjoy!

January 02, 2013

In light of two brand-new publications of long-uncollected King stories, "Weeds" and "The Glass Floor," my new article on FEARnet.com looks at their elusive publication history: "Unearthing Buried Stephen King Stories". It was a fascinating article to research and I think you'll dig reading it. Remember, if you like it, hit "Like" on FEARnet. Thanks for reading!

December 14, 2012

In his talk at UMass Lowell on December 7, King not only read from his new short story "Afterlife," but also teased about a new novel, tentatively titled Mr. Mercedes. See King discuss the new book here: A Conversation With Stephen King. It's the one titled, "Stephen King On Twilight, 50 Shades of Grey, Lovecraft and More."

Ms. Mod from King's message board clarified both the printing schedule and the title:

Since there are already 2 books coming out in 2013, I wouldn't expect Mr. Mercedes (which is just the working title and is likely to be changed because Steve isn't happy with that one) to be out before at least 2014.

Which is great news, because after Doctor Sleep, who really wants another salutatory title? By the by, the novel and the impetus behind it sound great, and I can't wait to dig in. It's greed, a little, but now that we know about Doctor Sleep and Joyland, I am all about info on ALL NEW STUFF!

All right, that's the frosted side of me talking. Now back to journalistic integrity...

(Many thanks to Justin Brooks for alerting me to this information!)

December 10, 2012

At his appearance at UMass Lowell this weekend, Stephen King read the "world premier" of his new short story, "Afterlife." Here's a short clip!

Some facts about "Afterlife":

1. "Afterlife" started off as a comic book idea, following King's participation in Scott Snyder's and Rafael Alberquerque's American Vampire. Whether this prose version effectively stalls the story's future as a comic book remains to be seen.

2. Notice that William Andrews was born in Hemingford County, Nebraska. King also recently utilized Hemingford Home in his novella "1922" in Full Dark, No Stars. It's interesting that, after so long away from Mother Abagail's hometown (the 1990 version of The Stand was the last time we saw the place as a major locus until recently), King seems to have a vested interest. One wonders if it might be building to something big.

3. Currently, we have no knowledge of when "Afterlife" will be published, or how. But at this point, King has more than enough short works to justify a new collection, not to mention the upcoming publications of classic uncollected King stories "Weeds" (in Shivers 7 - which also includes my short story, "I Am Become Poe") and "The Glass Floor" (coming up in Cemetery Dance #68). A quick rundown of King's recent short-work publications:

Morality

Premium Harmony

Herman Wouk Is Still Alive

Ur

Mile 81

A Face In the Crowd (with Stewart O'Nan)

In the Tall Grass (with Joe Hill)

Throttle (with Joe Hill)

The Little Green God of Agony

The Dune

Under the Weather

Batman and Robin Have an Altercation

Afterlife

Quite a lot to choose from, and we still don't know if he's written new stuff, or is interested in publishing the old stuff, or, you know, want "Squad D" all official yet. Let's hope so.

November 27, 2012

My brand-new review of Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee's unsettling I'm Not Sam, an unsettling look into the darkness buried in a loving marriage. Hit "Like" on FEARnet if you like the review!

November 27, 2012 VeryFineBooks.com has done the world a great service: Stephen King Collector Guides offers a quick-look guide to Stephen King limited editions, first editions, "Red Leather Library Books," and a bunch more. It's a fantastic resource for King collectors and novices looking to get into the world of collecting. Check it out!

November 12, 2012

Today, Stephen King expert Bev Vincent announced his upcoming Dark Tower Companion, an "an all-new comprehensive guide to one of the most brilliantly constructed worlds in all of fiction." A follow-up to his well-received Road to the Dark Tower, this new Companion boasts

the ultimate compendium to King’s evolving magnum opus, presenting the mythology, history, and geography of this epic fantasy that has captivated generations of readers. Featuring interviews with Stephen King, Ron Howard, Dark Tower expert Robin Furth and others, Bev Vincent reveals The Dark Tower’s influential literary origins, examines its connections to the vast majority of King’s other novels, explores the expanded universe, catalogs the major characters, locations and concepts, and includes a travel guide to the story’s real-world locations, giving fans who have followed Roland’s journey—or those who are discovering it for the first time—a fascinating overview of the series and an inside look at the creative process of one of the world’s most popular authors.

Also? There are maps. I'm officially excited. The Dark Tower Companion arrives next April!

November 2, 2012

Brian James Freeman, co-author of The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book and The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book is, like many folks who write on King, also a talented fiction writer. His novella, The Painted Darkness, recently arrived on the scene to much acclaim. Now, the audio version has made its way into the hearts (and ears) of readers and listeners everywhere. Check out my FEARnet.com review, "Brian J. Freeman's The Painted Darkness Captures the Strangeness of Youth", and remember to hit "Like" on the page if you enjoyed the review!

October 29, 2012

The speculation has proved out: The Shining is getting a major limited edition in anticipation of the much-anticipated Doctor Sleep! Today, King announced

Subterranean Press [The Green Mile, Stephen King Goes to the Movies] has announced they will publish Signed Limited Editions of The Shining in October 2013. The luxurious hardcovers will be published in three formats and will feature over 40 illustrations by acclaimed artist Dagmara Matuszak.

The luxurious hardcovers will be published in three formats and will feature over 40 illustrations by acclaimed artist Dagmara Matuszak. The signed editions will be signed by Stephen and the artist.

Signed Limited Edition of 750 numbered copies, housed in a custom traycase: $450

Signed Lettered Edition of 52 copies, specially bound, housed in a custom traycase: $2,500

Gift Edition of 1500 unsigned copies, cloth bound, housed in a custom slipcase: $95

Preorders for this offering will begin in January 2013. News regarding preorders will be sent first from Subterranean Press through their newsletter, so anyone interested is urged to sign up at their site.

If you have further questions, please contact Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press: subpress@gmail.com

Needless to say, this is extremely exciting. We've never had a limited edition of The Shining before, and it's about time this seminal work got the deluxe treatment. Subterranean's work on The Green Mile is some of the very best limited edition production design ever, which makes this news even more exciting. Sign up for their newsletter, and keep your eyes peeled here for more news!

October 28, 2012

My brand-new review of Andrew J. Rausch's The Wit and Wisdom of Stephen King is now up on FEARnet.com! I really enjoy this book and I think fans of King (and quotations) will enjoy it, too. Take a look at the review, and hit "like" if you like it! Thank you so much!

October 26, 2012

Nifty pop-culture website The A.V. Club today put out a list of columnists' scariest reading moments, and it's a fun list to read if you're at all into horror. Two King novels - The Shining and Pet Sematary - made it, as well as peripheral King stuff like Joe Hill's Locke & Key and someone's spooky recollection of an Archie comics story (you do know the connection between King and Archie, right?) It's a fun list, so check it out! October 16, 2012

The 2013 Stephen King Desk Calendar is now available for purchase! It's a special "anniversary" edition, featuring essays celebrating 35 years of The Stand, 30 years of Christine and Pet Sematary, and, best of all, five years of Duma Key (the very first King Desk Calendar essay written by yours truly, Kevin Quigley).

You can purchase the calendar through the Overlook Connection's Stephen King Catalog. If it's your first purchase with overlook, you can save 10% by using the code welcome10 when ordering!

October 15, 2012

Well, this is just neat. With little notice, the King camp announced "The Little Green God of Agony" as an e-comic, exclusive to King's website, at this past weekend's New York ComicCon. This unprecedented project merges King's masterful short story with art by illustrator Dennis Colero. The press release:

The first horror web comic exclusive to StephenKing.com, The Little Green God of Agony, is now underway. Stephen King’s short story, the opener of Stephen Jones’s 2011 anthology, A Book of Horrors, and included in Ellen Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Four, tells from the point of view of his doubting nurse the tale of a paraplegic millionaire who wants to exorcise his pain. Adapted by well-known comic artist Dennis Calero (co-creator of Xmen Noir and Devil Inside), the webcomic will run in serial installments on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for eight weeks.

“I have been a huge Stephen King fan for as long as I can remember,” explained Calero. “To be able to work on ANYTHING with him is an honor. And to make this announcement at New York Comic Con is icing on the cake!“

The first episode is out today, with new episodes appearing every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next eight weeks! It seems that, although we didn't get a winter novel this year, Stephen King has been plenty busy giving us new stuff, week after week!

October 10, 2012

One of the best stops for Stephen King (and all horror) books, magazines, and merchandise has always been The Overlook Connection (yo, Dave!) I remember those heady high school days when the Overlook catalog would arrive in the mail, and I'd leaf through to the Stephen King section and marvel at what was there.

Well now, for the first time, the Overlook Connection's online presence has a dedicated Stephen King Catalog. There, you can find all manner of King stuff: books, short stories, essays, rare appearances, merchandise, magazines, and ephemera. Overlook rules and no fooling. Check them out now, and tell em Kev sent you!

October 5, 2012

CHARNEL HOUSE, like everything, is now on Twitter! Click here for quick updates and all the news Charnel House sees fit to print! Thanks!

October 5, 2012

Check out Brian James Freeman's interview with Lawrence Cohen, screenwriter of the movie Carrie and co-writer of the Broadway adaptation(s). I love the insider information about how the movie came to be, and how the musical has gained a cult status and revival acclaim. Really great interview!

October 5, 2012

DoctorSleepBook.com is now live! From the site:

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

This just gets more and more exciting. 2013 is going to be a TERRIFIC year to be a Stephen King reader!

October 3, 2012

In Mint Condition: a fascinating new book coming in 2013 from Ambannon Books. This new collection of original fiction and art looks exciting. I've read fiction by some of the authors here before (notably Bob Ireland) and it's quite good, and some of these artists (like the awesome Glenn Chadbourne) are working professionally, as well. This is an awesome opportunity to catch some of these writers and artists in a unique, themed collection. The details:

Publisher: Ambannon Books
Editor: Shannon John
Cover Artist (paperback): David Boehmke
Interior Artists: Jill Bauman, David Boehmke, Les Edwards, Glenn Chadbourne, Vincent Chong, Alex McVey, Rachel Readman, Erin Wells. 8 more artists to be announced soon!

Publishing Date: Early 2013 (date forthcoming)

Table Of Contents:

1. “Mr. Scratch’s Murder Circus” by Jeremy Gooch
2. “The Receptionist” by Bob Ireland
3. “The Train Graveyard” by Ariel Bosi
4. “Seagrass Encounter” by David Swearingen
5. “Brother” by Ryan Wood
6. “A Place On Pine Island” by Matthew Biddle
7. “Pumpkin” by Krystle Tiedeman
8. “Excelsior” by Jean Melkovsky
9. “My First Book” by Janine
10. “The Rule Of Three” by Thomas Cranham
11. “You’re The Best” by Tim Martin
12. “Darkness Rising” by Gabriel Ayala
13. “Tabula Rasa” by Hannah O’Connor
14. “Right To Life” by Mike Ziniti
15. “On Monday, I ate my cat.” by Jerome Smith
16. “Marvin’s Retirement” by Ralph Mulleins

“In Mint Condition”

It is a phrase that has become very familiar to collectors. Whether you are a collector of fine books, antique watches, baseball cards, or comic books, you are always looking for something in mint condition. To be in mint condition, that special something must be of the highest quality. The best of the best.

Taking that idea and running with it, Ambannon Books has collected the very best in brand new, never-before-seen short stories, creative nonfiction, poems, and artwork from the members of the leading Stephen King fansite on the internet, TheDarkTower.org.

Join us on a journey through sixteen stories and poems of unspeakable horrors, inspirational bravery, alternate realities, and the dark side of things that seem so familiar, yet are simply waiting to consume you.

In Mint Condition: 2013 will be released in two editions: A Trade Paperback Edition will be available for $9.99, and a Signed, Limited Hardcover Edition will be available for $49.99. The hardcover edition will be limited to 100 numbered copies only, will feature brand new dustjacket artwork, and will be signed by the editor.

A portion of the proceeds from the Signed, Limited Hardcover Edition will be donated to the Haven Foundation in the name of TheDarkTower.org and Ambannon Books. The Haven Foundation gives financial assistance to provide temporary support needed to safeguard and sustain the careers of established freelance artists, writers and other members of the arts and art production communities who have suffered disabilities or experienced a career-threatening illness, accident, natural disaster or personal catastrophe. AmbannonBooks.com. The Signed, Limited Hardcover Edition is expected to sell out fast, so be sure you are among the first to reserve your specific number!

September 26, 2012

HUGE Stephen King contest from Club Stephen King! From the Club:

Stephen King turned 65, and the Club Stephen King will turn 20 in october : originally an organisation created in 1992 in France, the Club Stephen King is a website since 1999. The perfect occasion for celebrating Stephen King fans all around the world.

Among the 100+ gifts available in the Stephen King Contest : books, mass paperback books, audiobooks, ebooks, limited editions, proofs, illustrations, promotional items, documentaries, an ebook reader.... a wide range of articles provided by about 30 partners.

List of partners, gifts and link to enter the contest : http://clubstephenking.com/

Club Stephen King website : http://club-stephenking.fr/

Awesome! Check it out and win yourself some prizes!

September 22, 2012

Hey all! Recently, Cemetery Dance's Brian James Freeman sat down with IDW's Jeff Connor for an illuminating interview. Connor's new limited edition, Zombies vs. Robots, looks fantastic! Of special note to Stephen King fans is an in-depth look at Connor's previous publishing endeavor, Scream/Press, whose limited edition of Skeleton Crew remains one of the most beautiful limiteds ever produced. Connor gives Freeman a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into how Skeleton Crew was produced ... including some interesting tidbits about Stephen King's way with certain words. It's always cool to hear about stuff like this, from the shadowy world of limited editions. Check out the interview here!

September 22, 2012

Rocky Wood's fantastic Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished (the revised edition with contributions by Stephen King himself) is now in paperback! And even better?

Guys, I got a blurb on the cover:

My first blurb ever! And for an awesome book! Go, buy it, and tell them Kev sent you!

September 21, 2012

HAPPY 65th BIRTHDAY, STEPHEN KING! And many and many-a!

September 20, 2012

Boom.

From Entertainment Weekly First Look:

Not only is King going retro with the setting of his upcoming novel, he’s also sticking to a tried-and-true format. “I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts,” he said in the press release. “I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.” Charles Ardai, editor of Hard Case Crime, promises a layered, genre-crossing story. “Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book,” he said. “It’s a whodunit, it’s a carny novel, it’s a story about growing up and growing old, and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time. Even the most hard-boiled readers will find themselves moved. When I finished it, I sent a note saying, ‘Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.’ ”

This amazing cover is the work of Robert McGinnis (famous for movie posters like Breakfast At Tiffany's and Thunderball and pulp magazines like True Detective) and Glen Orbik (whose stellar cover art includes previous King novels The Colorado Kid, Blockade Billy, and the special 25th anniversary cover of It). This is fantastic stuff.

Read more about Joyland at the Hard Case Crime website, and while you're there, pick up the James M. Cain lost masterpiece, The Cocktail Waitress. The last, newly discovered manuscript by the author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Pierce, and Double Indemnity, The Cocktail Waitress is just terrific. If you're not reading Hard Case Crime, then you're missing out on the best crime fiction from the genre's glory days AND today. I promise you, I'm not a shill; I just really like these books!

Follow both Hard Case Crime and publisher Charles Ardai on Twitter for the best updates on this spectacular publisher.

Mark your calendars now if you haven't already: Joyland is coming this June!

September 19, 2012

Exciting news, Dark Tower fans! If you're one of the people who like waiting for the paperback, today is your lucky day! Well, actually, certain days in November and February are your lucky days. The Wind Through the Keyhole comes to trade paperback on November 6, 2012 ... and to mass-market paperback February 26, 2013! Added bonus: awesome new cover. King has been more selective about mass market paperbacks lately - Under the Dome simply didn't have one in America, and I'm not sure if we're going to get one for 11/22/63 - so this is really terrific news all around!

September 18, 2012

Doctor Sleep has a release date ... and it's over a year away. Simon & Schuster and Hodder & Stoughton have confirmed that King's sequel to The Shining will be out on September 24, 2013. The original release date was scheduled for January; we now have a long, LONG wait until we get book-length work from King. Joyland, his new novel for Hard Case Crime, comes in June. Could this make way for a surprise book early in the year? A short fiction collection, maybe? We can hope ... and we can wait.

September 17, 2012

Hey all! Check out my brand-new FEARnet.com review of Gary Raisor and Jeff Austin's Empty Places, a terrifically elegiac graphic novella. Remember: hit "Like" on FEARnet if you like the review!

THE NEWS I'VE BEEN WAITING TO TELL YOU. Cemetery Dance just announced Shivers VII, a brand-new short story collection featuring work by Clive Barker, Ed Gorman, Stephen King ... and ME.

That's right, kids: Shivers VII marks the first time I will have fiction IN PRINT. My short story, "I am Become Poe," was selected by Cemetery Dance to share space with luminaries of the horror field, and I couldn't be more humbled and thrilled to be in the presence of such important, fantastic writers.

Also, Stephen King's short story "Weeds" (the basis for the Creepshow adaptation, "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill") marks its first appearance in a book. Other than two appearances in periodicals (Cavalier [1976] and Nugget [1979]), "Weeds" has never seen print in book form, so this is a fairly momentous occasion for King fans! Here's the full table of contents:

"The Departed" by Clive Barker
"Red Rover, Red Rover" by Norman Partridge
"Breakbone" by Bill Pronzini
"The Storybook Forest" by Norman Prentiss
"Simple" by Al Sarrantonio
"Born Dead" by Lisa Tuttle
"The Baby Store" by Ed Gorman
"A Lonely Town in Alaska" by Darren Speegle
"Zombie Dreams" by Tim Waggoner
"Echoes" by Don D'Ammassa
"Bone by Bone" by Scott Nicholson
"Sleeping with the Bower Birds" by Kaaron Warren
"Memory Lake" by Robert Morrish
"That Long Black Train" by Travis Heermann
"Beholder" by Graham Masterton
"Feel The Noise" by Lisa Morton
"Plant Life" by Greg F. Gifune
"I Am Become Poe" by Kevin Quigley
"Arbeit Macht Frei" by Del James
"Bovine" by Joel Arnold
"Depth" by Rio Youers
"GPS" by Rick Hautala
"Room 8" by Roberta Lannes
"Severance Package" by Bev Vincent
"As She Lay There Dying" by Brian James Freeman
"Weeds" by Stephen King

You can pre-order your trade paperback, hardcover, or SIGNED AND TRAYCASED LETTERED EDITION (boom) here.

My fiction! In a book! Hooray!

September 1, 2012

Please check out my review of Stephen King's deeply affecting new short story, "Batman & Robin Have an Altercation" on FEARnet.com. The title seems silly, but trust me, you're going to love this thing. Please click "like" on the FEARnet.com site if you like the review!

August 28, 2012

Hey folks! Please check out my FEARnet.com review of Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's "Face In the Crowd," the brand-new ebook! Please "like" it if you like it! Thanks!

August 28, 2012

Good news for those who missed out on this summer's powerful Esquire two-parter by Stephen King & Joe Hill: "In the Tall Grass" is coming to ebook on October 9th! It's a terrifically scary/gut-churning little tale that I recently reviewed in two parts for FEARnet.com. (Part 1 & Part 2). Leagues different from the previous King/Hill collaboration, "Throttle," this one starts off disturbing and then goes on to deliberately haunt your nightmares. It's AWESOME! Read it in full on October 9!

August 24, 2012

Full review to come, but guys? "Batman and Robin Have an Altercation" might be one of Stephen King's best stories ever. Go out, buy Harper's, and read this. Wow.

August 20, 2012

In yet another surprise move, King has released a brand-new short story titled "Batman and Robin Have an Altercation," the latest in a long line of Stories With Weird Titles ("Herman Wouk Is Still Alive" and "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French" among them). It's in the latest issue of Harper's Magazine; currently, only subscribers have access, but it should be out in stores this week. Further news as this develops!

August 14, 2012

This. Is. IT!

While I - your humble webmaster and King expert, Kevin Quigley - was recently superhumanly overexcited about the fact that I had an essay in the upcoming Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book, this news goes WAY beyond that. A WHOLE book, in hardcover, paperback, and deluxe editions, co-written by yours truly right here.

The STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED MOVIE TRIVIA BOOK is coming this fall from the good people at Cemetery Dance. Co-authored by Brian James Freeman (The Illustrated SK Trivia Book), Hans-Ake Lilja (Lilja's Library), and Kevin Quigley (Charnel House, Chart of Darkness, This Terrestrial Hell)

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

In addition, the book concludes with a special afterword by Mick Garris, director of The Stand, The Shining, Riding the Bullet, Desperation, Bag of Bones, and many others!

The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book includes material right up through this year and no Stephen King collection will be complete without it!

As a bonus, there's a huge big special offer that's available just this week:

Anyone who preorders any edition of this book through the Cemetery Dance website during the FIRST WEEK of preorders can also qualify for a FREE SIGNED LIMITED EDITION Glenn Chadbourne art print that will be signed by the artist.

This book is YEARS in the making. Guys, I watched Stephen King movies for MONTHS to make this book a reality. Studied them. Rejoiced in some, suffered through others. Don't make me have had to watch every single Children of the Corn film in vain! Check out the pre-order page on Cemetery Dance, and snag yourself a copy today!

You can also listen to me and Lilja talking about the book on the awesome Lilja & Lou Podcast. Check out Lilja & Lou's interview with me, and stick around for some rocktastic King discussion!

August 05, 2012

Check out my BRAND-NEW review of Peter Straub's upcoming novella, The Buffalo Hunter, coming this fall from Cemetery Dance. And don't forget: please hit "Like" if you like it! Thanks!

August 03, 2012

You can now pre-order "A Face In the Crowd" on iTunes. The new story by Stephen King and Faithful collaborator Stewart O'Nan will be 50 pages long, give or take depending on your choice of font size. Coming August 21st!

July 31, 2012

Breaking! Coming THIS FALL: The Revised & Expanded Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book from Cemetery Dance!

This revised and updated second edition of The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book features all of the original questions from the first edition, along with more than one hundred new questions about Stephen King's most recent releases! Also included are ten brand new illustration-based questions from Cemetery Dance favorite artist Glenn Chadbourne, along with the 60 illustration-based questions from the original edition. This new edition concludes with a brand new afterword by Kevin Quigley, founder of Charnel House, one of the oldest Stephen King fan sites on the web.

The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book by Brian James Freeman and Bev Vincent includes material right up through The Wind Through the Keyhole and no Stephen King collection will be complete without it!

Emphasis mine.

That's right, kids, not only is this revised and expanded edition super current and even more awesome than the first edition, it also features a BRAND-NEW ESSAY by ME! It's called "Trivial Matters" and it's never been published before, anywhere. This marks my very first appearance in hardcover, so I'm unreasonably excited. That's reason enough to get this book, if you really think about it.

Cemetery Dance is releasing The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book in two states:

A perfect-bound trade paperback ($19.95)

A Hardcover Limited Edition (signed by Freeman, Vincent, Quigley, and Chadbourne) bound in full-cloth and Smyth sewn and limited to the number of copies that are preordered in the first 30 days ($40.00)

Folks, this book is awesome, honestly. The new material is fantastic, the new illustrations are kick-ass, and don't forget that afterword. Pre-order your copy HERE!

July 24, 2012

BRAND NEW STORY coming from Stephen King and previous nonfiction collaborator Stewart O'Nan (Faithful). From the press release:

Dean Evers, an elderly widower, sits in front of the television with nothing better to do than waste his leftover evenings watching baseball. It’s Rays/Mariners, and David Price is breezing through the line-up. Suddenly, in a seat a few rows up beyond the batter, Evers sees the face of someone from decades past, someone who shouldn’t be at the ballgame, shouldn’t be on the planet. And so begins a parade of people from Evers’s past, all of them occupying that seat behind home plate. Until one day Dean Evers sees someone even eerier...

No word on the length (whether it's closer to a short story or a novella). What we do know is that it will be published exclusively as an ebook and audiobook (read by Craig Wasson, [11/22/63]). More details to come. For more information, visit Stephen King's official site! What a treat!

July 12, 2012

My brand-spanking new review of "In the Tall Grass, Part 2" is now up on FEARnet.com!!! Please be sure to hit "LIKE" if you like it, and spread the word!

July 9, 2012

The conclusion to the Stephen King/Joe Hill short story, "In the Tall Grass" is NOW OUT in this month's Esquire magazine. The first half was creepy enough, but as Esquire promises on its cover: "Now it gets WEIRD."

Pick up your copy today; it's the bright yellow issue with Jeremy Renner on the cover. Full review to come!

Thanks to Justin Brooks for the heads-up!

June 26, 2012

New King story coming in July!

Ms. Mod, from King's official message board, posted news of a new short story coming next month:

She clarified that it is NOT the second half of "In the Tall Grass":

King has really been cranking out the short stories lately, and I say yay! Earlier this year, I wrote an article called "Collection Time for Stephen King: An Observation", discussing his recent fiction and trying to decide what might be in a new anthology. Check it out and muse along with me as we wait out Part 2 of "In the Tall Grass" and this new story we know nothing about yet!

Thanks to Justin Brooks for the heads-up!

June 14, 2012

TWO BRAND-NEW BOOKS BY KEVIN QUIGLEY

Hey folks, it's me, Kevin Quigley, your humble owner and showrunner of Charnel House. For years, I've been bringing you information about Stephen King, on this site, over at FEARnet, and through my many books for Cemetery Dance.

Now, it's time for my say. Today, Cemetery Dance released two brand-new books by me, and I'd love for you to check them out.

SURF'S UP

Kevin Quigley’s new collection of poetry examines the dark crossroads where love and terror intersect. Otherworldly horrors pervade in "Fissure" and "Men With Tails" as maniac narrators hold court in "Meat Dumpster," "Scum Grinder," and "Exodus." Brutality lies at the center of "Slop Hovel" and "Pulling Teeth," while other kinds of pain comprise the wistful sketches "The Last Phone Booth in L.A." and "Thyme." The whimsy of "Danish Nation" and "Christine Again" can only hold the brightness for so long before the depths of human depravity in "Turpentine."

As in his previous book of poems, Foggy at Night in the City, Quigley channels his mordant obsessions – dark romance, psychosis, destruction, and Los Angeles – into incisive, often chilling poetry and verse. Surf’s Up dives in deeper, and finds only darkness beneath the waves.

THIS TERRESTRIAL HELL

A young girl dangles her feet high above a fathomless pool filled with dead things. A murderous carny worker falls victim to a ringleader’s diabolical experiments. And a half-lit basement, where the tools of a maniac’s extreme weight-loss program are a cage, a knife Ö and a wet/dry vacuum.

Welcome to This Terrestrial Hell, the first short fiction collection by Cemetery Dance writer and FEARnet columnist, Kevin Quigley. Comprised of eleven stories of horror, lunacy, and human desperation, This Terrestrial Hell announces a fresh and frightening new voice in fiction. Populated with killers, pregnant teenage girls with violent secrets, and frantic young men with borrowed guns, this collection stares unblinkingly into the dark depths of hell on earth.

If you're comfortable manually loading ePub or Mobi files onto your reader/app, you can purchase both versions of this eBook in a single download through Cemetery Dance's online store. They have a whole FAQ about it.

You can also get the books for Kindle on Amazon:

Surf's Up

This Terrestrial Hell

Folks, thank you so much for reading this site and my books on King all these years. I would really appreciate you spreading the word about these new books, and checking them out yourselves.

Thanks, and have an awesome day!

June 06, 2012

We have lost a legend. Futurist, author, genius. Today, Ray Bradbury died at the age of 91. Stephen King commented:

Ray Bradbury wrote three great novels and three hundred great stories. One of the latter was called 'A Sound of Thunder.' The sound I hear today is the thunder of a giant's footsteps fading away. But the novels and stories remain, in all their resonance and strange beauty."e hundred great stories. One of the latter was called 'A Sound of Thunder.' The sound I hear today is the thunder of a giant's footsteps fading away. But the novels and stories remain, in all their resonance and strange beauty.

I love the work of Ray Bradbury. King mentions "A Sound of Thunder," but equally as effective are "The Veldt," "Mars Is Heaven," and my personal favorite, "All Summer In a Day." Through his hundreds of short stories and classic novels, The Halloween Tree, Fahrenheit 451, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, Bradbury was a major influence on all aspects of speculative thinking. When EC Comics (Tales from the Crypt, The Haunt of Fear, Weird Science) adapted two of Bradbury's short stories without getting permission, Bradbury wrote and informed them they had "inadvertently" forgotten to pay him - instigating a long collaborative relationship between the man and the publisher. Bradbury was also hugely influential on the Walt Disney company, penning the essay "The Machine-Tooled Happyland" about Disneyland, and helped write the original storyline for the signature EPCOT attraction, Spaceship Earth.

My favorite personal memory of Bradbury is reading Something Wicked This Way Comes in a bright room with plenty of people around. I became so frightened at one point that I actually threw the book across the room in terror. That's how you know you've got a writer to cherish.

Ray Bradbury is an author to read, enjoy, study, and remember. No writer ever dies so long as he is read - so please, everyone: keep reading.

August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012

June 04, 2012

My review of "In the Tall Grass," Part One, by Stephen King and Joe Hill, is now up on FEARnet.com! Check it out, and remember to click "Like" if you like it!

May 30, 2012

JOYLAND IS COMING! For the second time, Stephen King will be partnering with Hard Case Crime to present a paperback original, coming in June 2013. At the time, there will be no hardcover and no e-book; just the wonderful, pulpy paperbacks that Hard Case Crime is known for. Of the new book, King said:

I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.

Charles Ardai, editor of Hard Case Crime, commented enthusiastically:

Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book ... It’s a whodunit, it’s a carny novel, it’s a story about growing up and growing old, and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time. Even the most hardboiled readers will find themselves moved. When I finished it, I sent a note saying, ‘Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.’

Glenn Orbik, cover artist for King's other Hard Case Crime novel, The Colorado Kid (as well as Cemetery Dance's Blockade Billy and the It: 25th Anniversary Edition) will be collaborating with Robert McGinnis, the artist behind the posters for the original Sean Connery James Bond movies and Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

For the whole scoop, viisit Hard Case Crime's website here, and see the full press release here. This is super major kickass news, folks! I can't wait!

May 29, 2012

Boom: "In the Tall Grass," part one, by Stephen King and Joe Hill is NOW OUT ... on newsstands. Though the story is ostensibly going to be available in both the print and iPad versions, currently only the print version is available.

Oh, but it's good. Completely unlike "Throttle," this one's a full-on in your face horror story. A full review upcoming. Part 2 will be available in the August issue of Esquire.

May 25, 2012

Hey all - some very sad news today. Kathi Kamen Goldmark, who formed the Rock Bottom Remainders (the band in which Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan and others - including Goldmark herself - perform in) lost her battle with cancer yesterday The Rock Bottom Remainders were a weird, amazing concept, and Kathi was at the heart of it all. I consulted with her last year to clear up some facts on my book Blood In Your Ears. She sounded so full of life; I had no idea she had cancer. Kathi was a boon to the Stephen King community, the literature community, and, yes, the rock and roll community. She will be greatly missed.

The Rock Bottom Remainders's CD, Stranger Than Fiction, featuring Kathi on a number of songs.

Mid-Life Confidential, a book featuring the Remainders' first road tour, featuring an essay by Goldmark

My 2000 Interview with Goldmark, out of date but still terrific.

May 22, 2012

Breaking: The new Stephen King/Joe Hill story in Esquire magazine will be titled "In the Tall Grass." It's a two-parter; the first part comes out in the June/July issue, and the story concludes in the August issue. Hooray! New story! New long story!

May 22, 2012

We have cover:

Still waiting on a release date and a title! As soon as I know, you'll know!

May 21, 2012

Breaking: Esquire Magazine will be publishing a brand new collaborative story by Stephen King and Joe Hill, as part of an ongoing effort to publish "men's fiction." Editor-in-chief David Granger states

“It’s a struggle, because especially during the recession, we lost so many pages,” he said. “Fiction begins to feel a little bit of a luxury.”

His definition of men’s fiction? Work that is “plot-driven and exciting, where one thing happens after another,” he said. “And also at the same time, dealing with passages in a man’s life that seem common.”

The June/July issue of Esquire will contain three stories: one by King/Hill, one by Lee Child (the Jack Reacher novels), and one by Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin). The works will be available only in the print and iPad editions of the magazine - not online.

No title or length on the King story yet, but keep checking back here! We'll report details as soon as possible!

May 16, 2012

King to speak at Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell! King is doing a rare speaking appearance in Lowell, Massachusetts this December. The event page states:

King’s appearance marks the debut of the new UMass Lowell Chancellor’s Speaker Series. Tickets to the Dec. 7 event go on sale to the public Friday, June 1 and are $30 (plus $2 facility fee) for general admission and $50 ($2 facility fee) for reserved floor seating. Tickets will be sold at the Tsongas Center box office, www.tsongascenter.com and 866-722-8780. Admission is free for UMass Lowell students with valid ID who obtain tickets in advance at the Tsongas Center box office.

For more information, click here!

May 15, 2012

For whatever reasons, this little bit of awesome passed me by last week. On May 13, 2012, The Wind Through the Keyhole became Stephen King's 33rd #1 New York Times hardcover bestseller. The book is the third Dark Tower novel to hit the #1 spot, after Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower. Check out my Chart of Darkness for a list of King's other charted books, and some fun facts about Stephen King and chart history.

Unfortunately, unlike 11/22/63, which proved to have remarkable longevity and staying power, Keyhole was overtaken in its second week on the charts by Charlaine Harris's Deadlocked. We'll see if it bounces back up! Congrats on #33, Mr. King!

May 14, 2012

In an awesome new interview with Talk Stephen King, one of the best King sites out there, author/expert/superhero Stephen Spignesi talks about Stephen King, his own fiction, and, of course, The Shape Under the Sheet. Spignesi also generously mentions my books with Cemetery Dance, sure to delight and excite any fan of Stephen King. Check out the interview, and if you haven't read my chapbooks, all are now available on ebook! Fun times!

May 8, 2012

BREAKING: Doctor Sleep set to arrive January 15, 2013. From StephenKing.com:

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

Awesome stuff! I can't wait! May 7, 2012

Check out my new FEARnet.com article, "Listening to the Wind: Stephen King, the Dark Tower, and The Wind Through the Keyhole on Audio". In it, I talk about King's involvement with the Dark Tower audiobooks - why he read them, why he stopped, and why he's returned. Check it out, and remember, hit "Like" at the bottom if you dug it! Thanks!

April 30, 2012

Wow. IMDB just picked up my FEARnet.com review of Rocky Wood's book, Uncollected, Unpublished. This might be the biggest national exposure I've ever had, aside from that one interview I did in Newsweek about "Riding the Bullet." WOW! Click! Read! LOVE!

April 27, 2012

My review of Rocky Wood's book, Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished is now available for purchase, and folks, it's such an amazing book. Check out my review at FEARnet.com and pick up the book at the Overlook Connection Press. In addition to getting a great book that Stephen King had direct involvement in, you'll be helping Rocky Wood immeasurably: all proceeds go to help his ALS treatment.

Thanks, all, and remember, if you like my review, click "Like" at the bottom!

April 24, 2012

The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole is in stores EVERYWHERE today! It's a terrific novel, one of the best of the Dark Tower books yet. Grab it, read it (or listen to the audio read by King himself; it includes a preview of his sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep), and then check out my review! Hooray Tower day!

April 17, 2012

Some unexpected ebook news: For the first time ever, Stephen King and Joe Hill's story Throttle is available as a standalone ebook. It's got a great minimalist cover, some terrific Nelson Daniel concept art, and you can get it at literally oodles of ebook marketplaces. OODLES! Find yours here and grab this awesome story!

April 17, 2012

Check out this fantastic review of the 25th Anniversary edition of It from Cemetery Dance by preeminent King scholar Tony Magistrale. I love reading his reviews, and while I disagree with some of his particulars (Tony and I have rarely seen eye to eye on King's take on homosexuality) this was no exception. (BTW: there are still some copies of the book available through Cemetery Dance. I have one of these and it's AWESOME. So check it!)

April 11, 2012

The official word on Joyland: King's official site commented on Neil Gaiman's reporting that King had a new novel in the works. Says StephenKing.com:

Following up on Neil Gaimain's interview in the (UK) Sunday Times mentioning a new novel to be titled Joyland about an amusement park serial killer, Stephen has given the thumbs up to officially report that this is indeed a work in progress that has been completed but will need to be edited. There is no official publisher or publication date set at this time. We will update you as more official news becomes available.

Here's the cool thing about King. Literally on Sunday, we heard that he was still writing it. Today, it's complete and needs editing. Now, who knows if King was almost done writing it when Gaiman reported it, and we all know that King takes the editing process very seriously, so it's likely to be somewhat lengthy. We probably won't see Joyland for a while, but I continue to be astounded at the man's drive and pace.

April 9, 2012

The recent Neil Gaiman interview with Stephen King is tantalizing, and not simply because King briefly mentions Joyland, his newest (and as-yet incomplete) novel about an amusement park serial killer. (Thoughts on that: the original Shining was initially going to be about a young boy with psychic powers at an amusement park; one wonders if the writing of Doctor Sleep rekindled those ideas.)

Some other interesting bits in the article: King may or may not write himself out of future editions of Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah. While many people didn't like the meta-commentary of King appearing in his own work so forcefully (I was somewhat neutral on it), much of the entire purpose of the final three books is about the nature of storytelling in general and the nature of King's involvement with storytelling. I'm not saying it can't be done, and I'd certainly be interested to read a fresh take on the final Dark Tower books (especially in the wake of the wonderful Wind Through the Keyhole), but we'll see. A long time ago, King said he was going to rewrite The Drawing of the Three to bring it more in line with the new version of The Gunslinger, and that never quite happened.

King's take on writing Doctor Sleep is interesting yet basic: he wanted to see if he could make the sequel as good as the original. Seemingly tired of people saying that the sequel is never as good, he set himself a challenge. I'm intrigued.

Unfortunately, the full article is behind a paywall. You can buy the Sunday Times App for iOs for free here, and purchase the April 8th issue through that.

April 8, 2012

NEW NOVEL ALERT!!! In his interview with author Neil Gaiman in the Sunday Times, King revealed he is working on a new novel about an amusement park serial killer. The new book is called Joyland, though we don't know much more about it now. Exciting stuff! The second I know more, you'll know more. Keep checking back!

April 3, 2012

The cover art for The Wind Through the Keyhole has been revealed! While we know King is reading this excerpt from the upcoming Doctor Sleep, we're unsure if he's reading the whole thing when it's released next year. I hope so!

Also note that this audio midquel set in Mid-World features a preview of a sequel. Fun with prefixes, everyone!

April 1, 2012

"Herman Wouk Is Still Alive" has won a Stoker Award for best short fiction. This is huge news in more ways than one. Since the inauguration of the Bram Stoker awards in 1987, King has been nominated for this category a grand total of twice - for "Autopsy Room Four" in 1998 and for "Harvey's Dream" in 2003. This marks his very first win for short fiction. It's a well-deserved win, too - "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive" is a terrific, bleak story, and hopefully this win will give it a larger audience. You can read the story here, and read my review of it here.

In King-related Stoker news, author Rocky Wood won for his achievement in non-fiction writing for Stephen King: A Literary Companion. You can pick that book up here.

Unfortunately, 'Salem's Lot lost out on Vampire Novel of the Century. Fittingly, though, it lost to Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, so the sting can't hurt too badly. If you've never read I Am Legend, or have just seen the movie adaptations, you are missing out on a really terrific book. Check it out here.

You can see all the Stoker Award winners right here!

