Stephen King Breaking News from the Dead Zone (Archive)

August 14, 2008: This week, in Entertainment Weekly, King tells us How TV ruined baseball.

As you've probably heard by now, King's short story "N." is being adapted as an animated comic by the team at Marvel. During the month of August, a new 1-2 minute episode of the story appears each weekday, for a total of 25 installments. There are many ways to see this on the web and on cell phones, but why not just check back here each day when the new one goes live?

Or you can wait until November and get the limited collector edition of Just After Sunset, which will be packaged with a DVD containing all 25 episodes. King is optimistic about the video's prospects. "I think they're readers," he says of likely video viewers. But he admits that the venture is "something of a test" whose outcome isn't certain. The story will also be released as a comic book miniseries in early 2009.

The video series has been getting good coverage, including articles in Time magazine, the L.A. Times and at the MTV website.

If you've been waiting for news about the illustrated edition of The Little Sisters of Eluria plus The Gunslinger coming from Donald M. Grant, here's the latest: The book has been sent to the printer and is being proofed. There will be a traycased and a slipcased edition, both illustrated by Michael Whelan. It will contain new art as well as the art originally published in the first edition of The Gunslinger. Grant says: "Price, release date and other details will be posted on our web-site and published in our newsletter. We expect that this will be announced in four to six weeks."

Pocket books will be issuing a 10th-anniversary trade paperback edition of Bag of Bones, featuring bonus text from King this fall. It includes a Q&A with King where he talks about ghosts, secrets, and being alive.

The Children of the Corn remake is gearing up to start filming in the Quad Cities area of Iowa during September. The remake is being written, directed and produced by Donald Borchers, a producer on the original movie, which was filmed in the Sioux City, Iowa, area and spawned numerous sequels. The budget for the production is estimated at $2 million. Borchers says, "It's no longer requisite to have a happy ending. We wanted to stay faithful to the decisions in [King's] original story."

Stephen King Goes to the Movies is a 400-page collection due out from Pocket Books in January 2009. In it, King provides brand new commentaries and introductions for five of his favorite stories that have been adapted for the big screen: The Shawshank Redemption, 1408, Children of the Corn, The Mangler, and Hearts in Atlantis. This big book will include an introduction by King, his personal commentary, and behind-the-scenes insights by Stephen.

Visit Ain't It Cool News for a three-part exclusive showcasing the upcoming adaptation of The Stand from Marvel. Their feature includes new artwork and interviews with the writer and illustrator. Here's an interview with artist Mark Perkins

King will be judging book trailers submitted for a contest in which amateur and professional filmmakers produce book trailers (similar to movie trailers) based on the SHOMI imprint--a series of modern-day fantasy fiction. The contest is sponsored by Dorchester Publishing and Circle of Seven Productions. The best trailer--as selected by King--will be shown at a movie premiere in New York City as well as a theater in the winner's home market.

How do you attract Steven Spielberg's attention? Canadian filmmaker Mathieu Ratthe wants to adapt The Talisman and has been trying unsuccessfully to get his demo reel to Spielberg, who has had the film option for the novel since it was published. So, Ratthe uploaded his six-minute video The Hotel Room, based on a scene from the novel, to YouTube. The short stars Cameron Bright, who recently played a mutant in X-Men: The Last Stand, as a young man struggling to make sense of a glimpse into a strange alternate universe. The visual effects were done by Montreal-based Buzz Image, the team behind 300. His YouTube page says: "My main objective for creating this piece is to demonstrate my directing ability and my vision to the producers who own the rights to the story: STEVEN SPIELBERG & KATHLEEN KENNEDY."

This is a strange one! Subterranean Press is publishing a new book by Hard Case Crime founder Charles Ardai called Fifty-to-One. Each chapter of the book will bear the title of a previous HCC novel, including works by Lawrence Block, Richard Stark, David J. Schow and King (The Colorado Kid). There will be 50-copy deluxe edition, signed by many of HCC's authors (including King) on a tipped-in page in front of the chapter that bears the title of one of their books, and a 500-copy numbered edition signed by Ardai alone. Half of the profits from the deluxe edition will be donated to The Haven Foundation.

Here is King's more recent Entertainment Weekly column: Why Hollywood Does Not Get Fear. For readers of the print magazine, note that his column no longer appears on the back page, so a quick glance at the magazine doesn't tell you if he has an essay in a particular issue. Here is another column from a few weeks back: Playing Against Hype.

In a recent interview to publicize their script for "Eaters" on Fear Itself, Richard Chizmar and Jonathan Schaech said, "We have been working on From a Buick 8 for so long and are finally so close to a 'go' that we are afraid to talk too much about it and jinx it. What we can say is that we are currently working on one final rewrite for director Tobe Hooper and producer Mick Garris and the good folks at Amicus (producers of the recent Stuck and forthcoming It's Alive remake)." Once the rewrite is completed, they are prepared to go right into pre-production with plans to film on the East Coast.

June 17, 2008: Producer Nick Wechsler has optioned screen rights to "Throttle," a 60-page novella written by King and Joe Hill. The protagonists are father-son members of a motorcycle gang that's chased through the desert by an 18-wheel tanker truck. The novella, inspired by the classic Matheson story "Duel," will be published in 2009 in the tribute anthology He Is Legend. "It has elements of iconic films like Duel and Breakdown, but with a horror element that I want to push," Wechsler said.

A remake of Children of the Corn is gearing up for production this August in Eastern Central Iowa, produced by Anchor Bay Entertainment for a Sci-Fi Channel premiere. Donald P. Borchers - producer of the original 1984 film - is directing the movie from his own screenplay. The film is currently casting with the following synopsis making the rounds: Former Vietnam vet BURT's marriage to former prom queen VICKY is on the rocks, but Burt hopes to rekindle their old flame with a second honeymoon driving trip. Unfortunately, their journey takes them into the heart of darkness - a seemingly deserted rural community that conceals a grim secret among its rows of tall corn. It was also revealed that this will be a period piece set in the 1970s.

June 2, 2008: Marvel has announced details of their planned graphic novel adaptation of The Stand, which is scheduled to launch in September. The series writer is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Illustrations will be by Mike Perkins, with color art from Laura Martin. The current plan is to do six five-issue arcs, though that is still flexible. They will be basing the adaptation on the uncut version of the novel.

The Dark Tower: Treachery, the third arc of that series, also debuts in September.

The ultra-rare King short story "The Old Dude's Ticker" is being reprinted in The BIG Book of NECON edited by Bob Booth, from Cemetery Dance. The story only appeared previously in NECON XX. NECON, in case you are unfamiliar with it, is an annual Horror Writers convention in Rhode Island. I've been going to it for the last several years. "The Old Dude's Ticker," co-attributed to Edgar Allan Poe, is a riff on "The Tell-Tale Heart."

Filming began last week on Dolan's Cadillac in Regina and Moose Jaw, Canada. The cast includes Christian Slater (Dolan), Wes Bentley (Robinson) and Emmanuelle Vaugier. Jeff Beesley is directing from a script by Richard Dooling (Kingdom Hospital). Filming will also take place in Quebec and Las Vegas.

