John Bonney had introduced me to Stephen King with ‘Salems Lot. I caught up with his back catalogue by the time I got to university, buying the books second hand for a fraction of the new price.
The Stand left a big impression on me. It was the story of the world after a massive pandemic that almost wipes out the human race (COVID-19 has nothing on Captain Trips that kills over 99.99% of the population in short order). It was not horror with monsters, though you can see the early signs of King’s overarching continuity it is not off-putting. It is a monster of a book and even that has had chunks excised as the publisher said that it was too long to publish. These cuts are very noticeable when you read the revised version that was issued in the early 90s. I was surprised when I read the original that it included a line from the Blue Oyster Cult song (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. I had heard it a few times on evening radio and it is a stunning song, but it was like they had never done anything else. I was surprised that a writer I liked was into the same music I was – especially one from so far away and that much older.
There is a new TV version of The Stand showing – possibly the worst timing ever (pandemic on TV and pandemic in real life?) but that is the second version. King’s work does not appear to adapt well to TV or the cinema. The only total success was The Shawshank Redemption, based on a novella rather than a longer work and not horror at all. Some have been ok. The first series of Mr Mercedes was ok, but they really screwed up the second. Dolores Claiborne had a good cast but lost so much of the depth of the book. The Body, filmed as Stand By Me (from the same collection as Shawshank) and Carrie are ok too – but are like a child’s simplified version of the stories.
I thought The Outsider and The Dark Tower were unwatchable. The two-part cinema version of It has been acclaimed (second go at the latter again) but it is poor and lacks any of the characterisation that makes King’s work rise above other writers in the genre. It loses what makes the book great. It is also too short – King’s novels are like doorsteps, but that is because he spends time with the characters and builds up the mundane world. Four hours of film would never do it justice. It would need to be a 20-part TV show to have a chance – let alone deal with some of the more unpleasant elements that the book dealt with but the film could not.
King has been one of my favourite authors for nearly 40 years and he continues to produce high quality fiction. Not all of it is horror – books like Dolores Claiborne or Gerald’s Game are strictly not supernatural. I always try and make sure I have a King novel or collection to read on holiday ever since 1991 when I took the revised version of The Stand. Four Past Midnight is not recommended if you are flying though, the first story is The Langoliers and is an aeroplane catastrophe (not a crash or explosion – far more odd than that) – Andy warned me not to read it on the flight..
King almost died in a car accident at the start of the 21st century which prompted him to finish his Dark Tower sequence. Some of his books around this time show a greater bitterness of character – Dreamcatcher and Cell feel different to his work both before and after.
Since then he has returned to exceptional form. 11/22/63 is a time travel story about the Kennedy assassination (and much more complex than the TV version) and I love time travel novels; Under the Dome is a typical King story about a cut-off community and how things break down and Mr Mercedes is very accessible for a newbie, with a story about catching a serial killer – though it does become more and more horrific.
He can still be genuinely chilling. Revival seems very slow but builds to an absolutely horrifying climax (I read this on holiday in 2018 – the first half in four days, the second in 24 hours). Not one to read if the prospect of death is already scary for you.
Joyland is a much shorter book and may be more manageable to many. Set at a theme park in the early 70s it shows hardly anything in the way that one would expect but still properly scared me with a well-chosen scene that was not even shown “live”.
King remains an active presence online and an all-round good egg since he overcame his addiction issues 30 years ago. I hope there are a few more novels in him.
I am not a big expert on Blue Oyster Cult. I have four albums – Agents of Fortune, Fire of Unknown Origin, The Revolution By Night and Club Ninja. Fans hate Club Ninja. The band hates Club Ninja. Just really loathe it. So of course that is where my favourite track is from. I have posted the video on Facebook before as I think it is the kind of track that a lot of people would like, but either will never hear it or would never listen to Blue Oyster Cult.
Perfect Water
Playlist:
- (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
- ETI (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)
- Debbie Denise
- Sinful Love
- Fallen Angel
- Fire of Unknown Origin
- The Revenge of Vera Gemini
- Burnin’ For You
- Joan Crawford
- Sole Survivor
- Vengeance (The Pact)
- Veteran of the Psychic Wars
- Perfect Water
- Dancing In the Ruins
- Make Rock Not War
- White Flags
Five Miles Out 