March 29, 2012

Hey folks! Gauntlet Press is releasing a limited edition commemoration of "Battleground," the Emmy-award winning short film from the Nightmares & Dreamscapes anthology series. I have seen it and it is good Read my full-length review on FEARnet.com, and click "Like" if you like - every click gives your humble reviewer immeasurable joy! Support joy!

March 27, 2012

Hey all! Check out my FEARnet.com review of the awesome conclusion to the Stephen King/Joe Hill comic Road Rage: Throttle. As always "Like" it if you like it! And if you haven't already, take a look at my review of the first issue of Throttle. You'll be so glad!

March 26, 2012

If you are half as excited as I am about King reading the audio version of the new Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, click here for an exclusive 9-minute clip! I can't wait for this thing!

Hey folks! You now only have ONE WEEK to order the new edition of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished by Rocky Wood. Have we mentioned that Stephen King himself has provided content for this thing? From the Overlook Connection newsletter:

We're sending out an announcement today that everyone has one week left from today to order a signed limited edition of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished.

Last day to order the book is March 25th.

We are only offering this edition as a pre-sale and it will not be available for sale after March 25th and will be removed from the Overlook site.

The limited edition features a unique binding color, a signed and numbered limitation sheet, and each copy comes with an acid-free book cover for complete archival protection.

Here are the links:

US Purchase here: http://overlookconnection.com/catalog/stephen-king-uncollected-unpublished-signed-p-6929.html

ALL FOREIGN Purchases here (which include correct shipping): http://overlookconnection.com/catalog/foreign-orders-only-stephen-king-uncollected-unpublished-signed-p-6907.html

We do take paypal, but now our site is now SSL Certified and encrypted for the convenience of using all major credit cards on the Overlook order forms.

Thanks for spreading the word and supporting Rocky in this endeavor.

Rocky Wood himself adds this: It's the new edition of my Bram Stoker Award nominated book, massively revised and updated with input from STEPHEN KING himself, answering dozens of questions and even making some commentary about Harlan Ellison (yeegads)! Please SHARE as profits from this go to my ALS/MND care fund.

So, the salient points: 1. This book, previously merely awesome, is now unbelievably ridonculously amazeballs. 2. You have one week left to order it. 3. ALL profits go to benefit Rocky's ALS/MND fund, which will help him keep working and being terrific.

Order today!

March 10, 2012

Okay, this is awesome: Kyle Lambert's Toy Shining. A delirious mash-up of Toy Story and Kubrick's version of The Shining, and it's not only brilliant, it's hilarious. Some samples:

The whole series is awesome! Check it out here!

March 9th, 2012

With all this excitement over The Wind Through the Keyhole, let's not forget that the amazing 11/22/63 is still on sale, and it has remained a New York Times Top Ten Bestseller for over four months, many of those weeks at #1. For those who care (me), I would not be at all surprised if this became King's first #1 paperback since Dreamcatcher. Keep watching!

March 5, 2012

Reprint News! 11/22/63 is coming to trade paperback on October 1st, 2012. No news yet if it will follow the now-normal convention of tiered releases - hardcover, trade, mass market - or if, like Under the Dome, its trade edition will be its only paperback publication.

Intriguingly, both The Talisman and Black House are being reprinted by Simon & Schuster in hardcover on November 6th. There's been some speculation that this might mean the third book in the series is imminent (the announcement that Wind Through the Keyhole would be the only King book this year surprised many, leaving a King-sized gap in the fall release schedule), but such hopes are likely premature. King stated recently that the third book in the series is a long way off, and Simon & Schuster are likely only reprinting these because they have just gained the rights away from NAL/Viking (much as they did when the rights to The Green Mile reverted back to King and they published a hardcover collection of the six chapterbooks).

Still, there is that big gap in the schedule, and I wouldn't be surprised to see an all-new book from King later this year. Maybe something small, like The Colorado Kid or Blockade Billy. One can hope, at least...

March 4, 2012

The reviews for The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole are starting to trickle in, and they remain terrific. This one, by Bryant Burnette of Ramblings of a Honk Mahfah, is highly positive, saying

The Wind Through the Keyhole not only does absolutely NOTHING to tarnish the legacy of a great series of novels, it actually strengthens it.

It's a terrific review (and super fun; wait'll you see the Lee Harvey Oswald photobombs in the middle), and he quotes my review on FEARnet.com, which automatically makes him even more awesome. (Speaking of which, the amazing site Talk Stephen King also did an expose of my review, and if you're not reading Talk Stephen King, it's time to start!)

Check it out! More reviews to follow!

March 3, 2012

My full-length review of Stephen King's brand-new Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, is now up on FEARnet.com! This book is absolutely fantastic, folks, and I think my exuberance for it shows in the review. Check it out, "Like" it at the bottom, and snap this book up as soon as it hits stores!

March 3, 2012

While we were sad when we heard the the news that Doctor Sleep will not be out until 2013, this very interesting bit of information soothed us:

A Message From Stephen King on his official website:

Hey, you guys and gals: I've done public readings from next year's Shining sequel a couple of times now, but if you got the idea from any of the blog posts that the audio sample at the end of the forthcoming Wind Through the Keyhole CDs is just the five-minute snippet I read last month in Savannah...think again. It's the entire prologue of the book (called LOCKBOX). It's 25 manuscript pages and runs a little shy of half an hour when read aloud. If you're looking for a return to balls-to-the-wall, keep-the-lights-on horror, get ready. And don't say you weren't warned.

So not only is Stephen King returning to reading his own Dark Tower titles for audio, but he's also making things even more awesome with a humungous preview of the sequel to The Shining. I can't wait.

February 20, 2012

Stephen King reads the incredible introduction to Dr. Sleep at the Savannah Book Festival Closing Ceremony:

February 20, 2012

Poet Laureate Maya Angelou punks Stephen King on I Know Why the Caged Bird Laughs, and oh my God I laughed so hard:

February 20, 2012

The 2011 Stoker Award Nominations are out, and while King makes an appearance, it's sort of unexpected. Nothing for 11/22/63, but his short story, "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive," is nominated for Best Short Fiction among new work by Adam Troy Castro, Ken Lillie-Paetz, Gene O’Neill, George Saunders, and Kaaron Warren. It's sort of an unusual choice; while an excellent story, it's not really "horror" as much as the more traditional (and equally good) "The Little Green God of Agony" or "The Dune." Kind of amazing, though, that he still has this kind of well to draw from.

Of King-related interest: HWA president and terrific writer Rocky Wood has been nominated in the nonfiction category for Stephen King: A Literary Companion, and Joe Hill has been nominated for Best Graphic Novel for Locke & Key Volume 4. Congratulations, all!

February 19, 2012

More bestseller chart news: King's 11/22/63 has remarkable legs. This week, it shoots back into the Top 5, having never dropped below #6 since its first chart appearance in November. This book has stayed int he Top 6 for 14 weeks, longer than most of King's more recent hardcovers have been on the list at all. Terrific job, Mr. King!

February 16, 2012

Big big BIG news for fans of "the unseen King." The brilliant Rocky Wood is unveiling a brand-new FOURTH EDITION of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished from The Overlook Connection ... and Stephen King himself is directly involved.

More information provided by Rocky:

Hardcover, signed (by me), with all profits going to my ALS/MND fund. And here's the real kicker - Stephen King kindly answered dozens of questions for me, clarifying things we never knew about. This is likely to be the DEFINITIVE book about all the things King has written that either have not been published, or not collected in his mainstream books.

STEPHEN KING: UNCOLLECTED, UNPUBLISHED
2012 Overlook Connection Press Signed Limited edition hard cover. 450+ pages. For complete archival protection the DJ is sealed in an acid-free protective book cover upon publication, and then sealed in plastic for final protection.

Profits from this edition will go to Rocky Wood's ALS Fund!

Major Updates in this Revised and Expanded Edition of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished ONLY FOUND IN THE OVERLOOK CONNECTION PRESS EDITION!

There are a multitude of interesting updates in the revised edition of the classic book about Kings hidden work Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished. This edition is likely to prove to the definitive book about King's uncollected, unpublished and lost works.

Included in the new information are a series of newly discovered unpublished works. For many of which the author was able to secure Stephen King's exclusive and definitive statements about how they originated, and why they never saw the light of day. Many of these quotes are entertaining and even controversial. Among previously unknown works are:

Hatchet Head

The Ladies Room

and another incomplete Western novel.

Stephen King reveals more about his screenplays of:

Asylum, The Street Kids Bible, The Accident, The Corner, On the Island, Pinfall, The Star Invaders, and The Tommyknockers.

The haunted radio station screenplay and his lost radio play. One of these tales would have been Richard Bachman original!

There are even stories that previous editions reported King had written that have now been removed.

Stephen King also helps clears up many mysteries about titles and stories he is rumoured to have written, all exclusively for this edition of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished, including that rumoured screenplay of Poltergeist!

There are new Chapters with full detail about these newly published but uncollected tales: American Vampire, "The Dune," "Herman Wouk is Still Alive," "The Little Green God of Agony," "Mile 81," "Morality," "Premium Harmony," "Throttle," and "Ur."

New Poems have been added, including:

"Mostly Old Men," "The Bone Church," and "Tommy."

And there are significant revisions to chapters such as "The Reploids," The Huffman Story, and "Squad D," based on information exclusively provided for this edition by Stephen King!

Other updated chapters include new information about I Was A Teenage Grave Robber and a full revision of The Cannibals following the publication of Under the Dome.

And also, don't forget the book has a story by King that ONLY appears in this book - Chapter 71 of [King's unpublished third novel] Sword in the Darkness; and also a poem - 'Dino' and this is the only book that poem appears in. So don't miss out.

ABOUT THIS EDITION:

We are only producing enough signed editions based on pre-orders and then it will be numbered as such. If we only sell 210 copies, then there will only be 210 signed and numbered copies. You need to pre-order this signed edition to guarantee your copy.

US ORDERS THROUGH PAYPAL

FOREIGN ORDERS THROUGH PAYPAL

ORDER VIA THE WEBSITE

This Signed hard cover edition is being produced especially to help Rocky Wood to purchase the eye-device made especially for people with ALS. This device will help Rocky continue to communicate as the disease progresses. I've spoken to people in the medical field about this unit and it is a wonderful device from what I understand and will help him continue in his endeavors. So thank you for your help with this and you will also get a special edition as well!

$59.95 with FREE Shipping (US only).

FOREIGN SHIPPING - Please inquire about delivery rates for any items here and we will send you a PayPal invoice.

Our order form accepts credit cards securely thru PayPal. You can also mail in your check or money order as noted on the site.

This is a GREAT edition for an amazing cause. A full review of the book is upcoming - plus some other fun goodies for you - so keep your eyes peeled here!

February 3, 2012

I have read Road Rage: Throttle #1 and it is GOOD. Check out my full review over at FEARnet.com, and click "like" at the bottom, if you indeed "like." Thanks for reading!

January 31, 2012

Spotlight On: BRIAN JAMES FREEMAN. Last year, we took a look at Brian James Freeman's excellent enovel, The Painted Darkness. Now Freeman (my co-author of the upcoming Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book) returns just as strong, with a short, unnerving collection of tales called Seven Stories. Even better? It's currently free, on Amazon.com.

From Amazon:

This mini-collection contains seven of Brian James Freeman's short stories that are currently available individually on Amazon. Save $4 if you order them together in this great bundle!

Freeman's best work has always been his short fiction, which is haunting and beautifully written. These stories feature characters who are searching for answers to deeply troubling questions, and there's often a real emotional punch before you reach the end.

This bundle won't be available at this price forever, so don't wait to download your copy!

About the Stories:

Walking With the Ghosts of Pier 13:
A grueling summer of horror is finally winding down, and Jeremy is one of the wandering survivors who can't come to grips with the acts of terror that have been ripping his nation apart. His destination today is Pier 13, the ocean front amusement park his family visited every summer when he was a child, and his purpose for coming here is simple: he wants to understand why so many people have been dying in such violent acts... but that might not be the only answer he finds at the old docks.

Running Rain:
In the year since their son was the first victim of a serial killer known as the The Riverside Strangler, a devastated husband and wife have tried to pretend life can somehow be normal again... but the secrets they're keeping from each other are pushing their relationship to the brink. To make matters worse, The Riverside Strangler was never caught, and now the husband is obsessed with running along the river at night, searching for the truth about why his son died: a truth he may not really want to know...

Answering the Call:
A young man's very unusual job is taking a heavy toll on him. He stays in homes during the owner's funeral. Someone needs to be there to answer the phone, receive deliveries, and deter thieves who might have seen the obituary in the newspaper and decided this would be a good time for a break-in. The young man has seen a lot of strange things over the years in the homes of the dead, and sometimes his job is truly a matter of life and death...

The Punishment Room:
Assuming Michael manages to escape the Punishment Room with his sanity and his life, he isn't sure if he'll be able to go on living with the knowledge of what he did to survive... but then again, that's a dilemma he wouldn't mind confronting, given the finality of the alternative.

What They Left Behind:
There's something lurking in the basement of the old Timlico office building. This thing is evil, the result of the tragic fire that killed dozens of Timlico employees and sent that business spiraling into bankruptcy -- or maybe the thing was the cause of the fire. Scott and a few friends will learn more about this thing before the day is over, including some very bad news for everyone: the thing in the basement is still hungry.

A Dreamlike State:
Daniel is driving back to his hometown for the first time in six years because his father is dying, but he knows there's more than a sick patriarch waiting for him in the house where he grew up. He has a heart full of questions, and all of his childhood ghosts are patiently waiting for him... and they have a few questions of their own.

Where Sunlight Sleeps:
A grieving father and his young son, both dealing with their loss in their own ways. A Saturday ritual, retracing the last steps of the woman they loved more than any other. A search for the place where the sunlight sleeps, where bad feelings can be released. And a trip down a memory lane lined with jagged edges and vicious traps that just won't let them go.

You can grab Seven Stories for the low low low price of FREE right now, and if you like those tales, why not check out his experimental short piece, "The Silent Attic," available for only 99 cents!

January 26, 2012

In the afterword of 11/22/63, King thanks his son, Joe Hill, for coming up with a better ending idea for the novel. King fans have long wondered what the original ending might have been. Wonder no longer! King has now posted the original ending to his website, for all to peruse and enjoy. It's a little like the final wrap-up for Dolores Claiborne, which I found interesting. He was right, though: the new ending's better.

January 18, 2012

'Salem's Lot has been nominated for a special Bram Stoker award for Vampire Novel of the Century. The other nominees are:

The Soft Whisper of the Dead, by Charles L. Grant (1983)

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson (1954)

Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman (1992)

Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice (1976)

Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (1978)

To my mind, the only real competition for King is Interview With a Vampire and I Am Legend. Rice's work, for better or for worse, set the groundwork for the "romantic" vampire genre, and is rightly a classic. I Am Legend is a classic novel by a legendary writer. However, though the creatures in I Am Legend are called vampires, they're really not.

The Grant and Yarbro might not have enough "legendary" cache, and the Newman may simply be too new (even though it's 20 years old now). 'Salem's Lot, on the other hand, almost singlehandedly brought the vampire to America, changing the horror genre forever. I think it'll be King.

Check out the entire article here!

January 17, 2012

Really fantastic and unique news about the UK publication of The Wind Through the Keyhole. Hodder says:

Could You Find Your Face on Stephen King's New Book?

To celebrate the publication of The Wind through the Keyhole, the hotly anticipated new episode in Stephen King’s fantasy series The Dark Tower, we’re inviting you to help make literary history; lucky entrants will have their faces featured on the back of the jacket artwork.

Using mosaic design technologies, thousands of readers’ images will be incorporated in the illustration on the back cover of The Wind through the Keyhole.

One winner will also be selected at random to receive the entire STEPHEN KING backlist published by Hodder in the UK.

For your chance to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, all you have to do is upload your photo via this facebook app https://www.facebook.com/stephenkingbooks. We can’t guarantee that everyone’s photo will make it on – but we’ll contact you when the jacket is ready so you can see if your face is featured, and if you’ve been lucky, you can share your pixels of fame with friends and family! The closing date for entries is 23rd January 2012. Terms and conditions apply, click here for more details.

VERY neat! So go ahead, be a visual part of King history!

January 11th, 2012

Donald M. Grant put out a newsletter today, detailing so, so much about the upcoming Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole. Let's dive right in:

DARK TOWER: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE

1. WEB ORDER PAGE

We have added another of Jae Lee’s color illustrations to the web page.

Since we began accepting advance orders on December 19 we have received over 3,000 orders. We are accepting advance orders for both the Deluxe and Artist Editions of THE DARK TOWER: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE at:

https://secure.grantbooks.com/z-sk-dt-twttk.html

Please read the rest of this Newsletter before placing your order.

2. TRADE EDITION SLIPCASE

We will be producing a slipcase for the Scribner Trade Edition which will match the three slipcases we produced for the first seven Dark Tower books:

https://secure.grantbooks.com/z-sk-dt-slipcases.html

This will not be shipped until 6-8 weeks after the Trade Edition is released so that we can be sure it will fit properly. Cost is $30.00 plus a $1.00 shipping charge. We will not be charging the $5.00 order fee on orders where the slipcase is shipping by itself.

3. ORDER CONFIRMATION

If you send a check and the check is cashed we have received your order. If you sent an order via our website you will receive as confirmation an email titled “RE WWW Form Submission.” We have received over 3,000 email orders but are now sending confirmations within 3 or 4 business days. If you call or email us this will only delay getting orders ready but if you sent in your order in December and did not receive an order confirmation please send us an email with the subject NO ORDER CONFIRMATION to karenf@grantbooks.com.

We have a small staff and will be hiring extra help but it will take time to process orders, especially for people expecting a specific numbered copy. We appreciate your patience.

Please do not call or email us for further details as we will just refer you to our web site and suggest you remain subscribed to our email newsletter.

4. PRINTED FLYER

Our usual full-color printed flyer will be in the mail next week.

5. LITTLE SISTERS - MATCH YOUR NUMBER

Due to financial considerations at the time many of our customers who bought the Deluxe Edition of LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA chose not to purchase the matching numbered Gift Edition. As we have been shipping copies from the higher number down we still have many of the Gift Editions up to number 690. If you would now like to match your Deluxe Edition with the same numbered Gift edition please email Karen French at karenf@grantbooks.com under the subject title “Little Sisters Gift Number” with your number and Karen will confirm if we still have that number.

We will send out another Newsletter when we know when shipping THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE will begin.

Thank you.

Robert K. Wiener, President Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc

All around terrific news! Hooray! I am PSYCHED for this book, everyone. You should be, too!

January 9th, 2012

King's awesome ebook, "Mile 81," is now available as an audiobook single, b/w King's scary new story, "The Dune"! Read by Edward Hermann and Thomas Sadoski, this terrific package is available digitally through iTunes, or physically through Amazon!

January 9th, 2012

Cemetery Dance Announces "All You Can Read eBook Membership Guys, I am SUPER PLEASED to be announcing this. Today, Cemetery Dance Publications launched its All You Can Read eBook membership program, meaning you pay one price ($49), and you can download any book that Cemetery Dance is publishing in 2012 ... and any book Cemetery Dance has already published, including books by yours truly, Kevin Quigley. Check the details:

In the six months since we launched our eBook store, we've published books by William Peter Blatty, Peter Straub, Jay Bonansinga, Norman Partridge, Glen Hirshberg, Brian Hodge, Brian Keene, Mick Garris, Rick Hautala, Ronald Kelly, Simon Clark, Ed Gorman, Geoff Cooper, Brian James Freeman, James A. Moore, Rocky Wood, Kirby McCauley, and many others [like awesome writer Kevin Quigley.]

There are nearly 40 eBooks you can download right away with a combined retail value of more than $130, plus we have dozens of new eBooks in the works for 2012, including some exciting originals and also reprints of classic out of print horror novels you haven't read in years!

Our eBooks range in price from $0.99 [including all eBooks by Kevin Quigley] to $9.99, but the cost of this membership is just a one-time fee of $49, which breaks down to $4.08 per month! If you think you'd want to download even a couple of eBooks each month, this is a great deal!

Cemetery Dance sweetens the deal, too, offering a FREE signed limited print book coming later this year: Because we hope you still love print editions as much as we do, members will also receive a FREE signed Limited Edition hardcover later this year! All you'll have to pay is any applicable shipping. Considering the retail value of $30 to $40 for the free book, the low purchase price of this membership is an EVEN BETTER deal with this special bonus!

You can find all the awesome details here! And don't worry, if you're in the plan and you happen to buy books by me, I still get paid. Yay innovative epublishing! Whee! Go! Read! Buy! Love!

January 7th, 2012

Hello all! My first column for FEARnet.com for 2012 is now up! It's called "Collection Time: An Observation," and it looks at King's recent short stories and my opinion that he has almost enough for a new anthology. From the column:

King's excitement for the short story hasn't abated one bit, and in the years since Just After Sunset, his short work is stronger than ever. In fact, he's been writing and publishing so much short work lately that he just might have enough material for a new collection, one as good (if not better) than Sunset. Let's take a look...

It's a fun look! Check it out yourself: "Collection Time: An Observation" can be found here, and if you like it, click the "Like" button at the end, please! Thank you so much!

January 7th, 2012

Lilja's Library unveils Marv's Museum! Now, here's something cool. Over the years, Hans-Åke Lilja (King expert, Lilja's Library webmaster, and my co-author on the upcoming Illustrated Stephen King Movie Trivia Book) has been collecting Stephen King memorabilia - promotional material, film props, you name it. Now he's decided to unveil it all in a new featured page of the Library, Marv's Museum. Says Lilja:

Marv’s Museum is a museum where I will show you interesting items that I have collected over the years. Initially there will be props from King movies but as time goes on I hope to add other things, things that I think you will find interesting.

Folks, Lilja's got some awesome stuff on display, and you're gonna love it. Check it out here!

January 3rd, 2012

A Look Ahead: Hey all! Kev here. I am thrilled to announce that Charnel House and I are in our sixteenth year of providing you quality King news, full-length reviews, and King-related stuff you won't find anywhere else on the internet (particularly Writing On King, my Listening List of King on Audio, and especially my favorite part of this site, The Chart of Darkness).

2011 allowed for some substantial growth for Charnel House. In addition to the Critiques bar on the left, leading you to full-length analyses of every King book ever published, I've added a Release Schedule bar on the right, to give you quick access to all that's coming up. My reviews are now appearing on FEARnet.com, and all five of my chapbooks about King - Chart of Darkness, Drawn into Darkness, Ink in the Veins, Wetware, and Blood in Your Ears - were made available through Cemetery Dance, iTunes, and Amazon. It's been a huge year.

2012 looks to be even huger. My big limited-edition hardcover on Stephen King, A Good Story and Good Words, will be released through Cemetery Dance. In addition, a book I co-authored with Brian Freeman and Hans-Ake Lilja (with awesome illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne - wait'll you guys see these), The Stephen King Illustrated Movie Trivia Book, is also due out this year.

But this is also a humungous year for King himself. Let's just take a look at the upcoming projects, shall we?

January 10 - "Mile 81"/"The Dune" comes to audio, both on CD and through iTunes.

February 14 - The Unabridged version of The Stand finally comes to audio.

February and March - Throttle, a comic-book adaptation at IDW, is released in two parts.

March 12 - The Wind Through the Keyhole limited edition is published through Grant.

April 24 - The Wind Through the Keyhole mass-market hardcover is published through Scribner. June 5 - "Stationary Bike" comes to audio.

not to mention 11/22/63 in paperback, whatever short stories or poems King decides to release ... and of course, the likelihood of Dr. Sleep, King's sequel to The Shining, in hardcover.

All in all, an exciting, packed year ahead. I'm so excited for me, for you, and for Charnel House. Thanks for reading, everyone!

December 31, 2011

It looks as if Stephen King will be riding into the new year at #1. Not only has 11/22/63 proven a critical success, it also seems to be King's most popular novel since 1998's Bag of Bones.

Whether it's due to variance in King's popularity or the shifting attitudes of the book-buying public in general, in recent years, King's hardcovers have been hitting the New York Times Bestseller List high and then falling down (and off) rapidly. Not so with 11/22/63. It debuted at #1 - never an oddity for King - then dropped to #2 for three successive weeks as new books by James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, and Michael Connelly each smashed in at #1 ... and fell. In its fifth week, King's time travel novel shot back up to #1, making the first King hardcover to drop from the top spot and then reclaim it since 1990's The Stand. For the last three weeks, it has held fast to #1, making it King's longest stay at #1 since Dolores Claiborne's seven-week run in 1992/93.

The critics have been very kind to this book, and with good reason, but it's really gratifying that in his fifth decade of publishing books, King is just as popular as ever, if not more so. The reading audience is changing, but they still love Stephen King. That's pretty amazing.

From all of us as Charnel House to all of you out there, Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be so amazing, I promise you that!

December 23, 2011

New kick-ass anthology to benefit the even more kick-ass Rocky Wood. Hey folks! A new horror anthology called Rage Against the Night is OUT NOW, and all the proceeds go to benefit our awesome friend (and President of the Horror Writers Association) Rocky Wood, recently diagnosed with ALS.

From the Rage Against the Night site:

Under the onslaught of supernatural evil, the acts of good people can seem insignificant, but a courageous few stand apart. These brave men and women stand up to the darkness, stare it right in the eye, and give it the finger. These are the stories of those who rage against the night, stories of triumph, sacrifice, and bravery in the face of overwhelming evil.

Rage Against the Night features the megastars of dark fantasy and horror—including Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Nicholson, Nancy Holder, Sarah Langan, and many, many more.

All proceeds will be donated to Rocky Wood, author and President of the Horror Writers Association, who is battling motor neurone disease.

You can get the book in a variety of different ebook formats - iBooks, Kindle, Nook, .pdf, and more - through the Smashwords web site. It's only $3.99, and you not only get an awesome anthology, you also get to help a guy who really needs and deserves your support! Happy holidays, everyone!

December 22, 2011

Now, feast your eyes on THIS:

This is the mass market cover of The Wind Through the Keyhole, coming to bookstores everywhere April 24th, 2012. Now, I'm not going to say it's a BETTER cover than the limited edition ... but, um. It might be.

From King's website!

We join Roland and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. As they shelter from the screaming wind and snapping trees, Roland tells them not just one strange tale, but two--and in doing so sheds fascinating light on his own troubled past.

In his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt-ridden year following his mother's death, Roland is sent by his father to a ranch to investigate a recent slaughter. Here Roland discovers a bloody churn of bootprints, clawed animal tracks and terrible carnage--evidence that the 'skin-man', a shape-shifter, is at work. There is only one surviving witness: a brave but terrified boy called Bill Streeter.

Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, 'The Wind Through The Keyhole.'

'A person's never too old for stories,' he says to Bill. 'Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.'

All in all, this sounds like an entirely different kind of adventure for Roland and his clan, and though I've been suffering Tower Fatigue for awhile, this description has me very, very excited. Also, check out the promo page on King's site and scroll all the way to the bottom. Is that ... a dragon?

So excited!

December 22, 2011

Original ending of 11/22/63 coming? (WARNING: SPOILERS!) In his afterword of 11/22/63, King says

My son, the novelist Joe Hill, pointed out several consequences of time-travel I hadn't considered. He also thought up a new and better ending. Joe, you rock.

It seems as though the original (and worse?) ending will be seeing the light of day in the not-too-distant future. The moderator of King's message board reports:

I've read both [endings] and have been meaning to ask him if he would consider putting the first version on the site so people could compare. He told me he'd changed it because Joe had seen some problems with the way the first one was written but I don't know with 100% certainty whether Joe gave him specific ideas for the rewrite...

I was able to ask Steve about this, so here's his answer. Joe only told him that Jake had to meet Sadie again when she was an old lady but how that happened was completely Steve's idea so what we've read in the book was all Steve's writing based on Joe's suggestion to have Jake see Sadie one more time. He also told me it would be okay to put up the original version of the ending but I need to wait at least a month before doing so to give more people the chance to read it as published.

I loved the ending, so sight-unseen, I think I can say King made the right choice. But this is nonetheless exciting stuff! I can't wait to see the changes!

December 21, 2011

Just in time for the second day of Hannukah comes my FEARnet.com review of It: The 25th Anniversary Edition, brand-new from Cemetery Dance. In addition to my review, there's info on how to get your copy, plus a link to Brian Freeman's It photogallery. This is a TERRIFIC edition, one that does right by my favorite novel of all time.

December 21, 2011

According to King's website, the unexperdated version of The Stand will soon be available for purchase:

Random House Audio will be releasing the long-awaited unedited audiobook edition of The Stand which will be read by Grover Gardner. The exact date of publication has not yet been determined, but is tentatively scheduled to be on February 14, 2012. The recording will be released for purchase digitally by Audible.com and iTunes and available in the library market on CD.

Great news for us audio nuts! Now, how's about we work on getting Pet Sematary on audio, pretty please?

December 19, 2011

Check it out, everyone:

Also? Stephen King's foreword and the first five pages of the novel. WOW. Just wow.

Donald M. Grant is NOW TAKING ADVANCE ORDERS for this brand-new Dark Tower novel by Stephen King. There are two states:

a 5,000 copy Artist Edition, signed by Jae Lee ($75).

an 800 copy Deluxe Edition, signed by King and Lee ($350).

The Deluxe edition can only be purchased by long-time customers who have matched-number copies of Grant's The Little Sisters of Eluria, OR through a lottery system as detailed by Grant:

The 800 copy of a Deluxe Edition is signed by both Stephen King and Jae Lee and is issued in a stamped clamshell tray case. Retail price is $350.00 + $6 SS for Insured Shipping.

As usual there is a much greater demand for our Deluxe Editions than copies available, so in keeping with our policy of supporting our long time customers, the S&N Deluxe Edition can be ordered only by those who have a S&N THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA below # 801 (you must still own it when we ship THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE or your order will be cancelled and any depost/payment refunded and the Deluxe Edition sold to the new owner.).

We will then do a lottery drawing approximately six weeks after the Deluxe Editions are shipped for remaining available copies but as we expect there to be very few copies available the lottery will be restricted to owners of Numbered THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA between 801 and 1,250.

LOTTERY: Send us a POSTCARD (NOT an email or letter)which reads:

“Please put me in the lottery to purchase a copy of the signed & numbered Deluxe The WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE. I have # ____ of The Little Sisters of Eluria.” Include your name, address, phone number, and if you wish, email address.

REMEMBER, only send in ONE post card per copy of The Little Sisters of Eluria that you have. If we receive more than one request from anyone we will throw them ALL away. We want everyone to have an equal chance.

Check out all the details on the Donald M. Grant site!

December 16, 2011

In reaction to the miniseries, my Retro Book Look review of the novel Bag of Bones is now up on FearNet.com! Check it out, hit "Like" if you like! Or even if you don't! I'm not picky! But I hope you like it a lot. Hooray!

December 14, 2011

The audio adaptation of King's ebook novella "Mile 81" is coming this January. Read by Thomas Sadoski, "Mile 81" is accompanied by an audio presentation of King's super scary short story, "The Dune," narrated by Edward Herrmann. This type of thing is neat, because it's like an audiobook single, with an A side and a B side. You can preorder it now from Amazon, but as we get closer to January 10th, it will likely also be available on iTunes and other sources, as well.

December 14, 2011

For the third week in a row, King holds tight to the #2 spot on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction, after debuting at #1. This is interesting, because as three new novels have claimed the top spot - Kill Alex Cross, Explosive Eighteen, and The Drop - King hasn't budged. 11/22/63 is shaping up to be a very tenacious bestseller, and rightfully so. Check out the current list!

December 2, 2011

Okay, this is just cool: an animated short film, accompanied by Craig Wasson's narration, depicting Jake Epping's walk through the time bubble in 11/22/63. SO. NEAT. Watch it here!

December 1, 2011

For the first time ever, Stephen King makes the New York Times "Top Ten Best Books of the Year" list with the magnificent 11/22/63. The lugubrious high-lit acceptance of Stephen King once again takes a leap forward! Harold Bloom must be having a whole litter of kittens right now. Read all about it, here!

November 28, 2011

My review of 11/22/63 has been expanded from its FEARnet.com appearance and now comes to Charnel House! Read, enjoy, and let me know what you think!

November 20, 2011

11/22/63 hits #1! For the first time since 2008, Stephen King hits #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List! His first #1 book since Under the Dome, 11/22/63 is Stephen King's 32nd book to top the bestseller lists. It is also the first time since 1876, by Gore Vidal (released in 1976!) that a book title featuring only numbers hit #1. Exciting times! Go here to see the full chart.

November 16, 2011

My brand-new review of Stephen King's fantastic novel, 11/22/63 is now exclusively on FEARnet.com! Check out the review, let me know what you think, and please "like" it if you like it. While you're on FEARnet, why not take a look at my other reviews, too? Thanks for reading, everyone!

November 15, 2011

The A&E Network sent me a very interesting curio: Dark Score Stories, a photo-essay book concerned with Dark Score Lake ... and, of course, the upcoming Bag of Bones miniseries.

The accompanying letter states:

Please find enclosed a copy of Dark Score Stories, a limited edition photojournalism portfolio created to coincide with the launch of darkscorestories.com ... Dark Score Stories forms a narrative prequel to Stephen King's Bag of Bones, a four-hour epic miniseries from A&E Network ... Dark Score Stories is a visual and interactive exploration of the setting and characters of Bag of Bones through a series of eerie, animated images, striking black-and-white still photographs and audio interviews with the characters. Visitors to the site will also find a series of secrets hidden in the rich detail of each image and story, recognizable especially to Stephen King fans.

They're not kidding. Every image is like a visual trivia/treasure hunt for King fans. It's almost obsessive-compulsive. There are references and in-jokes everywhere: shelves packed with books by Bill Denbrough (It), Scott Landon (Lisey's Story), Mike Enslin ("1408") and Thaddeus Beaumont and George Stark (The Dark Half) are only the beginning of the visual clues. If you've got a good eye, you'll spot some interesting finer details, like a check by Dolores Claiborne to the Home For Little Wanderers, a sticker that says "I Heart TG" (as in Tom Gordon), a Blaine the Monorail game, a Larry Underwood record, a clock that's stopped at four past midnight, and of course, this awesome little piece of advertising:

I'm a pretty big Stephen King fan, and though I spent an hour or so perusing the site, I know I didn't pick up all the fun references. There's even a reference to Lilja's Library ... though, as far as I can tell, no mentions of Charnel House. Ah well!

Seriously, it's super neat and you should check it out. DarkScoreStories.com, and don't forget that Bag of Bones airs on December 11th and 12th at 9:00 PM on A&E! I can't wait!

November 14, 2011

According to Lilja's Library, King announced yesterday that he was done the second draft of Dr. Sleep. He said that critics have been very kind with him regarding 11/22/63, and they've said maybe he was getting away from all that horror stuff. They won't know what hit them with Dr. Sleep, he said. "It's a goddamn scary book."

November 9, 2011

The moderator from King's message board confirmed today that the first draft of Dr. Sleep has now been finished! Hooray!!! More on this as it develops!

November 9, 2011

Hey Charnel House regulars! My five eBooks on King - Wetware, Ink In the Veins, Chart of Darkness, Blood In Your Ears, and Drawn Into Darkness, are now ALL available at the iTunes store! Each book is 99 cents, chock-full of new takes on some of the lesser-known domains of King's vast career. Enjoy!

November 8, 2011

11/22/63 is out NOW! Pick up your copy at your local bookstore, or at any fine online establishment!

November 7, 2011

King talks with novelist Tom Perotta (Little Children, The Abstinence Teacher) about 11/22/63, Kennedy, time travel, and "Honky Tonk Woman." This is a terrific interview. A Conversation With Stephen King. November 5, 2011

A new Bachman book!? In a recent interview with Scotsman.com, King admitted to at least considering writing a new Richard Bachman novel:

...He is also nursing another darker novel, to be published once again under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman.

“There are guys that work on the edge. James Ellroy is one that I can think of and there was another guy, Charles Willeford. I would like to write a Bachman novel that had some of that Charles Willeford feel. The dark side of American life ... I would like to start a book about a crazy private eye, a guy who is really on the dark side. I see the scene: this guy sitting in his office in an unnamed American city, the sky grey, the rain grey and hitting the window. That is it ... But I know the rest of it would follow pretty nicely with that hard-boiled voice like Raymond Chandler. Think of Philip Marlowe, only a total fucking degenerate.”

For those of you who thought Bachman's posthumous novels had dried up with Blaze, worry not! It looks like the old dairy farmer still has some afterlife in him yet.

November 4, 2011

Now is the time you REALLY need to check out the new, interactive, super neat official 11/22/63 site. Just WATCH WHAT YOU DO IN THE PAST! It could have serious repercussions in the present!

Also! StephenKing.com will be hosting a "Fan Appreciation Giveaway" contest to win 100 free copies of 11/22/63! Check back after 6:00 AM (EST) on November 8th for details!

November 2, 2011

"It’s obviously the work of a master craftsman..." A fantastic Time review of 11/22/63 is now up. What I love most about this is that the reviewer knows next to nothing about King, and was swayed by this book, and now wants to read more. Fantastic stuff!

November 2, 2011

What, exactly, are Dark Score Stories?! A teaser on King's site leads to this page. It looks like it's connected to the new AMC Bag of Bones miniseries, but I wonder. It's probably silly to think that King has more fiction up his sleeve before the end of the year - especially with 11/22/63 being his big holiday book - but we shall see. Regardless, the name is evocative and has me guessing. Kudos to good hype!

November 2, 2011

Wired Magazine has a new interview with King called "Stephen King's Rules for Time Travel". It's fun and breezy, with a little bit of techspeak tossed in. I love Wired.

November 2, 2011

Simon & Schuster is releasing their own limited edition of 11/22/63. Here's the information from King's newsletter:

The signed limited edition of 11/22/63 will go on sale at 9 AM ET on Tuesday, November 8th. This will be available on-line only through Simon & Schuster's web site. There will be a one book per customer limit, available to consumers only, no retail accounts. This is also limited to domestic US sales only.

Price $150 plus shipping & handling. Books ship immediately

Limited time offer. Available while supplies last.

Signed by the Author

Chapter opening photos

Shrink-wrapped

Check back with StephenKing.com on November 8th for more details including the link for placing an order.

Click here for more information on the limited edition book.

This sounds a lot like the odd publisher limited of Under the Dome - underdone and not really worth it. King's signature is nice to have and maybe it'll be better than I think, but I'm always wary of limited editions that come from mass market publishers.

November 1, 2011

Brian J. Freeman offers a preview of the 2012 Stephen King Library Desk Calendar, edited by Jay Franco. The calendar includes new pieces by Matt Bergin, Peter Brett, Justin Brooks, Myke Cole, Matthiew DeVirgiliis, Samantha Etkin, Jay Franco, Brian James Freeman, Robin Furth, Stephen Jewell, Daniel M. Kimmel, Fotini Marcopulos, Jon Oden, Micol Ostow, Tricia Pasternak, Rome Quezada, Jeff Somers, and Bev Vincent. There's a lot about the Dark Tower in here, which doesn't surprise me as 2012 is the year of The Wind Through the Keyhole. Very exciting stuff!

November 1, 2011

King expert Bev Vincent alerted me to this exlusive Q&A with Stephen King, focusing on 11/22/63. Exciting stuff!

October 31, 2011

"It takes great skill to make this story even remotely credible. Mr. King makes it all look easy, which is surely his book’s fanciest trick. The first major review of 11/22/63 is now available on The New York Times It's an exciting review from a newspaper known to treat King somewhat shabbily in the past. I'm more thrilled about this book than ever!

October 30, 2011

A fascinating interview with King for The Wall Street Journal here! The interview concerns 11/22/63, and discusses King's desire to reach out beyond his horror roots: Instead of people who read horror stories, people who read The Help or People of the Book might like this book, if they can get the message, King says. The article also discusses the book's connection to King's 1986 masterpiece, It, which should thrill long-time King fans (me included)!