It looks like there's starting to be some activity in the adaptation of Bag of Bones. A couple of news items reported that location scouting was taking place in Michigan. The West Michigan Tourist Association has been seeking volunteers who'll give up their "time kissed" lakefront cabin in the trees as a stand-in for "Sara Laughs."

The final season of USA's The Dead Zone is now available on DVD in a three-disc set containing thirteen episodes, commentary and behind-the-scenes segments.

May 13, 2008: The June 7th event with King, Gerritsen and Grisham has been postponed indefinitely and people who bought tickets to the $25-a-person fundraiser can contact the campaign for a refund.

May 6, 2008: You can now watch the entire video from the C-SPAN 2 broadcast via their website and/or order the program on DVD.

The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta announced that production of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, with music by John Mellencamp and a book by horror master King, has been delayed because of "unanticipated scheduling problems which could not be resolved in time for the production." Members of the creative team "realized the script would not be ready by spring 2009," the statement said. The Alliance said it now hopes to produce the show during its 2009-2010 season.

May 5, 2008: If you missed last night's airing on C-SPAN 2 of a Writing Discussion with Stephen, Tabitha, and Owen King, it will run again on Saturday, May 17, at 8:00 a.m. It's worth catching, because King read from the first pages of the book he is currently working on, which sounds like a re-imagining of a failed novel from the 1980s called The Cannibals at one time and Under the Dome at another. The snippet he read had to do with a woman getting a flying lesson. A twenty-five year old quote from King about the novel: "I've gotten about four-hundred-and-fifty pages done and it is all about these people who are trapped in an apartment building. Worst thing I could think of. And I thought, wouldn't it be funny if they all ended up eating each other? It's very, very bizarre because it's all on one note. And who knows whether it will be published or not."

King was on the NPR program Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me yesterday playing a game called, "You're the Warmest, Fluffiest, Most Unthreatening Friend Ever." Three questions about nice things to ask the man who has scared us to our wits for decades.

Christian Slater and Wes Bentley have signed up to star in the adaptation of "Dolan's Cadillac." The thriller follows a young man (Bentley) who seeks to avenge his wife's murder by the untouchable Las Vegas mobster Jimmy Dolan (Slater). Emmanuelle Vaugier rounds out the key cast on the project, which is scheduled to begin shooting in Saskatchewan and Quebec on May 14. Erik Canuel will direct from Richard Dooling's adapted screenplay. (Dooling, as you may recall, was King's collaborator on Kingdom Hospital)

May 1, 2008: On Book TV on C-SPAN 2: Authors Stephen, Tabitha, and Owen King discuss their writing with Washington, D.C. area high school students. The King family reads from their latest works and takes questions from the students. This event was sponsored by PEN/Faulkner's "Writers in Schools" program and the Center for the Book and took place at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

April 22, 2008: Stephen King, crime writer Tess Gerritsen and John Grisham will read at a fundraiser to support Maine Congressman Tom Allen's campaign for the U.S. Senate on Saturday, June 7. There will be two events on that day, a Host Committee Cocktail Reception from 5:00-6:00 pm and the main event at 7:00 pm at the Bangor Auditorium. Tickets for one or both events are available here. There are some restrictions on who can buy tickets (non-resident aliens can't, for example), so check out the full announcement here.

It was revealed this week that the third cycle of Marvel's graphic novel series will be called Dark Tower: Treachery #1, debuting in September 2008.

April 17, 2008: Bev Vincent's review of "A Very Tight Place" by Stephen King has been posted on the Cemetery Dance MySpace Blog. Check it out!

April 16, 2008: The debut entry Cemetery Dance's MySpace blog is my report on The Three Kings event in Washington D.C. two weeks ago. There was also a nice write-up in The Washington Post.

Marvel announced Dark Tower: The End-World Almanac, which will be published on July 2. "Woe unto those who traverse beyond the cursed Borderlands into End-World! 'Tis a twisted and desolate realm where it seems as if the world passed ages ago. From the blasted landscapes of Thunderclap to the frozen heights of Empathica, End-World shows no mercy to unwary young Gunslingers. In a world where information--and a bit of luck--is the key to survival, the End-World Almanac serves as your guide to the Badlands, Le Casse Roi Russe and beyond!"

Gunslinger Born and its artists received a total of four nominations in the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards: Best Limited Series, Best Penciller/Inker (Jae Lee), Best Cover Artist (Jae Lee) and Best Coloring (Richard Isanove). The results will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday, July 25 at Comic-Con International.

"A Very Tight Place" will be in McSweeney's #27, due out on May 1. Much of this 70+ page story takes place in a portable toilet at an abandoned construction site and is classic King. It is also the first King story I can recall that has a gay protagonist. You can get discounted issues at Amazon. Otherwise you'll have to wait until Just After Sunset comes out this fall to read this great story. It's not for the squeamish, though. Positively icky in places.

Mick Garris will direct Bag of Bones as a feature film, and executive-produce with Mark Sennett. The screenplay was written by Matt Venne. "What appeals to me about King in general and Bag of Bones in particular is how human it is," Garris told Fangoria. "The recent King stuff is very adult and very passionate, which I really respond to. I just love the idea of doing a grown-up ghost story."

March 24, 2008: The first published collaboration between Stephen King and Joe Hill, a novella entitled "Throttle" inspired by the classic Richard Matheson story Duel (and the equally classic adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg), will appear in the Gauntlet Press collection He Is Legend: Celebrating Richard Matheson, which was announced this morning and is now up for reservation pre-orders for a February 2009 limited edition release.

You can listen to King's NPR interview from last week online here. The main news arising from the interview is that Marvel seems to be moving forward with plans to do a graphic novel adaptation of The Stand.

The Mist comes out on DVD tomorrow. Blockbuster has an online game where you fight off monsters as you escape from the supermarket. If you make it to the end you can see a snippet from an interview between King and Frank Darabont. Blockbuster is also giving out Mist globes at participating stores to people who purchase the DVD tomorrow. Here's a neat little interview with Francis Sternhagen.

Note that the official title for King's upcoming story collection from Scribner is Just After Sunset.

March 10, 2008: King will give a live interview to discuss the state of comics tied to the release of The Long Road Home on the NPR program Talk of The Nation this Wednesday, March 12th from 2:30-3:00 PM EST. "Marvel Publishing is grateful to Stephen for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk about The Dark Tower comic series and comic books as a whole," says Ruwan Jayatilleke, Marvel Entertainment Vice President of Development. "We're excited that this will offer a chance to introduce this phenomenal epic--and medium of entertainment--to NPR's listeners as well as reward loyal Dark Tower fans with some highly entertaining radio!" To check local listings, visit http://www.npr.org.

March 5, 2008: Today is the publication day for the first installment of The Long Road Home. Some comic shops opened at midnight, but most others should have the Marvel comic book on their shelves by this afternoon.

