Anthony Northrup on Stephen King’s Dollar Babies

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

cover of Stephen King - Dollar Baby: The BookAnthony Northrup is a Stephen King enthusiast who puts his pen where his mouth is. Okay, maybe not literally, but he certainly backs up all his acclaimed King passion by a long shot. Anthony has hosted two Stephen King Dollar Baby film festivals in addition to playing cohost to Stephen King Rules film festivals on top of essaying his King fandom (as well as celebrating other writers and filmmakers) via regularly published articles in his local newspaper. He also founded and maintains a fun and popular group on Facebook called All Things King (ATK).

Most recently, he published a behemoth of a book titled Stephen King – Dollar Baby: The Book. Released in 2021 through BearManor Media, it weighs in at a whopping 576 pages. Suffice to say the book is chock full of everything you might want to know about Stephen King Dollar Babies, but were afraid to sacrifice the time and sanity to find out.Continue Reading

Bev Vincent explores Holly by Stephen King

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

“No one will believe it really happened”

Stephen King doesn’t hide the identity of the murderers at the center of Holly Gibney’s latest case in the novel that bears her name. In 2012, Emily and Rodney Harris, professors emeritus at Bell College, tricked a colleague named Jorge Castro into helping them resolve a roadside issue. They drugged him and took him to a dungeon in the basement of their presentable home in a respectable part of town.

Why did the elderly Harrises kidnap him, why do they force him to eat something unpalatable, and what are their plans? Since Castro knows the identity of his abductors, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be released. The popular consensus is that he packed up and left town abruptly, although his lover doesn’t agree.

Continue Reading

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #232

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

It’s hot. Oh, so hot. Ever so effing hot. As many of you probably know, I live in Texas. Some years we get by without a single day with a temperature above 100°. This year, we’ve been “blessed” with almost nothing but triple-digit days, with “feels like temps” over 110°. It’s relentless.

So, while the world is melting down, what else should a person do but stay inside, with the A/C turned up high, reading and writing and watching television?
Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance Interview: Revisiting Richard Chizmar

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

Richard Chizmar
Richard Chizmar

On the heels of reading Cemetery Dance’s recent publication of Stephen King: Revisited Volume One, I was loaded up with tons of questions, the first of which was who would be daring enough to go back in time and re-read every Stephen King book in order of publication? Richard Chizmar, that’s who. As a best selling author and publisher of Cemetery Dance, Chizmar has published several King stories and books over the years and would not only become a friend of King’s but also a collaborator who’s written books with King — the Gwendy trilogy. So yes, I was curious to chat with Rich about his take on King over the years given his unique perspective.Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance Interview: Bev Vincent Revisited

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

Bev Vincent
Bev Vincent

I was super pumped to be able to sit down with none other than Stephen King historian and scholar, Bev Vincent, who provided his fantastic historical contribution to Stephen King Revisited Volume 1 from Cemetery Dance. The book is the culmination of author/Cemetery Dance founder Richard Chizmar’s decision to revisit every single Steven King book in order of publication. This first volume discusses King’s work between Carrie and Eyes of the Dragon and includes tons of special guests to go along with Rich’s interpretations from the first time he read each book to his most recent. But of course this conversation is all about Bev Vincent who is kind enough to provide a fascinating glimpse into Stephen King throughout the years. Without further ado, let’s get this ball rolling, shall we?Continue Reading

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #231

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant holiday season. I know a lot of people had travel issues, so I hope none of you are still stuck in an airport somewhere (if you are, Mr. King and I have an anthology to help you pass the time) or trying to track down your luggage.

Will 2023 be a good year? Hard to say, but I know one thing for sure: we have a new King book to look forward to in September and a movie adaptation that has the studio’s confidence.
Continue Reading

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #230

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

Time for another Stephen King news update, don’t you think? Recently we saw the publication of King’s latest novel, Fairy Tale, and I have news about the next adaptation, which launches this week. In addition to those items, I’m going to talk about two associational projects, one of which involves yours truly and the other that involves someone from New Brunswick in Canada—and it’s not me!
Continue Reading

Bev Vincent: Documenting the King of Horror

cover of The Stephen King Ultimate CompanionBev Vincent is living the life that most Constant Readers can only dream of.

Bev has written volumes documenting Stephen King’s work, from career-spanning books like The Illustrated Stephen King Companion to more focused works like The Dark Tower Companion. He co-edited an anthology with King called Flight or Fright. He gets early copies of King’s books, which he reviews for us here at Cemetery Dance as part of his “News from the Dead Zone” column. And soon he’ll have a new book out: The Stephen King Ultimate Companion: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences.

Recently, I fired off a few questions about this new project, which Bev graciously took the time to answer.Continue Reading

Bev Vincent explores Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

“There are other worlds than these”

Traditionally, in stories modeled after the Hero’s Journey, the main character receives a call to action, which he or she initially resists. Take, for example, Bilbo Baggins, who is cajoled out of his comfortable, quiet life to go on an adventure by Gandalf. In Stephen King’s fantasy stories, the characters are self-motivated. No one has to urge Jack Sawyer to light out for the Territories—he has a good reason to embark on a perilous journey. Similarly, Roland Deschain chooses his mission to find and save the Dark Tower, even though it will take him on a wild journey for the rest of his natural days. No one conscripts him. (Although, to be fair, sometimes his characters are yanked into a quest without being given any choice in the matter.)