October 27, 2011

Stephen King's new short story, "The Dune," is out today in GRANTA magazine. Read my review on FEARnet.com, and "Like" it if you like it! Thanks!

October 27, 2011

A very smart and enlightening dialogue from the Wall Street Journal about King's new novel, 11/22/63. I'm gratified that the mainstream has finally stopped asking the basic "what scares Stephen King" questions and has begun to focus on his writing beyond horror. Great stuff!

October 19, 2011

My review of Stephen King's new short story, "The Dune"! Stephen King's been cranking out the short stories this year, and, like "The Little Green God of Agony," "The Dune" is a callback to classic chilling horror. Read my review on FEARnet.com, and pick up "The Dune" in Granta Magazine's Horror issue, coming soon!

October 19, 2011

FIVE NEW EBOOKS ABOUT STEPHEN KING, all written by me, Kevin Quigley, your Charnel House webmaster! These limited edition chapbooks had small print runs and most are no longer available in print form. Now publisher Cemetery Dance offers each of these books as eBooks ... including one, Blood In Your Ears, which actually precedes the print version! That's right, folks, Blood is making its first worldwide appearance in eBook format!

Even if you've read the print versions of these, I've been working diligently to keep these books as current as possible; all have new material and new information. Plus, best news: they are ALL available for only 99 cents, and ALL come in both Kindle and ePub format. No matter what e-reader you prefer, these books are perfect!

Folks, I am super excited about this release. I've always been fascinated with the odd nooks and crannies of King's career, and it was out of a need to read books on these topics that I was compelled to write them. If anyone says there's nothing new to write about Stephen King, they're not looking hard enough. I truly loved writing these books, and I am thrilled that they're reaching a wider audience with these ebook releases!

Here's the full rundown!

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INK IN THE VEINS

Stephen King has written over seventy books, a stunning figure for any writer. Even more stunning? There are more books written about King than by him.

INK IN THE VEINS profiles the writers who have written on King, from pioneering authors like Douglas Winter and Michael Collings through new experts like Justin Brooks, Bev Vincent, and Rocky Wood. There's information on Castle Rock, the now-defunct Stephen King newsletter, and a mostly-complete list of every book ever written about King.

Rounded out with interviews with the world's most prominent King scholars, INK IN THE VEINS is a fun and fascinating look at the unsung world of Stephen King criticism! Get your copy here!

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BLOOD IN YOUR EARS

Enter the recorded world of Stephen King, where he not only writes your nightmares, he actually reads them to you, too!

BLOOD IN YOUR EARS examines everything Stephen King has given his voice to, from his early DARK TOWER novels and his audio-only collection BLOOD AND SMOKE to his recording of "Stand By Me" with the Rock Bottom Remainders and his role as Abraham Lincoln on Sarah Vowell's audiobook, Assassination Vacation. In addition to the books Stephen King has recorded, BLOOD IN YOUR EARS also delves into the Stephen King work of audio superstar Frank Muller.

Rounded out with an examination of dramatic recordings of King work, King's Top Ten Best Audiobooks, and a list of every Stephen King audio title ever recorded, BLOOD IN YOUR EARS is your one-stop guide to answering the question, "Heard any good books lately?" Get your copy here!

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CHART OF DARKNESS

For nearly forty years, Stephen King has been making history on the bestseller charts.

CHART OF DARKNESS is a surprisingly exciting jaunt through that history, from the quiet early success of Carrie through recent chart triumphs Under the Dome and Full Dark, No Stars. You'll learn what books hit the number-one spot, which ones didn't, and why. Along the way, you'll discover secrets of King's career, like why King switched publishers — twice — why King decided to create, kill, and resurrect his pseudonym, and the weird way the general public first heard about the Dark Tower series.

A unique, compact, and intriguing journey through the storied career of the only author in history to have written over thirty number one books. Get your copy here!

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WETWARE

Stephen King has long been at the forefront of experimental publishing. As the world grows more digital each day, King has consistently remained on the edge of breakthrough trends and technology, finding new ways to publish and interpret his stories. King's digital journey has been strange and fascinating. Wetware is your guide.

From the prehistory of King’s involvement with digital media such as The Dark Half video game and F13 to his online release of the lost work, The Cannibals, Wetware covers it all — in a concise and engaging pocket history. Explore the controversy surrounding King's online serial publication, The Plant. Relive the groundbreaking excitement of King's landmark e-book publication, Riding the Bullet.

If you ever engaged in interactive fiction with The Mist, were intrigued by the Kindle-only release of UR, or terrified by the motion comic N., Wetware is essential reading. Get your copy here!

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DRAWN INTO DARKNESS

Most Stephen King fans remember him playing Jordy Verrill, the "lunkhead" who becomes a giant plant monster from outer space in the movie version of Creepshow. But King's association with comic books goes way beyond that.

DRAWN INTO DARKNESS delves into the hidden world of King's comics career, from the creepy early adaptation of "The Lawnmower Man" to his part in creating the Eisner Award Winning Best New Series, AMERICAN VAMPIRE. We look at the ongoing success of adaptations like THE DARK TOWER and THE STAND, and examine why the similar adaptation of THE TALISMAN failed.

See how King tried to kill Kitty Pryde from the X-Men, whether he prefers Betty or Veronica, and why he continues to be obsessed with Batman: all here in DRAWN INTO DARKNESS! Get your copy here!

October 18, 2011

The Charnel House Capital Campaign starts here! Hey folks! We here at Charnel House (and by "we" I always mean "I") have been working hard this year to make Charnel House the best online Stephen King experience you can have. I've added pages for King comics, King audio, books about King; I've done short reviews of new stories and beefed up the "Short Works" page; I even rewrote all the book reviews, making sure they were up to snuff!

But running a website does cost money, and in my case, it's out of pocket money. What I'd like is for that to become a non-issue. Which is why I'm launching the Charnel House Capital Campaign! I want to raise enough money for the site so that hosting it is never an issue. I'm trying to raise $2000 for the site before the end of the year! Hooray!

If you'd like to help Charnel House continue to excel, please consider dropping a donation in my donation box here:

Anything you can donate will help a small (but awesome) website continue to flourish and bring you the best of everything King. Thanks, everyone! Keep reading!

October 17, 2011

Check out the trailer for the enhanced eBook edition of 11/22/63! SO EXCITED FOR THIS BOOK!

October 12, 2011

Throttle coming to comics, and Comics coming to Charnel House! IDW Comics just announced a comic-book adaptation of the Stephen King/Joe Hill collaboration "Throttle"! Super exciting news! From the IDW press release:

IDW Publishing is proud to announce ROAD RAGE, a new partnership with best-selling authors Stephen King and Joe Hill, to produce a comic-book adaptation of their co-written adventure tale, Throttle. This monthly two-part series begins in February, and will be followed by two issues adapting the story that inspired Throttle, Richard Matheson’s classic tale of suspense, Duel, beginning in April.

“'Throttle' is a story that really begs for a visual adaptation: it’s got bikes and badasses and lots of expensive rolling iron blowing up and getting smashed,” said Hill. “Who doesn't get off on that? I can’t wait to see IDW get behind the wheel and take the thing out for a spin.”

"Throttle," the first collaboration between father-and-son King and Hill, was not only inspired by Matheson’s Duel, it also only appeared in print in a limited-edition anthology honoring Matheson’s works, He is Legend. Throttle and Duel were subsequently released as an audiobook called Road Rage, which is the banner title the comics will also carry.

Throttle tells the story of a motorcycle gang pursued by an unseen assailant in a big rig, but as might be expected knowing the talent involved, things aren’t exactly as they seem.

“Working with the great Joe Hill (I can say that because he’s my kid) on such a kick-ass story was a terrific treat, and this version takes it to whole new level,” said King. “Rev up and climb on!”

Adapting the story alongside Hill and King is Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer and the editor of Hill’s New York Times best-selling graphic novel series, Locke & Key. Handling art duties is Nelson Daniel, whose own collaboration with Hill and artist Zach Howard, The Cape, was nominated for a 2011 Eisner Award. Daniel will handle full art and colors, and provide a cover. Acclaimed artist Phil Noto will also provide covers for the two-part series. Ryall, who received a 2006 Eisner nomination for his and Ashley Wood’s adaptation of Matheson’s “Blood Son,” will also adapt Duel, with artist Rafa Garres for that two-part series. As a special bonus on the King/Hill story, artist Tony Harris will paint two incentive covers that show the authors themselves on a motorcycle road-trip.

“Like Joe and Steve, Richard Matheson’s Duel had a huge impact on me as a kid,” said Ryall. “And so did the works of Stephen King. Add to that mix the chance to continue working with Hill and Daniel, two of the very best creators of my generation, and you’ve got the makings of a project that’s very special to me. And as long as I don't screw up my part, it’ll hopefully be as special for all their fans when it comes out. Otherwise, you know who to blameÖ”

Road Rage: Throttle will be released in February and March, with Road Rage: Duel to follow in April and May.

ALSO! Let's all say yay for a new Charnel House page: King Comics! I list out every comic associated with Stephen King: ones he's written, ones he's written essays about, and the ones adapted from his work. There's also some rare images from these comic adaptations, including one Dan Parent illustration of King as Jughead Jones, from Archie comics! No, seriously! It's awesome! King Comics, check em out!

October 11, 2011

11/22/63 audio samples! Simon & Schuster is releasing audio samples from the upcoming 11/22/63 twice a week - Mondays and Fridays - through October 24th. Says King's site: These samples will be posted at 9:00am EST each release day and will include much of the first chapter of Stephen's epic tale.

The first three samples are already up! We'll be announcing each new excerpt as they are released! 11/22/63 Audio Excerpts Page!

October 11, 2011

The Wind Through the Keyhole even earlier. Donald Grant's newsletter today announced plans to release The Wind Through the Keyhole, the new Dark Tower midquel, a month earlier than expected! Says Grant:

- We are currently scheduled to release the Limited Editions in February 2012. Our edition will have 6 full color plates and 11 Black & White illustrations by acclaimed artist Jae Lee. One of the Black & Whites is available for viewing at: https://secure.grantbooks.com/z-sk-dt-twttk.html

- Stephen King has agreed to sign only 800 copies of a Deluxe Edition. In keeping with our policies of supporting long time customers, owners of Deluxe Edition copies of THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA numbered 1-800 will have the first option to buy this Deluxe Edition.

We will initially have a “postcard lottery” for unclaimed copies (which we expect to be very few) eligible for those who have a Deluxe Edition of LSOE numbered higher than 800.

- There will be a 5,000 copy limited “Artist” Edition which will be signed by Jae Lee and will be issued in a slipcase. There will be no limitation for purchasing this edition.

- Scribner has announced their release of a trade hardcover edition of THE DARK TOWER: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE on April 3, 2012.

We will be producing a slipcase for the Scribner Trade Edition which will match the three slipcases we produced for the first seven Dark Tower books.

Super exciting news! Now all you Tower-holics have something even closer to look forward to!

October 10, 2011

New FEARnet.com Review! Hey all! Check out my brand-new review of Michael R. Collings' new book, Stephen King Is Richard Bachman on FEARnet.com! It's a really terrific update of Collings's now out-of-date 1985 Starmont House book, Stephen King as Richard Bachman. This volume is awesome - it reads great, it looks great, and it focuses on a weirdly unexamined sector of King's canon. Pick up your copy at the Overlook Connection Press.

October 10, 2011

The Dark has legs! In a surprise move, the mass-market paperback of King's most recent book, Full Dark, No Stars, has shot up the charts, blasting by the chart peak of its trade paperback predecessor, which stalled at #12. King's newest paperback is now sitting pretty on the bestseller list at #5. I have updated my Chart of Darkness page in accordance!

October 7, 2011

Check out my interview on Talk Stephen King! Recently, I was interviewed about my work in the Stephen King field by the terrific Stephen King fan site, Talk Stephen King. I touch on the chapbooks I've written for Cemetery Dance, my upcoming hardcover, A Good Story and Good Words, and my fiction. Check out the interview here! Thanks!

October 6, 2011

Stephen King took the Best Collection prize at this year's British Fantasy Awards for Full Dark, No Stars - a well-deserved win. King was also nominated in the novella category for "1922," but lost to "Humpty's Bones," by Simon Clark.

October 5, 2011

My Masques review, now on FEARnet! My brand-spanking-new review of J.N. Williamson's Illustrated Masques - featuring a graphic adaptation of Stephen King's "Popsy" - is up NOW, exclusively on FEARnet.com!

September 28, 2011

THE LOST WORK OF STEPHEN KING, PART II - COMING! I have been given permission by Stephen Spignesi himself to announce one of the most anticipated books on King in the history of books on King: The Lost Work of Stephen King, Part II is currently in the making, and will be released by Overlook Connection Press. This will be an entirely new book, highlighting new and newly-discovered work of King hidden from the masses ... until now.

In anticipation, The Overlook Connection will be re-releasing a trade paperback of the first Lost Work of Stephen King, featuring the contents of the limited edition version of the book, plus a BRAND-NEW foreword by Spignesi. More details on both titles (including release dates and contents) to come! Watch this space for news!

September 28, 2011

Collings's Stephen King is Richard Bachman NOW AVAILABLE! Dr. Michael Collings's new book, Stephen King Is Richard Bachman isn't just an update to his Borgo Press Stephen King as Richard Bachman; it's a more in-depth and expansive look at the entire Richard Bachman phenomena, from Rage all the way through The Regulators. (The book was completed before Blaze was published ... but don't worry. Collings has an essay on Blaze in an upcoming release I'll be able to talk about soon!) Collings remains the only person to study Bachman in a full-length volume, and here applies his uniquely scholarly-yet-accessible style to this fascinating subject. Everything you ever wanted to know about Richard Bachman but were afraid to ask! NOW SHIPPING! Order here!

September 28, 2011

Classic King Clips! Lilja, webmaster of the amazing Lilja's Library, has once again done something brilliant. There's a new section of his page called Classic King, and it features clips of King throughout his career. Some highlights: the Maximum Overdrive trailer and King interviewing AC/DC. Lilja needs YOUR HELP, though: to keep up with these Classic King Clips, send him links and stuff and help make his site awesomer. Says I, with just a TWINGE of professional jealousy.

September 25, 2011

Dr. Sleep! At the Mason Award Event, Stephen King read from Dr. Sleep - Dr. Sleep!!! - the sequel to King's 1977's The Shining. It not only involves Danny Torrance at an adult, but also a pack of psychic gypsy-vampires called The Tribe. The video that follows features that reading, as well as a woman booing under her breath every time King says something she doesn't like. It's a little weird, but the story is awesome! King is apparently almost done writing this book. With the release date for Wind Through the Keyhole bumped up a month, does this mean we'll see Dr. Sleep sometime next year? Let's hope!

September 25, 2011

Great news, Tower freaks! The Wind Through the Keyhole is coming a little bit earlier next year. From Ms. Mod, on King's official message board:

The release date for The Wind Through the Keyhole has been bumped ahead and is now anticipated to be released on March 12, 2012.

September 25, 2011

Scribner and StephenKing.com have released a promo video of King discussing 11/22/63 and time travel. Even cooler? We learn of an aborted novel along the same lines King attempted in 1973 called Split Track. So very cool!

The video is for both Flash and Apple devices! Either travel to the Multimedia page of King's site, or use one of our handy links below:

Flash Video

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Medium

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Apple Video (.mp4)

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September 23, 2011

You now can win a copy (one of three!) of the new, awesome, J.N. Williamson's Illustrated Masques. So cool! Here we go:

To officially welcome customers to Gauntlet's Facebook page we're having a sweepstakes to give away three copies of J. N. WILLIAMSON's ILLUSTRATED MASQUES. The first prize winner gets a signed numbered edition of the book (selling for $125 -- signed by all but King and Clive Barker) . The second and third place winners get the unsigned trade editions (selling for $50). Gauntlet doesn't have any say in the winners (so there will be no hanky panky). The company running the sweepstakes chooses the winners and once we get their names and addresses we ship out the books."

The book is really cool, and you folks really need to check this out! The contest begins on September 27th and ends on October 2. Check it out: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gauntlet-Press/136185029812233?sk=wall!

J. N. WILLIAMSON's ILLUSTRATED MASQUES contains graphic adaptations from the Masques series including Stephen King's "Popsy." September 21, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHEN KING!!! May your 64th be super awesome!

September 20, 2011

King's darkly brilliant novella collection, Full Dark, No Stars, is now out in mass-market paperback! It looks as though this paperback also includes the bonus short story, "Under the Weather," a creepy little tale I quite enjoyed. If you've missed out on FD,NS so far, now's your chance to pounce! And then read my review!

September 16, 2011

Dear Mr. Pretend King... Stephen King will be contributing a letter to a much younger Stephen King to the upcoming anthology, Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self. The book collects essays from

75 celebrities, writers, musicians, athletes, and actors have written letters to their younger selves that give words of comfort, warning, humor, and advice. These letters present intimate, moving, and witty insights into some of the world’s most intriguing and admired individuals. By turns funny, surprising, raw, and uplifting, this singular collection captures the universal conditions that are youth, life, and growing up.

In addition to the letter by King, the book also includes an introduction by J.K. Rowling and letters by Gene Hackman, William Shatner, and other celebrities I like. Dear Me will be released in hardcover and ebook on October 25th!

September 14, 2011

Exciting news for King movie fans! The Films of Stephen King: From Carrie to The Mist, will be released in paperback exactly three months from today, on December 14th! Just in time to surprise that hard-to-please Stephen King fan for Christmas! Edited by Tony Magistrale, who I've featured on my Writing On King page. Exciting!

September 13, 2011

New! On the Simon & Schuster site! An exciting excerpt of King's upcoming novel 11/22/63! Check it out!

September 7, 2011 Masques Signed by King and Barker! From Gauntlet Press comes the very first hardcover release of J.N. Williamson's Illustrated Masques, featuring a graphic adaptation of King's "Popsy"! But wait, there's more:

Press Release – For Immediate Release

J. N. Williamson's Illustrated Masques triumphantly returns in a 112 page beautifully produced full-color collectible from Gauntlet Press. Stories were adapted from such authors as Stephen King ("Popsy"), Robert R. McCammon ("Nightcrawlers"), Mort Castle, Paul Dale Anderson, Wayne Allen Sallee, Robert Weinberg and F. Paul Wilson.

The book features:

- All original art digitally restored.

- New prose features from Mort Castle, David Campiti, and original Masques publisher John Maclay.

- A brand new, 16 page story: F. Paul Wilson's macabre masterpiece "Soft."

- A "continuity cover" by Clive Barker, "The Skull Tree," previously the cover image for the fifth and final edition of Masques The book is available in three states: a trade edition, a signed numbered edition and a signed lettered edition (the only edition signed by Stephen King and Clive Barker).

This is the one signed by King and Barker!

This is all very interesting stuff, but you'll have to wait for my full review, coming to FEARnet.com soon!

September 7, 2011

Cover for Wind Through the Keyhole? Scribner is adamant that this is not the final cover, but that could mean anything. "Cover not final" might mean the font will be different. Or the illustration. It doesn't exactly look like "typical" Jae Lee art, but that doesn't mean anything. In any event, this is the first glimpse at what might be on the expanded road to the Tower, and I have to say, I'm excited!

September 1, 2011

Lilja's Library is one of the best Stephen King websites on the internet, and currently, Lilja is celebrating his 15th anniversary! Help him celebrate! Enter the Lilja's Library contest and win seriously awesome prizes. Check it all out here and BE AMAZED. Have fun, and congratulations on 15 awesome years, Lilja!

September 1, 2011

"Mile 81" OUT TODAY! Stephen King's brand-new eBook novella hits virtual stores today - a terrific, scary story that's incredibly, um, absorbing. Read my spoiler-free review over at FEARnet.com, and pick up your digital copy at iTunes, Amazon, or Simon & Schuster!

September 1, 2011

The best picture you will ever see. From the blog Awesome People Hanging Out Together, we bring you Stephen Colbert ... and Stephen King. Wow. (Click for a larger picture.)
Thanks to Kim Serpico for the alert!

August 31, 2011

More news about publisher Cemetery Dance's partnership with FEARnet.com ... and your benevolent webmaster, Kevin Quigley, is a part of it! Check it out: Cemetery Dance Teams Up With FEARnet To Increase Horror Book/Fiction Coverage. And read my "Mile 81" review while you're there!

August 31, 2011

NEW CHARNEL HOUSE SECTION! Since Charnel House began in 1996, I've always had a section highlighting books about Stephen King. The section was informative, but never quite what Charnel House needed. Now, I've added tons of information and a little polish, and the result is here: Writing On Stephen King. This new section highlights some of the best, most prolific, and most accessible authors to ever write on King (including the author of this very website!) I also touch on Castle Rock and the worst book ever written about King. Finally, a chronological listing of every book-length work ever written on King appears in a sidebar; it's as comprehensive a list as possible (though if I've missed anything, please let me know).

Enjoy the new section, read some great books, and I'll continue to keep you informed!

August 30, 2011 Exclusive! Hey everyone! Check out my shiny new review of Stephen King's forthcoming eBook, "Mile 81", exclusively on FEARnet.com! Enjoy, and look for "Mile 81," coming September 1st, THIS THURSDAY!

August 29,2011

Stephen King reviews Tom Perrotta's new novel, The Leftovers, for the New York Times. Perrotta's a terrific writer - Little Children and The Abstinence Teacher were great - and I'm looking forward to this!

August 25, 2011

NEW CHARNEL HOUSE SECTION! Hello all! We here at Charnel House are proud to announce the brand-new Stephen King On Audio Section of this site! Long in the making, this section is structured much like the Short Work section. There's a comprehensive list of each King work on audio, with both the first and most recent appearance listed, along with some audio-centric trivia you may find surprising! In addition to the books you know and love, the list also includes audio-only presentations, live recordings, guest recordings, and the only official appearance of Stephen King singing "Stand By Me." As with the Short Work section, this Listening List of King on Audio will be updated as new work emerges. Enjoy perusing this new section, and happy listening!

August 25, 2011

Win "Mile 81" six days early! Scribner, Stephen King, and social media service Klout come together to offer a contest allowing King fans the opportunity to win the new King e-book "Mile 81" six days early! From Klout:

StephenKing.com has partnered with Scribner to also bring our users an early giveaway of the Mile 81 e-book. This giveaway is open for submissions between 6:00am and 11:59pm EST today. (8/25/11) The giveaway will not require fans to be a member of Klout and is open to all users of StephenKing.com within the United States who are 18 or over.

In order to take part in the giveaway, fans should submit their information using the form [on this page]. A select number of submissions will then be chosen at random to receive a free digital copy of "Mile 81" six days before its release on September 1st. If your submission is among those chosen for the giveaway, you will receive an e-mail from StephenKing.com that includes a link to Simon & Schuster's e-commerce web site. After creating an account on their web site, you will be directed to a page with more information as well as the full download of "Mile 81" featuring an extended excerpt from 11/22/63. As an added bonus, those who are chosen will also receive a link to forward a second digital copy of "Mile 81" to a friend.

Be sure to check out Klout.com. And if you are unable get a free copy of Mile 81, you can preorder the e-book [here, here, and here!]

Exciting stuff! Good luck, everyone! And if you do win a copy, be sure to think of our wonderful friends overseas who aren't eligible!

August 25, 2011

And now, a short description of The Wind Through the Keyhole:

For readers new to The Dark Tower, The Wind Through the Keyhole is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story, which features both the younger and older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland and his ka-tet between the time they leave the Emerald City and arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

This Russian Doll of a novel, a story within a story, within a story, visits Mid-World's last gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV and Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter, a "skin man," Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, "The Wind through the Keyhole." "A person's never too old for stories," he says to Bill. "Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them." And stories like these, they live for us.

August 11, 2011

"I'm not afraid." Wow! For those of you (all of you) clamoring for the new Stephen King novella, "Mile 81," due on ebook on September 1st ... your wait just got a little easier. Today, iTunes released a preview sample of the story (twenty-seven pages, the entire first chapter!), including the table of contents. It's neat that the chapters are named after people with the names of their vehicles in parentheses. Gives us a glimpse as to what's going to happen! I can't wait!

August 3, 2011

Cemetery Dance announces VERY limited edition of A Book of Horrors! I've been hyping this book for awhile, and with good reason. It's all-new, classic horror from leading writers in the field. People like Dennis Etchison, Elizabeth Hand, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Christian Matheson, and of course Stephen King. If you haven't read my review of King's contribution, "The Little Green God of Agony, do it and let it convince you. This collection is terrific. A further description from Cemetery Dance:

Open this book at your own peril! That is because this volume is exactly what it says on the cover—A Book of Horrors contains all-original stories by some of the most successful and exciting names in modern horror fiction.

For the first time in many years, here is an original anthology of horror and dark fantasy in all its many and magnificent guises—from classic pulp-style tales of Dark and Stormy Nights, through more contemporary and psychological terrors, to the type of cutting-edge fiction that only the very best horror fiction can deliver.

Brought together from around the world by World Fantasy Award-winning editor Stephen Jones, one of Britain's most acclaimed and experienced anthologists of horror fiction, here are many of the authors who have helped shaped the genre in all of its forms, along with terrifying tales of unease by a new generation of storytellers devoted to the Dark Side.

But be warned: once you begin to delve within these pages, your imagination and senses will be assaulted by terrors both grim and gruesome, literary and lethal, that will stay with you long after you have closed its covers and tried to put aside the images and situations which have wormed their way deep within your mind.

Don't blame us for the bad dreams or cold sweats that these tales will induce. We did tell you — this is A Book of Horrors, and once you open it there is no way that these scarifying stories will ever be forgotten... no matter how much you wish that the nightmares will just go away!

Anyone familiar with Charnel House knows that Cemetery Dance puts out massively cool limited editions. This one is going to rock and no fooling! BUT! Because this is a co-publishing venture with PS Publishing in the UK, they only have HALF the print run to sell, and they're already going fast. Order quick atwww.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/jones02!

August 3, 2011

New short story: "The Dune," coming this fall! Literary magazine Granta will be publishing an all-Horror special for their Fall/Winter edition, and Stephen King has a brand-new short story in it. (Can you believe how much new writing he has given us this year?) It's called "The Dune," and the issue should be available October 27! More info as it comes!

July 30, 2011

Here's some fun and interesting news. King's The Stand has been re-released in mass market paperback with a new, body-strewn cover. Random House, which now owns Doubleday (King's publisher for his first five books, plus Pet Sematary), has released the book under its Anchor imprint, a new publishing division for The Stand. (My thought? It's to class things up a bit. The Pocket Books releases are really snazzy.)

But that's not the most interesting part! Take a look at the new "Also By the Author" page (and ignore my thumb):

The first thing I noticed is that the books are listed in (mostly) true chronology. Notice that Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands aren't lumped together like they usually are in these books; all the Dark Tower books are listed as when they were published by Grant, not mass market publishers. (Sadly, stuff like The Eyes of the Dragon are only listed according to when Viking published it.)

The next interesting thing is that Cycle of the Werewolf is nowhere to be found. What!? Is it because Silver Bullet is listed? Also: Rage is listed. While the last Stephen King novel to feature an "Also By" page - The Dark Tower - listed Rage, but Blaze, which came later, left Rage off the page.

There's also a brand-new category, which I find a little funny. "Story Collections and Novellas" is interesting. Hearts In Atlantis is over here, which is arguable. Also here: Blockade Billy, which does count as a novella ... but then why is Cycle of the Werewolf (which would count) not here? And why is The Colorado Kid in Novels and not over here? So puzzling! Also: no The Plant. Which is understandable, but still!

Anyway, the "Also By" page was one of my favorite parts of King books when I was growing up, and it's neat to have it back. Now, let's put it in 11/22/63! Come on!

July 26, 2011

Read King's enlightening introduction to a new British release of Lord of the Flies! I love this essay!

July 26, 2011

My review for the Full Dark, No Stars bonus story, "Under the Weather," is NOW UP!

July 20, 2011

The heart of Stand By Me and the genius horror of Christine. Stephen King's Official Site has given us more information on the upcoming eBook novella, "Mile 81":

At Mile 81 on the Maine Turnpike is a boarded up rest stop, a place where high school kids drink and get into the kind of trouble high school kids have always gotten into. It’s the place where Pete Simmons goes when his older brother, who’s supposed to be looking out for him, heads off to the gravel pit to play "paratroopers over the side."

Pete, armed only with the magnifying glass he got for his tenth birthday, finds a discarded bottle of vodka in the boarded up burger shack and drinks enough to pass out.

Not much later, a mud-covered station wagon (which is strange because there hadn’t been any rain in New England for over a week) veers into the Mile 81 rest area, ignoring the sign that says “closed, no services.” The driver’s door opens but nobody gets out.

Doug Clayton, an insurance man from Bangor, is driving his Prius to a conference in Portland. On the backseat are his briefcase and suitcase and in the passenger bucket is a King James Bible, what Doug calls “the ultimate insurance manual,” but it isn’t going to save Doug when he decides to be the Good Samaritan and help the guy in the broken down wagon. He pulls up behind it, puts on his four-ways, and then notices that the wagon has no plates.

Ten minutes later, Julianne Vernon, pulling a horse trailer, spots the Prius and the wagon, and pulls over. Julianne finds Doug Clayton’s cracked cell phone near the wagon door – and gets too close herself. By the time Pete Simmons wakes up from his vodka nap, there are a half a dozen cars at the Mile 81 rest stop. Two kids – Rachel and Blake Lussier –and one horse named Deedee are the only living left. Unless you maybe count the wagon.

With the heart of Stand By Me and the genius horror of Christine, "Mile 81" is Stephen unleashing his imagination as he drives past one of those road signs...

The novella will also include an excerpt of King's upcoming mammoth novel, 11/22/63. Very exciting stuff coming down the pipeline! We'll keep you updated with all the news on this surprise new title!

July 13, 2011

So fresh, so unique, and so viscerally frightening. Read my review of Stephen King's newest short story, "The Little Green God of Agony," which appears in the upcoming anthology, A Book of Horrors, edited by Stephen Jones. You guys are going to love this story!

July 13, 2011

New eBook coming! Scribner announced today a NEW eBook coming from King, September 1st of this year! Called Mile 81, the ebook will be novella-length - 80 pages - at a price of $2.99. Check out the official Mile 81 page at Scribner!

July 12, 2011

Date and length of Wind! Scribner announced today that the new Dark Tower midquel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, is coming April 3, 2012, and that it will be 336 pages! Longer than the first, shorter than all the others, I think King had said. I'm getting pretty amped for this one!

July 8, 2011

Buy Rocky Wood's stuff! Rocky Wood, co-author of Stephen King: The Non-Fiction and president of the Horror Writers Association of America, is selling off all his King stuff through The Overlook Connection! You might have noticed the link at the top of the page. If you've clicked it before, good news: there's a whole bunch of new stuff up there now! If you haven't ever looked at the Rocky Wood Collection at Overlook, YOU'RE in luck! There's so much stuff!

The Rocky Wood is a win-win: you get way cool King swag, and Rocky gets funds he needs to treat his ALS. So do Rocky - and yourself - a favor and buy something cool!

July 7, 2011

Slight, but not without charm. Stephen King's new review of Josh Ritter's novel, Bright's Passage, is up at the New York Times Sunday Book Review online edition. Check it out! June 30, 2011

King's Summer Reading List! Say! King has just published his "Non-Snobby Summer Reading List" for Entertainment Weekly, and you should give it a look! Check it out here! One addition King hadn't mentioned: >Live Wire, by Harlan Coben. I just finished it and it was boss!

June 23, 2011

"Horror's last maverick", editor Stephen Jones has compiled a new horror anthology titled A Book of Horrors, including a BRAND NEW Stephen King short story, "The Little Green God of Agony." Though the title convention suggests a connection to the last Dark Tower novel (with its chapters, "Blue Heaven," "The White Lands of Empathica," etc.), nothing concrete is yet known about it. From StephenJonesEditor.com:

Open this book at your own peril! That is because this volume is exactly what it say on the cover—A Book of Horrors contains all-original stories by some of the most successful and exciting names in modern horror fiction. For the first time in many years, here is an original anthology of horror and dark fantasy in all its many and magnificent guises—from classic pulp-style tales of Dark and Stormy Nights, through more contemporary and psychological terrors, to the type of cutting-edge fiction that only the very best horror fiction can deliver. Brought together from around the world by World Fantasy Award-winning editor Stephen Jones, one of Britain's most acclaimed and experienced anthologists of horror fiction, here are many of the authors who have helped shaped the genre in all of its forms, along with terrifying tales of unease by a new generation of storytellers devoted to the Dark Side. But be warned: once you begin to delve within these pages, your imagination and senses will be assaulted by terrors both grim and gruesome, literary and lethal, that will stay with you long after you have closed its covers and tried to put aside the images and situations which have wormed their way deep within your mind. Don't blame us for the bad dreams or cold sweats that these tales will induce. We did tell you—this is A Book of Horrors, and once you open it there is no way that these scarifying stories will ever be forgotten... no matter how much you wish that the nightmares will just go away!

A Book of Horrors is coming September 29th!

June 18, 2011

Congratulations, Stephen King! Stephen King is the proud recipient of the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection, for the masterful work, Full Dark, No Stars. King has won this award previously in 1990 (for Four Past Midnight) and in 2008 (for Just After Sunset). Thanks to Tina Rooker for the heads-up!

June 15, 2011

More info on Keyhole, plus Dark Tower re-releases!: Houghton & Stoddard, Stephen King's British publishers, recently announced their acquisition of The Wind Through the Keyhole in a press release!

Hodder & Stoughton are delighted to announce the acquisition, from Chuck Verill at Darhansoff & Verrill in New York, of THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE by Stephen King, a further title in the Dark Tower series, to be published worldwide in hardcover in the spring of 2012.

This novel will join the seven volumes, already published, that make up the series. As King's UK editor, Philippa Pride, puts it, 'For those of us who are hooked on the bestselling fantasy/adventure series already, it is a wonderful reunion! For readers who have yet to embark, it is a delightful way into the series as the novel stands perfectly alone - a story within a story - and features both the older Roland and the younger.'

Why did the author return to a series completed eight years ago? King had 'started thinking - and dreaming - about Mid-World again. What happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah and Oy ...? There was a storm, I decided. One of sudden and vicious intensity. And little by little, a story began to take shape. I saw a line of riders, one of them Roland's old mate, Jamie DeCurry, emerging from clouds of alkali dust thrown by a high wind. I saw a severed head on a fencepost. I saw a swamp full of dangers and terrors. I saw just enough to want to see the rest.'

Verrill comments 'the book is fabulous, and should be wholly satisfying to both Dark Tower cognoscenti and newcomers who are bound to be drawn in.'

Hodder will relaunch rejacketted paperbacks of the entire series alongside, as part of their major King reissue programme.

Exciting indeed! I can't wait!

June 2, 2011

One thing led to another...: Scribner has released an excerpt from Stephen King's upcoming mega-novel, 11/22/63. Seven pages that you can either read online or print out a .pdf! I'm loving the way Scribner and King have been promoting his new stuff lately, and the way both are unafraid to use new media to do it. 11/22/63 isn't coming until November, folks, so sip here and enjoy the ride!

May 24, 2011

The trade paperback edition of Full Dark, No Stars is out today, including the brand-new story, "Under the Weather." I'll have a review of this story - and how it fits in with Full Dark as a whole - soon!

May 23, 2011

Here it is, folks: news so exciting, I almost can't believe it's real. Oh, but it's real.

It: The 25th Anniversary Special Limited Edition IS COMING.

From the Cemetery Dance website:

"I worked on the book in a dream. I remember very little about the writing of it, except for the idea that I'd gotten hold of something that felt very big to me, and something that talked about more than monsters..."

— Stephen King, from the exclusive afterword for this special edition

It: The 25th Anniversary Special Limited Edition
by Stephen King

Featuring a brand new afterword by Stephen King, full-color wrap-around color artwork by Glen Orbik, and nearly thirty original color and black & white interior illustrations by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells!

About this Deluxe Special Edition:

Cemetery Dance Publications is very pleased to announce our Special Deluxe Limited Edition of Stephen King's classic novel It, which he calls his "final exam on Famous Monsters" in his brand new afterword to this oversized special edition!

This is easily the biggest, most lavish production Cemetery Dance Publications has ever undertaken. Glen Orbik painted the gorgeous wrap-around cover artwork, Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells created nearly thirty exclusive interior illustrations including black & white drawings and color paintings, and we hired the designer of the Limited Editions of The Secretary of Dreams, Blockade Billy, Riding the Bullet, and Full Dark, No Stars to create a unique interior design unlike any book we've ever published!

This fine collectible volume will be available in three states, all of them printed in two colors and bound in fine materials that go beyond the scope and quality of our other much-acclaimed Stephen King special editions. Already deep in production, the exclusive Cemetery Dance Special Limited Edition of It by Stephen King will be the perfect addition to any collection. We expect strong demand for this collectible given the popularity of the novel, so don't wait to place your order or you might miss out!

Special Features Exclusive to this Collector's Edition:

brand new afterword by Stephen King detailing why he wrote the book

deluxe oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches) featuring two color interior printing

epic wrap-around full color cover artwork by Glen Orbik

nearly thirty pieces of color and black & white interior artwork by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells

interior color artwork will be printed on a high-quality glossy stock and tipped into the book

high-quality embossed endpapers and fine bindings for all three editions

full-color signature sheets with exclusive color artwork in the signed editions

a page count so high it pushes the limits of our printer — easily our largest book ever!

extremely collectible print run that is a tiny fraction of the MILLIONS of copies of this novel you've seen in bookstores over the last 25 years — and you will NOT find our edition in chain bookstores!

The Cover Painting:

Ordering Multiple Copies:

There is a limit of one (1) Limited Edition and one (1) Lettered Edition per person or household. There is currently no limit on the Gift Edition, although that might be changed in the near future. Please note that we cannot combine multiple orders, so if you want to save on shipping, please place one order.

Matching Numbers or Letters:

If you would like us to match your Number or your Letter from Full Dark, No Stars, you will need to REPLY to your order confirmation email and tell us right away.

General Shipping Information:

This is a HUGE, oversized hardcover special edition protected by a custom-made slipcase or traycase, depending on the edition you order, and this will be the BIGGEST and HEAVIEST book we have ever published. This special edition must be shipped in a custom-made shipping box and we will be hiring extra staff just to ship these orders.

US Shipping:

If you live in the US, we strongly recommend you select UPS as your shipping method and have your order shipped to a street address. Our shipping fee for that option is based on the price UPS will charge us for the shipping and the required insurance to protect your investment, along with the cost of the packing materials we must order specifically for this item. Shipments via Media Mail are shipped at your own risk. There will be no replacements sent for damage or loss that occurs for packages shipped via Media Mail.

Non-US Shipping:

We charge what the post office will charge us to ship this item via Priority Mail International, which is the only method available for this book due to the size and weight. We estimate the shipping for the Gift Edition will be approximately $41 to Canada, $56 to the UK, and $67 to Australia — some locations may vary. Our online checkout system can estimate shipping for multiple copies, multiple editions, or other locations. Just add the editions you want to your cart and begin the checkout process. You will see your shipping estimate on the Payment & Shipping page. (You are under no obligation to finish checking out.) This method will result in a much quicker shipping estimate than calling or emailing our office and we cannot be responsible if you miss out on an edition you want while waiting for our office staff to reply.

Note About Contacting Our Office:

If you have any questions about this item, please contact our office via email. We expect to be extremely busy responding to customer inquiries and general media requests for the next week, so it may take longer than normal for us to reply to you, but email is still the faster way to get a response since we answer questions from the office and from home. Thank you for your understanding.