The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, King's musical collaboration with John Mellencamp, will have its World Premiere at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta from April 15 - May 10, 2009 . "In 1957, in the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi, a terrible tragedy took the lives of two brothers and a beautiful young girl. During the next forty years, the events of that night became a local legend. But legend is often just another word for lie. Joe McCandless knows what really happened; he saw it all. The question is whether or not he can bring himself to tell the truth in order to save his own troubled sons, and whether the ghosts left behind by an act of violence will help him...or tear the McCandless family apart forever." If the show does well in Atlanta, it will move on to Broadway.

Tickets for The Three Kings are showing up both at the Folger Theater web site and on eBay, so if you want to go and haven't purchased a ticket yet, here's another chance.

King will be introducing Lauren Groff, author of The Monsters of Templeton, at a special event at 6:30 p.m. March 27 in Selby Auditorium at the University of South Florida, 8350 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $25, include a copy of Groff's book, and are available at Sarasota News & Books, 1341 Main St. Whether King will be reading or interviewing the author has not yet been finalized.

All three parts of Lilja's interview with King are now online at Lilja's Library.

The first episode of a Bravo! Canada show called Books into Film will feature King's works on March 6. "Series examining the adaptation of books into movies, using clips, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. This episode: Hollywood's long-running fascination with this versatile writer, author of Carrie, The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining and Stand By Me. Bravo! Canada is also re-airing An Evening With Stephen King on March 27 and March 28.

February 19, 2008: The publication date for King's upcoming short story collection Just Past Sunset (ISBN-10: 1-4165-8408-0) is November 11, 2008 in the US and UK, the 10th anniversary of the publication of Bag of Bones, King's first book with Scribner. The book will have approximately 400 pages and has a cover price of $28.

Though the list hasn't been finalized, here are the stories that are confirmed for the collection: The Gingerbread Girl, Harvey's Dream, Rest Stop, Stationary Bike, The Things They Left Behind, Willa, Graduation Afternoon, N, The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates, Mute, Ayana, A Very Tight Place. One unnamed "bonus" story might be added to the list. I've never heard of "N" before.

Look for a new three-part interview with King later this week at Lilja's Library.

Bravo in Canada is airing the one-hour show An Evening With Stephen King on Thursday at 9 pm EST. "Recently honoured with the Canadian Booksellers Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, King is the first non-Canadian to receive the honour. BookTelevision's cameras were there to record the historic evening. Authors Margaret Atwood and Clive Barker toast this literary legend, and pop culture writer and essayist Chuck Klosterman interviews King one-on-one. In his heartfelt acceptance speech, King pays tribute to many Canadian writers who have made an impact on his life." The show does not appear on the US Bravo schedule.

February 8, 2008: The official title for King's upcoming short story collection is Just Past Sunset. The publication date and story list are still being finalized but a fall 2008 date is a possibility.

King enlisted input from posters on his message board for one of his upcoming essays. He writes: "As you know, I do a column for Entertainment Weekly, and I had an idea for a column called My Worst Entertainment Experience. If you have stories about your absolute worst entertainment experience—anything from a guy who threw up in your lap at a movie to a concert where the lead singer passed out—let me know. Please limit your responses to 100 or so words. After all Ms. Mod and I have to wade our way through these things. In any case, thank you for your help! And if you never had a terrible entertainment experience·I hate you!" Though the thread is no longer accepting contributions, you can read the stories here.

McSweeney's 27 will contain the new King short story "A Very Tight Place." Visit the web site for ordering information (it should be out in May or June) and for a description of the issue's unique presentation. "A Very Tight Place" was inspired by King's vision of what would happen if someone was in a port-a-pottie when it fell over and blocked the door shut. "And immediately I'm thinking Poe, The Premature Burial, I'm thinking about all the buried alive stories that I've ever read, and I'm thinking, but I've never read a story about anyone trapped in a Porta-Pottie. And there are so many interesting things that you can do with people who are in tight places, people's feelings of claustrophobia are easy to bring out."

February 1, 2008: When you're not scanning the back yard tomorrow to see if the groundhog is frightened off by his shadow, don't forget to check out the Today show on NBC. King's appearance that was scheduled for last weekend was pushed back to this weekend, Saturday according to the current schedule.

Duma Key debuted in the #1 position on USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly's lists. With a new Grisham book out this week, USA Today opines that Duma might be dethroned after just one week at the top of the lists. "This is the first time the two titans have released new hardcover novels within a week of each other." On his message board, King issued the following statement, "Thanks, everybody, for buying Duma Key and--even more--saying nice things about it. I haven't seen so few 'flame throwers' on this website (and others) in...well, more years than some of you have been alive. Stay tuned, and keep checking this site for new material. It's coming..."

Stephen King's new haunt: Florida -- Erik Spanberg, Christian Science Monitor
Duma Key -- Chauncey Mabe, Florida Sun-Sentinal
A King-sized tale -- Karin Winegar and Peter Moore, Minneapolis Star Tribune; a tag-team review.
Terry Miller Shannon @ BookReporter.com
London Times
The horror of Stephen King's decline -- Justin Williams, London Telegraph
Artist with devilish power sure to please King fans -- Brigitte Weeks, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
King finds new state of horror -- Susan L. Rife, Sarasota Herald Tribune
Stephen King churns out some of his best work for most of 'Duma Key' -- Christopher Kelly, Fort Worth Star Telegram
A late show of force from the artist of dread -- Roz Kaveney in the Independent
On form? -- Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail

According to their web page, McSweeney's 27 will come "as three separate books in a windowed slipcase, presenting six different possible faces to the world, in order to best match your home decor. Book One plunges into the grayish, faintly understood area of the art world involving oddly drawn objects coupled with uncertainly spelled text. Book Two is a never-before-seen 72-page sketchbook by the legendary Art Spiegelman. Book Three collects new stories by Stephen King, Jim Shepard, and fiveish others."

In a recent interview in Rolling Stone, John Mellencamp says that The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will have another workshop in New York and then go into production in Atlanta this spring. "If it goes well in Atlanta, then we'll come to Broadway. If it don't go well in Atlanta, we're done...Somebody came and watched the last reading that we had in New York and reviewed it. The review said this is a musical that men will enjoy. Unheard of, the guy said."

January 24, 2008: There's a new interview in today's USA Today: 'Duma Key' finds Stephen King stepping into his own life. The interactive graphic at the top is called Stephen King By the Numbers. "His next book will be a collection of short stories, but he and his publisher can't agree on a title. He wants to call it Unnatural Acts of Human Intercourse, which 'could be a tough sell in some markets.'"

The Mist will be released on DVD on March 25th. The two-disc version will contain the theatrical release along with the movie rendered into black and white, which was how Darabont originally envisioned filming the movie. Special features on the two-disc version include:

ð Audio commentary by writer/director Frank Darabont
ð Eight deleted scenes with optional commentary
ð A Conversation With Stephen King and Frank Darabont featurette
ð When Darkness Came: The Making of THE MIST featurette
ð Taming the Beast: Shooting Scene 35 featurette
ð Monsters Among Us: A Look at the Creature FX featurette
ð The Horror of It All: The Visual FX of THE MIST featurette
ð Drew Struzan: Appreciation of an Artist featurette

The single-disc presentation won't have all the bonus features, nor will it have the B&W rendering.