In Fairy Tale, Charlie McGee[1] Reade also decides for himself to go on a magical adventure although, when he sets out, he has no idea what dangers he will face and what will be asked of him while he attempts to achieve his goal.

Continue Reading

Video Visions: Happy 40th Birthday to Creepshow!

Black background with spooky lettering that says Hunter Shea Video Visions and the Cemetery Dance logo

I want my cake, Bedelia!

Hard to believe that one of the greatest horror anthologies of all time hit theaters forty years ago. In that span of time, I’ve had two dogs, three cats, two turtles, at least seventeen hamsters, three hundred goldfish and beta fish (most of them lasting two days), one salamander and one dwarf rabbit that grew to be the size of Gunnar Hansen. A big fuck you to the pet store clerk who sold me that bill of goods. Dwarf my ass. Oh, and I went from a virgin to way not a virgin, got married and had two amazing children. 

And now back to the real story. When I watched the coming attraction for Creepshow on TV and saw that it was the love child of Stephen King and George Romero, I believe I had a Bob Rossian happy accident in my skivvies. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead had rewired my brain a few years earlier and King was feeding me nightmare fuel every night before I hit the lights. His cocaine and booze years made for my caviar and champagne days and nights. Continue Reading

Dead Trees: Stephen King: The Art of Darkness

banner reading Dead Trees by Mark Sieber

cover of Stephen KIng: The Art of DarknessEnter the Wayback Machine and go back to 1984. I was still shrugging off the science fiction habit I had all my life and becoming a full-fledged horror fan. I read authors like Grant, Straub, Wilson, Etchison, Campbell. And of course Stephen King. When I finally got around to reading him, my reading life changed forever. Pet Sematary had just been released in paperback. Ahead were wonders like The Talisman, Thinner, Skeleton Crew, and It.

Horror was in a state of flux. In the movies, the slasher era was cycling down. In ’84 we had The Mutilator, Splatter University, The Initiation, and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. A Nightmare on Elm Street was ushering in a new breed of horror. Stephen King adaptations were in a bit of a lull, as disappointing productions like Children of the Corn and Firestarter hit the screens. Bigger and better things were ahead.Continue Reading

Bev Vincent explores Gwendy’s Final Task

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

“The Tower Is Strong”

There’s a lot going on in Ben Baldwin’s artwork on the cover of the Cemetery Dance edition of Gwendy’s Final Task, coauthored by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. The dominant figure is the enigmatic Richard Farris, who has burdened Gwendy Peterson with custody of a mysterious and dangerous box of buttons on two previous occasions. In the foreground we see an illustration of a town or a city and what looks to be a rocket or a shooting star.

But what’s that behind Mr. Farris? Could it be…could it possibly be…the Dark Tower? This image generated a lot of discussion and debate when it was first revealed. The Gallery Books cover for the final book in the Gwendy trilogy puts the question to rest—the central image is the Tower and, in the foreground, a field of red roses.

Continue Reading

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #227

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

Happy New Year to all my readers. It’s been a while since my last news update, primarily because there hasn’t been a lot going on in the Stephen King Universe. However, I now have some cool things to talk about, so pull up a chair.
Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance Interview: The Hopes and Miracles of Tyson Blue

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

Tyson Blue
Tyson Blue

Attorney by profession, editor by passion, Tyson Blue’s name may not ring everyone’s bell, but his mark on the legacy of, arguably, two of the best film adaptations in cinematic history is here to stay. With Frank Darabont’s scripts for The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile in hand, Tyson Blue put together a commemorative masterpiece that’s built to act as a literary time capsule for these two endearing films.  

Sitting down with Tyson, we discussed his journey since he first wrote for the Castle Rock newsletter, an unlikely venture which began his trajectory towards the eventual publication of Hope And Miracles: The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile (Two Screenplays By Frank Darabont) decades later. Touching on his first-hand experience working on set of The Green Mile, his connection to Frank Darabont, the massive efforts required to put it all together and everything in between, it’s time to discover why the latest specialty release from Gauntlet Press is worth its considerable weight in hope and miracles and what it means to the legacy of the films it represents. Continue Reading

A Preview of Chapelwaite on Epix by Bev Vincent

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

Preview: Chapelwaite on Epix

“Blood Calls Blood”

I must confess that when I first heard that Epix was turning Stephen King’s early short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” into a ten-episode TV series, I wasn’t terribly excited. I don’t subscribe to that service, so I planned to give the show a miss. I thought it would turn out to be like the TV series The Mist, which bears little resemblance to the source material beyond the general concept. I’m here to tell you I was wrong, and this show is worth checking out. There is horror a-plenty here if you have plenty of patience for the show’s somewhat measured pace.

Continue Reading