General Notes: Unfortunately, no coupons, savings certificates, store credit, special offers, or other discounts can be applied to this item, and this item cannot be used to qualify for any special offer or discount or deal. If you are a retailer, please note that standing orders do not apply for this item — you need to email our office for more information.

Published in three states:

Slipcased Oversized Hardcover Gift Edition of only 2,750 illustrated copies printed in two colors with two color hot foil stamping, a fine binding, and embossed endpapers ($125)

Traycased Oversized Hardcover Signed Limited Edition of only 750 illustrated copies printed in two colors and bound in leather with two color hot foil stamping, a satin ribbon page marker and different embossed endpapers, signed by Stephen King and all of the artists ($475)

Oversized Signed Hardcover Lettered Edition of only 52 illustrated copies printed in two colors and bound in two different fine materials with gilded page edges, imported endpapers, a satin ribbon page marker, and protected in a custom deluxe box, signed by Stephen King and all of the artists ($2,000)

* * *

Folks, this is going to be an enormous, sumptuous edition. I cannot WAIT to see this thing with my own eyes, and hold it in my hands. This is the literal definition of awesome.

May 17, 2011

Check out this super neat feature on what goes into the making of a limited-edition book cover. Cemetery Dance's design process for the cover of Full Dark, No Stars is far more fascinating than you'd expect. Design and font nerds will go nuts over this! I know I did!

May 11, 2011

The last time I took a vacation, 11/22/63 was announced. While I was away for five days this time, a whole plethora of news and information came down the pike. All of which is to say, I should vacation more, just to ensure that we get boatloads of King news. Let's catch up:

Donald M. Grant, Publisher officially announces The Wind Through the Keyhole, with artist Jae Lee. From Grant's website:

COMING IN 2012

THE DARK TOWER: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE by STEPHEN KING

We are not taking orders at this time, do not have prices and have not set a release date. Please do not call or email us asking for more information than is posted here. Updates will be announced in future issues of our newsletter and also posted here. We also advise you to sign up for Stephen King's newsletter at stephenking.com.

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. will, in the Spring of 2012 be publishing limited editions of this new Dark Tower novel by Stephen King which will be illustrated by Jae Lee.

Stephen King has agreed to sign 800 copies of a Deluxe Edition which will be issued in a tray case. These will also be signed by Jae Lee. In keeping with our policies of supporting long time customers, owners of Deluxe Edition copies of THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA numbered 1-800 will have the first option to buy this Deluxe Edition.

In addition there will be a limited "Artist" Edition which will be signed by Jae Lee and will be issued in a slipcase.

So, pretty much, super exciting news for Tower freaks and fans of quality limited editions. Jae Lee has long illustrated the comic-book interpretation of King's Dark Tower saga, and seems to be the perfect fit for this interstitial mid-quel. I'm excited!

StephenKing.com re-launches with a new look. Speaking of King's website, it relaunched May 4 with a new look. King's new site is brighter than before, and no longer relies on Flash-based tech (meaning you can now see everything on your iPhone and iPad). Even more exciting: you can now receive "MicroNews Feeds" on Twitter! Check out the StephenKing.com Twitter feed here.

Stephen King still in talks to write an episode of The Walking Dead. Reported yesterday by amazing fansite Lilja's Library, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman seems completely on board with King writing an episode of the acclaimed zombie series:

"[King writing an episode has] been discussed a little bit," he said. "Everyone involved on both sides of that are very anxious to make that happen; AMC is excited; [Creator/executive producer/director] Frank Darabont is excited; I'm excited. I know Stephen King and [his son and fellow writer] Joe Hill are excited. We'll see if we can make that come together. I can neither confirm nor deny."

I think we're all excited for this to happen. King's last foray into scripting an episode for TV that was not his property was with The X-Files' "Chinga," which was a bit iffy. The Walking Dead seems far more in King's wheelhouse, and with Darabont at the helm, this could be another perfect marriage. We shall see.

Caught up? Good. Keep watching this space for more updates in both content and design. Some exciting stuff is coming for your Charnel House. Thanks for reading!

April 26, 2011

NEW story in the upcoming paperback of Full Dark, No Stars! Reader Peter Hansen tells me that the new story in the paperback edition of Full Dark, No Stars is called "Under the Weather". No news yet whether it connects thematically with the four novellas, or if it's just a bonus. More news as I learn it! This is thrilling!

Lots of Michael Collings news! Michael R. Collings is the most prolific Stephen King expert, and we're about to be hit with a truckload of Collings awesome:

(1) Coming soon to Amazon.com as a Kindle exclusive: Perspectives: Views, Reviews, Interviews, a release that "will reprint about 60,000 words of reviews, short articles, and interviews that have appeared over the past 25 years in print sources, but that are for the most part impossible to find." This includes reviews of King novels Blaze, The Stand, Rose Madder, Four Past Midnight, Needful Things, and The Waste Lands, "as well as reviews of several books about King." There are also reviews of books by Koontz, Straub, McCammon, and Dan Wells, as well as Collings's awesome (and long out-of-print) Pet Sematary movie review from Castle Rock! More information on this one as I get it, but the word is that it will be appearing within the week!

(2) Literary blog The Two Ends of the Pen just published Collings's terrific essay, "Horror: A Constant State of Fear." Referencing King specifically and tackling horror as a genre, this scholarly (but accessible) essay is a must-read for King and horror fans. You can find it here.

(3) Collings's new novel, The Slab, was the #1 Kindle book over this past weekend. Fans of Collings's nonfiction shouldn't miss this - Collings's horror grasp is not only on the mind, but also the throat. You can pick The Slab up here.

Stay tuned for even more super awesome announcements. I mentioned Charnel House changes? They're coming - and soon!

April 20, 2011

Feast your eyes on this:

BAM! Thank Lilja's Library for providing this one. Looks AWESOME! I can't wait!

Also! Rocky Wood's Stephen King: A Literary Companion is NOW SHIPPING! You can order it here!

"This companion provides a two-part introduction to best-selling author Stephen King, whose enormous popularity over the years has gained him an audience well beyond readers of horror fiction, the genre with which is most often associated. Part I considers the reception of King’s work, the film adaptations that they gave rise to, the fictional worlds in which some of his novels are set, and the more useful approaches to King’s varied corpus. Part II consists of entries for each series, novel, story, screenplay and even poem, including works never published or produced, as well as characters and settings.

Rocky is a terrific guy and a helluva writer, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't pick this one up. Oh! And don't forget The Rocky Wood Collection at the Overlook Connection! Rocky is selling his entire Stephen King collection, and it's super impressive stuff. Rock!

April 19, 2011

King to return to American Vampire? In a recent interview with Ain't It Cool News, American Vampire creator Scott Snyder intimated that Stephen King may be coming back to the comic:

AICN: I was wondering if there were any word on Stephen King ever coming back and doing some more stuff?

Snyder: He teases it. He’s doing a little piece, a foreword, for us in prose for the volume two which is out in May, which we are really excited about which collects issues six through eleven. But he always has an open door man. I talk to him a lot. We send him every issue and he’s always chiming in about where he’d like to be, so my hope is we are really, really thrilled about what we have planned for the fifties. I have a big, big twist and a new character I want to bring in that is sort of our version of a Punisher. He’s a character who has actually been tucked into the series earlier in a hidden way and my feeling is that if he comes back at any point, it will probably be there. I think that he can’t really resist hot rods and vampires.

Folks, American Vampire (along with Walking Dead) is the best horror comic on the stands. King's run was terrific, but the comic has been fantastic ever since, even without King's direct contribution. I urge everyone to pick up the first hardcover collection (featuring not only King's storyline, but also a great introduction by King), and preorder Volume 2!

April 18, 2011

Really interesting stuff! Chris Eggertsen, of the website Bloody Disgusting, recently provided a complete Hollywood history of Stephen King. This thing is fascinating. Check it out!

Also, word comes in from publisher Faber & Faber that Stephen King will provide a new introduction to the upcoming "centenary" edition of Lord of the Flies. King readers will be familiar with the effect this novel had on King and his writing - The Dark Half's Thad Beaumont was traumatized by it, and Hearts In Atlantis is in part an homage to it. Publisher Hannah Griffiths says, King and Golding "is just the best combination of writers ever." I have high hopes for this introduction!

April 12, 2011

An important cause for a good friend. Want to help out a true King expert, friend, and all-around good guy, while ALSO getting your hands on some really rare Stephen King items? Author Rocky Wood is selling his King collection through Overlook Press, and there are some amazing finds on there! If you are a King collector of any stripe, I highly recommend you check it out.

Sadly, part of the reason Rocky is parting with this treasure trove is because he has been diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Right now, only the symptoms are treatable; there is currently no cure. While treatment options are good in Rocky's native Australia, the money he gets from his collection will absolutely help with his medical bills.

You can also donate to Rocky directly through PayPal at rocky_wood@hotmail.com. Please do him a favor and do not mention this is a donation when you donate. It's ridiculous, but if he gets classified as an official charity, they might suspend his account. Thanks for understanding!

I'm going to leave a link up to the collection on the website indefinitely. Thank you, everyone, for helping our buddy Rocky through this difficult time.

April 12, 2011

UPDATE: Read my pocket review of "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive" here. Don't miss this one, folks!

The May issue of The Atlantic containing Stephen King's new short story, "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive" is NOW OUT! Even more, you can now read King's story online! That's right! BRAND NEW STORY ONLINE! Check it out! April 1, 2011

HUGE NEWS! Hot on the heels of King's announcement/confirmation of The Wind Through the Keyhole, he has announced THREE new Dark Tower novels, happening in between each of the latter books. The first, Bumbler Lament, takes place between Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah, and will mostly focus on Oy and why he was exiled from his clan. The second, Too Many Doors, takes place between Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower, and will look at the creation of all the doors, everywhere, between the worlds. "I wanted to get some detail going on this one," King said, "so I made sure I wrote in some scenes of the Great Old Ones selecting the trees and melding the doorknobs." Then added, devilishly, "The chapter on hinges alone will keep you up all night."

The third book takes place between Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 of The Dark Tower. Called Eggs, it explicitly links Mordred Deschain and Pennywise the Dancing Clown, because of the similarity of spider eggs. "There's some real cosmic shit in there," King is quoted as saying. VERY exciting stuff!

BUT THAT ISN'T ALL!

Even though King's anticipated time travel novel, 11/22/63, won't be out until November, we have already heard word of a sequel, titled 9/8/66. Says King, "Doing research for the Kennedy book, I realized that 11/22/36 was not only the day the President was killed, but it was also the day Dr. Who debuted on TV. And I thought, wouldn't it be great to write another time travel book that centered on the day Star Trek came out." Early reports say that 9/8/66 will be approximately 1,500 pages long.

AND!!!!

King is releasing a brand-new short story to The Pacific Quarterly this May. Titled "John Updike Isn't Alive, But He Won a Pulitzer and That's Pretty Cool," it's said to be "very, very frightening."

FINALLY!

We've been waiting years for this, and our prayers have finally been answered! Just yesterday, King announced a massive volume of his collected nonfiction! Titled Two Headlights (or, alternately, Third Coming, or More Natural Acts of Human Intercourse, or Cork; the name hasn't really been finalized), this volume will contain everything, from "Remembering John" to "The Importance of Being Archie" to every "Garbage Truck" and Entertainment Weekly column. Look for Justin Brooks and Rocky Wood's brand new book about that book in the months to follow!

Oh, and by the way! april fool's!

March 22, 2011

The rumors appear to be true! Stephen King is in talks to pen an episode of the critically-acclaimed (and Charnel House-approved) zombie drama The Walking Dead. From Entertainment Weekly Online:

AMC’s zombie sensation The Walking Dead might be getting a serious scare injection on its writing staff for next season. Iconic horror novelist (and former EW columnist) Stephen King has confirmed with EW that he’s currently in talks to write an episode of the post-apocalyptic series. Dead is executive-produced by Frank Darabont, who has directed three films based on King’s work — four, if you count his 1983 short film The Woman in the Room — and King tells EW exclusively that Darabont “has expressed enthusiastic interest for season 2 or possibly 3.” Although the author is still early in negotiations, the current plan would be for King to co-write an episode with his son, Joe Hill, the author of horror novels Heart-Shaped Box and Horns."

Which would be the second time King and Hill have collaborated, following their Richard Matheson-inspired short story, "Throttle." Exciting news!

March 14, 2011

From King's official website comes news of a brand-new short story, "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive." It's coming in the May issue of The Atlantic, on newsstands April 19th (and on the web and to subscribers a week earlier, on April 12th). The good news just keeps coming!

March 11, 2011

On Stephen King's official message board, you can now vote for who YOU want to illustrate Wind Through the Keyhole. The list features various Dark Tower veterans (Michael Whelan is in the lead right now), but I urge you to check out some of the artists who haven't done a book yet. I am especially partial to Gregory Manchess's work. But don't take my word for it! You can sample the artwork and vote right here! Enjoy!

March 10, 2011

NEW DARK TOWER BOOK. After a long news drought, now comes the ocean. Not only is 1/22/63 coming this November, but King has now announced The Wind Through the Keyhole as definitely upcoming! From his website:

Dear Constant Readers,

At some point, while worrying over the copyedited manuscript of the next book (11/22/63, out November 8th), I started thinking—and dreaming—about Mid-World again. The major story of Roland and his ka-tet was told, but I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)?

There was a storm, I decided. One of sudden and vicious intensity. The kind to which billy-bumblers like Oy are particularly susceptible. Little by little, a story began to take shape. I saw a line of riders, one of them Roland's old mate, Jamie DeCurry, emerging from clouds of alkali dust thrown by a high wind. I saw a severed head on a fencepost. I saw a swamp full of dangers and terrors. I saw just enough to want to see the rest. Long story short, I went back to visit an-tet with my friends for awhile. The result is a novel called The Wind Through the Keyhole. It's finished, and I expect it will be published next year.

It won't tell you much that's new about Roland and his friends, but there's a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present. The novel is shorter than DT 2-7, but quite a bit longer than the first volume—call this one DT 4.5. It's not going to change anybody's life, but God, I had fun.

WHOA! Amazing stuff! Keep an eye out here for details about both of these upcoming novels, and check out King's full announcement on his website.

March 2, 2011

BRAND NEW NOVEL ANNOUNCED! From King's website:

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

This seems like an entirely different sort of book for King, except perhaps the length: at roughly 1,000 pages, this one will be joining the ranks of The Stand, It, and Under the Dome. A really terrific title, too, and an intriguing storyline. I'm excited!

The book is due November 8, 2011. For further details, keep an eye on the 11/22/63 page on King's site, the official Simon & Schuster website for the novel, or keep tuned right here for all the tantalizing hints and updates of this fascinating new book.

February 16, 2011

NEWS! First, the mass market paperback of Full Dark, No Stars will be released on July 26th, not July 19th as originally reported. Second, for the first time EVER: my FULL LENGTH review of The Dark Tower. Cherish it, always.

OH! One more thing. Stephen King's new book comes out this November. I can't tell you any more than that. (Literally. I have no more information. But when I do, I promise, you'll be the first to know.)

January 30, 2011

Update! I've gently edited my vitriolic critique of Stephen King Goes to the Movies, the most pointless book in King's canon. Um, enjoy?

Hooray! The brand-new full-length review of Just After Sunset is NOW UP! Enjoy!

January 27, 2011

Update! My brand-new, in-depth, semi-thesis critique of On Writing is NOW UP!!! I hope you enjoy this one. It was a blast to write!

Hey all! Shivers VI, from Cemetery Dance is NOW AVAILABLE! In addition to other amazing writers like Peter Straub (whose sequel to his terrific A Dark Matter appears here), Bev Vincent, Brian James Freeman, Melanie Tem, Al Sarrantonio, and more, Shivers VI is the only place to find the original text version of Stephen King's "The Crate." While the illustrated adaptation appeared in Creepshow, this story has never been collected in a Stephen King anthology, and it is well worth reading. Edited by Richard Chizmar, Shivers VI is going fast. Get your copy while it's still available!

January 22, 2011

Rocky Wood, co-author of Stephen King: The Non-Fiction and Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished, will be releasing a new book this summer, Stephen King, a Literary Companion. This book

[p]rovides a two-part introduction to best-selling author Stephen King, whose enormous popularity over the years has gained him an audience well beyond readers of horror fiction, the genre with which is most often associated. Part I considers the reception of King’s work, the film adaptations that they gave rise to, the fictional worlds in which some of his novels are set, and the more useful approaches to King’s varied corpus. Part II consists of entries for each series, novel, story, screenplay and even poem, including works never published or produced, as well as characters and settings.

Wood's a terrific writer, and his work on King has provided new insight into King's canon. I'm really looking forward to this one! Pre-order your copy here!

January 20, 2011

Update! My updated and expanded review of Duma Key is ALSO now up! Hooray!

A more in-depth and edited update of The Mist is now UP! Because why not?

January 19, 2011

Hey! Check out my BRAND-NEW, FULL-LENGTH review of Blaze! A severely underrated novel, and perhaps the last-ever Bachman book.

We are coming close to the end of the novel critique re-writes, folks. The newest - Under the Dome and Blockade Billy, Full Dark, No Stars - may need some tweaks, not many. On Writing and Just After Sunset need some overhauls, but nothing like a full rewrite. I, surprisingly, never wrote a review of The Dark Tower; I'm currently re-reading that and hope to have a full critique on that for the first time on this site soon.

This has been an ambitious project, folks, and I'm so happy you've been on it with me. There has also been a reason for me doing these now, beyond just wanting the site to look more professional. But we'll get there. You'll see.

Till then, keep reading!

January 12, 2011

I am beyond pleased to announce the publication of Toward Other Worlds: Perspectives on John Milton, C.S. Lewis, Stephen King, Orson Scott Card, and Others, written by the most prolific expert on King writing today, Dr. Michael R. Collings. Dr. Collings's depth and breadth of work on King is amazing, books that define and redefine what writing on King is and can be: Stephen King as Richard Bachman, The Films of Stephen King, The Stephen King Phenomenon, Scaring us to Death, not to mention the various essays he has contributed to other defining works, such as George Beahm's masterful Stephen King Companion. Collings writes with an academic pen, but never sacrifices accessibility.

His new book, Toward Other Worlds, enhances Collings's remarkable output even further. Here, he collects some of his best essays (some previously published, some not) on writers of speculative fiction. Of particular interest to Charnel House readers are his seven essays on King. Two, "Of Books and Reputations" and "The Radiating Pencils of His Bones: The Poetry of Stephen King" are reprinted from out-of-date sources and are refreshing to have in a collection like this. The others are of similarly high caliber: "On Kubrick's The Shining," "Considering The Stands," "Stephen King's The Dark Tower in the Epic Tradition," "Faith Within Fantasy: Stephen King, Richard Bachman, and Seventh-Century Devotional Poetry," and an illuminating interview with reporter Shuei Sai on films based on King works.

Most fascinating are Colling's take on King's more recent work, notably Desperation, The Regulators, and the Dark Tower series. He's got a vast knowledge of literature and why certain tenets continue to work after centuries. King, he continues to argue, is a modern interpreter of the myths and legends that have existed since the genesis of fiction. It is also refreshing to read an academic's take on King's accessibility, and why it should be encouraged.

I have been a big fan of Michael Collings for ages. I loved Toward Other Worlds, especially the King essays. It is in stock and ready to ship from Amazon.com, so do yourself a favor and pick up your copy today!

January 11, 2011

Hey! What the wow? Check out my BRAND-NEW FULL-LENGTH review of Dreamcatcher! I liked it way more the second time!

January 8, 2011

The BRAND-NEW CRITIQUE of Lisey's Story is NOW UP. Check it out! More soon!

January 7, 2011

According to my sources, the mass-market paperback of Full Dark, No Stars should be available on July 19th, 2011! Interestingly, neither

(Oct 28)Update 2! Lets see if this little quote doesn't set you on fire!
"This week, in a special edition of our regular weekly Joe Fridays installment, Joe spills the King beans. Yeah, the announcement has been made, but as for the whos, wheres, whys and hows – all in here. Well, most in here – he’s not going to tell you how the first mini-series ends.

Did we say 'first'? "

Read the rest at Newsarama here.
dvs

(Oct 28) Update! Okay, so I was wrong. King is doing a Dark Tower project with Marvel, and we have the info! (I love being wrong!)

Starting in April of 2006 and continuing monthly through September, Marvel will release a series of six comic books detailing Roland Deschain's life before we caught up with him in the desert at the beginning of The Gunslinger. The artwork will, in fact, be done by Jae Lee (and MAN is it beautiful!)

The six-issue series will be collected in a hardcover edition in time for Christmas 2006, which means those of you (me) who collect King in hardcover will be able to put this one right up there on the shelf.

Marvel is being sure to push this series (no news on a title proper yet; for now, we're referring to it as Dark Tower [8]) as "graphic fiction," which seems a push toward getting this project in a more mainstream light (sort of like Creepshow was published as "illustrated fiction"). And this isn't the first time King has done a project with Marvel; he and Berni Wrightson did three pages of a one-shot called X-Men: Heroes for Hope. But this is the first ongoing comic series that King has ever worked on, and everyone involved seems beyond excited (including me!)

So next year is going to resemble 1996, everyone: two full King novels and an ongoing, six-month fiction series. Have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying King's retirement? (I've also created a page with all the info, right here!)

You can also read the original story here! kmq

(Oct 28) Read all about the Marvel SK project here! With images!
dvs

(Oct 26) According to the UK-based website PN Online, King will be doing a project with Marvel Comics ... and further, it will be a graphic novel of what amounts to The Dark Tower 8. Rumor has it that Jae Lee (The Inhumans, Hellshock) will be doing the art. Now, I will state for the record that all this is strictly rumor ... and to this reader's eyes, it doesn't seem likely. Still, stranger things have happened! Read the whole story over at Newsarama! Thanks to Brad for the 411!

(Oct 23) Hey everyone! We now have RELEASE DATES for both Cell and Lisey's Story!!! Cell is coming January 24th, 2006 (a little over 3 months away! WHOA!) It's so soon you can actually PRE-ORDER IT!!! Lisey's Story is coming October 24, almost exactly a year from today. Still no word yet on the new novel King is currently writing, but this news more than makes up for it! Now that we have a firm page count and a release date, expect covert art and more goodies very soon! Whee!

As for Charnel House, you'll notice that I've put upcoming release dates near the top of the page, for quick reference. Also, I've built the bare bones of the pages for Cell and Lisey's Story; Cell contains links to both the pre-order and the first section of the book itself! Definitely worth a surf!

(Oct 22) Wow, everyone! Here's a way amazing offer from Rocky Wood, author of the upcoming Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished:

With Halloween approaching, the Publishers of The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King (see www.horrorking.com) are offering 40% off the regular retail price for copies ordered by 31 October. This is for the latest,Third Edition of this classic King resource.

When ordering simply enter (CHA40) after your name on the order page www.horrorking.com/order. This will save you $20!

Kids, The Complete Guide to the Works of SK is an invaluable resource. It features listings for "EVERY Story,EVERY Character, EVERY Place, EVERY Link, EVERY Error,and MUCH, MUCH MORE." The third edition includes The Dark Tower VII, plus all work up to and including everything published up through October 2004. I have a copy, everyone, and I HIGHLY recommend it. Thanks, Rocky!

(Oct 21) Major website refurbishments! The big news is I finally posted my review of Faithful, which means one more barren review site is not longer barren! Whee!

Also did some cosmetic fixing on a number of the review pages, bringing them up to the current look. Cleaner interfaces and easier-to-read reviews are now up on Firestarter, The Eyes of the Dragon, Four Past Midnight, From a Buick 8, Gerald's Game, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Green Mile and a major change for Golden Years, including some bulleted info (though no review as of yet - coming soon!)

My intention is to bring the whole site up to a uniform look by the end of the year, which means easier browsing for you and easier updating for me. Thanks again, everyone, for visiting. I love this stuff.

(Oct 20) Some pretty hefty news today! Both the publication of Cell and the publication of Lisey's Story has been moved up a month, which means we call all expect Cell in January 06, and Lisey in October. Yey!

Now, this might prompt one to wonder why things are coming out any faster. What about the rumors swirling around the THIRD new book King is currently working on?

According to the official King message board, King will likely release info on the new novel is:

Probably not for a while--possibly not until next spring depending upon when Stephen is ready to let info out. It will not be out until after Lisey’s Story which will be fall of ’06, after Cell’s release.

Okay, so this is super-awesome exciting. The idea that King is already planning ahead to '07 means that the new, steady stream of novels doesn't seem to be slowing. I'm also boldened a bit by next year's release schedule, enough so that I'm wondering if this new book is going to be the only book of 2007, or if it will "simply" be the first.

As to what it's about, the only possible (and very tenuous) lead comes from the SKEMERs newsgroup. Apparently, King has recently been considering writing a new story about Thad Beaumont, he of The Dark Half, and exploring the events which lead to his circumstances described in Bag of Bones. (How's that for Most Intense Attempt at Keeping Spoiler-Free?) Absolutely no word if King has done more than think about it, but in light of the info and the fact that he is working on a new project, I thought I'd share. Whee!

(Oct 19) Some work progressing on the book pages: Dolores Claiborne, Dreamcatcher and Everything's Eventual are now up to par. No hard news in the world of King just yet, but we're still waiting on that big reveal from Cemetery Dance. Regarding CD, I want to urge everyone to pre-order a copy of Rocky Wood's upcoming Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished. This is sort of an update of Spignesi's The Lost Work of Stephen King, with both some discussion on newly-discovered King works (real obscure stuff like "Comb Dump") AND a massive excerpt from King's unpublished novel Sword in the Darkness. Seriously, it's awesome. Run! Get! Tell em Kev sent you!

(Oct 16) Three things today, kids: the first is that we now have those first two paragraphs from the do-it-yourself story "The Furnace"; you can check them out here!!! (Related to that, it seems that the name of the magazine doing the contest is our old friend Weekly Reader, the one that did a huge King issue in the early 90s, printing a classroom-play adaptation of "Trucks." This is what's in my memory instead of calculus.)

Also, my review page of Silver Bullet is now up, with a review and a picture and everything. Try to contain your excitement! And enjoy it here.

Finally: I've begun receiving emails asking whether or not I plan on reviewing the final two books of the Dark Tower series. The answer is yes ... just not yet. I've only read each of the novels once, and I haven't read them since they were first published, which means I definitely need to do re-reads to reacquaint myself before I can feel confident in writing a review. (To that end, I have to do the same with Skeleton Crew and the unexpurgated The Stand. These things will come.) I want to thank everyone for their interest. It really is awesome to be back. <

(Oct 15) Okay, in response to "The Furnace," I went through and did a whole big overhaul on my Uncollected King page. Seriously, like a whole bunch. Added pictures and words and everything! So go check it, before you wreck it! Wahoo!

(Oct 15) In a magazine for teens called Know Your Own World, King has written two paragraphs of a short story called "The Furnace," which is intended for readers to complete. Sources say that this one is more like "Skybar" and less like "The cat From Hell" in that King does not intend to complete the story. Also in the magazine: excerpts from On Writing and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

It's not much, but I'll take it!

(Oct 12) Yey! My essays section is live! Surf on over for a history of SKEMERs, one of the longest-running King groups in the world! Read a concise history of Richard Bachman! Get all wrapped up in a very, very long essay about the time I kind of fainted after a book signing! It's all there, kids! Check it out! [EDIT!!!] The links are now working! I screwed up in there, but things are chilly now!

(Oct 11) According to Lilja's Library, the upcoming novel Cell will be 384 pages (the audio will be on 10 CDs and 8 cassettes - all numbers estimated). Now, I know 384 pages sounds really short, until you consider that that's longer than Carrie, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Misery, The Eyes of the Dragon, Thinner, Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, On Writing and From a Buick 8. See, a King novel doesn't have to be epic-length to be epic-awesomeness! Yey Cell! We want zombies!

(Oct 10) A lot of behind-the-scenes refurbishments, kids; lots of work on my "essays" section (this involved going through my home computer and pulling up every King essay I've ever written, converting it to HTML, and posting it. Now my wrists hurt, ow.) I have two or three more essays to toss up there - a King primer and a Bachman essay - and then the page will be ready to go live.

You also may have noticed a new ad on the site. This is for Tomas Krynsky's stephenkingcollector.com. Tomas has always been a good friend, and when Charnel House got back into the swing of things, he lent his support at once. Now, everyone go lend yours! Tomas's site is, hands-down, the best site for information on Stephen King limited editions. They rock big-time. Do yourself a favor and click on the link! Yey!

(Oct 08) Some way awesome bits of news! According to Lilja's Library, the moderator on King's official message board had this to say:

He’s [King's] in the editing phase of two books but has an idea for a new one that he will begin writing soon.

Wow! My guess - hopefully wrong! - is that he's editing Cell and Lisey's Story for next year's publication, and that this new one is something we haven't heard of yet.

(By the way, regarding Cell, two things: 1. does this novel sound strikingly familiar to the rain-cannibals King talked about in the foreward to The Green Mile? And 2. I wonder why King chose to publish Cell first? The first chapter of Lisey's Story was published over a year ago, so why the immediacy for Cell? Not that I'm complaining, not at all! Just curious.)

In other King news: Okay, so I was at Wizard World Boston last weekend, and I actually heard Joe Quesada - the Editor in Cheif of Marvel Comics - speak. Someone else (not me, but not because I didn't have my hand up, poised to ask the question; just because this other dude got to me first) asked if the rumors were true, and would Stephen King be doing a project with Marvel soon. Quesada said, "Well, I can't comment on that. But, just hypothetically, if King were to do a project with Marvel, wouldn't that be cool?"

Then I was the one that literally shouted YES!!! And that's what gets quoted over at Newsarama.

Finally: Doubleday Book Club will be releasing a Stephen King desk calendar for 2006. No news yet whether it will be available to the general public or strictly through the book club. A description:

If you’re already a fan of Stephen King, chances are you’re more than a little creeped out by pet cemeteries, you have a healthy fear of clowns, and when you think of the Man in Black, it isn’t Johnny Cash who comes to mind. But we’d like to tell you a few things about the master of horror that you don’t already know know. Peek inside the pages of the 2006 Stephen King Library Desk Calendar to discover:

What question King answered correctly on Jeopardy! to beat David Duchovny and Lynn Redgrave.

The story behind why Stephen King was partly to blame for the Red Sox curse.

In his own words, why King wrote under the pen name Richard Bachman

King’s tips for the aspiring writer

The top ten list of King’s most popular characters

King’s musical tastes

The overlooked novels of Tabitha King, and much more.

As an added bonus, Stephen King’s short story, “My Pretty Pony,” is included at the end of our exclusive calendar. 7½" x 10"; 128 pages; spiral bound.

Sounds pretty neat! This is only the third time King has actually allowed a calendar based on him to be released, so yey!

And that's it for now!

(Oct 06) More work done on the book review pages, including a brand-new review of Cycle of the Werewolf (I've been maintaining this page since I was 21, and some of the earlier reviews are kind of ... well, the suck.) I also realized that I should really have a seperate page for Silver Bullet, if only because it's actually only one of two full-length screenplays King has published in mass-market format. There's an interesting factoid!

Oh, by the way: I'm on my second read of The Colorado Kid. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

(Oct 04) My review of The Colorado Kid is now up. Yes, it's that fast a read. And yes, it's that good.

(Oct 04) WAHOO!!!! The Colorado Kid is OUT TODAY!!!! Go buy it! Review coming soon! WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

(Mar 15) Sorry for the L_O_N_G delay in updating the site. What can I tell you, life happens... Well the good news is that SK has a very interesting new project comng out. Read all about it on the press release on the official site. This is probably old new news for many of you. Sorry bout that. I'll try and keep things fresh yo!
dvs

 

(Oct 29) We received some promotional material from Warner Bros on the new Salem's Lot DVD set. I am anxious to get a chance to check this out! Read the press release here!

(Oct 7) Charnel House does not generally cover movies but I thought the following article from CNN was quite interesting and thought you might enjoy reading it.
dvs

(Oct 4) I picked up my copy of Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower this weekend. It is very cool and well worth checking out. Charnel House is even listed under fan sites! Thanks Bev!

I am also anxiously awaiting the publication of the second Dark Tower Concordance. The publication date for both the second concordance and "Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season" are listed as 12/2004 according to the publisher's web site.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Pop-up book is listed as being available 10/2004! So lots of stuff available for your Christmas lists!!
dvs

(Sep 22) Of course the big news is that The Dark Tower saga comes to a close with the release of the The Dark Tower yesterday. There is a GREAT video clip from the Today show here. It is well worth checking out. SK even mentions his "retirement." Watch and enjoy!
dvs

(Sep 16)More news from the SK home page. Borderlands 5 - From the Borderlands is now available in paperback stores and newsstands nationwide (USA). The book has recently won a Bram Stoker Award as the Best Anthology of the Year, and contains a new Novelette by Stephen. Ordering information may be found at the Borderlands web site.
dvs

(Sep 10) From the SK home page! A new work of fiction by Stephen titled "Lisey and the Madman" will be included in McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, an anthology edited by Michael Chabon, published by Vintage. The anticipated publication date is November 2004.
dvs

(Sep 3) There is an interesting review of The Dark Tower at Ain't It Cool News.
dvs

(Aug 2) Read a Dark Tower excerpt from the SK Official site!
dvs

(Jul 28) Info on Grant Books Dark Tower VII This page also has some cool new images.
dvs

(Jun 08) Dark Tower 6: Song of Susannah is FINALLY out!!! Right now! Go buy it! I'm on page 43 and it's SO FREAKIN AWESOME!!! AAAAAAAA!!!!

(May 18) Brom Brian Freeman of Cemetery Dance: "I just wanted to let you know that we'll be running an exclusive interview with Jerad Walters of Centipede Press in this week's CD Weekly Newsletter. We spoke with him about how he landed the SALEM'S LOT Limited Edition, why he started his small press, and other questions you might have on your mind." Way neat! You can sub to the newsletter HERE!!!

(May 18) Read an excerpt from the upcoming he Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah from the Simon & Schuster web site!
dvs

(May 14) From the SK Home Page:
Limited Edition 'Salems Lot
A limited edition of 'Salem's Lot is being published through Centipede Press. It will include the original novel and two related short stories: "Jerusalem's Lot" and "One for the Road" as well as Stephen's introduction from the Pocket Books edition and over 50 pages of deleted scenes from the original manuscript which have never before been published. This limited edition of 300 copies will be available in October. Orders are currently being taken here.
dvs

(May 13) MEGA-AWESOME deal from the cool kids over at Cemetery Dance. Here's the deal:

Just for being regular followers of this irregularly updated website, you're gonna get THIRTY PERCENT off any order at CD, from now through May 23rd. No, I'm NOT KIDDING!

All you gotta do is enter this code in the Coupon field when checking out at the CemeteryDance.com online store:

CHARNELHOUSE30

...and the store will automatically take 30% off their order!

Brian Freeman, author, Cemetery Dance guru, and King pimp extraordinaire sent me a list of upcoming titles CD will be offering that y'all might be into:

THE DEVIL'S WINE edited by Tom Piccirilli, featuring poetry from King, Straub, Bradbury and many others

THE ROAD TO THE DARK TOWER by Bev Vincent, the first critical analysis of Stephen King's Dark Tower series

THE ILLUSTRATED STEPHEN KING TRIVIA BOOK by Brian Freeman & Bev Vincent, featuring at least one thousand King related questions and several dozen of questions based on Glenn Chadbourne's illustrations

GREAT GHOST STORIES edited by R. Chetwynd-Hayes & Stephen Jones, including Stephen King's "The Reaper's Image"

Cemetery Dance magazine, which features Bev Vincent's "News From The Dead Zone" column in every issue.

Remember, this offer's only good through May 23rd, so act now! Operators (or web-perators) are standing by!

(May 13) And as if two King books weren't enough this year, we're also being treated to Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the 2004 Season. This is the baseball book you've been hearing so much about, King's first book-length nonfiction collaberation. The book, co-written by Stewart O'Nan, has a tentative release date of December 2004. (Let me just say right now that I sincerely hope King stays this busy throughout his "retirement." A new book out 2 months after King is supposedly "done publishing"? Yeah, I can live with that kind of output.) YEY! Check out my Faithful "shell" page, up now!

(Apr 01) More exciting news from the fine folks at Cemetery Dance!
The Road to the Dark Tower by Bev Vincent is the first critical analysis of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Bev Vincent examines each of the seven component books and the series as a whole, exploring themes and influences, tracing the connections that radiate from the Dark Tower into many of King's other works.

For the Cemetery Dance edition of this book, CD has commissioned Glenn Chadbourne (who has done some AMAZING King related artwork in the past, and is working on The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book) to create a set of SEVEN Dark Tower bookmarks. Anyone who preorders THE ROAD TO THE DARK TOWER from Cemetery Dance before April 30 will receive this set for FREE.

Also, any preorders before April 30 will receive a FREE copy of the trade
paperback NAL edition, which we'll have signed by Bev Vincent!

Order from this page! This looks like an extremely interesting read. I am very excited for this one and you should be too!
dvs

(Mar 24)From the SK Official Home Page: New Book Announced
Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King, lifelong Red Sox addicts, will chronicle the 2004 Red Sox season from spring training and Opening Day through to the highly anticipated events of the fall, in a hardcover book that Scribner will publish in late '04. They'll go to some games together and each will keep a diary. They'll argue or agree about plays and trades, and the result will be a fan's notes for the ages.
dvs

(Mar 10) A quick update from Cemetery Dance Publications:
Cemetery Dance Publications will begin running excerpts from THE DEVIL'S
WINE in next week's Cemetery Dance Weekly email newsletter! This anthology
features poetry from Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum,
Edward Lee, and many other great authors!

If you're not already a subscriber, this is a FREE newsletter and you can
sign-up here: http://www.cemeterydance.com/html/newsletters.shtml

(Mar 09) a little taste for you...
“I have stridden the fuming way
of sun-hammered tracks and
smashed cinders;
I have ridden rails
and burned sterno in the gantry silence of hobo jungles:
I am a dark man.”

The Dark Man excerpt by Stephen King from The Devil’s Wine
Cemetery Dance Publications copyright 2004 by Tom Piccirilli

If these words don’t get you excited enough to go purchase The Devil’s Wine nothing will. For fans of Stephen King this is a fantastic and fascinating collection of 6 poems. According to the introduction to the SK section the poems were written in the late 60’s and early 70’s and “show the groundwork for several themes and narrative inflections that King will eventually put to use in his popular fiction.”

I was lucky enough to receive an advance readers copy from the fine folks at Cemetery Dance and I am here to tell you that the King poems alone are worth the price of admission. In addition to the King poems there are contributions by 18 other authors including Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub, and Jack Ketchum! I think it is also worth noting the great pencil sketches on each author’s introductory section. They are attributed to Caniglia and help give this book that extra something that makes it a very special find. The poems which jumped out at me so far are “The Dark Man”, by Stephen King and “the Thing that Goes by Night: the Self that Lazes Sun” by Ray Bradbury. This is a wonderful addition for your library and I think you will enjoy it as much as I have. Kev has provided a handy link below to the Cemetery Dance site and I second his enthusiasm for this book. Happy reading!
dvs

(Apr 06) We NOW have a cover graphic for Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla!!! It's extremely provocative, given what we know of Susannah's, uhhhh, situation. MANY thanks goes to Lilja for posting the pic and making me aware of it!

(Apr 03) Hey! "The Tale of Gray Dick," the new Dark Tower-related story is IN STORES NOW as part of M^cSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. It's available in bookstores everywhere, right now! (Thanks to all who alerted me of this. I've been out of state for a few days, and wasn't able to check my email!) A note, from personal experience: When you go to the store and ask for the book, ask for the book with the specific title. "It's something Mammoth? It's put out by McSweeney's? I think it's blue." None of this works. I'm the worst customer EVER!