January 23, 2008: Here is a new link directly to King's appearance on Today. He is supposed to appear on the weekend edition of Today as well, probably on Saturday.

The Long Road Home #1, goes on-sale in stores at 12:01AM, March 5th, 2008 (at comic stores participating in the midnight launch). Otherwise the issue will hit shelves at your local comic and book stores during normal business hours. View the exclusive artwork preview at King's official web site.

Burton Hatlen, a literary scholar whose subjects ranged from Shakespeare to King and whose teachings shaped the minds of four generations of students at the University of Maine, died Monday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Hatlen wrote several scholarly essays on King's work, and a handful of King's characters bear the name Hatlen, including Brooks Hatlen, the prison librarian in "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption." Read more here.

January 22, 2008: Today is Duma Key day in North America. The book will be released on Thursday in the UK.

King was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News (Stephen King at 60) and appeared on the Today show (Click on the video link underneath The King of Scary in the upper right corner. Users contributed many more questions than King could handle on the live broadcast, so NBC has posted an online Q&A: Why writing is like sex. In the BDN interview, King elaborates that the long novel he is working on now is set in Western Maine.

Stephen King adds painful authenticity to 'Duma Key' —-- David J. Montgomery, Chicago Sun Times
'Duma Key' is uneven, but King can still carry a reader to the thrilling end —-- Karen Long, Cleveland Plain Dealer
King finds fright on Florida's coast —-- Erica Noonan, Boston Globe
Darkness in the Land of Steady Sunshine —-- Janet Maslin, NY Times
King's Florida Nightmare —-- Ali Karim, January Magazine
Duma Key —-- Richard Rayner, LA Times
Duma Key —-- John Dugdale, London Times
Edgar's haunted hand —-- Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Stephen King's absorbing new thriller, "Duma Key" —-- Mark Rahner, Seattle Times
Tide of terror washes over Stephen King's 'Duma Key' —-- Carol Memmott, USA TODAY
Author stokes potboiler at slow Floridian pace —-- Bill Eichenberger, Columbus Dispatch

January 18, 2008: Duma Key reviews are starting to emerge. Here is my review, which is fairly detailed and discusses a lot of the plot, so read at your own risk. Alan Cheuse reviewed the book on NPR (audio). There are also reviews in the Washington Post and the Rocky Mountain News. If you haven't seen the film clip of King discussing the book on Amazon, it's now available on his official web site, too. (Dialup | DSL/Cable). According to Publishers Weekly, the first printing is 1.5 million copies. Lilja is giving away copies in a contest on his web site.

There's a mini-review/interview in Time magazine (King's New Realm). The article also reveals the following news: King's next book of short stories, Unnatural Acts of Intercourse, will come out this fall or next spring, and he's working on a "novel that's going to be very long. I'll be killing a lot of trees if it gets done."

King will appear on Today on NBC on Tuesday, January 22. If you want to submit a question that might be asked during the interview fill out this form.

Stephen, Tabitha, and Owen King will read from their works at an event called The Three Kings on April 4 in Washington, DC. A reception and book signing will follow. Tickets ($30 + handling) are available here.

January 10, 2008: Happy New Year! Duma Key will be released a week from next Tuesday. Here's an audio excerpt from the book, and here's a neat video trailer (Dial Up | Cable /DSL / Fiber). There's an essay by editor Chuck Verrill at Amazon entitled Duma Key: Where It All Began, and you can read the beginning of the novel in parallel with the short story Memory to see the differences between the two.

December 21, 2007: Just one month to go until the release of Duma Key. Here's the Publishers Weekly review (mild spoilers):

My buddy Dave from Overlook Connection sent me samples of slipcases for Blaze and Gunslinger Born. He's selling both slipcased books and standalone slipcases. Check 'em out.

Issue 1 (of 5) of The Long Road Home, the second Dark Tower graphic novel serial, will be released on March 5, 2008. Here's Marvel's exclamation point-riddled description: "It's the return of the best-selling comic book series, inspired by Stephen King's epic The Dark Tower! Gunslinger Roland Deschain has seen the death of his lover Susan Delgado. And the Big Coffin Hunters who burned her at the stake are now in pursuit of Roland and his ka-tet Cuthbert and Alain. The friends are forced to flee into the desert with the deadly posse in hot pursuit·.and Roland is in a coma! Don't miss this opening chapter starring the Gunslinger whose quest for the Dark Tower will shake the foundation of reality itself!"

USA's series The Dead Zone has been cancelled after a six-year run, leaving several continuing plotlines unresolved. "We wish we could keep all our great shows alive forever," said Jeff Wachtel. "But we feel we need to give some of our new shows a platform to grow, and it's with great sadness that we say goodbye to two shows that had a great run and helped create the resurgence of original programming on our network and on all of cable." The premiere of The Dead Zone, created by the late Michael Piller and his son Shawn, set a record for a series debut on basic cable with 6.4 million viewers.

Two prisoners escaped from Union County jail in Elizabeth, New Jersey last week. Using improvised tools, the men removed cement blocks from two walls, squeezed through the holes, jumped to a rooftop below, scaled a 30-foot high wall and hopped a razor wire fence to escape from what was considered the most secure area of the prison. The escape was apparently inspired by The Shawshank Redemption—---- the inmates covered up their escape holes with photographs of women in bikinis. The escapees left a note saying "Happy Holidays," and thanking a guard they claim helped them escape.

This new Q&A has been getting a lot of press, mostly because of King's "waterboarding" comments. King also talked to Nightline about his childhood, career and the secret to a successful horror film. ABC news has an interesting from book to screen photo essay.

The Mist took in $13 million dollars during the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It was a ninth place opening, but the film's budget was only $18 million, so in five days they've earned back most of their money. Here's a NY Times interview with Darabont and King, an interview with Marcia Gay Harden, an interview with the extras, pictures from the premiere and "Ms Mod's" review -- by the moderator of King's message board, a USA Today article, and an MTV interview with King. My set visit report is a Cemetery Dance free read, but beware of the spoiler notice at the top of the page. I have interviews with Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden and Toby Jones. My interview with Frank Darabont in Rue Morgue #73 should be on stands for a few more days. For my thoughts on the film, visit my LiveJournal.

To see exclusive storyboards from The Mist, visit Fangoria.com. They also have an exclusive video interview with writer/director Darabont here, as well as some cool clips of Darabont and King talking together here. Star Thomas Jane sounds off here. Check out all the articles in Fearful Features too, and the cover story of the current issue of FANGORIA (on newsstands now).

CD's very own Glenn Chadbourne said he spotted his t-shirt design featuring Doug Graves in The Mist. Glenn said he heard on King's radio station WKIT that multiple t-shirts were used in the movie because of all the blood.

Fear.net has a nice interview with Peter, wherein he talks about T3, The Talisman movie and his next book. Note: this video is only available in North America.

Promotional bookmarks for The Long Road Home, the second Marvel graphic novel series, indicate that the launch will be in March 2008. The hardcover version of The Gunslinger Born was the #1 hardcover graphic novel on multiple sales charts and Amazon.com's editors' picked it as the #1 Comic & Graphic Novel of 2007. "This is everything a hardcover collection of this type should be, and more," gushed Joe Hartlaub of BookReporter.Com, who furthered described Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born HC as, "a beautiful hardcover edition that pays proper homage to the work within."