(Mar 26) A recent interview with the Chicago Sun-Times (no longer online) had King giving us all hope for books after the Dark Tower series. King stated "But after that, I'm pretty well done with what I think of as my traditional career. Except it's not gonna be retirement, because I'm gonna keep writing. I'm just gonna pick and choose more what I decide to publish and do." So, um, WAHOO!!!!

King also stated:

"And one thing that might really be fun is to just do a book, a novel, a real novel, and publish it online and see what happens." Even more WAHOO!! (And giant thanks to Lilja for this news!)

(Mar 26) Hey kids! There's has been startlingly little King news as of late, in anticipation of the big Dark Tower insanity. Dreamcatcher, the movie came out, and while I'm not in the business of reviewing films here, I will say that the first hour was amazing. The rest was... Um... Not amazing. McSweeney's 10 (featuring "The Tale of Gray Dick") is not yet out in stores, but I'll report as soon as it hits.

(Feb 21) BIG NEWS on the upcoming Gunslinger expansion!. Thanks to Bev Vincent, King expert extraordinaire, who first alerted me to this, and Ronnie, who first posted this information on the SimonSays message board:

"The revised edition is 10% longer than the original manuscript. Expect changes on every page, as well as continuity corrections, as well as a style that's more in line with the other books in the series."

SO DANG COOOL!!!!!!!!!!!

(Feb 19) King's own OFFICIAL WEBSITE has now spelled out, in detail, what will be happening to the future of The Dark Tower. WIll The Gunslinger be revised and expanded? All right here. Will there be a 2-volume concordance published in tandem with the remaining books? All right here. What's all this about a three-publisher deal that will reprint all the books in affordable editions while still retaining the limited value? All right here. Does she pick Ethan, or will it be Winthorne? (Oh, wait, that's something else.) This is something we have all been waiting for for a long, long time. The hour is finally upon us. Boo-YAW!

(Feb 14) Okay, kids, let's skip the preamble and go right to it. This GIANT news comes direct from Grant Books. Remember: DO NOT CALL THEM WITH ORDERS OR QUESTIONS YET!!! (Thanks to hawkeye Peter Hunt for being the first to send this info to me!)

"1. THE DARK TOWER V: WOLVES OF THE CALLA

Donald M. Grant Publisher is part of a unique multi-publisher contract designed to bring Stephen King's Dark Tower series to all his fans and collectors. Stephen King wants the final three books of the series to have a national promotion and distribution which Grant, alone, could not provide.

Mr. King has completed the final draft of WOLVES OF THE CALLA and it is now in the copy editing & proofing stage.

a) The SIGNED NUMBERED DELUXE edition will be issued in two volumes using a heavier weight paper than the other two editions. It will be available initially only to owners of a SIGNED, NUMBERED, deluxe edition of WIZARD AND GLASS. You must still own the copy of WIZARD AND GLASS at the time we ship WOLVES OF THE CALLA or your order will be voided.

b) There will be a special GRANT MAIL ORDER edition of 3,500 copies available only to our customers by direct order. These will be shipped in October 2003 and will feature a smyth sewn library binding matching that of our previous Dark Tower hardcovers. The entire edition will be signed by artist Bernie Wrightson.

Under our contract we cannot sell this edition at a discount, even to our regular dealers and bookstores.

c) The TRADE HARDCOVER will have a national release date in November 2003. The book will have the same laid paper as all the previous Dark Tower hardcovers, 12 tipped in full color plates by Bernie Wrightson, illustrated endpapers and will retail for $35.00. It will be in full cloth and feature a standard notched binding.

This edition will be exclusively distributed by Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster, and all inquiries for wholesale orders must be made through them.

We will have copies available for our direct mail order customers.

We are not taking orders for any edition at this time, but will send out a special email newsletter later this Spring when we are. We appreciate your patience.

2. DARK TOWER 1-4 REPRINTS.

Viking, a division of Penguin Putnam, will be reissuing the first four Dark Tower books in hardcover in June 2003. As we are not directly involved in these editions we do not have complete information. The books will use the interior color art of the original GRANT editions (although WIZARD AND GLASS will probably have only 12 of the 18 Dave McKean color plates) and will have cover paintings by a new artist.

All wholesale orders should be made through Penguin Putnam although we expect to have copies available for our customers.

3. DARK TOWER 6 & 7

Darrel Anderson is illustrating THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH and Michael Whelan is illustrating THE DARK TOWER VII: THE DARK TOWER. Publication of both books is expected in 2004."

Like I said, HUGE news! Full text of this info is available on Grant's Dark Tower 5 Update Site. WOW!!!!

(Feb 12) Hawkeye Joel sent this bit of info for me: Donald Grant Books will soon have VERY exciting news regarding The Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla. Keep current with this link.

(Feb 12) Okay, an addendum to the previously mentioned BIG Dark Tower news. From Lilja's Library:

The publishing schedule that popped up on the Internet on Friday isn't entirely correct and that within the next week there will be a joint press release (from Simon & Schuster and Viking) announcing the publication schedule and other details about the books.

Well, okay! (Thanks to everyone who emailed me about this. I've been away from my computer...)

(Feb 07) BIG Dark Tower news! (But what other kind is there?) This news comes to us from Dark Tower guru Anthony Schwethelm, over at the Dark Tower Compendium:

"Thanks to Stu over at Betts Books, we have this exciting new information about the different editions for the forthcoming DT books, along with who's publishing them and when!

We are pleased to be able to announce that the complete Dark Tower Series is going to be released in a trade hardcover edition!

The first four titles will be released in June by Viking. Prices are tentatively set at $25.00 for the Gunslinger, $35.00 for The Drawing Of The Three and The Wastelands, and $40.00 for Wizard & Glass.

The remaining 3 volumes will be released by Simon and Schuster (Scribner) as follows: DT V [The Wolves of the Calla] in November, 1003. DT VI [The Song of Susannah] in July, 2004 and DT VII [The Dark Tower] in November, 2004. Prices have not been set yet."

Thanks for the buzz, Anthony!

(Feb 07) Hey! Check out the paperback cover of From a Buick Eight, which I ripped off from Lilja's Library. I have to say, this is my favorite paperback cover since Bag of Bones. AWESOME!

(Feb 04) We've been waiting on this news for awhile: Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower, the first critical look exclusively at King's magnum opus, will be published in 2004, after the final volume of King's Dark Tower series is published. I'm going to reprint the email I received in its entirety here:

From Bev Vincent

"The Road to the Dark Tower will be a NAL/Dutton trade paperback in 2004. It's a critical look at Stephen King's Dark Tower series, the first book to explore the intricacies of the entire seven-volume epic that brackets King's publishing career. He started work on the first volume, The Gunslinger, in 1970, prior to publication of Carrie, and will publish the final volume, The Dark Tower, in 2004, after which he has announced his intention to retire from publishing.

I pitched the idea in November 2002 and by mid-December acquired an agent (Michael Psaltis at the Ellenberg Literary Agency) and an editor/publisher (Ron Martirano at NAL/Dutton). We anticipate the book will come out shortly after The Dark Tower appears from Donald M. Grant.

But how, I hear you asking, can you write about the Dark Tower series when a huge chunk of it hasn't been published yet? When I don't know how it will all come out? Well, here's the kicker -- before I even started thinking about the project at any length, I asked Stephen King what he thought of the idea. If he had any objections whatsoever, I was perfectly willing to drop it and move on to other things. Within 24 hours I had a response -- no objections. Not only that, he provided me with the first draft manuscripts of the last three books in the series so I could get to work on The Road to the Dark Tower right away. What started about three months ago as one of those half-awake-in-the-shower pie-in-the-sky notions has progressed to the point where my publisher wants the manuscript this year.

As news develops about this project, I will post more to my web site (www.bevvincent.com). It's been a very exciting time and I've got a busy several months ahead of me.

And, no, I won't tell you how The Dark Tower ends. You'll have to wait to see for yourselves!"

Okay, I can't say how thrilled I am here. Not only is this one of those rare King-sanctioned books, but this is also King expert Bev Vincent's first full-length criticism of King (Bev writes the quarterly column "Notes from the Dead Zone" in Cemetery Dance magazine. Also, this will be the very first book to look at the Dark Tower series in its entirety (I feel, though, that I have to mention Anthony Schwethelm's Dark Tower Compendium site and book, which has been in progress for years. The two books don't conflict, however, as Anthony's book is more encyclopedic and Bev's is more critical.)

As King's epic hurtles toward the finish line, news like this gives one hope. King may retire, but thanks to intelligent, thought-provoking books like Bev Vincent's (and Stephen Spignesi's, and George Beahm's, and Michael Collings's) prove that the work will live on. Very cool.

(Jan 24) We got TITLE! The new novella by King that will appear in the upcoming Ed McBain anthology will be called "The Things They Left Behind" (hmmm - a sequel to Pat O'Brien's The Things They Carried? Nah.) No more news on that exciting front, but as soon as I have stuff, I'll share. (MANY thanks to Mr. Bob Hawkeyerland, and my good buddy Justin for the info.)

(Jan 22) Lilja is featuring a new interview with Michael Collings, one of the Big Three King experts (the other two being George Beahm and Stephen Spignesi), mainly regarding his new book Horror Plum'd. The interview is terrific, with much insight into Collings's career and his approach to King criticism. For those of us who have been fans of Mr. Collings for a long, long time (like me), the news of a book of this magnitude is very exciting, as is the news that Collings is updating some of his earlier Starmont books. We're all very happy about this stuff! Now go read the interview!

(Jan 20) Thanks to hawkeye Joel, we have here an excerpt from the Ed McBain newsletter, discussing a new anthology McBain is editing. The King-pertinent stuff:

...I [McBain] have to do a novella for an anthology I'm editing for Tor Books. My own contribution is titled MERELY HATE. I've done the research for it, now all I have to do is write 20,000 words. The other writers from whom I have commitments for original never-before-published novellas, are -- in alphabetical order -- Lawrence Block, Mary Higgins Clark, Jeffery Deaver, Stephen King, Sharyn Mc Crumb, Walter Mosely, Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Perry, and Donald Westlake. Some lineup, huh? No title yet. I already have in hand two wonderful novellas from Don and Steve. It's going to be a great book.

Mucho exciting! It's already done! Further details when I have them. Also exciting is the inclusion of Donald Westlake, another one of my favorites. Check out The Hook and The Ax for proof.

(Jan 20) According to The Sky I Scrape, King will be writing an "appreciation" of the Ramones for the deluxe edition of their upcoming tribute album. From the site:

"The initial run of We're A Happy Family - A Tribute To Ramones comes packaged in a deluxe limited edition digipak designed by Rob Zombie with a 28-page booklet featuring rare photos and an appreciation of the Ramones penned especially for this collection by the best-selling novelist STEPHEN KING."

COOL!

(Jan 17) Caught me off guard! Everything's Eventual is now on sale in paperback! Wow! For those of you who wait for the paperback, go buy it!

(Jan 10) Thanks SO MUCH to hawkeye Bev Vincent, who writes:

"The Tale of Gray Dick"
Excerpt from The Wolves of the Calla,
Adapted for this publication, the excerpt is to be published in Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern (www.mcsweeneys.net), Issue 10, edited by Michael Chabon. It will be available to subscribers prior to the March 2003 release to the general public.

Bev goes on to say:

...you CAN get the issue without subscribing, but it is only available in a limited number of stores. See http://www.mcsweeneys.net/avail/index.html.

Also, a correction and retraction. The story is NOT about an elephant, as I had previously reported. The elephant story is by Glen David Gold. For more info on that tale, see here.

How this will affect McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales has yet to be seen. As soon as I know, you'll know.

THANKS, BEV!!!

(Jan 08) This bizarre news comes from Brian Freeman, of StephenKingNews.com: I'm just gonna cut and paste here:

Jim Milliot reports for Publisher's Weekly that Stephen King has agreed to do an "abridged, pop-up edition" of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. The deal was initiated by Robin Corey. Corey is the publisher for novelty and media tie-ins at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Although the pop-up edition isn't expected to be published until late in 2004 at the very earliest, Corey hopes this will be the first of many Stephen King pop-up projects.

Um, yey?

(Jan 08) News from Donald M. Grant Publishers: the Talisman/Black House slipcased gift set (the 3,500 printing) will, in fact, be signed by Rick Berry! Read more here! (Thanks to hawkeye Tomas Krynsky for the heads-up!)

(Dec 17) Okay, we now have FULL clarity. Here's the news as I have it now (info from Brian Freeman and Rosandra, with additional reportage by Justin Brooks.):

King has a new story called "The Tale of Gray Dick" (yes, I giggled a little, too. I'm purile) coming out in McSweeny's literary magazine, issue #10. The story is rumored to be a ghost story. About an elephant. This is going to be the first printing of this story, and the magazine will include many other terrific authors, as well, so there's definitely incentive to purchase this. Ah, but the caveat: you can't buy issue #10 without subscribing to McSweeny's for a four-issue year, which costs $65. Learn all about subscribing here.

For those who don't want to spend $65 on a year sub, you can wait a few months and purchase McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, coming out in paperback in March 2003, edited by Michael Chabon and published by Vintage. The contents entire are listed down below. The proceeds from the paperback sales are going to benefit 826 Valencia's writing program for kids.

Either way, this is King's first published fiction of 2003. In a year that promises to end with the publication of Wolves of the Calla, this new story is opening up the gates in the same way that last year's "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away" did. I can't wait.

(Dec 11) News from Cemetery Dance! I'm reporting it here because I love CD, and these titles are going to be kick-ass. There's been NO news or guarantee of King's involvement in either of these titles, so please don't ask me or the fine folks over at the Dance. They have the same info I do.

Regardless of any King-centricity, I urge you to check these two titles out. The buzz is already high on both these books, and judging by CD's track record, I can guarantee that the production on these will rock your world. Without further adieu, the news!

Cemetery Dance -- A Fifteen Year Celebration: To be published in honor of Cemetery Dance magazine's 15th Anniversary, this exclusive hardcover edition will feature brand new, never-before-seen fiction and non-fiction from dozens of the horror/suspense genre's biggest stars! It will also include a scattering of significant reprints from the 15 year publication run of the magazine, as well as original interior artwork. This massive anthology promises to be the most talked-about and sought-after book of 2003! If you remember our edition of The Best of Cemetery Dance, then you know the type of contributors and production values we're talking about -- only this book will be even better! We're not ready to announce the final contents list quite yet (we're still in the early selection stage), but don't wait another minute -- pre-order your copy today before they are long gone!

-> Trade Hardcover Edition: $40
-> Signed Limited Edition (leather binding, slipcased, and signed by dozens of contributors): $175
-> Deluxe Lettered Edition (different binding, different dust jacket, traycased, signed by dozens of contributors, only 52 copies):$750

THE CENTURY'S BEST HORROR FICTION

History in the making!!! In celebration of the new millennium, Cemetery Dance Publications has commissioned a spectacular two-volume anthology project under the editorship of noted author and historian of the horror genre, John Pelan. John will be selecting one story published during each year of the 20th Century (1900-2000) as the most notable story of that year -- all 100 stories will then be collected in The Century's Best Horror Fiction.

The ground rules are simple: Only one selection per author. Only one selection per year. Contents to be kept top-secret until publication in 2003! Volume One will feature even-numbered years. Volume Two will feature odd-numbered years.

Two huge volumes, one hundred authors, one hundred classic stories -- history in the making!

-> Single Volume: $40
-> Both Volumes: $75
Deluxe Lettered Edition (the lettered edition will only be sold as a two-volume set and will feature different binding, different dust jackets, traycased, signed by as many of the living authors as possible, only 52 copies): inquire for availability

***

HOW TO ORDER [IMPORTANT!]:

These titles will not appear on the CD website for another week or so, so you cannot order from the site. Right now, you have FOUR options for placing your advance order:

1) you can call us at our new office number -- (410) 588-5901 (11am-6pm EST)

2) you can fax an order to (410) 588-5904

3) you can send in payment to: Cemetery Dance, 132-B Industry Lane, Unit 7, Forest Hill, MD 21050

4) you can email us your order to: order@cemeterydance.com (be sure to include full name, address & payment information) As always, thanks and good luck -- these will sell out quickly!

(Dec 11) Michael Whelan HIMSELF wrote to me to confirm that he is, indeed, currently working on the illustrations for the final Dark Tower book, simply titled The Dark Tower. One of the coolest emails I've ever gotten!

(Dec 09) Stephen Spignesi's website has been updated, and now includes a gallery of twenty-two of his book covers. Check out not only the King covers, but also new titles like Crop Circles: Signs of Contact, and rarities like The Woody Allen Companion.

Also updated: The description of the new book 100 Greatest Disasters. If you're a list nut (or if you have one on your holiday shopping list), BUY THIS BOOK. There's no one better than Spignesi at this type of book; trust me, I've read dozens (and not just the King ones, either.) Seek and enjoy!

(Dec 09) King is featured in an upcoming book titled White Lines: Writers on Cocaine. According to the Barens & Noble website, "Stephen King provides the single breath of air in the oppressive atmosphere with a three-page account of how he kicked his addiction." I'm going with Bev Vincent's assumption that this is probably an excerpt from On Writing. Thanks to Jonathan Reitan for the news, and Bev for the clarity.

(Dec 17) The FULL LIST of titles and authors appearing in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (authors in bold are personal favorites.)

-- Jim Shepard's "Astounding Stories"
-- Glen David Gold's "The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened Thereafter"
-- Dan Chaon's "The Bees"
-- Kelly Link's "Catskin"
-- Elmore Leonard's "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name to Carl and Became a Famous Oklahoma Lawman"
-- Carol Emshwiller's "The General"
-- Neil Gaiman's "Closing Time"
-- Nick Hornby's "Otherwise Pandemonium"
-- Stephen King's "The Tale of Gray Dick"
-- Michael Crichton's "Blood Doesn't Come Out"
-- Laurie King's "Weaving the Dark"
-- Chris Offutt's "Chuck's Bucket"
-- Dave Eggers's "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly"
-- Michael Moorcock's "The Case of the Nazi Canary"
-- Aimee Bender's "The Case of the Salt and Pepper Shakers"
-- Harlan Ellison's "Goodbye to All That"
-- Karen Joy Fowler's "Private Grave 9"
-- Rick Moody's "The Albertine Notes"
-- Michael Chabon's "The Martian Agent, a Planetary Romance"

YEY!

(Dec 03) To all of you who have recently been to the Bad Moon site, please be aware that the "Charnel House" Roy is pooping on is NOT ME. It's Charnel House Publishers. Many (one) drooling fans of this fine website wrote to me in a panic, wondering why Roy hated me so. Well, I stormed over to his office and we had it out. We had words. There were cleavers involved. And a rabid ferret. Then, when we realized it was all a case of mistaken identity, we kissed and made up and then went for ice cream. That Roy. Buy stuff from him: he's super cool.

(Dec 01) A couple of juicy bits on Michael Whelan (one item of which should have been up here a week ago, but real life derailed me.) Let's cut the chatter and get to the good stuff:

Number 1 (sent to me by hawkeye Peter Hunt and pointed out to me on my answering machine by my good buddy Rich DeMars [who, by the way, is also a son of a b*tch]), this recently appeared on Whelan's website: In recent interviews author Stephen King has announced his plans to stop publishing; but his fans have been thrilled to learn that he will end with the last book in his DARK TOWER series, and it will be illustrated by Michael Whelan.

King began the series in 1970, but the first volume wasn't published until 1982 when THE DARK TOWER:THE GUNSLINGER was released by small press publisher Donald M. Grant. Fully illustrated by Michael Whelan with 6 color paintings and many black and whites, THE GUNSLINGER soon became an expensive collectible out of reach for most of King's fans. Grant also published the next 2 volumes and then all 3 were released as mass-market trade paperbacks and they gained a huge following. Fans have had to wait 20 years for King to get to the fifth book, so many were fearful that he would never finish the epic. Stephen King promises that Volume 7 (called simply THE DARK TOWER) will be published in 2004.

Up until now, each book in the DARK TOWER series has been illustrated by a different artist. Michael Whelan will be the only artist to do 2 books and it's most fitting that he will do the first and the last books. He and King talked recently and Steve remarked that it had been 20 years since they had begun this journey and that they were both still alive! For both men, this comment has more than its share of irony since not long after King's near-fatal accident, Michael learned he had cancer. Thankfully both of them recuperated and can still share their fantastic visions with us.

Lucky Michael has gotten to read the last 3 books and he is already at work on the research and preliminary sketches for the 10 paintings and many black and whites he will be doing for THE DARK TOWER.

This is MEGA-cool news! "Many" black and whites!?!? YEY!

Number two (sent to me by hawkeye and other great buddy George): The famous, much-sought "Roland on the Beach" painting is now again available at www.michaelwhelan.com. This hasn't been available for awhile, and I urge everyone to either snap this up themselves or put it on thier holiday wish list!

(Nov 27) After a very dry month fiction-wise, things seem to be looking up! Rumor has it that King plans to publish a new story in McSweeney's, a literary journal that has published such names as Harlan Ellison and Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius). Rumor further has it that King's tale will be published in issue #10, which will be edited by MICHAEL CHABON (author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, one freakin' amazing book.) The issue should be available to subscribers in January, and to newsstands in February. No news on the title of King's new tale yet. When the rumors clear up and the facts come in, you folks will be the first to know. (Thanks to hawkeye Justin Brooks for the info!)

(Nov 04) New email from Cemetery Dance! This will FLOOR you!

We are running a very special FROM A BUICK 8 raffle this week (this offer expires Friday night, November 8, at midnight, E.S.T.). As usual, each and every member of the Cemetery Dance Email List is entered into this raffle one time. In addition, for every book you order this week from the Cemetery Dance website, you are entered into the raffle an additional five times. That's right -- order two books, get 10 more chances. Order five books and you are entered an additional 25 times! This offer is valid for both in-stock and forthcoming titles.

So...what does the winner receive? An absolutely once-in-a-lifetime collector's item -- a "PC" copy of the signed and traycased Limited Edition of FROM A BUICK 8! Very few of these PUBLISHER'S COPIES will exist -- in fact, this copy is one of the Publisher's personal copies and will be the one and only copy used for promotional purposes! So take a look at the Cemetery Dance website and good luck!

P.S. Yes, we do have more exciting Stephen King announcements coming soon -- stay tuned to the website and make sure you stay on the mailing list!

The coolest thing about this is: joining the mailing list is free!!!, so you automatically have one chance to win for free! VERY cool! You can sign up for the mailing list ---> HERE!. Join now (don't forget: if you buy stuff, you get more chances to win) and enjoy! (By the way: they're not making me say any of this stuff. I love CD, always have, and they did such a great job on the Buick 8 limiteds, I want to spread the word! I'm shilling for love!)

(Oct 29) In an email from Cemetery Dance, they stated:

First, a shipping update for the new Stephen King limited edition. We are approximately 80% finished with shipping both the Gift and Limited Editions of FROM A BUICK 8. We expect shipping to take approximately one more week to complete. If your copy has not arrived yet, look for it shortly. Thanks for your patience!

(Oct 24) Yahoo News published a piece today titled Murder & a Manhunt in Stephen King's America, one of the most ridiculous "news" op-eds I've ever seen. The (unnamed) author seems to have an agenda with the article, but still I'm not sure what that agenda is. The author takes Americans to task for, apparently, caring more about the current sniper attacks than the war on terrorism, unemployment, etc. The author goes on to somehow link Stephen King as being culpable in America's concern with the serial killer. According to the article, the fact that the man arrested in conjunction with the attacks lived in a house with aluminum siding ("like so many homes in King's fictions"), King is somehow to blame. The article goes on to take King to task for selling a lot of books, insinuating that America's (apparently offensive) concern regarding the sniper is King's fault, and we should all be ashamed. I honestly don't understand what this guy (or lady) is trying to say, but I, for one, am not going to feel guilty for being afraid of a serial killer that can strike anywhere, and I'm certainly not going to pawn said fear off on Stephen King. Maybe if more of the houses in his books had been log cabins, America would be safe to fear the real problems facing this country. (Thanks to Rosandra and Mr. Hawkeyerland for the tip.)

(Oct 24) The From a Buick 8 limited AND gift editions have arrived, and they are PHENOMENAL! I literally cringed (in a good way!) at Berni Wrightson's illustrations (more Frankenstein than Creepshow, for the most part). The paper stock is thick, the chapter headings match the tray-/slip-case, the cases themselves are beautifully constructed. This is a book I'm going to cherish for a long time. Unfortunately, the publisher - Cemetery Dance - has sold out of both editions, but you'll probably still be able to find them at reasonable prices at all the regular haunts. Try Betts Bookstore first (tell Stu and Penney that Kev sent you!) - I know they were carrying at least a couple recently. Bad Moon Books and the Overlook Connection, and Zeising books are also great places to try. You won't be disappointed!

(Oct 18) More on the King Retires? page up today!!! Newest additions: Hand-Ake Lilja and Stu Tinker! WOW!!!

(Oct 17) Okay, I'm reeling here. King's Official Site now also states that Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower will be OUT MARCH 2004!!! The first drafts of each book are now done. They now need to be copyedited, illustrated, bound, etc. It's going to be a VERY exciting time starting September 2003. VERY!

(Oct 17) Clarification: Apparently, the overseas markets are NOT going to be publishing the Dark Tower books prior to the US books. According to King's office, this news is "absolutely not true."

(Oct 17) From the Cemetery Dance site: "We are currently packing both the Gift and Limited Editions of the new Stephen King book -- every day, all day. We are approximately 1/3 of the way finished and expect shipping to take another 10-14 days to complete. UPDATE! Brian Freeman now says: "We're 50% through the gift editions, we've started the limited editions, and the lettered editions will be shipping as soon as the traycases are done!"

"For the time being, please refrain from calling to inquire about your specific shipment -- every moment of our days are furiously filled with inspecting and packing the King books to get your orders out to you. "

So, the books are coming, kids! Please don't bother the fine folks at CD for a couple of weeks, and you should get your books in due time! It's a whole mutual respect thing. (By the way, Brian Freeman states: "... the BUICK 8 gift edition ... is amazing! The illustrations rock and the book just looks fantastic! Even the paper quality is phenomenal! (Just wait until you see it! You're going to love this book!)" I can't wait!

(Oct 17) From King's Official Site: it seems that Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla is due September 2003 and that Dark Tower 6: The Song of Susannah is due NOVEMBER 2003! Note, as it states on the website, that these dates are still tentative ... but we seem closer to getting these books a lot quicker than we thought! Terrific! (Thanks to Bob "Hawkeyerland" for the heads-up!)

(Oct 13) Prominent King critics David Rawsthorne (HorrorKing.com), Norma Blackburn (King of Horror), and Rocky Wood have finally completed work on the upcoming The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King. This almost obsessively detailed guide covers every piece of fiction King has ever written. More info is available below, in the News From Everywhere section.

(Oct 13) Stephen Spignesi, god among King critics, has just added his list of top 25 King works on his website! (Spignesi's website, which includes an "odd fact of the day," an ongoing contest, and a far more complete list of his works than I have on my site, is a must-visit-and-often site. He's awesome!)

(Oct 13) Rosandra at Needful Things sends us a link to King's interview on the Mitch Album show! Yey! Very informative and knowledgeable (i.e., no "Where do you get your ideas?" questions), the interview is available --> HERE!

(Oct 08) Just got a hold of George Beahm's Patricia Cornwell Companion, and the word is: VERY COOL! (Yes, that's two words, I know.) You are now able to order the book directly from George, and I reccomend it! George is a terrific writer and a great friend, and this is a terrific book (plus, have I mentioned that I have an essay in it?) Enjoy!

(Oct 07) I've also fixed the look of my Tommyknockers page, and added my "Personal Observations." I'm on a roll!

(Oct 07) Fixed the code and updated my "Personal Observations" section of my Needful Things page. Enjoy!

(Oct 07) And now... the weirdest Stephen King auction ever. (Thanks, Antman!)

(Oct 07) For those who may have missed it, HERE! is the link to King's interview with Matt Laur on the Today show. Lauer actually seems to be a reader, and even though he asks the dreaded "Where do you get your ideas" question, he backs it up with specifics. Great interview.

(Oct 07) In a new interview with The Journal News.com, King gave his readers just a squidge of hope. A quote directly from the article:

But almost in the same breath, King gives new hope to fans who are in despair: "Look, this is not rocket science. If I write something five years down the line that I really like, then I'll publish it. Writing is such a blast. But to write, if you need money, you have to publish. I'm so lucky that I never had to write for money. But if I write something and I think 'This is a gas,' then I suppose I'll want people to see it."

Now, if we're to take the "five years" thing as a hard-and-fast number (which, okay, we really shouldn't, as it was meant as arbitrary and speculation only, so don't barrage King with letters about the "new book" in 5 years, because at this point, anything can happen!), we'll only have one barren year between now and then. With the remaining Dark Tower books coming out over the next three years, we'll still have plenty King to keep us busy - especially if the last book is as long as I'm guessing it will be.

In addition to the very exciting quote, the interview features some of King's opinions on the film version of The Shining, and more movie insights. Excellent piece, and I have none other than hawkeye Justin Brooks to thank. Thanks, Justin!

(Oct 06) When King announced his retirement in the September 27th issue of Entertainment Weekly, people were stunned and shocked. We here at Charnel House decided it was time to see what prominent members of the Stephen King community thought of the impending retirement. How did they respond? See for yourself on the brand-new King Retires? page! Many terrific insights there - I'm blessed to be in contact with all these people. Thank you all for participating!

(Oct 06) I am back from my Springsteen tour of the Midwest and ready to plunge back into the world of Charnel House! Thank you all for your patience! Onto the news!

Stephen Spignesi, author of The Stephen King Encyclopedia and The Essential Stephen King continues updating and refurbishing his site. A current contest, fact of the day, and "Latest News" updated every day, theres no reason not to put the page on your favorites list. Click HERE now!

Along similar lines, author George Beahm (The Stephen King Companion, America's Best-Loved Boogeyman) has just published The Unofficial Patricia Cornwell Companion. Why mention that here on the King page? Because I wrote something in it! THAT'S RIGHT! ME!!! WAHOO! (So, um, buy it!)

From Rosandra at Needful Things: The NY Times Review of Stephen King's From a Buick 8.

"This is a novel about a haunted car, and Mr. King has threatened to make it his last: not just his last scary-auto book, but also the last novel he publishes that is not already planned."

Thanks, Rosandra!

The Onion did a tasteless yet amusing supposition of what King will do now that he's "retiring." Enjoy! (Thanks to Jim, Rosandra, and everyone else who forwarded this!)

(Oct 13) The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King

The most complete Guide to Stephen King’s fiction ever compiled – EVERY story; EVERY Character; EVERY Place; TIMELINE; Every LINK; Every Error and MUCH, MUCH MORE.

No publication since Spignesi’s The Shape Under the Sheet has ever attempted to summarize every story, every character, every place, and the entire timeline of King’s work. The simple fact is that this information has not been available in any one place – until now.

We have decided to issue the Complete Guide on CD as the material included in it equates to well over 2400 pages of normally printed Book material!

Note: The Guide is Limited to only 500 copies at the low price of US $49.95 each (plus postage and handling). The Limited Gold CD-Rom comes with an introductory booklet. Both the booklet and the CD-Rom are individually numbered and the booklet is signed by each of the Authors.

Pre-orders will be taken from 14 October 2002. Buyers may select their own Limited Edition number with payment now. Otherwise, no payment is necessary at this time, with orders being confirmed by a $10.00 deposit in March 2003. The Complete Guide will be dispatched in May 2003.

For full information about the Contents of the Complete Guide, along with other important information, please go to our promotional web pages:

http://www.horrorking.com/order/ or http://www.acay.com.au/~normab/guide/.

The ‘Complete Guide’ includes every possible detail from each of over 260 King works of fiction. Easy to use indexes of Characters (nearly 20,000), Places, Businesses (over 4000), Things and Timelines (over 3500 entries) are key to the Guide. A sample chapter (The Dead Zone) which alone is over 50 pages in length is available at the sites listed above for your consideration.

So don’t forget – check out The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King and get in fast! We expect to sell out the 490 copies available very quickly! Any questions may be directed to rocky_wood@hotmail.com.

(Sep 25) WOW!!! From Rosandra at www.castlerocknet.com/needfulthings: a RAFFLE TO MEET STEPHEN KING! Click THIS LINK for an opportunity to "Win Tickets to Meet Stephen King at Borders Books and Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan." Thanks again, Rosandra!

(Sep 25) Speaking of Rosandra, she now has a LINK to view King's interview on The Today Show. If you missed it, here's your chance!

(Sep 25) From hawkeye Tomas Krynsky (from The Collector): The Cemetery Dance gift editions of From a Buick 8 are shipping next week, and the limiteds are being sent the week after. WAHOO!!!

(Sep 24) Hawkeye Bev Vincent pointed me toward this article in today's Bangor Daily News. Much of it is a reiteration of the retirement "rumors," but one statement - from Susan "Mulder" Moldow, King's publisher at Scribner - was darn tantalizing:

“I’ve heard him describe a novel that I know he wants to write, that isn’t a part of the ‘Dark Tower’ series and that doesn’t seem to duplicate anything he’s done before. And since he’s described it to me, it would be harsh and cruel for him to withhold it from me.”

Oh, really!?!?!?!

(Sep 24) From a Buick 8 is released today! Go buy yourself a copy! Heck, buy two!!

(Sep 24) I got my Black House limited edition from Grant today. All I can say is: wow. This stuff took my breath away. Rick Berry's art is amazing. The tracase is wonderful. Black House is a beautiful, beautiful book. WAHOO!

(Sep 23) King WILL be appearing on The Today Show tomorrow (September 24th). No idea which segment he'll be on, but he IS going to appear. THANKS Rosandra!

(Sep 21) Stuff from Rosandra: (by the way, for those of you who don't know Rosandra's page, please take the time to peruse it. It's www.castlerocknet.com/needfulthings, and it's always chock-full of cool news and other stuff. Okay, onto the news!):

In a recent email, Rosandra informed me that:

1) Reportedly, King will appear on the Today Show on September 24th to promote From a Buick 8. However, he is not listed as a guest for the next week...

2) Maryland discussion on King: Saturday 21, 2002 @ 12:30-2 p.m., Hanson Community Center, 12350 Vivian Adams Dr., Waldorf. Free. 301-645-2186.

The discussion is in celebration of the author's 55th birthday. Join a group of your peers to discuss his many works. For ages 18 and older. Light refreshments. Call to reserve a spot.

3) The New York Times book review of From a Buick 8 will appear in the September 29th issue.

4) Just a reminder that Washington Post Book Review of Buick 8 will appear on September 22.

THANKS, ROSANDRA!

(Sep 21) Added a new link to my links page: Tomas Krynsky's The Collector. Very cool site!

(Sep 19) Stephen King is on this week's cover of Entertainment Weekly. Inside, according to my source J. Nolan, King states "for the record, emphatically, that after the DT Books are released he has nothing else to write, nor does he plan to write anything else for a great while."

I honestly don't know what to say to this. I'm a little bit stunned and saddened ... but the future will only tell. Here's hoping he changes his mind sometime in the (near?) future.

(Sep 19) Stephen Spignesi (author of The Shape Under the Sheet: The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia and The Essential Stephen King) now has an OFFICIAL WEBSITE!!! at www.stephenspignesi.com. It's WAY cool, and has an excerpt for his newest project, The Essential Beatles up there now! (Seriously, kids: if you've read ANY of Spignesi's books - not just the King ones - you know how awesome they are. Check out his site, take a look at his list, and write down a few titles to take to your local purveyor of books. Spignesi ROCKS!)

(Sep 18) It's true, kids! Donald Grant Books is NOW SHIPPING its signed, limited edition(s) of Black House! I haven't received mine yet, but as soon as I do, I'll do a limited review. SO VERY COOL!

(Sep 18) From hawkeye J. Nolan: apparently, Wal-Mart is NOW SELLING the audio for From a Buick 8. I don't know why, they just are. YEY!

(Sep 18) From our favorite Hawkeyerland: Stephen King, Sam Shepard and Martin Scorsese are among the dozens of authors and other artists appearing this month at the third annual New Yorker Festival.

The three-day event, which takes place throughout the city, runs Sept. 27-29. Highlights will include readings by King and Shepard, etc.

The New Yorker Festival Web site: http://festival.newyorker.com .

Sadly, folks, this event is sold out. But still cool, right?

(Sep 11) The House Sells Out. I've added a Cemetery Dance banner above, mainly because CD is the coolest magazine on the market, I've ordered tons of stuff from them (and it's always top-quality), and Rich Chizmar is a terrific guy. So click it, order stuff, and tell them that Kev sent you. (You probably won't get a discount because you tell them Kev sent you, but it's fun to say, ain't it?)

(Sep 11) (Updated!)NKC: Jim Cole and Jay Holben, two of King's most revered "Dollar Babies" makers (Jim did the terrific "Last Rung on the Ladder" and Jay did the amazing "Paranoid") are almost ready to let loose thier first professionally-produced short film! It's called The Night Before, and - as someone who has read the screenplay - I have nothing but high hopes for it. Check out the trailer --> HERE! (you'll need Quicktime to view it, but if y'all downloaded Paranoid a few months back, you should have it). Keep your eye on them: Jim Cole is going to be the next M. Night Shyamalan (as soon as his full-length feature script of Stereopticon is produced!) and Jay Holben is going to be the next Spike Jonze (judging by the mind-bending trippiness of Paranoid, he's the only director I could think to compare Holben to.) The short feature of The Night Before should be available soon - updates to come.

(Sep 03) Shocklines.com update: now it's even easier to sign up for the contest. Just click on the big honkin' banner above, and you'll be taken right to all the rules and regs. Kids, Shocklines is one of the coolest places on the internet. (And as soon as I get me some of that there money, I'm gonna buy them out of their Ketchum overstock.) Buick 8 is a wonderful book, and the limited looks to be truly terrific. Good luck to everyone!

(Sep 03) Looking for a cheap way to start up or beef up your King collection? Look no further than RICH DeMARS'S KING EBAY EXTRAVAGANZA! Seriously, it's extremely cool: postcards, books, posters, comics, trading cards: all quite inexpensive. Rich and I have been buds for years - you can trust this guy unconditionally. Happy hunting!

(Sep 01) The free online magazine The Spook has just delivered something truly impressive. Jack Ketchum (The Girl Next Door, Red, Off Season), one of the best writers working today, has written an incredible review of King's upcoming From a Buick 8, and The Spook has printed it! The review gives insight into the book that even I missed on the first run-though, and it has gotten me excited enough to want to read it again. My only beef with the review is Ketchum's gentle bashing of Christine, one of my favorites, but that's neither here nor there.

Follow this link, scroll down the page, and look for the link reading "Stephen King's From a Buick 8." You'll need Adobe Acrobat to read it, but the website provides a link to that free download. BIG thanks to Sunny for this. It's rare when one of my favorite authors reviews another, and this was definitely one of the best. Thanks, Sunny!

(Aug 30) Buick 8 limited giveaway! HOW COOL IS THAT? From Shocklines:

Hey gang, sorry if a couple of you get this a couple of times on different lists. Just a quick note: my store, Shocklines.com (http://www.shocklines.com) is having a sweepstakes where we are giving away a copy of the deluxe, traycased, signed limited edition of Cemetery Dance Publications (1 of only 750). All you need to do is basically sign up for the store newsletter and drop us an email with some info before September 25th. Anyone who's interested can check out the details at: http://store.yahoo.net/shocklines/stepkinbrfro.html"

VERY cool! Check it out!