According to Entertainment Weekly, ABC is planning a new drama series that's loosely based on The Colorado Kid. King describes the script, from The Dead Zone's Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn, as "closer to The X-Files than Supernatural." King will have a small stake in the show (currently dubbed Sanctuary) should it go to series, "but it's not something that keeps me up nights, the way Kingdom Hospital did."

When you read Duma Key in January, check out the epigraph, then back up to the copyright page and look at the acknowledgements for the song "Dig" by Shark Puppy. You'll see some familiar names, I'm sure.

November 16, 2007: Stephen King will appear on ABC's Nightline tonight at 11:35 P.M. (EST). If you miss it, the full interview transcript will be at ABCNEWS.com after the show airs. "If I can make you feel for my characters, and if you worry that something will happen to them instead of rooting for something to happen to them, for their head to be blown off, or for Freddy to get them with his nails, then I got something going," King tells Jake Tapper.

Publisher Donald M. Grant posted an updated last week about their new edition of the revised version of The Gunslinger combined with Little Sisters of Eluria. "We have now received from Michael all the additional art for the book and can start working on design and production. Price, schedule and other details have not been set and when further information is available it will be posted on our website and published in our newsletter. We expect that this will be announced in the beginning of 2008." This book will be called Little Sisters of Eluria.

TMZ.com posted a video of King greeting fans before the New York premiere of The Mist when someone asks him to autograph their daughter's diaper. Saying he had "changed a few" in his day, King happily obliges, but the kid throws a fit. Here are some video highlights from the press conference where King and Darabont field questions about The Mist, a quick text recap of the high points and a link where you can listen to the interview. Fangoria magazine says "not only is The Mist intelligent, thoughtful and empathetic toward its characters, it is proudly and unashamedly a horror movie through and through. Darabont has scored his third successful King adaptation in a row, and there's nothing hazy about his intention this time to scare the hell out of all of us." Wandering through the Mist is an interview with Darabont and Marcia Gay Harden. Here is the third trailer.

Darabont tells MTV about his hopes to adapt The Long Walk. "It's a hard story to pitch to a studio. Because they say Îwell what's it about?" Well it is about a bunch of kids walking and talking - uh okay. The thing I keep thinking about is that these guys never stop moving. So, I how do you get a really good close up. It would be an interesting challenge to not have people get just sick of watching the image because of all the movements. So, I think that there are certain rigs that stabilize the image even more so than a steady cam," he revealed. "But [overall] I think a lot of run and gun, a lot of the guerrilla approach that I applied on The Mist. It will again be letting those ragged edges show."

Hodder & Stoughton are offering you a unique opportunity to design the advertising for Duma Key. "The winning designer will see their work in print on the London Underground and in city centres and have a hand in promoting a fantastic book by an internationally-renowned author." The competition is open to anyone. Further information on the competition is available at www.stephenking.co.uk. Deadline for entry is December 7, 2007.

November 1, 2007: Den of Geek has released part 1 of an interview that was conducted in 1983 and never published until now. Part 2 will be up tomorrow.

King's review of Eric Clapton's autobiography was published in the NY Times last weekend and is available online. Best American Short Stories 2007 was #10 on the Times paperback bestseller list in the same issue. The standalone paperback of The Mist was #13.

The October 27^th podcast at The Imagination Station's latest Hypa-Space has brief interviews with King, Frank Darabont, and Marcia Gay Harden. Numerologists will be interested to note that they start at the 14:08 mark of the audio file.

Cemetery Dance has released information and illustrations from Secretary of Dreams (Volume Two). This edition contains "The Monkey," "Strawberry Spring," and "In the Deathroom" as illustrated text and "Gray Matter," "One for the Road," and "Nona" in illustrated format. Glenn Chadbourne is the illustrator, once again.

Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks announced The Stephen King Collector's Guide, a CD-ROM of PDFs, available here.

October 26, 2007: Paris Review is now accepting online orders for the Fall issue, which contains the new King story Ayana. Stay tuned, too, in the next few weeks for the December issue of Playboy containing "Mute." F&SF magazine is tentatively scheduling the publication of a new 3100-word story for the October/November 2008 issue of their magazine. The title of this story is still under consideration.

Actors Judith Ivey and Kelli O'Hara will read short fiction from The Best American Short Stories 2007 on Tuesday, November 6 at 8PM at Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. For more information or reservations visit www.westportplayhouse.org. Here's a Harvard Crimson article about King's visit to Cambridge to promote the anthology. Also check out this NPR radio interview.

Eli Roth recently told the folks at MTV that he hasn't yet finished the script for Cell. "I've realized that I can't multitask in the writing department; I can only kind of do one thing at a time. So right now I'm working on [a guest-director episode of] Heroes, and then I'll work on Trailer Trash, and then we'll see about Cell after that."

Here's an article in The Scientist by the authors of The Science of Stephen King: How now, Stephen King.

Mick Garris said the he hopes to include an adaptation of "Home Delivery" in the new NBC anthology series Fear Itself that he will be producing. Garris originally prepared this story for the Nightmares and Dreamscapes series but Masters of Horror obligations pulled him away.

October 17, 2007: Leonard Lopate interviewed King today about The Best American Short Stories 2007. A podcast of the interview is available here. There's an article in The Harvard Crimson about his appearance in Cambridge earlier this week and one in the NYU News about his New York appearance.

Look for King to appear in an ESPN ad, preparing copy for anchor John Anderson. "I think it was the Red Sox's clutch hitting, not that New York was possessed by demons," Anderson deadpans as King rips the copy out of Anderson's hands, throws it in the garbage and begins typing again.

Eli Roth has this to say in an interview with MTV: "The latest with Cell is that the script is not finished. I've realized that I can't multitask in the writing department; I can only kind of do one thing at a time. So right now I'm working on [a guest-director episode of] Heroes, and then I'll work on Trailer Trash, and then we'll see about Cell after that.

Frank Darabont will receive the Kodak Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at ShowEast's closing gala. He will also screen The Mist tonight.

October 11, 2007: A second new King story will come out in November. In addition to "Mute" in the December issue of Playboy, "Ayana" will appear in the fall issue of The Paris Review. This is the story Susan Moldow mentioned that King gave her when he appeared in Toronto earlier this year. See the June 11 post below for more details.

In a brief interview at USA Today, King talks about what he's working on: "It's called A Very Tight Place. Not a novel but a long story. I've been writing lots of stories lately." The paper also reviews The Best American Short Stories 2007: At a story a night, there's enough variety and talent in the 20 selections here to keep readers entertained for nearly three weeks. Guest editor Stephen King's lineup includes literary all-stars: Alice Munro's "Dimension" is a chilling look at criminal insanity; Richard Russo's "Horseman" explores how a professor's encounter with student plagiarism triggers questions about her authenticity. But the real finds are the lesser-known writers. Beverly Jensen's haunting "Wake," about a rousing funeral in the midst of a nor'easter, is made even more poignant by the note that Jensen died at age 49.