(Aug 22) WOW! Check out the way-cool Berni Wrightson artwork for the limited edition of From a Buick 8. This stuff rivals anything he did in Creepshow or Cycle of the Werewolf. I am suitably impressed.

Addendum:: One of the covers is for the numbered signed edition, and the other is for the lettered sighned. Thanks to John H. for the details, and to Bev Vincent for the clarification!

(Aug 22) For those of you having troubles with the Buick 8 screensaver, there's a chance you might need more software. From hawkeye Sunny: A friend of mine who was unable to download the screensaver at first, went to www.shockwave.com and downloaded the Macromedia Flash Player 6 as a hunch since the Black House website to promote the book was also flash oriented. And waddaya know. It works! He could download the screensaver once he downloaded the Flash Player 6 plugin (or something like that.) Let me know if this works for y'all - I've been having troubles with my own copy, as well.

(Aug 22) In anticipation of the final three volumes of the series, Signet has released four brand-new covers of the first four volumes of The Dark Tower. The covers are mega-cool, so if you're at all into collecting paperbacks, these are definitely for you. Preview them here, on the best darn Dark Tower site on the web. Thanks Antman!

(Aug 15) I've been gone a long, long time, but now I am back from vacation with a boatload (read: two items) of news! Let's do some listy things:

1. There's a From a Buick 8 screensaver available on King's own site NOW! Check it out: it's WAY cool! (Thanks to hawkeyes J. Nolan, Sunny, R. Axelrad and Mr. Hawkeyerland!)

2. The research and principal photography for George Beahm's indespensible Stephen King Collectibles is DONE! For more information, check out www.GeorgeBeahm.com. WOO HOO!

(Aug 07) We have the From a Buick 8 limited cover! Thank you Lilja and Anders! YOU ROCK!

(Jul 24) Okay, we've got artists and links! Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla will be illustrated by Berni Wrightson! Dark Tower 6: The Song of Susannah will be illustrated by Darrel Anderson! And finally - wahoo! - the final book of the series, The Dark Tower, will be illustrated by the granddaddy of Dark Tower illustrators, Michael Whelan! I know some of this is older news, but isn't it nice to have all of it in one place, with links? I thought so!

(Jul 22) [Update] - King's office has now confirmed that "Nothing" is, indeed, nothing. (See my July 18^th discussion of this "story" offered on ebay.) King never wrote a story by this title, and "didn't contribute that or anything else for the World Horror Convention in Ottawa." Thank you J. Nolan for the update!

(Jul 22) King hopes to have The Dark Tower finished by mid-fall. YEY!

(Jul 18) Something my friend Hawkeyerland stumbled upon: NOTHING by Stephen King is up for bid on e-bay, and it seems just a tad shady to me. The description reads This is perhaps the rarest of all Stephen King short stories. Nothing is never mentioned about it in any critigues of King's works. Those of us who attended the World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa were given Nothing. The program is in mint shape. If you are a King fanatic, a completest, or a simple fan, Nothing is for you. We accept paypal, billpoint, and Moneyorders. Buy this now or you'll have Nothing. Kinda vague, huh? My advice: this "story," has - to the best of my knowledge - never been mentioned by Spignesi, Beahm, Collings, Winter, or Vincent, and I highly doubt the validity of this auction. The phrasing alone makes me believe that one might be easily had...

(Jul 16) The Wavedancer Benefit audio is now available! WOO HOO! To recap: this is the companion peice to the Benefit, which took place in February of this year. The audio is now available on tape and CD, featuring King, Peter Straub, Pat Conroy, and John Grisham doing readings of their work. (King reads "The Revenge of Lard-Ass Hogan." I'm SO on board for that.) All proceeds benefit the Wavedancer Foundation, which will in turn help speed along Frank Muller's recovery. Read about the benefit here and purchase the audio here!

(Jul 08) As of this past Friday, King is back at work on The Dark Tower. Cool.

(Jul 08) Not much fresh news on the strictly King front, but we have some exciting news in the way of one of our favorite King experts, Stephen Spignesi. We've got a bunch of news on my Spignesi page, including info on three upcoming new books y'all are sure to love, including a cover graphic for one of them. It's all very exciting! Click here for details!

(Jun 26) This is always fun: Forbes Magazine has done their annual "celebrity" top 100 - the 100 most powerful celebrities in the world. Stephen King, a regular on the list, hits this year a number 14. (It's a fun picture, too!)

(Jun 23) The real author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red is none other than suspense author and Rock Bottom Remainder RIDLEY PEARSON! Pearson is the author of many terrific novels, including Hard Fall, Chain of Evidence and the excellent Lou Boldt/Daphne Matthews series. Check him out! Many thanks to Bev Vincent for the news, and many kudos to all who have kept it this secret this long!

(Jun 20) Hawkeye Lynda Tysdal has informed me that On Writing actually IS in paperback! It's true! I went down to Barnes & Noble today, slammed my money down, and got the first copy. (Am I quoting Misery just a bit too much nowadays?) Anyway, the mass market paperback is out, it's cool, and you should all buy many copies.

(Jun 16) Fine Art Dept.: Berni Wrightson is reportedly doing six paintings for the limited edition of From a Buick 8, and twelve for the upcoming Dark Tower installment Wolves of the Calla. In addition to the full-color artwork for Wolves, Wrigtson will be doing a number of "illuminations," those cool illustrated chapter headers and footers (I'm thinking along the lines of the stuff he did at the end of chapters in Cycle of the Werewolf, but don't hold me to that.) As a longtime fan of Wrightson's work, I couldn't be more excited about this stuff (and neither can he: according to Tyson Blue's latest installment of Needful Kings Online over at Lilja's Library, Wrightson said ""It's been a long time since I did any work with Stephen ... it's nice to be doing it again.")

(Jun 16) People have been asking me: Kev (that's what they call me back home, they call me Kev), why haven't you been following the Dead Zone TV series, or Firestarter: Rekindled? The truth is, I had to make a decision a couple of years ago what to concentrate on in Charnel House. As my time elsewhere was becoming a concern, I needed to make a choice whether to give up the site altogether, or just focus on the stuff that I considered important for me. Therefore, I will tell people the day a new King movie comes out in theatres and on DVD/video. I will not follow the on-set stuff. I usually will not follow or report on remakes or "adaptations" such as the above-mentioned shows, or later installments of Children of the Corn. If King is heavily involved with the process himself (think Rose Red or Storm of the Century, you'll see more reportage on it. But the visual adaptations aren't my main priority; I had to make my goal here the stories themselves. I hope everyone understands and, hopefully, forgives me. Thanks!

(Jun 07) Ever wonder if your book is a 1st edition or not? Ever go on ebay and read the words FIRST EDITION! and wonder if it's true? Ever email the webmaster of Charnel House and ask him if your book's a first? Well, wonder no longer. King himself has released a quick guide for identifying firsts on his own website. This list was compiled by King expert Bev Vincent, with help from one of my very best friends, Rich DeMars! So cool!

This list isn't meant to replace more in-depth looks at firsts and limiteds, such as George Beahm's exemplary Stephen King Collectables, but it's a terrific, accurate starting point. Download it and start collecting! (Thank you Mr. Hawkeyerland for the heads-up!)

(Jun 06) GIANT NEWS!!! - There's a new Stephen King self-interview online, in which, naturally, King interviews himself. Among the interview topics? The fact that DT5: Wolves of the Calla & DT6: The Song of Susannah are NOW DONE!!! In addition, part 7, "simply called The Dark Tower is about 1/3 done. Read the interview! Revel in the happy! Thank you, J. Nolan!

(Jun 06) In addition to all the Dark Tower excitement, some cool DVD news has just hit: For all those waiting for the miniseries of The Shining, wait no longer! (Well, wait a little longer). It should be out on DVD in late 2002 - early 2003, with commentary from Mick Garris, Steven Weber, and King himself. Other DVD news: IT and Cat's Eye are also on their way! Yey!

(May 30) Announcing a new link! The brand-new online horror bookstore Shocklines is now open to the public! This store has been endorsed by genre expert Brian Freeman and the horror gurus over at Cemetery Dance. I've just spent a good chunk of (work) time perusing this site, and I am amazed by it. Go, shop, and have some fun! (Note: Shocklines is also giving a 10% discount on advance orders of the upcoming Black House/Talisman gift set, coming from Grant in September. Exciting!)

(May 30) According to a recent mailing, Donald M. Grant is pushing back their limited publication of Black House to September 2002. Argh! Oh well, I'm guessing it will be really, really cool! (Thanks to hawkeye Michael Emerson for the heads-up!)

(May 23) My brand-spankin' new review of From a Buick 8 is NOW ONLINE!!! Go read it at my Buick 8 page! WOO HOO!

(May 19) This just in, from Brian Freeman: An auction selling a SIGNED copy of Secret Windows is now up on ebay. You'll remember Secret Windows as being a collection of essays released in tandem with On Writing exclusively through the Book of the Month Club. Brian verifies this as the real deal, so get to bidding!

(May 14) Hey kids! Two new disc-related events occuring today: Riding the Bullet has been released on audio, and the Rose Red miniseries is now available on DVD. Run! Buy! It's Peripheral City here in the House!

(May 12) This isn't really news, but it's close enough. I'm in Bangor, Maine right now. Did the Stephen King stuff - saw King's house (and remained unobtrusive), saw the Standpipe, checked out Paul Bunyan ... all the cool stuff. We're heading back soon, but I thought I'd share this fun little excursion. Sometimes, you just gotta go to Bangor.

(May 09) The audio companion to the Frank Muller Foundation is coming! According to Lilja's Library, the title of the audio will be THE WAVEDANCER BENEFIT: A Tribute to Frank Muller, and will feature Stephen King, Pat Conroy, John Grisham, & Peter Straub. It will be available on two cassettes and two CDs, either format running one hour and 40 minutes, with a projected release date of July 2002!

The breakdown: A Tribute to Frank Muller will include:

John Grisham performing a rare public reading from The Summons

Peter Straub reading a portion of Black House

Stephen King reads a hilarious rendition of "The Revenge of Lardass Hogan" (Thanks for the quote, Lilja!)

Pat Conroy finishes up with a discussion on writing.

All portions of the audio were recorded live at Town Hall in NYC.

Folks, I can't stress the importance of this upcoming release. The proceeds are going to benefit Muller, who is still recovering from an awful motorcycle accident, and whose medical bills are running into the stratosphere. TO donate to the Wavedancer Foundation, please follow this link for more details.

(May 09) The case brought to court by Christina Starobin against Stephen King has been dismsissed. For those of you who remember, this was the case of a woman who wrote a novel about vampires running a car service in New Jersey, and claiming that King deliberately ripped off her idea for his novel Desperation. Among the indicators of proof: the fact that both authors used the word "zilch" in their books. Interesting. Also conclusive: the fact that King is a "hack," and who could not have possibly written a book as good as Desperation without resorting to plagiarism. Again: interesting. As stated above, the case has been dismissed. Now you can read the full story!

(May 05) When Writers Get Together Dept. - Author Neil Gaiman (Neverwhere, Good Omens) discussed the recent Rock Bottom Remainders concert on his web log today! Very cool stuff. This is the first detailed report I've read, and it sounds quite fun (I can attest to the power of this band - I've seen them twice and they were terrific). Gaiman helped out on "Louie Louie" and "Gloria," but, sadly, misspelled "Gloria." See what happens when you rely on your word processor's spell check too much? (JUST KIDDING MR. GAIMAN!) Thanks to hawkeyes Brad and M. Emerson who alerted me!

(May 05) Okay, okay, okay. Thank you all for your emails. Apparently it's not the "international" edition - it's the regular American edition - but you can only order it at the Amazon.com Black House site. However, don't try looking for it in American stores yet; chances are, you won't find it. To quote my Swedish friend Lilja (of Lilja's Library): "I checked your site today and unfortunately I have to tell you that your correction about Black House is wrong. The book is out in paperback. I have no idea why it's out already. If you check Random House's site it says August (Amazon.com says September) but the fact remains that one edition (with a different ISBN #) is out ... My guess is that this is an international edition. The same happens with other paperbacks by King. Sometime they are released as much as 6 month earlier here in Europe then they are in the US." Thanks, Lilja, and all the hawkeyes who emailed me!

(May 04) The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red is available in paperback now, and worth reading whether or not you were into the miniseries. It's a terrific book.

(May 04) The new issue of Cemetery Dance (#38) has hit stands and subscribers' mailboxes, complete with Bev Vincent's excellent column "From the Dead Zone" (lots of cool King news, and a mention of this very website!) Other related items: an interview with Graham Masterton (author of the excellent Bonnie Winter [aka Trauma], and also author of a book called Charnel House) and a tale by Ed Gorman (a remarkable author who I interviewed on this very site!) CD is an awesome magazine, and I urge each and every one of you to go out and purchase the new issue now. Go ahead. I've got M&Ms, I'll wait.

(May 03) Scribner publicity just sent out a fact sheet detailing 2002: The Year of King! And here in the House, we've decided to provide you with a (riding the) bulleted list of everything eventual this fine year. Enjoy!

May

Riding the Bullet audiobook published

July

On Writing finally available in paperback!

August

15th - The Cemetery Dance publication of From a Buick 8 comes out!

September

1st - Black House mass market paperback comes out!

24th - From a Buick 8 mass market hardcover (Scribner) comes out!

October

The Shining is available in a new trade (big) paperback format, with one of those campy new covers.

November

The Man in the Black Suit: 4 Dark Tales audiobook is released (which includes more Everything's Eventual stories.)

Yey!

(May 02) News has been slow, but it now seems to be picking up! The first new order of business: Cemetery Dance Publications has now confirmed an August 15th release date for the limited edition of From a Buick 8!!! WOO HOO!!!!

(Apr 19) According to Anthony over at The Dark Tower Compendium, his news regarding the early release date of Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla was reported to him through specious sources. I'd also like to point out that said specious sources wrote to me early this morning, asking me to say on here that Anthony was wrong, destroying Anthony's credibility. Let me just say that Anthony rus a terrific site over there, and his news is almost always right from the source, and almost always 100 % accurate. The fact that some jerk is trying to slander him should not change anyone's viewpoint on this. Thank you, Anthony, for all your information and support!

(Apr 18) There's a new short article by King in the latest issue of The New Yorker (April 22 & 29. It's a double issue called "The Money Issue.") It's a very short article called "Cone Head" which essentially discusses the same story King recounted in the "Raft" part of the "Notes" section of Skeleton Crew. I always like hearing that one, though.

(10-30-01)Big "About King" News: Michael Collings, the third of the Big Three Stephen King biographers (the other two being George Beahm and Stephen Spignesi), is finally releasing his King magnum opus, Horror Plum'd! WOO HOO! It will be available early next year in a limited edition through The Overlook Connection, but you can pre-order it now and save a ten-spot. In an email from Dave Hinchberger, he states:

"Mr. Collings, author of previous OCP titles Hauntings: The Official Peter Straub Bibliography and Storyteller: Official Guide to Orson Scott Card is now bringing to you this incredible collection of every book, story, and ephemera published on Stephen King. Including: Books, Novels, Short-Fiction Collections, Non-Fiction, Etc. Including Reprintinngs and multimedia adaptaions of book titles. Short Fiction, Screenplays, Anthologies, Audio and Video adaptations, etc. This volume, coming in at over 600 pages, also features many reproductions of novels from the US and Foreign editions. Almost 100 cover and art reproductions. Thousands of listings that took Mr. Collings over fifteen years to collect. This is a one-of-a-kind volume, and invaluable to any King reader and/or collector to discover the many volumes and listings of and about Stephen King. Due in early 2002.

SPECIAL PRE-ORDER SALE:
==FIRST EDITION HARD COVER - Prepay for your edition now, and save $10.00 Off and we'll pay for shipping! $65.00 (list price at publication will be $75.00).

For more insight into the creation of this book and Michael Collings himself, please check out the interview I conducted with him last year. To learn more about the book (or to order), please visit www.overlookconnection.com.

(Feb 24) Hey! I've written a "collective critique" review of Everything's Eventual! Check it out!

(Apr 17) (Semi-spoilers for Buick 8) A promotional CD containing the first chapter of From a Buick 8 has just been sent to members of the press and bookstore owners, and I managed to get my hand on one. Let me tell you, kids, I just finished listening to it, and it's simply amazing. I utterly hate using the phrase "classic King," but when I was listening to this, I got the same feeling I got when I first read The Dead Zone: in one short chapter, we get to know all the characters inside and out, get their quirks, and still get that unherhum of dread that pervades many of King's best horror stories. Right now, we know there's something wrong with that Buick (or is it a Buick), trapped in Shed B behind the police barracks ... but what? And what's in store for Ned Wilcox, the young kid whose Dad got killed in a senseless accident, and who's just taken dispach duties for the summer at said barracks? I know no answers. All I do know is that King's got his story on here, and I am frothing wanting to know what's next. I CAN'T WAIT FOR SEPTEMBER!!!

(Apr 08) Okay, some confusion has now been cleared up! Dark Tower 5 will still be called Wolves of the Calla. Dark Tower 6 will be called The Song of Susannah. Even better? BOTH ARE DUE IN '03!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?? Song page to come... (Thanks to Dean, David, Bob I, Bev, Chris, J Nolan, and everyone else who loaded my mailbox today! YOU GUYS ROCK!) The gaffe on King's site was noticed by Anthony Schwethelm from over at the AWESOME Dark Tower Compendium and fixed at once! Thanks to Anthony!!! Anthony rocks!

(Apr 08) Good news for you UK fans: Hodder and Stoughton has changed the publication date of From A Buick 8. It has been amended by the publisher to the date of August 30, 2002! (Thanks to hawkeye J Nolan, as always!)

(Apr 04) My review of the novella of "Everything's Eventual" is now up on my Everything's Eventual page. Twelve down, two to go! (This is why reviewing novels is easier, boys and girls...)

(Apr 04) Black House has made it to the finals! That's right, the King/Straub collaberation is on the final ballot for Best Novel at this year's Stoker awards. The other nominees are Ray Bradbury's From The Dust Returned, Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Jack Ketchum's The Lost. (Extremely strong category this year!) The Stoker Awards will be presented June 8th at the New York Helmsely Hotel. We'll keep you posted! (Thanks to hawkeye Sunny for the info!)

(Apr 04) The Time Magazine interview is now online!!! Read it, enjoy it, and please don't freak out! Slow down does not mean stop! Thanks to hawkeye Peter for the info!

(Apr 04) Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide by Stephen Jones is on its way to US shores! Many of you have heard of this book: unlike most "King on film" books, this one is extraordinarily comprehensive, and doesn't pander. According to the Amazon.com website, Creepshows is "a must-have for every Stephen King fan! Creepshows is the definitive illustrated guide to the more than 50 film and television productions, sequels and spin-offs, stage shows, radio plays, and computer games adapted from the work of master storyteller Stephen King..."

It'll be out as paperback (I'm thinking oversized?) this April! Order now! (Thanks, Brian!)

(Mar 31) King will be playing at BEA this year, along with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders! WOO HOO! Check out the link --> HERE! Thanks to hawkeye GB for the info!

(Mar 26) Time Magazine has a new interview with King titled, aptly, "Ten Questions With Stephen King." This is th April 1st issue, but it's on the stands NOW! Go buy it! (Thanks to hawkeye J. Nolan!)

(Mar 25) The Frank Muller Benefit (featuring Stephen King reading "The Revenge of Lard-Ass Hogan") will (tentatively) be released on audio this July. You'll be able to buy it on either 2 CD's or 2 cassettes at $20.00 each. (Thanks to Lilja's Library for the info!)

(Mar 22) Betts Bookstore has now announced its GIANT news! They have acquired what is - they conisder - the largest Stephen King collection ever ... and they are selling all of it. You want signed limiteds? They have them. You want magazine appearances? They have them. You want flat signed mass market hardcovers? They have them. Kids, this is GIANT news - Betts is currently overflowing with product. If you are ANY type of collector, do yourself a favor and VISIT THIS LINK. You will be blown away, I guarantee it.

(Mar 21) On the Horizon Department: Hey all! Betts Bookstore has announced that we are to "Watch for a huge Stephen King announcement Friday!" NO idea what this could be. Speculation points to something DT related, but we have no clue here at the House. (Thanks to hawkeyerland, my intrepid CRinVA, for all the news!)

(Mar 21) I don't do this a whole lot, but I love Cemetery Dance, and they're putting out the limited of From a Buick 8, so this has a tenebrous connection to King: Go to their site, at once and purchase the new novel Bonnie Winter, by Graham Masterson. It's one of the best, creepiest books I've read in awhile. Enjoy!

(Mar 20) I wasn't going to do review links, but then I thought: hey, I love reading reviews. Why not give others the chance? So, thanks to Mr. Brian Freeman here's a review of Everything's Eventual from USA Today. (Mainly positive, though I disagree re: "Road Virus" and "L.T.'s") Check it out!

(Mar 20) Thanks to my favorite hawkeyerland, we now have info that "Secret Window, Secret Garden" is being made into a movie!!! WAHOO! All the information can be found --> HERE!

(Mar 19) Everything's Eventual is NOW OUT in US bookstores!!! This is a terrific collection, folks, even if the order of the stories is seriously flawed. Run out and grab this book now! (Also cool: it features one of the best King covers ever - the wraparound art is great, and the stuff on the spine is amazing! Check it out!)

(Mar 15) Thanks to hawkeye Adrian Copeman, we now know that Everything's Eventual is now out in some UK bookstores! Thank you Adrian!

(Mar 14) Simon & Schuster has now put out an Everything's Eventual trivia game on their Stephen King site, in anticipation of the release of Eventual on March 19. Check it out!

(Mar 11) DARK TOWER 6 NEWS THAT'S RIGHT!! SIX!!! Accroding to King's office, the reason why King is not doing interviews and appearances for Everything's Eventual is because he's down in Florida, working on Dark Tower 6. OH MY GOD!!! No word on title or subject, but he's at least 100 pages into it. OH MY GOD!!! Anthony's gonna flip! (THANK YOU J NOLAN!!!!)

Next time: less exclamation points.

(Mar 08) Donald M. Grant states on its website that THe Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla is now in production! Whether that means that the book will be out early is up for debate, but it's still exciting news. Hats off to hawkeye Darth Pookie for the info!

(Mar 07) The final Bev Vincent Everything's Eventual auction is now up. In Bev's words:

The final auction is under way. This time it's a Dutch auction, $250 starter, no reserve. The last two copies in existence are going with this one! By Sunday night, they'll all be gone.

Which means: hurry fast! Supplies are running out!

(Mar 07) Big news from Donald M. Grant! I'll let them explain it: the email I received today states:

1. We have just drawn postcards for our second lottery draw- ing for BLACK HOUSE and the letters went out yesterday to winners. Please DO NOT contact us asking if your postcard was drawn. Lottery winner orders must be received by April 30. We will do a final drawing for unclaimed copies after BLACK HOUSE is shipped. Please do not send in another postcard if you have already entered.

2. We still do not have all the art for BLACK HOUSE. When we have all the art and the final touches to the book design are done we will then be able to turn the book over to the printer. We would expect to have the books in hand about 3 months after that.

On a personal note: I WAS PICKED!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOO!

(Mar 05) This is the sixth Everything's Eventual auction Bev Vincent has put up on Ebay. Don't forget that the entire purchase of these goes to the Wavedancer Foundation, which will benefit Frank Muller during his difficult recovery period. These things are selling fast and high, folks, so get your bid in! Thanks for all your support!

(Feb 23) Betts Bookstore has just released a new Stephen King T-shirt! Very cool! The shirt has the Betts logo on the front, plus the names of King's books and the Insomnia tour illustration on the back. Go place your order --> HERE!, and while you're at it, pre-order the Everything's Eventual and From a Buick 8 releases. Tell 'em Kev sent ya: Betts is the best!

(Feb 23) Wiley Saichek over at Bookreporter.com has just informed me that King has been nominated for the "Reading Olympics!" From the email:

Bookreporter.com is running a "Reading Olympics" Poll where readers can vote from a list of twelve bestselling authors to "win" gold, silver and bronze medals. The criteria --- which authors get readers turning the pages. I wanted to let you know that Stephen King is included among the "contestants" in case you would like to vote and then possibly link the poll to your website or get the information to your readers. The poll is open through February 28th. It can be accessed at:

http://www.bookreporter.com/cgi-bin2/survey/surveys.pl?poll=1

So go! Vote! Enjoy!

(Feb 20) Regarding the Buick 8 limited editions from Cemetery Dance: the numbered limited editions are SOLD OUT!!! A recent announcement from the site:

Unfortunately, all copies of the forthcoming From a Buick 8 limited have already been reserved. We suggest contacting one of the specialty book dealers. There were a few rumors that Cemetery Dance did not allow retailers to order Buick 8, but I assure you, THAT IS NOT TRUE! We, of course, restricted the number of copies each store was allowed to order, but our longtime book dealers were allotted copies. Thanks and good luck!"

So, check out my Stephen King Store area, with links to Betts, Bad Moon, and Overlook - they might be able to give you a hand! (Thanks to hawkeye Michael for the help!)

(Feb 19) From the Cemetery Dance Website!!!! ->

""Good news, bad news.... The GOOD news is this: we are now accepting online reservations for the limited edition of Stephen King's FROM A BUICK 8. We've just posted the official ordering information and orders are already pouring in at a trememdous rate. So hurry and take a look! You'll find a special express-preorder link at http://www.cemeterydance.com/king/

The BAD news is this: we are still on our old internet server. This will result in two things... first, the website is still very slow. Second, we will have to close the site for a time (anywhere from 3-4 hours to perhaps two days) sometime later in the week when we do switch servers.

Finally, A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: sometime in the next several months, we will be announcing additional Stephen King projects from Cemetery Dance... so be sure to stay tuned and most importantly, stay on the CD Email List for early notification!!!

The book is available in two states:

--> a slipcased "Gift" edition ($75)
-->a signed and traycased "Limited" edition ($250) [SOLD OUT]

From the website: Dustjacket and interior artwork will be by the legendary Bernie Wrightson (artist for the limited edition of The Stand and Cycle of the Werewolf [and Creepshow])! Cemetery Dance has the final manuscript in hand and is thrilled to report that From a Buick 8 is classic Stephen King storytelling -- a wonderful and chilling novel!

WOW!!! Great news! Go order now!!!

(Feb 19) And, in a rebuttal from King's office, we get more embroiled in the Diary of Ellen Rimbauer mystery. King's office states, for the record: "The Hyperion employee(s) doesn't know what he/she is talking about because Stephen is NOT the author. I absolutely positively 100% KNOW that for a fact. The true >author of the book will not be revealed until after the DVD/Video release in May."

So there you have it! We will soon know who it will be. Until next time...

(Feb 19) So, there's a new "editorial piece" about King over at Salon.com, a "scathing" summation of why King should quit writing. Now, I used to get angry at these articles, but this one's so transparent that it's hard to get worked up over. The writer, Richard Blow, seems to have a personal vendetta against King, and midway through the article, we find out why. He starts off telling us how he used to be so into King, and that he used to have genius aplenty. Then he goes on to tell us that he can't remember any names from King's recent work, etc. He complains that King is recycling his plots, and that all his 90's works have gotten away from the "everyman" stories and is focusing just on writers and writing (citing specifically Dolores Claiborne, which is a story of a magazine writer going back home to face her demons. Ah, Mr. Blow, time to do your homework. That was the movie, not the book.)

The guy further loses credibility by bringing up the time when King didn't sign an autograph for him. That's the midway point through the article, and any valid points he might have made (indicating, correctly, that Dreamcatcher wasn't all that great) get tossed out the window. He starts going on about how King can't be believed anymore, especially when he talks about recovery from his accident. Apparently, King's tale of starting to write again after being nearly killed is the ramblings of an untrustworthy cripple. The best part is when Mr. Blow writes that Black House is a further indicator of King's slippage, explaining that subjects such as child cannibalism are "beyond the pale," even for King (forgetting, of course, the many children eaten in It.)

By the time Mr. Blow is stating that Dreamcatcher is a rehash of past King tales like "The Railroad" (there's no story or novel by King called "The Railroad"), you just have to laugh. It's so much petulant fanboy whines given credence (for whatever reason) by a reputable magazine. Shame on you, Salon.

(Feb 19) Audio Confusion Department: The audio tie-ins (yes, plural) for Everything's Eventual are on their way ... and my, are they confusing. Let me see if I can break all this down for you:

--> Five stories from the book will be on the original Everything's Eventual audiobook: "Everything's Eventual" (r/b Justin Long), "Luckey Quarter" (Judith Ivey), "Autopsy Room 4" (Oliver Platt), "The Little Sisters of Eluria" (Boyd Gaines), and "The Road Virus Heads North" (Jay O. Sanders).

--> Later in the year (reports state November is most likely), we'll be getting The Man in the Black Suit and Three Other Eerie Tales. The stories on this one are reportedly "The Man in the Black Suit," "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French," "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away" and "The Death of Jack Hamilton." If this roster changes, I'll let y'all know.

--> Then, "Riding the Bullet" will be released as its own audio. More on that when I hear.

--> Add these to the already released Blood & Smoke (which contains "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe'," "1408," and "In the Deathroom" and the live recording of L.T.'s Theory of Pets, and you have the whole of Everything's Eventual. (You know what? I'm gonna buy them all and just record them to CD as one big ol' collection. So there.)

(Feb 18) The second of Bev Vincent's Everything's Eventual ARCs is now up for auction!!! Go there!!!

(Feb 18) More on the identity of the author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, this from hawkeye Kevin Etheridge in the UK, who writes:

Further to your post about the King / Ellen Rimbauer connection, please let me advise you of this. I saw your posting from Jon Sheard about the article in 'The Guardian' UK newspaper by 'The Loafer' about this book and King. Allow me to elaborate. I saw this article and made a few enquiries on this side of the pond. I spoke to the Guardian's book department, who put me in touch with the person who had given them the story initially. This person was Maxim Jacoubowski, author and proprieter of 'Murder One Books' in London. I spoke to Maxim, who told me that he had leaked the story to the Guardian after hearing about the initial article that appeared in 'Variety' magazine (below) in late January 2002. Maxim told me that he had spoken to the 'Variety' source who were VERY SURE of their facts regarding King and the Library of Congress viz 'Ellen Rimbauer', and that all the Hyperion reps were making it crystal clear to buyers that the two 'authors' were one and the same. At the time the article appeared , the Ellen Rimbauer diary was at #13 on the NYT bestseller list, and has since to date now sold 400,000 copies - not bad for a 1st time author !! (Rimbauer) , Maxim asserts that even without the Hyperion reps. statements, he has read the book , and is CONVINCED that King is the author, and that 'Variety' would not make this assertion about the Library of Congress unless they had proof. Maxim has a very high reputation in the literary community, and I do not see him making this statement lightly, and as we know historically, King is not above doing this al'a Bachman. Why he should have neglected to remove his name from the copyrights for this book is amazing in light of the past, but there you go.

I hope this sheds some more light on the issue, and perhaps lets someone in the USA approach the Library of Congress for the proof we all seek.

This amid confirmation from King's office that King is most assuredly NOT the author is all very intriguing. Personally, I still think Patrick McGrath did it.

(Feb 15) Stephen King recently gave Bev Vincent a stash of SIGNED - yes, you read that right, SIGNED - Everything's Eventual ARC's (Advance Reader's Copies.) In order to benefit the Frank Muller Wavedancer Foundation, he's begun to put these up for sale on ebay at http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1514688855. ALL proceeds go to the Frank Muller cause, and I believe Bev is even defraying shipping costs. The book's great and the charity is wonderful. GO NOW!

(Feb 15) In adjunctual (yes, I'm allowed to adjective things) King news, a signed copy of Stephen Spignesi's The Italian 100 also just went up on Ebay. Check it out HERE!!!

(Feb 14) Everything's Eventual is scheduled to be out on bookstore shelves March 19th! Mark it on your calendars!

(Feb 14) News on the Donald M. Grant edition of Black House (quoted directly from an email from the Grant offices):

Rick Berry has completed 6 of the 7 full page paintings for BLACK HOUSE and expects to finish all the art for the book by the end of the month. When the final touches to the book design are done we will then be able to turn the book over to the printer. We would expect to have the books in hand about 3 months after that.

(Feb 14) Speaking of Donald Grant, we have some GREAT news regarding the second deluxe Black House lottery!

In January we [Donald M. Grant] mailed a letter to over 400 customers who had bought a WIZARD & GLASS DELUXE EDITION book from us but who had not ordered BLACK HOUSE. Since then we have heard from about half of them (many said that they never received our original mailing announcing BLACK HOUSE) and of those we have thus far heard from less than half have ordered BLACK HOUSE. This means that there will be more books available via the lottery than we had initially anticipated and so we will do a second drawing at the end of February, with another drawing upon the release of BLACK HOUSE.

WOO HOO!!!!

(Feb 14) Sadly, at this time, there seem to be no plans to release a novel or screenplay (a la Storm of the Century) of Rose Red. Darnit!

(Feb 07) Anthony, over at the The Dark Tower Compendium has released this touching bit of news: King is dedicating Wolves of the Calla to Frank Muller. The deciation reads:

"To Frank Muller... who hears the voices in my head."

To read Anthony's entire statement on the dedication, follow this link. (Thanks Anthony!)

(Feb 07) Rose Red is already in the process of being released on DVD/VHS! Lion's Gate has announced that May 14th is the release date, with special features including: A Director's Commentary, a "Making of" behind-the-scenes section, and story board artwork. Thanks to Rosandra and Brian for the updates!

(Feb 05) I HAVE EVERYTHING'S EVENTUAL!!! Um, review to come...

(Feb 05) Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla is NOW FINISHED! And it's 900 pages long! (I'm assuming this is manuscript pages, which means that the actual published book will probably be a bit shorter...)

(Feb 05) The offical From a Buick 8 publication/laydown date is September 24th, 2002. WOO HOO!

(Feb 05) Well, according to King's office, King most assuredly did NOT write The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer. Now we have NO idea.... Anyone with hints, clues, etc?

(Feb 05) This is not specifically King related, but I thought it was kinda neat. Two people who have had significant success with King's "Dollar-Babies," Jay Holben ("Paranoid") and Jim Cole ("The Last Rung on the Ladder") have collaborated on their own project: Holben is doing an adaptation of one of Cole's short stories called "Hot Shots" (which I've read and enjoyed immensely.) Now, I know we don't normally do movie news here in the House, and very rarely stuff this peripheral to King himself, but I've known Jim Cole for years and he's a terrific writer (his script for Stereopticon is one of the great unproduced films floating around the Hollywood ether right now), and Holben's Paranoid is one of the very best King adaptations. For the full press release, click here!

(Feb 04) A column in the UK paper The Guardian, in its usual droll manner, purports that King himself is the author of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer. The article reads:

"Reports that Stephen King, the Sultan of Shock, is hanging up his pen, may come as a surprise to one Joyce Reardon, PhD, "author" of a new American bestseller, The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer. Rimbauer is a central character in King's Rose Red, a haunted-house thriller that is running this week as a miniseries on ABC TV. Though Ms. Reardon has eschewed King's normal US publisher Viking for Hyperion, the Loafer [the reporter] was intrigued enough to follow her to the Library of Congress, where - to our shock and horror - we found her book copyrighted to one Stephen King.

This discovery is reminiscent of the discovery that Stephen King was Richard Bachman. If you'll recall, a reporter discovered Bachman was King by searching for Rage in the Library of Congress and finding it copywritten as by Stephen King. Does this article prove King's been dabbling in pseudononymous waters again? [I do find the fact that "the Loafer" is unaware that King moved to Scribner four years ago kind of odd.]

You can read the article here! Many thanks goes to hawkeye Jon Sheard for the heads-up!

(Feb 01) There's a new article in USA Today regarding King's involvement with the Frank Muller reading tomorrow. It's a very informative article - check it out!

(Feb 01) I don't normally do movie news here, but this one's always been an exception. Jay Holben's Paranoid movie is now available for download at www.paranoidthemovie.com. I'll be downloading it tonight! VERY COOL!

(Feb 01) WOW! Bev Vincent, King "guy" extraordinaire has come into some Everything's Eventual, and he wants to share them ... for a price! He's auctioning them off, with all proceeds going directly to aid the recovery of Frank Muller. The entire letter, as posted to the SKEMERs newsletter:

"Stephen King has graciously provided me with a small number of signed ARCs (advanced galleys) of his new collection, "Everything's Eventual" to auction for charity. The beneficiary of the auctions will be the Frank Muller Fund of the Wavedancer Foundation. All proceeds will go directly to this charity. I will pay for auction costs and shipping.

I'm not revealing the exact number of books available. Auctions will run during February after the ABC Rose Red auctions are finished.

King signed galleys are virtually unheard of and these will be available prior to the release of the first edition hardcover.

I'll announce when the first auction begins. Possibly as early as next week, depending on how long it takes for the books to arrive.

My eBay identity is "deadzone."

Start saving your pennies. It'll be tax deductible and for a great cause.

See www.bitchen.com/muller if you don't know about Mr. Muller and Wavedancer."

Bev has also asked me to post a link to all his auctions, so here it is!

Thanks, everyone!

(Feb 01) Let's Quell Some Fears Dept.: Surf on over to this article regarding King and his rumored retirement. The relevent info reads as such:

His agent, Arthur Greene, was skeptical about King's recent statements.

``He's spoken about retiring many times in the past,'' Greene told The Associated Press Thursday. In my own mind, I think it's unlikely he'll stop working." [Bolding mine, of course.]

A spokeswoman for King said the author had not yet read Sunday's article and would have no immediate comment.

This echoes my thoughts exactly. Last time King went on the retirement kick, I kind of ... well, freaked. Now, I'm a little calmer about it. My thought is, King will continue writing, but slow down publishing. I can see him letting Tabitha read everything he's writing, and once in awhile, she's gonna say, "Hey, that's pretty damn good, Steve. Publish that." And he will.

King has stated many times over that he won't ever stop writing. Good for him! And if he lets his publishing trickle, that's good for him, too. He's given us two books a year since forever. Also, if King does end up never putting out anything ever again (after the Dark Tower books, of course!), I can't really begrudge the guy. All I have to do is look at my bookshelves stuffed with his books and say, "Thank you."

(Jan 31) Don't forget: the final installment of Rose Red airs tonight, 9:00 EST! Set your VCRS!

(Jan 31) Of course, if you don't want to set your VCRs, that's cool, too. Rumor has it that Rose Red is coming to VHS and DVD this May. (Thanks Brian!)

(Jan 30) Hi! Okay, as you can see, there's been some refurbishment. Out with the old, in with the new! Like to know what you all think of the changes. I'd like to know what you guys think. Let me know here! Also, you might want to check out some of the book pages (especially IT and its companion, the IT Character Profiles). Soon enough, all the book pages will be redone!

(Jan 29) Completely refurbished my Rose Red site (which you can check out --> here!) In addition to fixing the links, there's a full-length review of The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, plus a representation of the cover. Enjoy!

(Jan 29) Sigh. Okay, I'm putting this link on here, the one where King says he's getting ready to retire. Honestly, I've been avoiding posting it because I refuse to believe it. But, it's my editorial duty to report the news, so here you go. (Keep in mind, King said about the same type of thing surrounding the publication of Bag of Bones. My hope is that he'll scale back ... but not stop. A guy's gotta dream, right?)