In an interview posted at The Overlook Connection's web site, Peter Straub says: "The Talisman has just been shelved for the hundredth time, now because of the budget. Steve and I have agreed to do the last book in the series, but it will have to wait until our desks are clear."

Director Tobe Hooper says that From a Buick 8 will not be "your stock horror film by any means. There's a really cool, layered quality to the story. The producers, writers and I shared the same sensibility about the project and responded to it in a similar way."

Note: Links to two web sites that posted clips from The Mist were removed from this page because the producers advised me the clips were unauthorized.

October 9, 2007: According to an announcement at the back of the current issue (November), there will be a new King short story called "Mute" in the December 2007 Playboy. The story is described this way: "In a confession to a priest, a traveling salesman tells of his encounter on the Maine turnpike with a deaf-mute hitchhiker to whom he rants about his adulterous wife." The street date for this issue should be early November.

With the hunt for the World Series under way, King's appearances at Red Sox games have been announced in numerous sports articles, including this one: King shows why he's Faithful to the Sox.

October 5, 2007: Lilja has a new interview with Jae Lee about the Gunslinger Born series and his work on the next series, too. The entire creative team talks to Publishers Weekly, too.

Here are King's comments about The Girl Next Door, the movie adaptation of Jack Ketchum's novel, which is screening in NY this weekend: "The first authentically shocking American film I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, The Girl Next Door will not disappoint. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of Stand By Me."

According to a new press release, the upcoming (November 7) 240-page hardcover edition of Gunslinger Born will "present fans with exciting bonus material. Leading the way is a series of all-new illustrations from Lee. Additional added-value features will be unveiled in the coming weeks."

"They're all gonna laugh at you." A year after Jaws made audiences afraid to go in the water, Carrie raised similar fears about the high school prom. Schedule permitting, director Brian De Palma will participate in a post-screening discussion about the film when it hits the big screen at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in Manhattan (111 E 59th between Park & Lexington Ave) on October 15 as part of the Monday Nights with Oscar series. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be reserved by calling 1-888-778-7575. Doors open at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved. Featuring a new print from the Academy film archive.

King will be making two appearances in October to promote the Best American Short Stories (2007) which he edited. He will be at Symphony Space in New York on October 10th and in Cambridge, MA on October 16th. His introduction from the anthology was published on Sunday in the NY Times Book Review.

September 28, 2007: 1408 comes out on DVD next week, in a standard edition and a 2-disk version. Here's a DVD Talk review of the two-disk version. Blockbuster has an online game 1408 Room & Doom, inspired by the movie. "Players who survive the psychological onslaught of Room 1408 will receive one of three bonus experiences. These include a special 1408 wallpaper download or a sneak peak at an alternate ending to the movie, otherwise available only on DVD. In a third experience, players can watch a trailer and behind-the-scenes footage of The Mist." Entries in the sweepstakes must be made by Oct. 14.

The Stephen King Area of the Popular Culture Association is seeking papers for the Annual National Joint Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference to be held March 19-22, 2008 at the San Francisco Marriot. "Papers which cover any aspect of Stephen King—---- his fiction, films, non-fiction, King in the classroom, the King phenomenon—---- are sought for this area. For the 2008 National PCA/ACA conference, we would like to note that we are quite interested in papers which focus on The Dark Tower series (and the recently released graphic novels, The Gunslinger Born). Of course, papers which focus on King's early writing, the Bachman books, and King's uncollected writings, to name a few additional topics, are most certainly welcomed." Visit this site for full details.

To Everyone,

Although I am trying to make the best of it, turning 60 is a bit of a bummer. Nevertheless, so many people who visit the web site have cheered me up with their greetings and good wishes. Not to mention all the people who contributed checks to The Haven Foundation to mark my passage into the golden city of Geezerdom! Thank you all! And now, please, can't we just forget the whole thing? From now on, I am going backwards. Next year I will be 59 and by 2017, I will be 50 again.

Love and best wishes to all you Constant Readers out there,

Steve King
Posted 24 September 2007

September 19, 2007: There's an eBay auction running through the 26th for a complete set of hand-signed copies of the Dark Tower series. The books are all hardcovers and consist of first trade editions from 2003-2004; The Viking editions of the first four books (including the revised and expanded edition of The Gunslinger) and the Scribner/Grant editions of the last three books. The opening bid was $100 and within an hour or so it was up to $1500. It's for a good cause! Check it out.

According to Publisher's Lunch, The Haven Foundation, created by Stephen King to provide financial assistance to writers and artists "experiencing career-threatening illness, accident, natural disaster or other emergency or personal catastrophe," has announced that they are now able to start making grants of up to $25,000 a year to those in need. Seed money for the foundation was raised in part by last year's Harry, Carrie and Garp readings at Radio City Music hall.

September 13, 2007: The producers of The Talisman miniseries for TNT got together and looked at their scripts and realized something. This movie is going to cost a lot of money. Due to budgetary issues, the six-hour event has been put on hold, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mick Garris is quoted in the article as saying that ABC couldn't afford the four-hour version he wrote back in 2000. This doesn't mean the project is dead, but 2008 looks like a big question mark right now.

Here are a couple of good interviews/articles about The Long Road Home, the second cycle in the Marvel graphic novel series: Comic Book Resource and Newsarama. The series debuts in February 2008.

Jim Shepard will join Richard Russo and Karen Russell, author of St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves at an evening hosted by Stephen King and The Best American Short Stories 2007 series editor Heidi Pitlor on Oct 16 at 8pm at Memorial Church, 1 Harvard Yard, Cambridge. Admission is $15, which includes purchase of the book. Tickets will go on sale mid-September at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass. Ave., Cambridge.

King admits in his introduction that he prefers "all-out emotionally assaultive" stories to those that might appeal to his "critical nose." Yet King's selections are right at home among those of recent BASS editors Lorrie Moore, Michael Chabon and Walter Mosley: John Barth's darkly comic take on aging and mortality; a child's unforgiving view of her alcoholic parent from T.C. Boyle; an exploration of the grief of a crystal meth addict by William Gay (a writer King notes is a relatively obscure "American talent"); Lauren Groff's piece about a polio survivor learning to swim during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic (based loosely on real-life Olympian Ethelda Bleibtrey); Roy Kesey's imagining of an airport terminal as microcosm of global politics; and Karen Russell's halfway house for the human children of werewolves ("their condition skips a generation"). Stories drawing on horror and on Maine add a personal King touch to this year's cull of 20, taken from among the 4,000 that series editor Pitlor read last year in periodicals. The book reflects the variety of substance and style and the consistent quality that readers have come to expect from the series, now in its 30th year.

Misery: Collector's Edition (October 2) will retail for $19.98 and include the following extras: Feature commentary by Rob Reiner, Feature commentary by Screenwriter William Goldman, "Misery Loves Company" featurette, "Marc Shaiman's Music Misery Tour" featurette, "Diagnosing Annie Wilkes" featurette (new), "Advice For The Stalked" featurette(new), "Profile Of A Stalker" featurette(new), "Celebrity Stalkers" featurette(new), "Anti-Stalking Laws" featurette(new), Original Theatrical Trailer, Original Theatrical Teaser.