(Feb 05) Cole/Hoben Press Release:

STEPHEN KING DOLLAR-BABIES UNITE
AND COLLABORATE ON SHORT PROJECT

Los Angeles, CA (January 22, 2002) - Director Jay Holben (Paranoid) has selected the material for his next short project to go into production this Spring. After a lengthy search, which included pouring through more than 50 potential scripts, Holben has teamed with fellow "Dollar-Baby" James Cole to bring Cole's semi-autobiographical short story to the screen. Cole (The Last Rung on the Ladder) was featured in author Stephen Spignesi's exhaustive study of King's work The Stephen King Encyclopedia. Shortly after completing Paranoid, Holben and Cole exchanged e-mails and met through the assistance of King fan site creator Hans-Ake Lilja (www.liljas-library.com). After presenting Holben with a copy of his feature script, Stereopticon, the director was immediately drawn to Cole's writing. Holben turned to Cole to see if he had any pre-existing short story material and the writer produced a short story based on his pre-adolescent hospital experiences. The extremely well formed characters and the deep, heartfelt truth of Cole's tale struck Holben as the perfect choice.

The second draft of the yet untitled film has been completed, and casting/pre-production has begun to move forward. Joining the production team is producer Mark Russell, who was part of the production team behind Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, A.I., and the 20th anniversary re-release of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Also producing is Jacqueline Cruz, whose tenure in the film industry has included the prestigious William Morris Agency and Dreamworks SKG Television, where she worked on successful series such as Spin City, It's Like, You Know... and Freaks and Geeks. Ms. Cruz most recently worked as story editor with Baltimore/Spring Creek Pictures, the production company of director Barry Levinson and producer Paula Weinstein.

Stepping away from the hyphenate roll of director-cinematographer, Holben has turned to longtime friend and collaborator Christopher Probst as his director of photography for the film. Probst is the technical editor for American Cinematographer magazine and recently served as camera operator for the ASC award nominated epic mini series Uprising.

Principal photography is tentatively slated to begin in Los Angeles early this Spring.

(Jan 27) ROSE RED BEGINS TONIGHT!!! (Sunday, the 27th of January, 9:00 PM EST. It continues tomorrow night at 9:00 and comcludes Thursday at 9:00. Enjoy!)

(Jan 25) Hey kids! Check out the newest New York Review of Books: LOTS of King stuff inside. There are reviews of Black House, Dreamcatcher, Rose Red and Stephen Spignesi's awesome book The Essential Stephen King. Unfortunately, the article is not archived online, but newsstands should have it out now (cover price $4.00), and you can also visit their website at www.nybooks.com. Check it out! (Thanks to hawkeye Steve for the info!)

(Jan 22) More Rose Red stuff: King himself wrote a revealing and intriguing look into the creative process behind the miniseries in TV Guide online this week. Great article!

(Jan 20) Hey! Those of you who read and loved The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer can now surf on over to the Beaumont University site and check out the missing entries from Ellen's diary! The Blair Witch-iness gets even deeper! WOO HOO!

(Jan 18) An email from Tera Humphrey explains the Rose Red auction in greater detail! It states:

"Stephen King fans a rare opportunity to bid on actual wardrobe pieces and props from "Stephen King's Rose Red" movie at www.abcauctions.com. The king of horror himself has signed some items. Beginning January 24, 2002, fans will be able to bid on 100 "Stephen King's Rose Red" items on www.abcauctions.com leading up to ABC's premiere movie event, airing January 27, 28 and 31 at 9 p.m./8 p.m. Central

Proceeds from items signed by Stephen King will benefit The Wave Dancer Foundation; an organization dedicated to the welfare, healing and recovery of disabled professionals.

Some notable items being offered from January 24 through 31 include:

Script Signed by Stephen King - a copy of the shooting script with King's autograph on the cover

"Ellen Rimbauer" Fan - a hand-painted fan opening to reveal a bright red rose, that was created as a character prop for the lady-of-the-house, Ellen Rimbauer

Additional King items offered from January 31 through February 7 include:

Signed Stephen King Costume - Stephen King-signed white cotton golf shirt is an authentic costume piece created for the author's appearance as a pizza deliveryman in "Rose Red"

Signed Crew Jacket - Stephen King-signed Rose Red ABC Crew jacket "

To read the FULL press release, surf on over to my Rose Red Page!

(Jan 18) From Cemetery Dance magazine:

Just two short weeks until we post official ordering information for the limited edition of Stephen King's FROM A BUICK 8. Click over to the official Cemetery Dance website (http://www.cemeterydance.com) to find out who the two lucky winners are of last week's BUICK 8 contest!

Also....

For the next 24 hours only (offer expires at midnight on Friday, January 18), we're offering HUGE savings on all books on the Cemetery Dance website! Here are the details: order three or more books from the website and receive a 40% discount! You can't beat that! There is no longer an "additional comments" section on the order form (to mention the sale), but don't worry -- we will automatically deduct 40% from your order!

VERY COOL!

(Jan 18) Yesterday's USA Today had a feature on charity auctions, which mentioned that King would be signing Rose Red memorabilia. No further news at this point, but when I have more specifics, I'll be sure to link it for you!

(Jan 17)King is Officially Insane Dept.: From Bev Vincent, via Brian Freeman's Stephen King News and Info Site, regarding the order of the stories in Everything's Eventual:

King said: "What I did was take all the spades out of a deck of cards plus a joker. Ace to King = 1-13. Joker = 14. I shuffled the cards and dealt them. The order in which they came out became the order of the stories, based on their position in the list my publisher sent me. And it actually created a very nice balance between the literary stories and the all-out screamers. Next collection: selected by Tarot."

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Autopsy Room Four
The Man in the Black Suit
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away
The Death of Jack Hamilton
In the Deathroom
The Little Sisters of Eluria
Everything's Eventual
L.T.'s Theory of Pets
The Road Virus Heads North
Lunch at the Gotham Café
That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French
1408
Riding the Bullet
Luckey Quarter

How do I feel about this? Not great. I know this is a place where I rarely disparage King in any way ("The Ten O'Clock People" notwithstanding), but in Night Shift and (especially) Skeleton Crew, King arranged his collections specifically, in a certain order that let the stories flow. There was a BANG beginning and a BANG ending, with ups and downs inside. "Autopsy" is one of King's best, but I'm not sure it functions as a "first" story. And, I'm sorry, "All That You Love" belongs at the end, a quiet coda to an impressive collection. The considerably weaker "Luckey Quarter," while good, will not resonate as "Love" would have in that last slot.

Just me thinks. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

(Jan 14) WE GOT COVER! The US cover of Everything's Eventual, continuing the Scribner trend of being better than the UK covers, is now available, as is the jacket flap description. MANY thanks to hawkeye Larry Fire for this tip!

(Jan 14) Oddity of the week: King (along with director George Romero) has written the "liner notes" to Romero's upcoming DVD release of Night of the Living Dead. This seems strange until you consider that King and Romero have been very close for decades (Romero optioned The Stand and Pet Sematary as films, actually directed Creepshow and The Dark Half, and currently owns the rights to The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.) Very cool! Check out the full story on GeorgeARomero.com. (Thanks goes to hawkeye Kelly Bird and, again, Mr. Brian Freeman!)

(Jan 13) News of the Pretty Cool Dept. From The Vancouver Sun, written by Susan Balcom:

American novelist Stephen King has hired a North Vancouver furniture designer to make a writing desk for his Florida home. The desk, which cost $40,000 Cdn., is the most prestigious sale yet for Peter Pierobon, who has been showing his work at art galleries in the U.S. The desk is made from sapele, a reddish-brown mahogany-like wood from Africa. It has two secret drawers and a mysterious line of raised script on its black leather surface. King, who is famous for his thrillers and horror stories, wanted the phrase "All Things Serve the Beam," written in Gregg shorthand on the desk top. "I have no idea what that means," says Pierobon, who often uses language-based decoration in his work as a way to communicate with whoever uses the piece. "I have never spoken directly to Stephen King. This has all been done through various middlemen on the Internet." King commissioned the piece after viewing Pierobon's designs at www.johnelder.com, the Web site for the John Elder Gallery in New York.

Thanks to Brian Freeman (and hawkeye Darrin) for this news: way cool!

(Jan 13) We have the UK cover of Everything's Eventual up on the site now! Check it out on my Everything's Eventual page, or see the image direct here! (THanks to hawkeyes J Nolan, Lilja, and Alex for this speedy update!)

(Jan 11) Stephen J. Spignesi's manuscript for The Essential Stephen King is NOW SELLING on Ebay. The manuscript is signed, and you get a free bookmark with it. Check it out...

(Jan 07) Here There Be Webslingers Dept.: You may have noticed some changes in the House over the last couple months. Nothing major, so far. I've been going through the book review pages and removing major spoilers (I wroste a good portion of those when I was 1. nineteen and 2. new to writing reviews.) I'm also making the in-page tables more user-friendly (as well as adding some categories) and doing away with the "Also by King" list on all but the main page. I'm sorry, it just got too unweildy.

The bigger changes are upon us, though: as you may have noticed above, there are no more ads. That's right, I've decided to set up the House on a payment plan. Now, I don't want to turn into the kind of site that asks for donations (although I might, eventually; I'm snarky that way), but if i ever get tired of all the paying, the ads are likely to come back. Just a warning!

Keep an eye on this space for newer and more exciting changes! Thanks for reading, and have a pleasant 2002!

(Jan 07) Cemetery Dance Publications has just released an update on their upcoming From a Buick 8 limited edition release. Note: read the page to the very bottom!

(Jan 04) Frank Muller, one of the best audio book readers in the world (responsible for The Regulators, The Green Mile, Different Seasons, and many more), has recently been involved in a serious motorcycle accident. To quote the official website: "On November 5th, 2001, Frank Muller was riding his motorcycle from LA to Nevada and was involved in a serious accident. While accident details are not available, it sent him to the hospital in critical condition with a shattered wrist, face and a tracheotomy."

Because of the nature of Muller's work (as an actor and audio reader, he is technically self-employed), he has limits to his insurance and the money is running out. Again from the website:

"The audio books community has responded to Frank with an outpouring of support for him and his family. As part of this support, a benefit performance will be held at 8:00 pm on Saturday, February 2, 2002 at Town Hall, a 1,500-seat performance hall located at 123 West 43rd (between 6th and 7th Avenues) in New York City. The performance will include live readings and reflections by Stephen King, John Grisham, Pat Conroy and Peter Straub. Ticket prices will be $100, $75 and $50. The performance will be taped, and the audio recording will be made available for purchase. Donations of $25 and above will also be accepted from those who cannot attend but would like to support this effort. All proceeds will go to Frank and his immediate family. Information on how to reserve tickets for this event will be made available shortly."

For details on tickets and the performance, please visit the official site --> HERE <---

We here at Charnel House have always admired Mr. Muller and pray for a speedy and total recovery. Thank you.

(Dec 27) Check out this brand new interview with King on the creation of Rose Red. Really cool, if short. (Still no word on whether there'll be a tie-in screenplay!)

(Dec 26) Thanks to hawkeye Greg Barr, we now have the location of the official Rose Red site. Set your VCRs and Tivos!

(Dec 21) I've updated my Everything's Eventual page with a brand-new review of "The Death of Jack Hamilton." I've also gone through all of Charnel House and dug up all of my erstwhile short story reviews and collected the appropriate ones on the Eventual page, as well. The only stories on that site now missing reviews are "The Little Sisters of Eluria," "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French," and "Everything's Eventual" (although I seem to recall writing reviews for each of these at one point or another. They might be on my home computer.) When Everything's Eventual comes out, I plan on going over all the stories again to get the "collective" feel of the book, and I may end up revising my story reviews, as well. (Speaking of reviewing, I know I've been unspeakably lax in my Skeleton Crew, The Stand and Secret Windows reviews. One of my New Year's resolutions is to reread these books and do extensive reviews. I promise!)

(Dec 19) Cemetery Dance Publishers has now released some new info on the upcoming limited edition of From a Buick 8. Check out all the new stuff --> HERE!

(Dec 19) For you industry insiders, the Rock Bottom Remainders will be making an appearance at BEA (the trade show for the book industry) in New York City this year, as reported by Publisher's Weekly. Very cool!

(Dec 19) The new issue of The New Yorker features a new (that's right: NEW!!!) Stephen King short story called "The Death of Jack Hamilton." I just found out about this tonight (THANK YOU J NOLAN & TRACEY!), so I can't give you further info on the content. I can however tell you that this will be the 14th story in the upcoming collection Everything's Eventual. (Oddly, while the collection is called Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales, the audio version of the collection will be Everything's Eventual and Other Stories. See my reasonings for this below...) WOO HOO!!!!

(Dec 16) Way cool! Berni Wrightson, illustrator extrordinaire (he did the work on Creepshow, Cycle of the Werewolf, and the 1990 version of The Stand) will be illustrating The Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla. AMAZING news!

(Dec 13) Intriguing... There's been some speculation that The Diary of Ellen Rimbaur was, in fact, written by Tabitha King, and the "Afterword" by "Steven Rimbauer" is actually by Stephen King. As I've stated this is pure speculation at this point, but it certainly is intriguing... (Oh, and for you stats fanatics: 288 pages, $22.95US/$32.95CAN, ISBN: 0-7868-6801-5.)

(Dec 11) OH MY GOD!!! We now have official confirmation on the title of Dark Tower 5: WOLVES OF THE CALLA. (Thank you so much, J. Nolan!) King is apparently "on schedule," and while there's no confirmed publication date, we're looking at a possilbe early 2003! YEY!

(Dec 10) This is so darn cool! Surf on over to The Diary of Ellen Rimbaur official site, which connects explicitly to the upcoming miniseries Rose Red. It seems King is working this like The Blair Witch Project, using the net to promote the tale of Rose Red in the "real world." The site has tons of background information about the Rose Red hotel, Ellen Rimbauer's diary excerpts, and psychoanalysis by Dr. Joyce Reardon. (I just love all the postmodernism.) The acutal book The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer will be released in January - we'll let you know when it arrives!

(Dec 10) Dreamcatcher is NOW out in paperback! For those of you who are "waiting for the paperback," wait no longer! WOO HOO!

(Dec 07) Exciting news today from Donald M. Grant, Inc! The email I got from them today confirms that they've picked the Black House limited "postcard winners!" Woo hoo! (REALLY hoping one was me...) The full email:

1. 100 postcards were picked from the lottery requests (for the limited edition of Black House) and letters went out yesterday and today to winners. Please DO NOT contact us asking if your postcard was drawn. If we have not heard back form someone who was picked by the end of January we will try contacting them again. We will do another drawing for unclaimed copies before BLACK HOUSE is shipped. Please do not send in another postcard.

2. We are still awaiting art and design work from Rick Berry for our edition of BLACK HOUSE. When we receive this and are able to turn in all materials to the printer, binder and tray-case maker, it will take 2-3 months to get the finished books and traycases. Usually the books are finished before the tray-cases. I have seen some of the finished paintings and you will not be disappointed.

ALL THE WAITING!!!!

(Dec 07) Odd but cool news: an audio version of Riding the Bullet will be released in May. (This seems kind of strange to me, given that Everything's Eventual is coming out in March. Many - if not the majority - of King's more recent books have all been released on audio [since moving to Scribner, King's audio tie-ins have been beautifully well-presented.] Also, a bunch of the Eventual stories have already been released on audio, in various sources: "The Little Sisters of Eluria," read by Frank Muller; "1408," "In the Deathroom," and "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe," all read by King himself in Blood and Smoke; and the live recording of "L.T.'s Theory of Pets." Maybe they couldn't get all the copyrights together to release all these versions on one collection: I don't really know. All I'm saying is that the "Riding the Bullet" thing is just a bit odd...)

(Dec 07) On Writing will be released in paperback in the US July 2002!

(Dec 07) The Rose Red Press Release is now available on the Official Stephen King Web Presence It states:

"STEPHEN KING'S ROSE RED" WILL HAUNT ABC ON JANUARY 27, 28 AND 31

"Stephen King's Rose Red," a three-part, six-hour miniseries created directly for television by best-selling author and unparalleled master of horror Stephen King, will air as an ABC Premiere Event on SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, MONDAY, JANUARY 28 and THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET, each night), on the ABC Television Network.

"Stephen King's Rose Red" is the chilling tale of Dr. Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis), an obsessed psychology professor who commissions a team of psychics and a gifted 15-year-old autistic girl, Annie Wheaton (Kimberly J. Brown), to literally wake up a supposedly dormant haunted mansion -- Rose Red, built in 1907 by Seattle oil magnate John P. Rimbauer. Their efforts unleash myriad spirits and uncover horrifying secrets of the generations who have lived and died there.

The ensemble cast includes Nancy Travis, Matt Keeslar, Kimberly J. Brown, David Dukes, Melanie Lynsky, Matt Ross, Julian Sands, Kevin Tighe, Julia Campbell, Emily Deschanel, Laura Kenny, Tsidii LeLoka and Yvonne Scio.

Mr. King and Emmy Award-winner Mark Carliner ("Stalin," "George Wallace") are executive producers. Thomas Brodek is producer and Craig Baxley is director. The teleplay was written by Stephen King.

"Stephen King's Rose Red" was produced for ABC by Greengrass Productions, Inc., in association with Victor Television Productions, Inc., and Mark Carliner Productions.

A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.

This is sounding cooler and cooler as it draws close. Still no word on a Storm of the Century-type tie-in sceenplay publication, but we'll let you know the second we hear anything...

(Dec 03) Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide, by Stephen Jones, will have an American pressing in February. From all accounts, this book goes far above any past look at the films of Stephen King, earning great reviews from every aspect of the King community. Check it out!

(Nov 26) More Everything's Eventual news! The subtitle of the collection now seems to be "14 Dark Tales," which, when you add it all up, equals semi-sadness for King fans everywhere. "14" indicates that there will only be one brand-new story, in addition to those previously published tales listed below. No word yet on the story title, or what it's about. Oh, and we have some stats for those who need to know: the price will be $28.00 and the book's ISBN is 0-743-23515-0.

(Nov 19) You want stories? WE GOT STORIES! So far, 13 stories have been confirmed for King's upcoming March 2002 collection Everything's Eventual. They are:

1. Riding the Bullet
2. Luckey Quarter
3. Autopsy Room Four
4. L.T.'s Theory of Pets
5. Lunch at the Gotham Cafe
6. The Man in the Black Suit
7. Everything's Eventual
8. That Feeling, You can Only Say What It Is in French
9. The Little Sisters of Eluria
10. The Road Virus Heads North
11. In the Deathroom
12. 1408
13. All That You Love Will be Carried Away

The big surprise here is "Little Sisters," which - for those who don't know - is a prequel to The Gunslinger, and which ties in explicitly to Black House. (Also, I'm pleased as punch that "Carried Away" will finally see a book printing. This is indeed one of King's very best fictions to date.) THANK YOU J NOLAN!!!

(Nov 19) And we have air dates for the upcoming miniseries Rose Red (which is also mentioned in Black House...) This six-hour miniseries will air on January 27th, 28th, and 31st, 2002, on ABC. WOO HOO!

(Nov 16) BIG ASS NEWS! The publishing schedule for 2002 has now been radically changed! King's new novel From a Buick 8 was supposed to come out in March 2002. No longer. Now, Buick 8 will be published next September ... and King's long-awated 4th short story compilation will be arriving in March instead! WOO HOO!!!

The history of this book's publication has been crazy. Rumors abounded all over the internet as to when it would come out, what its title would be, etc. The waiting is over, kids: the book will not be called Road Kill or One Headlight. Instead, the title comes from King's amazing novella Everything's Eventual, which is one of the 15+ stories in this 500+ page collection.

So far, the only stories that are confirmed are "Everything's Eventual" and "L.T.'s Theory of Pets," but on my new Everything's Eventual page, I've made some educated guesses (and hopes) as to the rest of the roster. My hope is that there will be some new tales in this one, but you just never know with King.

So, there are your stats: over 500 pages, 17 short stories, two confirmed titles, and a March 2002 release date. YEY!!!

(11-12-01) I want to give a shout out to ALL my loyal Charnel House readers who supported me in signing up for Brian Freeman's terrific King news mailing list. The contest is over, the ballots are counted, and I have WON BIG TIME!!! I didn't get the grand prize, but I came in second, with the From a Buick 8 "gift" edition, being put out by Cemetery Dance early next year. WAY cool!!! Again, thank you all, and when I get more actual info on this volume, I'll let you all know. (SO EXCITED!)

(09-28-01) Hey! My full-length Black House review is now up!!! WOO HOO!

(11-08-01) And some more sad news for you Plant fans. From today's Yahoo Internet Life interview with Stephen King:

"The reason ["The Plant" was never finished] is that the story never picked me up and carried me. With The Green Mile it was something else. That story just spread wings. I didn't write it; it wrote it. I love when that happens. But with "The Plant" there was always that sense of pushing the story along. It was never an issue of would people read it or how many people were buying into it. Financially we did quite well. But...It remains unfinished."

Thanks to hawkeye Nesler for the info!

(11-07-01) Some sad news for you Talisman fans: Creature-Corner.com has reported that the proposed miniseries for ABC-TV has been canceled. (This makes absolutely no sense to me, given 1. The popularity of King miniseries in the past and 2. THe current popularity of Black House. But when have TV execs made any sense?) Read the full story -->here!

(11-05-01) Hey kids: just received my two copies of The Essential Stephen King and they are AMAZING! I was really surprised by the numbered one. I knew it was going to come in a slipcase, but I didn't know it would be this cool, all black see-through plastic. Also, I was unaware that there would be a dust jacket with it. Nice surprise! Betts still has some copies left, so go order yours now! (Seriously, I'm not being hyperbolic here: once Betts sells out, that's it. There's literally no more copies left. Go! Now!)

(11-03-01) You can now view the American Winners of the On Writing contest on Stephen King's official site. I;ve yet to read them, but I've heard they are all pretty darn good.

(10-30-01) Now you can view the (even cooler) British cover of From a Buick 8 ---> here!

(10-27-01) Interesting Rose Red news: just learned that it was origianlly going to be a remake of The Haunting, with Liam Neeson starring. Apparently, there was a falling out with King and the creative team, and The Haunting became the movie that came out a few years ago, and King took his original screenplay and modified it, and it became Rose Red. So, a little background for you!

(10-26-01) UPDATE on The Essential Stephen King!!! In an email from George Beahm I JUST received, he informed me that:

"[He] just heard from Stuart Tinker and the slipcases are now in Bangor--they arrived a few minutes ago. So, the book, dust jacket and slipcase are all on hand and it's just a matter of time for customers to get their copies. Stuart is packing these himself because he wants to get the job done right."

These books are SOOOO cool! More description from George Beahm's Website:

"The book is 504 pages and is printed on heavy sixty-pound white book stock--archival paper, designed to last more than a lifetime. The limited edition is bound in black cloth with white overprinting that extends from the back to the front cover, listing (alphabetically) all of the works examined by Spignesi. Sturdily bound in sewn signatures, the book's trim size is 6.25 x 9.25 inches. The book is protected with a dust jacket that repeats the design of the stamping on the book itself; and the book and jacket fit snugly inside a hand-made acrylic slipcase.

This edition is, properly, the Writer's Cut. We have restored all the dropped text, reset all the type, redesigned all the pages, added new photos and art, and have brought the book up to its original state of grace.

The contributors who signed the book include: Stephen J. Spignesi, George Beahm, Charlie Fried, Tyson Blue, Mick Garris, Jim Cole, Jay Holben, Michael R. Collings, and Bev Vincent.

The new text includes: a new introduction by Spignesi; a new foreword by Beahm; a hilarious 3,200-word tongue-in-cheek by former Castle Rock contributing editor, Tyson Blue; a "Fan's Favorites" as seen from the perspective of the membership of SKEMERS; a restructuring by Spignesi of the top 100 by category; Spignesi's choice of 49 runners up; a look at King's future works; a master "A to Z" list compiled by Spignesi, comprised of 565 items; the complete text to Robert Browning's poem, "Child Roland to the Dark Tower Came"; the complete text to Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"; a Stephen King-like poem by Spignesi; a revised afterword by Beahm; and, of course, the full text of the trade edition.

The labor involved in shipping this book out is considerable. Each book must be very carefully packed by hand and cushioned, to survive one-way shipping. Boxes were made to order for this book, which should insure safe delivery. Cushioning will be extensive."

Kids, this is truly a book you NEED to own. There are still copies available at Betts Bookstore, and ONLY at Betts bookstore. This is an EXTREMELY limited edition, so I would reccomend ordering ASAP:

--> Website: http://www.bettsbooks.com
--> Phone: (207)947-7052
--> Fax: (207)947-6615
--> Email: Bettsbooks@aol.com

You can also see pictures and get a more extensive description of the book at George Beahm's Website. WOO HOO!

(10-21-01) The Essential Stephen King limited edition is NOW AVAILABLE at Betts Books in Bangor, Maine for the low low LOW price of $75. Take a look at the book, with slipcase -->HERE! I got my copy a few days ago, and I have to say: WOW. Even if you bought the regular edition, you are not prepared for the restored text, dozens of new illustrations, suprising extras, and sumptuous production design. This is a book you need to own.

(10-12-01) Dreamcatcher will be out in paperback on November 27th! Yey! Here, you will see a (small) reproduction of the cover graphic. Not as cool as the hardcover cover, but still pretty cool. (Thanks J Nolan!)

(10-12-01) The film version of Paranoid will FINALLY be released ... packaged with issue #6 of Total Movie Magazine (as was originally scheduled!) Look for the December/January issue. I'll report when it's available!

(10-09-01) BIG BEAHM NEWS!!! Just received a letter from George Beahm about The Final Phantasmagoria and The Essential Stephen King. For those who ordered these things, or are thinking of doing so (and you really should!), please read on...

1. PHANTASMAGORIA: THE FINAL CHAPTER is now officially out of print from the publisher--i.e., Beahm. He had a box or two remaining, and those were sent to Stuart Tinker [at Betts Books], who is the sole source for this book now. (You can just click on that link, or call Betts at 207-947-7052. Tell Stu Kev sent you!)

2. THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN KING is now in print. I got a confirmation today from the printer in Canada that they have shipped the book to Bangor. Stuart Tinker is honoring the $ 60 prepublication price until the books physically arrive in Bangor, which will likely be late Thursday or early Friday. So, please, if someone wants to order this edition, do so now; otherwise, the few remaining copies will be sold at the regular retail price of $75.

On the 10th, slipcase manufacturing will begin. These are being made by hand and as soon as they have enough to ship -- i.e., lots of 100 -- they'll ship them to Bangor and the orders will be processed in the order they were received.

In other words, THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN KING is now in print, and it's the last chance to get them at the "prepublication" price.

This is a 504-page book and is light years apart in terms of content, typesetting, design, packaging, etc. This is a good example of why small presses exist.

So, YEY! I reccomend this to everyone interested in (1) a more complete version of Essential SK or (2) well-crafted, small press books. Again, that Betts info is:

(10-09-01) Okay, weird info here: I don't normally do movie stuff here, but we here at the House found this kind of interesting. There's an in-depth documentary on the making of The Shawshank Redemption called Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature. Apparently, it was only broadcast on British television, and is not available in the US at all. Anyone else heard of this? (Thanks to Hawkeye Joy for the info!)

(10-09-01) Duh! Dept.: Okay, so you know how the prologue to Dark Tower 5 is called "Calla Brin Sturges," and that the book is going to be a sort of takeoff of the movie The Magnificent Seven (as disclosed by King himself on his website)? Well, the guy who directed Magnificent Seven was named John Sturges. I know this was probably way obvious to everyone else for weeks, but I just figured it all out yesterday. Sorry for all the duh.

(10-05-01) Recently, Dark Tower expert Anthony Schwethelm saw King speak at the "Stephen King Day" at the University of Maine at Orono. King was scheduled to read from Hearts in Atlantis ... but instead read from The Dark Tower 5! (And no, not the "Calla Bryn Sturges" prologue - MORE) Click HERE to read a full report of the reading, with many spoilers and details revealed! (Thanks to Anthony for permission to reprint!)

(10-05-01) King's being reprinted in Family Circle again: this time it's in the November first issue. The article is called "What You Pass On," and it's an excerpt from King's Vassar speech, which can be read in full here.

(10-02-01) The Today show interview with King and Straub, talking about Black House is now online, and you can view it here!. (It's a good one, too. King's looking quite a lot better, if still maybe too thin.)

(10-02-01) Hey! Want to help promote literacy, teamwork, and Stephen King singing "Teen Angel?" Great! Then surf on over to the Stephen King "Future" page and purchase tickets for the upcoming three Rock Bottom Remainders concerts! Yey! Help the children!

(10-01-01) WOO HOO! Cemetery Dance Publications has now officially announced that they will be puclishing King's upcoming book From a Buick 8 in a limited edition! This book will be signed by King and illustrated by Bernie Wrightson, who did the great Cycle of the Werewolf illustrations and all the panels for Creepshow. (There is also news that there will also be a "gift" edition, but that hasn't been fully confirmed yet.) Visit their website, sign up for their mailing list, subscribe to their magazine, because this is the time to be CD informed!!

(09-23-01) WOO HOO!!! Black House S/L news!

From the Donald M. Grant Newsletter:

Welcome to issue #7 of the Donald M. Grant Newsletter

September 21

1. Lottery procedure for BLACK HOUSE
2. BLACK HOUSE recap

Please read ALL of this:

1. There will be 1,500 numbered & signed copies of BLACK HOUSE. About 100 copies will not be sold but are being given to the authors, artist, Random House, etc. Accordingly there will be between 150 and 200 copies available (as well as unclaimed copies with numbers between 1 and 1,200).
All unclaimed copies will be made available only to people who are not eligible to buy a Numbered & Signed BLACK HOUSE (ie don't have a S&N WIZARD & GLASS)
We are doing this so that as many people as possible can receive a copy.
We will do a lottery drawing the first week of December for copies numbered above 1,200.
AFTER we ship the previously ordered books, we will do a SECOND drawing for unclaimed copies numbered between 1 and 1,200.

All requests we receive will remain in the Lottery Pool, so DO NOT send us a second request in December.

TO BE IN THE LOTTERY:

Send in a POSTCARD, (NOT an email or letter) which reads:
Please put me in the lottery to purchase a copy of the signed & numbered BLACK HOUSE.

Include your name, address, phone number and, if you want, email address.
REMEMBER, only send in ONE card. If we receive more than one card from anyone we will throw them ALL away.
When we send out our flyer the order form will include a lottery request. If you have already sent us a postcard, do not duplicate your lottery request on your order form if ordering a book(s).

2. RECAP

Please check our website:

http://grantbooks.com/talisman2.html

for any information and updates. Please don¹t call or email asking for information which is supplied on the website. People still do and it just delays our work on the flyer, books, answering other emails and shipping your orders.
You can order a S&N BLACK HOUSE for every S&N WIZARD & GLASS that you own. If you also have a S&N TALISMAN (in addition to a S&N W&G) from the 1,200 copy edition, we will give you that number. Otherwise you will receive the same number of your WIZARD & GLASS unless some one has a TALISMAN with that number. In that event the number you receive will be random.
If you are eligible to order a S&N BLACK HOUSE based on the above you cannot be in the lottery (so that as many people as possible may get a copy)

Only one lottery card per person. PLEASE.

Thank you.

Robert K. Wiener
President
Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc.

WOO HOO!!! Send in those postcards, people!

(09-23-01) A Daily News article titled "The Growing Pains of Stephen King" has just been released, and it's quite good; Stephen Spignesi, George Beahm, and Tony Maistrale (Stephen King: The Second Decade) are interviewed.

(09-22-01) A new article on New York Times Online discusses novelists and how they see their work in light of the WTC Tragedy. I'm reprinting King's portion on my Spare Parts page, but follow the link to read the whole article: it's quite good (if, at times, chilling. My thought on entertainment at this point mirrors King's - writing, movies, TV - all that may be "irrelevant" - but if we let go of it, the terrorists win. Let's not let them win.)

(09-22-01) Fangoria #207 is out now, with a review of Black House! Check it out! (Thanks, J Nolan, for all the news!)

(09-24-01) Collection Insanity Dept.: More dispelling of rumors about King's upcoming short story collection. According to King's office as of today, the new collection will not be out until 2003, and it will not be titled Rear View Mirror. Keep watching this space for more rumors, updates, and bald lies.

(09-24-01) Spoiler Alert: There is a new tidbit about the plot of the upcoming Dark Tower 5 over on my Crawling Shadow page (as it is a spoiler, I'm not putting it on the main page; also, yes, I realize that the book probably won't be called The Crawling Shadow, but that's the closest to an official title we have). It's not any big revalation for people who have read the prologue, but it's still neat. Check it out!

(09-24-01) The stats for the upcoming From a Buick 8: 416 pages, $28.00, ISBN: 0-743-21137-5. Yey!

(09-22-01) Just to let you all know: I am reading Black House! I read quite slowly, though (which is why I try to get the review copies when I can), so that's the reason for the delay. As soon as I finish it, I swear I'll put it up!

(09-21-01) HAPPY 54th BIRTHDAY, STEPHEN KING!!!! We here at Charnel House hope you have a terrific day and a wonderful year. Thanks again for all the words.

(09-18-01) Stephen King speaks out about the September 11th tragedy, in a New York Times essay called "The Weapon," part of the NYT series "The Elements of Tragedy." Read it on my Spare Parts page or visit the New York Times site.

(09-17-01) Hey, all! Check out Stephen Spignesi's new essay We Are America on my Stephen Spignesi page. If I may be permitted to say so, this is just what we need. Thank you, Steve and thanks to all my readers.

(09-17-01) George Beahm's The Final Phantasmagoria has been shipped out to subscribers! Yey! There are still some copies left at $20 each - surf on over to GB Books to check the status of copies. Very cool!

(09-15-01) Black House has just hit American shelves. Ladies and gentlemen, start your shopping. (And, without giving anything away, let me just say this: the book is good. Very good. Much more a horror novel so far thean The Talisman, and much, much darker. Enjoy!)

(09-13-01) There has been a lot of confusion about the news of the upcoming short story collection (known previously as One Headlight). The only thing certain right now is that Scribner is discussing releasing the collection in September 2002. The title of the collection is still up in the air (I had heard a rumor that it would be titled Road Kill, but that appears to have been erroneous.) The term "a very certain possibility" has come up a couple times in conjunction with all of this. So, what we've got here is an "official rumor." If that makes any sense ... :)

(09-10-01) It's been confirmed that the Cemetery Dance Publications limited edition will be coming out in March 2002, with "lots of extras!" Yey! The artwork is said to be "amazing", but we still have no official word on the artist (although Berni Wrightson is rumored.) Exact date to come...

(09-10-01) Back from Scotland and what can I tell you? Oh yeah: NOW OWN BLACK HOUSE!!!! I'm getting on this one immediately, kids - the review is to come!

(09-05-01) Hey kids! Writing from Scotland here, plopped down in an Internet cafe in Edinburgh, simply so I can update you all on your Stephen King news. (I'm not sure if this is noble or sad.) Just a breif annoying autobiographical pause: I have bought so many UK King books here and in London that it turned out to be too expensive to ship back. Color me insane. Also destitute. Anyway, onto the King updates!!!

(09-05-01) Scribner has now released its first official ad for the upcoming From a Buick 8, including a small reproduction of the official cover and the first ever description of the plot!!! Click here to see the full ad. The cover can be found on my From a Buick 8 page. You wanna hear about the plot? Here goes:

Ever since 1979, the state police of Troop D in rural western Pennsylvania have kept a vintage Buick Roadmaster-or what looks almost just like one-caged in Shed B out back of the barracks. That's when Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox answered a call about its driver gone missing from a gas station just down the road. Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew this one was suspect. When Rafferty vanished a few hours later, Wilcox and his fellow troopers knew it was worse than dangerous-and that it would be better if John Q. Public never found out about it. Mostly the car sleeps (that's one way of putting it, anyway), but even as it sleeps it breathes-inhaling a little bit of this world, exhaling a little bit of whatever world it came from.

In the fall of 2001, Wilcox's eighteen-year-old boy Ned starts coming by the barracks, mowing the lawn, washing windows, shoveling snow. Sergeant Commanding Sandy Dearborn knows it's the boy's way of holding on to his father, killed in the line of duty in a gruesome auto accident. Missing his father, Ned is allowed to become part of the Troop D family, and one day he looks through a window of Shed B and discovers the family secret. Just like his father, he wants answers. And the secret begins to stir.

From a Buick 8 is a novel about the fascination deadly things have for us and about our insistence on answers when there are none. Like The Green Mile, it is set in a close knit and isolated community and exploits King's unparalleled ability to describe the often sinister interaction of men in small groups. King completed a draft of From a Buick 8 before his own near-fatal auto accident just two years ago, and he addresses the coincidences between his life and the novel in a fascinating afterword.

WAY COOL!!!! I, for one, can't wait for this book. AND, when the paperback of Dreamcatcher comes out (also March 2002), there will be a short excerpt from the new book in it. YEY! Life is good for King fans. (Thanks goes to Lilja for all the FaB8 news!)

(09-05-01) The final issue of PHANTASMAGORIA, the Stephen King 'zine, is being shipped to the GB Inc on September 10th. If you're a subscriber, you should be receiving your copy fairly soon after that. (There is a leatherbound lettered limited coming as well...)

In other GB Inc news, THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN KING is at the printer and the delivery date at Betts Books in Bangor is now listed as October 9th. Dates on both of these are subject to change - please keep checking back for updated information.

(09-05-01) The UK site for Black House is now available!!! Click here to check it out!

(09-05-01) The internet-only "bridge" story that was to connect The Talisman and Black House has now been abandoned. According to sources, King just has too much else to do. (Thanks, J Nolan!)

(08-24-01) Read the first full review of Black House, on Amazon.com. (It contains potential spoilers - watch out!) Thanks, Brian!

(08-23-01) You can now hear an audio excerpt of the upcoming Talisman audio production, read by Frank Muller. Check it out --> here. (Thanks to hawkeye Ron for the tip!)

(08-23-01) Check out the From a Buick 8 COVER (trade edition), just released from Scribner -->

Not sure how much I like the cover yet -- it sort of smacks of "horrormeister" instead of the more (for lack of a better word) "literary" covers of King's last few books. But still VERY COOL!!! (Click on the small pic to see the larger one; thanks for the tip Lilja!)

(08-22-01) GIANT BLACK HOUSE NEWS!!!. The limited editions (both signed and unsigned) of Black House are now available on the Donald M. Grant Black House order form! Go there NOW to reserve your copy! Here are some of the AMAZING details:

Signed Limited rules:

This book is being sold $232.00.

You can order a Signed & Numbered Black House ONLY if you have a signed & numbered edition of Wizard & Glass.

If you only have a signed & numbered edition of Wizard & Glass, your Black House will be matched to that provided that no one reports a Talisman with that number.

If you have your Wizard & Glass number already registered with us you do not need to send us a copy of the signature page. No one needs to send us a copy of their Talisman signature page. If two people claim to have numbered book then they will enquire further.

Unsigned limited rules:

And I think this is even cooler: The unsigned "gift" edition of Black House comes slipcased with a NEW gift edition of The Talisman!!! WOO HOO!!! The two volume set is being sold at $157.00 (that's right - for BOTH!!!). You don't have to own either signed limiteds of Talisman or Wizard and Glass to order these babies - they're available to EVERYONE!

No news yet on how unclaimed Black House s/l are being dealt with - my guess is with a lottery of some kind. Either way, GO ORDER NOW!!! (J Nolan is the MAN!)

(08-21-01) The prologue to The Dark Tower 5 (titled "Calla Bryn Sturgis") is NOW AVAILABLE right here, on King's own website!!!. Oh my God, palpitations. This is official, on King's own website!!! Go there now! (Smaller news: the new book "probably won't be titled The Crawling Shadow".) WOO HOO!!! (Thanks again J Nolan - YOU ROCK!)