Winners in the creative arts categories of the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences: Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score): "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King: Battleground," TNT. Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or Special: "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King: Battleground," TNT.

August 17, 2007: Fangoria reports that Mick Garris will be directing a feature film adaptation of Bag of Bones, written by Matt Venne and coproduced with Mark Sennet. Garris is also producing the film version of From a Buick 8, directed by Tobe Hooper and said the he would love to direct Gerald's Game, his favorite King novel.

This slipped under some people's radars, but The Gunslinger's Guidebook is now out. It was delayed by a week due to some binding issues.

1408 will be released on DVD on October 2, with deleted scenes, featurettes and an alternate ending.

Best American Short Stories will be out on October 10. Edited by King, contributors include Richard Russo, John Barth, Jim Shepard, Alice Munro, William Gay, T.C. Boyle, Mary Gordon, Kate Walbert, Ann Beattie, and Louis Auchincloss.

The Shining: Special Edition DVD will be out from Warner Home Video on October 23. Disc One: Audio commentary by Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown and Kubrick biographer John Baxter. Disc Two: The Making of The Shining, with optional commentary by Vivian Kubrick (from the previous DVD), new View from The Overlook: Crafting The Shining featurette, new The Visions of Stanley Kubrick featurette, new Wendy Carlos, Composer featurette.

August 1, 2007: It's been a couple of weeks since the last update, partly because I was away at NECON and partly because there hasn't been a lot of news to warrant an update. Since today is the release day of the final installation of Gunslinger Born, I thought I'd catch you up on all the little things that have arisen in the interim.

King introduces three of the page-turners he selected for The Best American Short Stories 2007 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in NY on October 10 at 7:30 pm. Each story delivers what King says he wants all stories to convey: a "sense of emotional involvement, of flipped-out amazement--like a big hot meteor screaming down from the Kansas sky." Tickets available here.

John Mellencamp was in New York last week to attend workshop performances of The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the musical play he's written with King.

Duma Key is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s.

Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key?

The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.

If you haven't had a chance to get to the comic shop yet, here's a preview of Issue 7 of Gunslinger Born. The Gunslinger's Guidebook is also supposed to come out today, but I've heard rumors that a binding error might delay its delivery. Lilja reports that the title of the second story arc is The Long Road Home. The first issue in that arc will be released in February 2008.

Here is an audio recording of The Mist presentation done at Comic-Con last week. Director Frank Darabont revealed that he plans to adapt The Long Walk once he has completed Fahrenheit 451. Since he doesn't have a script for The Long Walk yet, I think it's a safe bet we're a couple of years away from production on that movie.

Eli Roth told Comic-Con that his adaptation of Cell is on hold. The script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski has yet to be completed and he is currently at work on a movie full of fake movie trailers. Roth hopes to enlist King's help in a cameo role when he finally gets around to making Cell.

Ghost Hunters: Live From the Shining Hotel, which originally aired on SciFi last May, will be released on DVD on October 9, 2007 and is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Jason, Grant and the Ghost Hunters team revisit the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado for a live Halloween-night investigation.

Yet another King movie is getting the "special edition" DVD treatment. On October 2, a new Collector's Edition DVD of Misery is coming from MGM Home Video through Fox Home Video. The disc will include a new audio commentary by director Rob Reiner and scripter William Goldman, plus additional behind-the-scenes material.

Rocky Wood warns about a new book showing up that is written by Stephen King...just not that Stephen King. The book is A Master Class in Brand Planning.

Have you been keeping up with The Dead Zone on USA? Season 6 has taken a number of interesting twists and I'm enjoying it. The new sheriff is a handful and Johnny and Sarah are finally getting to pick up where they left off over a decade earlier. Production moved to Montreal, and I'm seeing some influences from that move in the scenery and guest actors.

July 13, 2007: Happy Friday the 13^th! Someone posted a couple of deleted scenes from Shawshank Redemption on YouTube. They're interesting, but their ultimate destination, the cutting room floor, was the best place for them, in my opinion.

On July 27th at San Diego Comic-Con, Frank Darabont will be showing clips from The Mist and holding a panel with stars Thomas Jane and Laurie Holden, along with special effects gurus Greg Nicotero (KNB) and Everett Burell (CafeFX). Other cast members may be along for the panel. Darabont is having 3000 teaser posters printed up for the event to hand out at the show.

Lilja reports that Duma Key will be approximately 592 pages long and that King will narrate the audio edition.

King's most recent Entertainment Weekly column is about the end of the Harry Potter series: Goodbye, Harry

Here's a review of the new special collector's edition DVD of Cujo. A new DVD boxed set this month contains Carrie, The Dark Half, Misery and Needful Things. Three TV adaptations will be released in another boxed set on September 25, including The Stand, Golden Years and The Langoliers.

July 2, 2007: Issue #6 of Gunslinger Born comes out this week. Some shops may be open on July 4^th, but otherwise you'll be able to pick up this penultimate issue of the first cycle on Thursday, July 5^th.

It was announced at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors that Rob Schmidt will direct a big screen adaptation of Insomnia. When asked how he was going to handle bringing such a long story to theatres, Schmidt related that he'll be focusing a lot on the town itself. He intends to cast young actors and use the special effects wizardry of Stan Winston to de-age them during the story. He says that King is a big fan of his movie Wrong Turn.

1408 had a strong second week at the box office, bringing in over $10 million. In absolute dollars, the $20.2 million opening weekend is the largest for any King adaptation ever. Read some of my thoughts about the film here.

If you haven't had a chance to read the new story yet, Esquire released a long excerpt from "The Gingerbread Girl" on their website. Once the magazine vanishes from newsstands, you should still be able to find it in your local library or order a back issue.

Blaze entered the NY Times bestseller list at #2 and stayed there the week following its release, too.

June 22, 2007: This is 1408 day, and the movie has been drawing mostly favorable advanced reviews, and a ton of them at that. King publicly endorsed the movie with this message posted on his web site:

Eli Roth won't be directing Cell any time soon. "I most likely will take the rest of the year to write my other projects. Which means I wouldn't shoot until the spring, and you wouldn't see a film directed by me in the cinemas until at least next fall (2008)."

Here's a review of The Dead Zone season 5 DVD set. Episode 2 of Season 6 airs on Sunday night. It's called "Ego": Johnny's relationship with new Cleaves Mills sheriff Anna Turner (Cara Buono) gets off to a rocky start when she tells him that her department will no longer need his help. But when Johnny has a vision of her shooting a female psychiatrist, he launches an investigation despite her objections.

Here's a report from the Dark Tower panel at HeroesCon. For people who've been curious about sales numbers for the series, this site is the place to go. Gunslinger Born #4 sold an estimated 131,753 copies in May. (Issue #3 sold 132,481 copies in April.)

June 15, 2007: Everything changes this season on The Dead Zone on USA Network. One moment took his love, took his hope, took his future. Beginning this Sunday at 10/9C Johnny Smith takes it all back in the season six premiere.