(08-20-01) IT IS CONFIRMED!!! This is direct from King's office, kids - it's the real deal. Cemetery Dance publications will be releasing a limited edition of From a Buick 8 concurrent with the mass market release next spring (no exact date yet.) Please, for the love of all that is good and right in this world, PLEASE to not bombard Cemetery Dance with emails and questions - they have enough to do! I've been assured that as soon as details become available, we'll be reading about them on the CD website, and you'll hear it here first! Keep watching this space.... (Thanks to hawkeye J Nolan and Marsha D for this update!!!)

(08-20-01) Big news day! This is not yet confirmed, but there is now word that the Rock Bottom Remainders will be adding quite a few dates to their tour. (Boston, Boston, please come to Boston!)

(08-20-01) Okay, kids: Here are the variant formats in which you can buy the upcoming Black House. They are really embracing the internet with this one. (Note: this does not include the Donald M. Grant version coming out later in the year.) All publication dates are September 15, 2001

Hardcover (0-375-50439-7) $28.95

eBook (1-58836-054-7) $23.00

Hardcover Large Print (0-375-43151-9) $28.95

Audio Cassette (Unabridged, Read by Frank Muller; 0-7393-0010-5)$54.95

Audio Download (0-7393-0015-6) $32.95

No news yet on the CD, but I know there will be one. Enjoy!

(08-20-01) Okay kids, regarding the From a Buick 8 rumors, here is the Official word from Cemetery Dance:

Cemetery Dance Publications has an amazing line-up of books to announce in late September -- including two or three MAJOR surprises! Be sure to visit the official Cemetery Dance website (www.cemeterydance.com) and join their exclusive email mailing list to be one of the first readers to receive these special announcements. Keep in mind, many of these titles will sell out immediately, and members of the email list will be the first to know when books are available for preorder. Thanks!

So, join that email list! What are you waiting for!? We'll get you more news ASAP!!!

(08-18-01) Reprint news! There's a brand-new paperback reprint of Danse Macabre planned by Berkley Publishing Group being released on September 15th (to coincide with the publication of Black House.) No news yet if there's any new content in the book. In addition, Night Shift is being rereleased in December and Needful Things is being rereleased in January, from NAL and Dutton. No news if these will have new author's introductions, as Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, and The Shining did in their repints. (Thanks for the news, Lilja!)

(08-17-01) Unsubstatiated Rumor Department: There's a rumor (let me just stress RUMOR) that Cemetery Dance Publications will be doing a limited edition of King's upcoming From a Buick 8. Berni Wrightson is rumored to illutrate. Keep in mind, this is only a rumor! We'll let you know if anything percolates... (Thanks to Hawkeyerland for the tip!)

(08-16-01) Dark Tower 5 News!!!. Direct from the office itself: The Crawling Shadow is "definitely more than 50 [pages.]" Apparently, King's original plan to finish all 3 books in a row (but publish them a year apart) seems to be in gear now. The earliest DT5 would be published is 2003, even if he finishes before then (this is due to the artist's work, the editing, and the actual printing.) So, solid news, but still kind of a wait. (Thanks to Hawkeye J Nolan Carr and, of course, Marsha DeFilippo.)

(08-16-0) The location map is now available on the Official Black House Site. Now you can check out the Black House sites and locales!

(08-15-01) Periphery Department: The September issue of Good Housekeeping includes an interview with Tabitha King. In the interview, Mrs. King discusses Stephen's problems with his past addiction. My justification for including this news here is that King talked about his addictions in On Writing, and it helped to understand his writing better. So there! :)

(08-15-01) The second installment of Tyson Blue's "Needful Kings Online" column is now up at Liljas Library! It's called "King is Back, with a little help from his friend..." Check it out!

(08-14-01) Check out this review of the upcoming Carrie DVD. I don't normally report on movie stuff, but this preview really impressed me. Enjoy!

(08-09-01) The Official Black House Site is now up! Now, I know wht you're thinking: that an official site is nowhere near as good as a fan site can possibly be. Well, in this case, you're dead wrong! This site offers a table of contents for the book, an excerpt from the book, and - best of all - a lengthy letter from the editor, Lee Boudreaux. In this letter, Boudreaux discusses the plot of Black House at great length (who is this "villainous Burny??!?!" The crow's name is Gorg?! ARGH!) This is a terrific site for fans who get off on getting this type of minutae. This site is WAY packed, and I urge each of you to visit it often! (I've added the above link to the Black House area of this site ... as well as the BH table of contents. Enjoy!)

(08-09-01) According to Anthony Schwethelm's amazing Dark Tower Compendium, The Dark Tower 5 is now 44 pages long! YEY! Thanks, Anthony!

(08-09-01) The Stephen King/John Mellencamp Musical is still a go:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - John Mellencamp and fiction writer Stephen King expect to complete the musical they're working on sometime in February.

Mellencamp said the two plan to meet in February to finish the musical, which he termed "an American story."

"Steve has written the most beautiful story," he said. "I've written about five songs for this thing and there's not one rock song anywhere near it."

Mellencamp said he still has about 10 songs to write for the production.

"If this works like we think it's going to, it'll be great," he said.

(08-08-01) The Random House Black House Audiobook website has a 6 1/2 minute exeprt of the book. Go take a listen! (Thanks, Lilja!)

(08-08-01) Cinescape gives Stephen Spignesi's The Essential Stephen King an "A" review!.

(08-05-01) Check out my review of the live recording of LT's Theory of Pets, now in the audio section of my Six Stories page!

(08-04-01) My brand new review of The Essential Stephen King, limited edition, has now been written. I think my review speaks for itself, but seriously, kids: hyperbole is not enough. Buy this book! You won't regret it!

(08-02-01) I'm back from the Fifth Annual SKEMERs con, and boy do I have lots of news! Let's run it down, shall we?

Biggest news first: King is NOW WORKING on The Dark Tower 5: The Crawling Shadow. This is very exciting news, and serves to halfway confirm my theory that the book will be out by next fall! WOO HOO!

Black House news: The new paperback release of The Talisman is now out, and it contains the first chapter of Black House, coming in at 18 pages! WOO HOO!

The 'Salem's Lot 4-hour miniseries remake will air next season on TNT. WOO HOO!

I just finished listening to the audio version of L.T.'s Theory of Pets this morning - I hope to get a review out tonight.

Speaking of reviews, this weekend I got a chance to get a galley of the upcoming complete and uncut edition of Stephen Spignesi's The Essential Stephen King. Read my review here!.

...and finally, some interesting news on the Uncollected Works front. Surf on over to that page, and you'll see some big changes. While in Maine this weekend, I had a chance to take a look at some previously unheard of King stuff - stories like "Comb Dump" and "Mobius" and "Loon Call." I'm in the process of heavily beefing up my uncollected site, to now reflect novels, screenplays, and now these unpublished short stories. Keep checking back over the next few days for listings.

(Jul 26) Head on over to King's Official Site and check out the "future" area. New Bag of Bones news: Film rights have been optioned, with MGM distributing. Bruce Willis is the producer, which I found kind of odd. But cool! In addition, pictures are now located on King's "Future" page, and the formatting is a little different. It looks a lot better now. (Thanks to hawkeye Scottie Englin for the news!)

(Jul 26) Check out this short interview with Mick Garris, regarding his work on The Talisman. The interview's short, but still pretty neat.

(Jul 26) The Fifth Annual SKEMERs Convention is taking place in Bangor starting tomorrow! WOO HOO! I will be there until the end of the month, which means probably no updates while I'm away. I'm still unsure if I'm going to be doing a full-out "con essay" like I did the first three years, but I will definitely have a picture page this year, along with some tidbits. Looking forward to seeing the house again, that's all I'm saying...

(Jul 23) Because of the excitement of news of The Kingdom, I decided to create a page for the series. In light of that, it seemed kind of silly not to include a Golden Years page. So, they're both up, very bare bones, but I will be adding to them ASAP. (The Golden Years review will come soon after Skeleton Crew, The Stand ('90), and Secret Windows.)

(Jul 23) Over at Lilja's Library, they have a brand new interview with Peter Straub regarding the upcoming collaberation Black House. In the interview, Straub answers a lot of questions about the upcoming book (far moreso than in my earlier interview with Straub), and also refrains from insulting his interviewers (but is still quite acerbic, don't worry!) Check it out at once!

(Jul 22) A few years have passed since the relative failure of Golden Years, and King has decided to tackle series television again! From Reuters:

Stephen King to Take a Stab at Network Series TV

PASADENA (Reuters) - The supernatural thriller master who made household names out of "Cujo," "Carrie" and "Christine" will try to work his same magic for the first time on prime time series television. [Webmaster's note: This is not the first time. That would be Golden Years.]

Stephen King's "The Kingdom" is set to debut in the 2002-03 season, and will begin with a two-hour installment followed by 13 one-hour episodes, according to ABC, the Walt Disney Co. unit that will broadcast the show.

Despite the similarity in names between the show and its primary creative force, "The Kingdom" is actually based on a Danish miniseries of the same title by Lars Van Trier, whose credits include the film "Breaking the Waves."

The new show will include "shocking and frightening tales" centered on a haunted hospital built over an ancient graveyard.

King has worked on television before with such miniseries as "The Stand," "The Tommyknockers" and "Storm of the Century," but "The Kingdom" will mark his first foray into prime time series television, said Stu Bloomberg, co-chairman of ABC Entertainment Television Group.

"This has been a passion of his," Bloomberg told a gathering of reporters on Sunday at an event to promote the network's upcoming shows. "He is writing the first two hours. He might write all of (the remaining 13 hours). He loves this project."

Bloomberg said the direction the show will take after the initial two-hour opener has yet to be determined. And despite the show's basis in the Danish original, the series will bear King's distinctive imprint, Bloomberg added.

"He's going to make it very much his own," he said.

The series will mark one of the biggest commitments for King -- a highly prolific author -- since he was severely injured in June 1999 when a van struck him while he walked along the side of a highway in his home state of Maine.

King suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs and numerous pelvic, hip and leg fractures in the accident, and was told that his rehabilitation would be long and painful.

Earlier this year, King estimated his medical bills, future surgeries and lost writing income as a result of the mishap would add up to between $65 million and $75 million.

King is also the creative force behind the "Rose Red," an ABC miniseries set to air in 2002.

WOO HOO! Yey for King! New series TV! (But not the first...) Thanks to Brian for the info!

(Jul 18) The audio version of King's L.T.'s Theory of Pets is now out in stores, read by King himself! I suggest you buy it, and listen to it along with Blood & Smoke, for a whole "uncollected audio King" atmosphere. Or maybe I'm just insane.

(Jul 08/09) Okay kids, I've been keeping this top secret for about a month now, and now I finally get to talk about it. Stephen Spignesi's The Essential Stephen King is finally going to be released in the version it was originally intended: complete and uncut. When the book went to the mainstream publishers, they balked at the length and thoroughness, and what you got was a truncated version of what should have been the defining "fan comment" on what makes Stephen King America's best author. Now the book that should have been is here, and lemme tell ya: it's a doozy.

Quoting from the Betts site: "Limited to only 666 numbered copies, signed by all of the contributors. The prepublication price is only $60.00 and a lettered, leatherbound state of 52 copies, in a wooden slipcase, is available at the prepublication price of $175.00. Both states will be signed by the following: Stephen Spignesi, George Beahm, Jim Cole, Jay Holben, Tyson Blue, Michael Collings, Mick Garris, Bev Vincent and Charlie Fried."

7-9-00 Update: In addition to all the cool new sections you'll read about below, keep in mind that the entire LOOK of this book will be changed, as well. This isn't going to be like The Regulators limited that was essentially the same book with some whistles and bells. Beahm, as the publisher, is going in and radically redesigning the look of the book, tossing out all the white space and redoing the text from the inside out. In addition, there will be a new trim size, and the book will be packed with photos. For all intents and purposes, this Essential SK will be a whole different book.

Kids, this book is going to be available EXCLUSIVELY through Betts Bookstore. You're not going to find it at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com. Just Betts. Order NOW. Please surf on over HERE for more info. Ordering information is below.

Someone recently posited in the SKEMERs newsletter, "Why would anybody buy a limited edition of a book about King?" Here are twelve reasons why you NEED to own this limited (courtesty of the Betts site):

1. "In The Matter Of Stephen King" by Tyson Blue. A 3,200 word legal brief defending Stephen King against charges that his work does not stand up against the fiest classic American literature.

2. "Fan's Favorites" - the SKEMERS rank their favorite King works, a 1,300 word poll drawn from over 300 members of the premiere King fan club on the Internet.

3."Stephen King Essentials" - a restructuring of the top 100 by category: Essential Novels, Essential Novellas, Essential Short Stories,Essential Nonfiction.

4. "Forty-nine runners-up" - King pieces that did not make the top 100, but are of exceptional merit and noteworthy.

5."On The Horizon" - a look at future works.

6. "The Stephen King Master A to Z List" - the master 588 item, A to Z bibliography from which the list was drawn.

7. The complete text of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask Of Amontillado".

8. The complete text of Robert Browning's "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came".

9. A poem by Spignesi, "A Crow On The Lawn Of The House I Grew Up In", accompanying the "Paranoid: A Chant" chapter.

10. A new introduction by George Beahm, done especially for this edition.

11. A Playboy-style interview with Spignesi.

12. Dozens of photos, many never seen before!

This is really going to be an amazing book, people. If you already have a copy of The Essential Stephen King, you don't have the whole story. If you don't: for the love of all that is holy, go reserve this book NOW! Write Betts at Bettsbooks@aol.com (or just click on the link), fax them at 207-947-6615, or call them at 207-947-7052. Do it NOW! Once these books are gone, they're gone.

Oh, and hey - do me a favor. If you learned about the book from Charnel House, or are ordering it from here, just mention either the site or me, Kev. Thanks!

(Jul 13) Normally, I wouldn't report on something as peripheral as this, but it's kind of neat: The August issue of Premiere magazine (Reese WItherspoon on the cover, looking like Goldilocks) has a giant feature article on the 25th Anniversary of the film version of Carrie. In celebration of the upcoming packed DVD, the article features interviews with the cast and crew and discussed the DVD's myriad of features. Thanks to Joy for the info!

(Jul 12) The first of Tyson Blue's new, exclusively online version of his "Needful Things" column appeared on Lilja's Library today (which is Friday the 13th over there in Sweden.) Just to prove there's no rancor between us webmasters, I will refrain from whining because Lilja's got Tyson Blue exclusively. {refrain, refrain, refrain}

(Jul 10) Donald M. Grant publishers now tell us that the limited edition release of Black House will probably be delayed until November/December (two to three months after the Random House edition is due.) For those of you who have seen ANY of the Grant editions, you know this is worth the wait. Visit the page, check out all the info there, but please DO NOT email them or call them about the book. All the info they have is either on my site or theirs. Thanks!

(Jul 10) At the beginning of the Dracula 2000 video (no relation to King), there is a preview for King's upcoming Rose Red. I have not seen this yet, but I've heard it's way cool. (From what I hear, watch the preview, then rewind and return. The movie, apparently, reeks.)

(Jul 10) For those interested in the upcoming Hearts in Atlantis film, check out the new movie website! Still the creepy Anthony Hopkins poster. I'm praying this film is good.

(Jul 06) That's right! The Talisman is being rereleased with a brand new cover ... in HARDCOVER. What's that all about? The rerelease is scheduled for September, presumably to capitalize on Black House's release. Great news for all you (and me) King completists!

(Jul 05) Check out the new Hearts in Atlantis movie poster. I personally think it was a huge mistake to have Anthony Hopkins at the centerpiece for this thing, so soon after Hannibal was such a hit. It doesn't look gentle and sweet, it looks creepy. I know it's dangerous to continually associate an actor with his roles, but I don't think that's what's going on here. I mean, Hopkins did Shadowlands after Silence of the Lambs and didn't look this creepy. Hmmmm...

(Jul 05) The troublesome road to get Paranoid, the film, to people should finally be over! Joy Holben's Paranoid will have its world premiere at Hollywood Shorts on July 8th! Admission is free! Anyone care to write an early-bird review for me, as I continue to wait for the DVD?

(Jun 29) Frank Muller, who is doing the audio reading for The Talisman, is also now signed on to do the reading of Black House! Yey continuity!

(Jun 29) The Shining, as you may know, is being re-released by Pocket Books in paperback this September, with a new introduction. Look here for the new cover!

(Jun 29) Okay, in addition to the short stories on the Uncollected page, I've now added all the uncollected POEMS. Look and see!

(Jun 27) All righty! I've now updated my Uncollected section!!! That's right! All the stories are now attributed at least once, and I will be working hard to place all the tales and scratch up new ones. I'm even considering putting a list of all the stories that are actually in King's official volumes, and listing all the early appearances of those. We'll see. Till then - check it out!

(Jun 26) Okay, kids: big NNN!! (that's New Novel News): From a Buick 8 is now scheduled for Spring 2002 - around the same time that the Rose Red miniseries (and hopefully tie-in screenplay!) will be running. Check out King's Official Site "Future" Section. Now, hmmm... This frees up King's normal September slot for ... what? Dark Tower 5? More of The Plant? The short story collection? Something new? We can only wait and see...

(Jun 26) We've got yet more info on Black House (they're really pushing this sucker...) In an email from AtRandom yesterday, Random House offered a wealth of suprises, not the least of which was this: Look for the enhanced e-book, with never-before-seen notes from the authors and editor! So, we have to buy the ebook, as well? Hmmm...
In addition, there were hints that the fifth Dark Tower book will be out in 2003! To round everything off, we have a full plot description - the whole letter can be found on my Black House page! (For more info direct from the source, go to the Random House Black House site.

(Jun 26) Our friends Stu and Penney Tinker over at Betts Books have recently been ROBBED. The a****** who stole a quantity of rare books from them is now proffering the goods on ebay, who have been no help. Read this statement on the Betts site for all the information, and help if you can! Betts has always been a great source for King stuff, but the Tinkers are also some of the nicest and most generous people you'll ever meet. Let's wrangle this theif in and get the Betts stuff back.

(Jun 25) Yes! The Black House proof is now on EBAY! (that's a direct link!) It's expensive, but check it out!

(Jun 22) Exciting Black House news!!! Donald M. Grant has just confirmed that Rick Berry will be doing the art for the upcoming limited of Black House! Berry's stuff is all techno and cool looking - this is going to be interesting!

(Jun 21) Way cool Black House news!!! A brand new Harper Collins web site is detailing the extensive ad campaign, as well as offering a QuickTime ad. VERY neat stuff!

(Jun 22) King was on Fresh Air Online today, discussing the accident and On Writing in paperback! Check it out! (Thanks to Lilja for the heads-up!)

(Jun 20) Read a new interview with Mick Garris regarding the upcoming films Riding the Bullet and The Talisman misiseries. Cool stuff! Thanks to Lilja for the news!

(Jun 19)The Rose Red Project Department: This little tidbit comes from Hawkeye John Nesler. The upcoming Hyperion book titled The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer was supposedly "edited" by a Dr. Joyce Reardon. A search on the name "Joyce Reardon" connects with this site, discussing a Joyce Reardon who does Bible Study meetings ... in Bangor, Maine. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I'm liking the syncronicity. Thanks to John for piquing my interest on this book.

(Jun 19) King's short story "Strawberry Spring" has been turned into a film, to be shown at the St. Louis Local Filmmaker Festival on July 29, 2001. I'm guessing this is a "dollar baby." Will any of you be going to this? Do you feel like reporting on it for me? :)

(Jun 13) BIG ROSE RED NEWS!!! Hyperion is releasing a book in January titled The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, a main character in the upcoming King miniseries Rose Red. The "diary" is supposedly edited by a "Dr. Joyce Reardon," PhD. (For a full description of the content of the diary, check out my Rose Red page. For a picture of the upcoming book, click -->here<--.) No news as of whether King wrote the "diary" himself, or if the miniseries will also be accompanied by a screenplay tie-in, as Storm of the Century was; more news to come!

(Jun 13) According to Lilja's Library, Frank Muller (who has read all the Dark Tower books, The Green Mile and Different Seasons) will be reading the upcoming audiobook for The Talisman! How cool is that? Still no word on whether he's reading Black House or not, but we'll keep you posted!

(Jun 13) Okay, here it is: check out the page I set up for The Essential Stephen King Experiment (it's up above, right under the date.) Lists will go up soon, and we may have a VERY SPECIAL surprise from Mr. Stephen Spignesi himself in the next few days. Heep sending me your lists!

(Jun 12) Okay, kids: here we go. In a recent letter to SKEMERs, I proposed opening up a section on this very website to something I'm going to call The Essential Stephen King Experiment. This little scheme (heh heh) was inspired by my total immersion in Stephen Spignesi's new book The Essential Stephen King, which lists what Spignesi considers to be King's 101 best works, in decending order. My proposal suggests a sort of fan response to the "Official List." I propose that you readers of Charnel House (Contant Readers and Hawkeyes alike) send me your own lists. I've shortened the number to 50 for space (and insanity) purposes - but if you want to do 100 or 25, that's your right. TESKE is meant to show the cross-pollenization of what other fellow fans think about King's work, and to allow a response to this fascinating book by Spignesi. Email me -->HERE<-- with either your list, or to let me know you're working on a list. The section will be up very soon!

(Jun 11) Minor minutae update: the page count for King and Straub's upcoming Black House is 640 pages! Thanks to Randy Axelrad for the info!

(Jun 08) You read correctly! Stephen Spignesi's much-anticipated The Essential Stephen King is now in bookstores (Hardcover, $24.95)!!! This is the book which takes into account everything King has ever written (over 550 individual works) and ranks the top 101 in decending order. I bought the book yesterday and I gotta say, kids, I can't stop going through it. Full review later, but let me just give you a bit of a breakdown here:

-> This book is guaranteed to get your dander up! When I noticed that The Dark Half was not in the top 5, I was like, WHAAAAAT! But Spignesi wisely adds a little section to each chapter detailing why he liked each specific work. Now, this doesn't mean you'll agree with him, of course. (I can anticipate the fun banter in the van on the way to the SKEMERcon this year: "Dude, The Stand TOTALLY shoulda been at #1." "No way, Insomnia was WAY better!" "Listen, It DID go to #1, so I'm right!")

-> There are these fun little pictograms that seperate each chapter into sections that are just kind of neat.

-> The book is kind of like a combination of Spignesi's Quiz Books and The Lost Work of Stephen King: it's in list format, and the "factoids" are very easily digestable, but you can tell Spignesi's all scholarly beneath his pop culture veneer. Like all of Spignesi's books, this one is set up for casual fans and devoted experts.

-> The introduction alone, at once a defense and an explanation, is worth the price of the book. 'Nuff said.

(Jun 08) Harper Collins Australia has now released a slightly different verson of the plot of Black House! Flip yourself on over to my Black House page and check it out!

(Jun 08) On Writing is now out in trade paperback! Run to your local bookseller and pick up a dozen today!

(Jun 05) News from Locus magazine regarding the upcoming Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide by Stephen Jones. I know, I know; another King film guide? But this one sounds kind of interesting:
The book features a candid look, complete with major cast and credit information, at each and every Stephen King movie, sequel and spin-off, along with television adaptations, stage shows, radio plays and computer games, plus details of unproduced and forthcoming projects. Illustrated with numerous rare posters, photographs and book covers, and featuring extensive quotes from many of the key people who worked on these projects -- including an Introduction by Mick Garris and unique contributions from Bernie Wrightson, Harlan Ellison, Peter Straub, Dennis Etchison, Frank Darabont, David J. Schow and others, plus an original career interview with Stephen King himself.

This book is ONLY being released in the UK, so you may wish to check with Amazon.com UK if you want to order it, or one of out Specialty Stores.

(Jun 04) Some Black House news: check out the brand new (and mega cool) Black House ad that Random House is now promoting. In addition, they've also taken on a Black House-specific site. Enjoy!

(Jun 04) And an update on Secret Windows: this book is now available in a trade paperback format from Quality Paperback Book Club" for the low low low price of $13.99 plus $3.59 postage plus $1.06 (which comes out to $18.64 - prices higher outside the US). Check out the brand new cover here.

(May 30) In Stephen Spignesi news, his new book Gems, Jewels, and Treasures: The Complete Jewelry Book is in stores NOW! You Spignesi completists and gemhounds get in your cars and go but it at once! (Or, you cold also follow the handy link and buy it through Amazon.) Steve reports that he will be on QVC later this summer to promote the book. Cool!

(May 29) King won a Stoker award for On Writing! I assume this is in the nonfiction category! Thanks to Bev for the news!

(May 24) Loads of King film info, from Smilin' Jack Ruby's Column on 13th Street. Everything from Darabont's Mist adaptation to King tackling of Patrick McGrath's great novel Asylum. (While you're there, check out 13th Street's 13 Greatest Horror Authors of All Time!) Thanks to Elizabeth Jacobi for the info!!!

(May 23) From Stealth Press: "PETER STRAUB reports with some relief that sequel to THE TALISMAN, BLACK HOUSE, was completed in mid-April -- six weeks ahead of the deadline! -- and has been copy-edited. The next step is for Straub and co-author Stephen King to go through the manuscript and answer the copy editor's queries, which should happen within the next week or so. Publication date is 12 September of this year."

WOO HOO!!! Thanks to Jonathan for the update!!!

(May 23) Time is running out to order this year's SKEMERs T-Shirts! Even if you're not going to be at the con, pick one up for yourself! They're inexpensive, and everytime you wear it, people will know how cool you are!

(May 23) According to Dark Horizons, there's not just one, but TWO film adaptations based on 'Salem's Lot in the works. Why can't they just go ahead and produce Desperation?! Thanks to Dan L. for the news!

(May 21) BIG STUFF HERE! Read a full description of the plot of Black House, over on the Black House page. This appears to be taken from the jacket flap, but I'm not positive about this. Thanks again to Lilja for this info!

(May 18) Lawrence Kasdan, director of movies like The Big Chill and the awesome Grand Canyon has signed on to direct the upcoming adaptation of Dreamcatcher. The news is that William Goldman (who wrote Misery and the mistitled Hearts in Atlantis) is doing the screenplay; no news on shooting, cast, or release dates.

(May 18) Big news for you art fans! Run along over to George Beahm's site and, after reading all his cool updates, follow his link to the Firestarter news. Apparently, Michael Whelan, who did the art for the limited of the novel (see the image below) is now releasing some of his ARTIST'S PROOFS at the low low low price of $85. Check out the pages, order the proof, and then sit smugly on your find as it goes up in value (which it will, guaranteed.)

(May 15) TONS of Black House news. First and foremost, check out the brand-spankin'-new US cover! Very cool! Also, Random House says they will start releasing BH excerpts on their site in THREE WEEKS!! Woo hoo! And if that wasn't enough, the paperback rerelease of The Talisman (set to come out this July) will contain a WHOLE CHAPTER of the sequel! Thanks, Lilja, for all the news!

(May 14) Bev Vincent's "News From the Dead Zone" column has appeared in Cemetery Dance #34! Bev is one of an elite circle of Stephen King Experts (and one of the two or three without a book deal). We'll keep you updated everytime this column makes its appearance. Way to go, Bev!

(May 14) DVD news: The 25th Anniversary Edition of Carrie will be in stores August 28th for only $19.95!!! The film is set to include two 45-minute making-of documentaries, "Acting Carrie" and "Visualizing Carrie." In addition to all this, you're also going to get a Carrie: The Musical featurette, text on Stephen King and "The Writing Of Carrie," an animated photo gallery and the original theatrical trailer. WAY COOL!!! (Thanks to Lilja's Library for the info.)

(May 14) You may have noticed a little bit of a rehaul to the Charnel House main site. Here to explain these changes is our main editor: um, me.
We've changed the main link sections above to accomodate some changes I've been meaning to make for awhile. You'll notice the "Download The Plant" section, the Riding the Bullet section, and the "Vermont Speech" section have disappeared. I felt the first two were superfluous on the main site, and the third was only there because I couldn't find another place to put it. I anticipated a lot of other things coming up without a real place to put them, so I created the Spare Parts section, which will encompass these odds n' sods areas of King's vast oevre.

-->Also new is something called the News Archive, a super-simple idea that just never occured to me until I checked out some of the nether regions of the beloved Buffyguide. This should be pretty much self explanatory, but for those not up on the hip terms, the news archive will become my depository for all news that is not so new, going back as far as January of this year. Every news item will eventually end up there, after spending some time in the cherry seat of the "New in the House" area and the shotgun "News from Everywhere." Love the news, feel the wonderment.

-->Finally, a revered writer finally gets his own site. As longtime readers of Charnel House may know, the basic design concept of this page originated from the Michael Collings reviews at the end of George Beahm's Stephen King Companion. Without him, this page would never have featured the full-length reviews, which, I believe, set this page apart. After a wonderful Interview with Mr. Collings a few months ago, I've wanted to give him, like George Beahm and Stephen Spignesi before him, his own page. Keep in mind, it's extremely rudimentary right now, but a full list of published books will appear soon, as well as an area focusing just on his King books, as well a news section.

-->And yes, I will write those last few reviews soon, I promise!

(May 11) This falls into the category of more personal stuff than we usually report, but for those who want to know: Stephen King just bought a new house in Florida, and you can read about this somewhat-expected turn of events HERE.

(May 10) The super-early screening of Hearts in Atlantis took place last week at La Canada in California. The verdict? Well, let's just say the movie doesn't seem to be in the "astounding" category. Check the review here. (Thanks to Dan for the heads-up!)

(May 04) Rock Bottom Remainder News!!! It's all a Halloween theme this year - October 30, New York; Halloween, October 31, Chicago; and November 2, Denver. (NO BOSTON!?!?) More on tour dates and venues as they come in...

(May 04) Brimming with Talisman news: Mick Garris has signed on to direct the miniseries on ABC for Kennedy-Marshall/Dreamworks. Although the impending writers and actor's strike may delay production, Garris (who directed The Stand and The Shining miniseries) is going to start work on the script soon, working against the early feature film draft by Richard LaGravenese. No projection on when it will be out, who will be in it, or anything so far (my prayer: Haley Joel Osment for Jack!!!) Thanks to Bev for all the info!

(May 04) Oops, We Dropped the Ball Dept. - That's right, kids - one of the most anticipated books about King - The Stephen King Universe - is out now, in trade paperberback format. This book, by Stanley Wiater, Christopher Golden, and Hank Wagner has been anticipated for months, and then, without fanfare, came to bookstores yesterday. Now, keep in mind, the hardcover edition - the "keeper" - is not in stores yet, but Stu from Betts Bookstore tells me that they are on their way. Sorry for the delay in this - this appearance shocked everyone! (Thanks to Joy C. and Chris C. for the heads-up!)

(May 04) Speaking of The SK Universe, your friendly neighborhood Charnel House is listed as one of the websites to see! Check out appendix D!

(Apr 26) Not a whole lot going on in the world of King recently, but I thought I'd update with a few minor things here: Simon & Schuster's Audioworks division will be releasing LT's Theory of Pets on tape and CD this July. Presumably, this will be an excerpt from the Stephen King Live! audio that Hodder & Stoughton released in 99, but we're as yet not positive. More details on this cool bit of news as we get it...

(Apr 26) Stephen King could NOT have written Desperation!!! At least that's what this woman claims. I won't spoil this sadly true article for you, but read on! (Oh, by the way: thank you, Mr. Judge Guy, but Desperation ROCKED!) Thanks to Lilja's Library for this one!

(Apr 16) From King's Official Site: For those of you who are Dark Tower fans, Black House will answer many questions you may have about the Crimson King, who/what are Breakers, how does Ted Brautigan fit in, etc. It will be the closest thing to a DT novel you'll see before the fall of the Year Three ('03). Stephen is planning a return to the gunslinger, but first must satisfy a number of other commitments, including an introduction to a new edition of M.G. Lewis's classic gothic novel The Monk, and an essay on horror movies for the noted genre publication Fangoria.

Well, okay! This alleviates some of the bad news of Black House taking up all the DT 5 time! I can't wait to find out the whole Ted Brautigan thing, and where does the Crimson King fit in! Now I'm even more excited about Black House!!!

(Apr 15)George Beahm's Official Website has now been updated. Check it out for all the latest news on The Final Phantasmagoria and all the Stephen King Collectibles stuff, as well as his comments on the MSNBC profile on King. Check it out!

(Apr 11) According to Lilja's Library, excerpts of the upcoming Black House will start to be released on the Random House website sometime in June. Keep in mind that this is not the usual publisher of King's material (that would be Scribner), so you should bookmark this site, as well. More info on this very exciting development as it comes in!

(Apr 11) This past weekend, King did an exclusive signing at the Dunn and Dunn bookstore in Naples, Florida. We only heard about this today for the first time, and we apologize for not being ahead of this one. The signing was limited to 200 people and it sold out very fast. Cool for you people who were there!

(Apr 06) WOW! Awesome new cover of The Talisman, which is being rereleased in conjunction with the upcoming Black House. Very neat!

(Apr 06) Of tertiary interest: Nicole de Boer (Dax on Deep Space Nine; not Jadzia, Ezri) will be starring in the Dead Zone TV series with Anthony Michael Hall. I wonder if they cast her because she kind of looks like a small Brooke Adams?

(Apr 06) The Rock Bottom Remainders are (allegedly) going back on the road for the 2001 Rock For Kicks World Tour. No dates yet, but we'll report them ASAP! (Thanks to hawkeye Lilja for the above news items!)

(Mar 29) BIG CORRECTION!!! Michael Whelan, who did the artwork for King's The Gunslinger has now released his LEGENDS artwork in fine-art format through Glass Onion Graphics (this is the frontispiece to the Legends anthology. Please, click on the link to see just how beautiful this picture is. This print is available in three editions:

-> the signed, limited edition of 500 is $175 (on May 31, the price goes up to $195)
-> the artist's proof edition of 35 copies is $235
-> the remarqued edition is $300. (This is the artist's proof edition with a penciled drawing within the borders of the print.)

Michael Whelan is one of the best illustrators not only in King canon, but in the entirety of the fantasy field. (This weekend, I saw a chessboard he designed and was SOOO tempted to plunk down the $1200 and just buy it.) Please don't hesitate on this print: visit www.michaelwhelan.com now to order this amazing piece of work.

(Mar 21) CBS has put a transcript of the King interview with The Early Show online!. Check it out!

(Apr 26) Judge Shoots Down Writer's Claims Against Author Stephen King
John Caher
New York Law Journal
April 25, 2001

A federal judge in New York has dismissed with disdain a complaint by a writer and adjunct literature professor who claimed that prince of horror Stephen King stole her work.

U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York shot down Christina Starobin of Saugerties, N.Y., for engaging in a "recurring and vitriolic attack upon the character and abilities of King."

Starobin v. King and Penguin Putnam Inc., 00-CV-0185, stems from a complaint brought by Starobin, a poet, author and assistant adjunct professor at Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge, N.Y.

Starobin had written a novel, Blood Eternal, about vampires who run a car service in suburban New Jersey. The copyrighted novel was submitted to Penguin and then returned to Starobin on Sept. 20, 1996. Two days earlier, King copyrighted his novel, Desperation, which was published by Penguin.

The complaint alleged that King, whose 40-plus books have sold millions of copies, is essentially devoid of literary talent, could not have written Desperation on his own and pilfered from the work of Starobin during the three months her manuscript was in the possession of Penguin. About the only similarity Judge Hurd found between the two novels was that, in his opinion, neither was very good.

"There are no common characters, locations or occurrences shared by her novel and King's," Hurd wrote. "There are no common references to popular culture, historical events or common sequences of events ... . When the two works at issue are viewed as a whole, it is utterly beyond dispute that no reasonable person could regard them as similar, much less substantially so."

The judge added that he was not all that impressed with King's literary abilities either. Hurd said he had never before read a Stephen King novel, and was not exactly enthralled by the horror writer's tale of an evil spirit that emanates from a mine in the Nevada desert and possesses passers-by, transforming them into homicidal maniacs.

"Quite frankly, neither work was a particularly good read," Hurd said, referring to Desperation and Blood Eternal, both of which he said were read cover-to-cover.

Regardless, Desperation spent some 15 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list in hard cover and was highly successful as a paperback.

LITERARY CREDENTIALS

Starobin repeatedly contended that her literary credentials are superior to King's, and that assertion alone established an issue of fact as to whether King is capable of writing Desperation.

She attempted to bolster that point with this statement from her plaintiff's memorandum:

"Although plaintiff's having graduated Harvard cum laude, gone on to a Masters in English and Comparative Literature at Colubmia [sic] and a PhD in English at New York University does not mean intelligence [sic], it does mean a long number of hours reading books other than Grisham and other best sellers and exposure to philosphy [sic], plot and symbolism in heavy enough doses to become queasy with the superficiality espoused by [defendant] King."

Judge Hurd, however, termed Starobin's conduct "reprehensible," considered her character attacks on King unseemly and found it "disheartening that a person of plaintiff's education and self-professed abilities would resort to such attacks, particularly in light of the obviously baseless nature of her claims."

Starobin argued pro se. Peter A. Herbert, of Lankler Siffert & Wohl in Manhattan, appeared as co-counsel for King. Also representing the defendants, including the publisher, were Gerald E. Singleton, Maura J. Wogan and Yuki A. Hirose, of Frankfurt, Garbus, Kurnit, Klein & Selz in Manhattan.

(Apr 12) Also updated on the Stephen King site is the Bibliography, which continues to annoy me. (Why is The Green Mile under "Other Books?" The whole thing makes no sense.)

(Apr 05) Float on over to my Black House page to check out the just-revealed UK cover. This minimalist cover recalls Insomnia's, but is far less headache-inducing. I wonder what the US will look like...? Thanks to Lilja for this awesome information!

(Mar 30) Spent some time this morning fixing up the SKEMERs page on the site. Float on over there and read the essays, check out the pictures, or log on to the official site. The '01 con is coming up this year and we're all pretty dang excited. SKEMERs rock!

(Mar 26) Thanks to hawkeye Lilja, we now have great link to a new Stephen King Interview. King touches on both Black House and From a Buick 8 in the interview! SO COOL!

(Mar 26) A whole bunch of updates over on George Beahm's Official Site. Get the latest scoop on The Final Phantasmagoria and Stephen King Collectables - very exciting stuff!

(Mar 21) Lots of bizarre news from Reuters, via Bob "Hawkeyerland" Ireland. Yes, this is apparently all true:

According to Reuters, Entertainment News - ``Firestarter: The Next Chapter,'' a four-hour sequel to the novel and movie ``Firestarter,''[has been written] picking up the characters 20 years later. Sci Fi will announce the cast soon.

(Mar 20) That's right!!! Dreamcatcher is OUT IN STORES NOW!!! In the US!!! GO buy it now!!! I like using triple exclamation points!!!

(Mar 12) WOW! New English Library has changed and rereleased all their King paperbacks. As usual, the British paperbacks are, more often than not, WAY cooler than their American counterparts. Lilja's site has a FULL PAGE devoted to these: check them out!

(Mar 09) The trade paperback covers of On Writing have been previewed, and as usual, the Brits have the better cover. See the UK cover and the US cover (the US simply being a retread of the hardcover.)

(Mar 05) More on the film version of Dolan's Cadillac: The film will be directed by Stacy Title, with a release date of 2002 (let's hope the strike won't affect this!) Sylvester Stallone will play Dolan, and Kevin Bacon is set to play Robinson. Check out Upcoming Movies for more info. (Thanks again to "Hawkeye" Barry for the info!)

(Feb 12) Upcoming reprint news: On Writing will be released in trade paperback form this June from Simon & Schuster. The Shining will be re-released in paperback this September by Pocket. My thought is that it will follow the reprint format of Carrie, 'Salem's Lot, and Pet Semetary, with a cool new cover and a brand-new introduction by King. Check out the stats --> here.

(Jan 17) Speaking of delays, the release DVD of the "dollar-baby" Paranoid is being put on hold for now, due to some copyright disputes over pieces of music used in the film. More news as we get it...