More 1408 articles and interviews: Fashion Wire Daily, UK Metro, IESB, MTV, SciFi.com. SPIKE TV is having "creepy hotel room" week on C.S.I. reruns, hosted by John Cusack with lots of promos for 1408. According to a producer, the key detail that took the fright out of making the film: "It cost $25 million. Anything over $30 million and we make a profit."

Here is a preview for Gunslinger Born #6. The issue will be out on either July 4th or 5th, depending on if shops are open for the holiday. Peter David and Robin Furth will be attending HeroesCon 2007 this weekend.

June 12, 2007: Today is Blaze day. There are new reviews in these two publications: Miami Herald, USA Today.

The Esquire issue with "The Gingerbread Girl" is out in most places now, and has been drawing a lot of media attention, thanks to an AP wire article that has been picked up everywhere. If you're not sure where the story's title comes from, refamiliarize yourself with the classic story The Gingerbread Man. "The gingerbread man did not look back. He ran on saying, 'Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!'"

June 11, 2007: King was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Toronto on Friday night. Here is his acceptance speech and part of Chuck Klosterman's interview (video courtesy of Lou Sytsma, a frequent poster on my message board, who also posted these pictures of the event). King's publisher, Susan Moldow, mentioned that he handed her the manuscript for a new ("personal and moving") short story, "Ayana," that morning. The story probably won't be published until next year, and was inspired by the recent family death. Here are a few articles that cover the event: Chronicle Journal, CBC, Toronto Star, Toronto Star (follow-up with James Patterson, who was the brunt of a less than flattering comment by King during his interview). The event will run on Canadian television at some point, perhaps on Bravo, and will later be posted on The Hour's web site.

Here are 8 new film clips from 1408. Simon and Schuster is holding a contest associated with the tie-in reissue of Everything's Eventual. Cinemablend has a podcast interview with the director, who also informed Bloody-Disgusting.com that King really likes the movie: "King was very pleased with the film, I'm happy to say. When you are adapting an author, especially one who has been around like he has, it's very important that he approves. Even though the film contains more story, we are true to heart and soul of the short story." King also doled out some specific praise for Cusack's performance. Actress Mary McCormack told Bloody Disgusting that two endings were shot for the film, the original too much of a downer for mainstream audiences. The director said the DVD version will contain numerous deleted scenes.

Blaze comes out tomorrow. Here's my review and Lilja's review. Lilja is holding Blaze week at his web site, with contests, interviews and prizes.

Several people asked me how to get copies of the DVD of King's interview with Charles Ardia at the Edgar Awards recently. It is available for purchase from the MWA web site. Click on Order DVD/CDs/Tapes.

I got a kick out of this: 50 reasons to love SK. Especially #26, which is so true it's funny. Or vice versa.

I read "The Gingerbread Girl," the 21,000-word thriller in the current issue of Esquire, over the weekend. It has no supernatural elements, but that doesn't keep it from getting the pulse pounding and the heart thumping.

June 8, 2007: Tonight's the night for "A Toast to Stephen King," featuring Margaret Atwood, Clive Barker and George Stroumboulopoulos. The event takes place at 7:30 p.m. in John Bassett Theatre, 255 Front St. W., Toronto. King is presigning a limited number of books for the event, but there's been no word yet about how they will be distributed. He will not be signing any other books.

The issue of Esquire featuring the new, long story "The Gingerbread Girl" is starting to show up in stores. Angelina Jolie is on the cover. "The Gingerbread Girl" takes up over 20 pages of the issue.

Eli Roth has been talking about Cell quite a bit lately, including at Ain't It Cool News.

You didn't forget to pick up issue #5 of The Gunslinger Born this week, did you?

May 28, 2007: For the first time in many years, Stephen King will be playing with the Rock Bottom Remainders again. The show takes place on Friday, June 1^st at Webster Hall in New York City. The show is being billed as their 15th anniversary "Still Younger Than Keith" concert. Other band members and guests include Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Frank McCourt, Andy Borowitz and Roger McGuinn from the Byrds. The concert is a benefit for 826NYC, the New York affiliate of the organization Dave Eggers founded to get kids writing; the AAP's Get Caught Reading program; and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. On May 31, some of the RBR band members will be appearing on Good Morning America to talk up the charities the band is supporting.

Among those paying tribute to King at the gala in Toronto on June 8^th will be Margaret Atwood and Clive Barker, and former Spin editor Chuck Klosterman is handling the evening's on-stage interview.

King's newest story, "The Gingerbread Girl," will appear in Esquire's July issue, on stands June 15. Here's how it's described on King's web site: "In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Em starts running. Soon she runs from her husband, to the airport, down to the Florida Gulf and out to the loneliest stretch of Vermillion Key, where her father has offered the use of a conch shack he has kept there for years. Em keeps up her running—barefoot on the beach, sneakers on the road÷and sees virtually no one. This is doing her all kinds of good, until one day she makes the mistake of looking into the driveway of a man named Pickering. Pickering also enjoys the privacy of Vermillion Key, but the young women he brings there suffer the consequences·"

The Publishers Weekly review of Blaze is now up at Amazon. The Booklist review is available at Lilja's Library. Publication date is June 12^th.

The King-edited 2007 Best American Short Stories is now up for pre-order at Amazon. It features 20 stories selected from over 400 King read last year, along with a list of 100 others worthy of mention that didn't make the final cut.

On July 28, The Stand by Me Celebration and Rolling Roadshow invites fans to re-live the classic coming-of-age film in Brownsville, Oregon where it was filmed. Fans can re-live the film during a 1-day celebration that includes viewing the film on a giant outdoor screen, a blueberry pie eating contest, 1950s vintage car cruise-in, sock hop, and a scavenger hunt for the dead body. There will be guest appearances by cast members.

Issue 5 of The Gunslinger Born comes out on June 6th. Lilja has the sketch and variant covers on his web site.

The Dead Zone launches its sixth season on USA Network Sunday, June 17 at 10:00PM/9:00 Central.

May 9, 2007: Rather than go head to head with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dimension has decided to move 1408 to June 22 from its original release date of July 13. Check out a very favorable report from an advanced screening at the Fangoria website.

According to Variety, HBO Films and HBO Sports are making a miniseries based on Faithful. Bill Diamond will write scripts for the program, which has been broken into six hour long episodes. The series will chronicle the Red Sox's 2004 World Series win. Much of the program will also focus on the 86 year lag between wins.

Today is Gunslinger Born day—issue 4 should be on a comic book store shelf near you. Previews and reviews are available here:

The film adaptation of 1408 is due in theaters on Friday, July 13^th. The trailer and ten stills from the movie can be seen here.

Publishers Weekly had this to say about the Edgar Awards banquet: The evening's high point was the induction of Stephen King as Grand Master÷one speaker wondered why this choice "didn't happen 20 years ago." Barry and Ridley Pearson, introducing King, riffed on his "murderous" style: "Many critics were dismissive of his early work," said Pearson, "but those who are still alive have come to recognize his talents." King received two standing ovations÷the first when he bounded to the stage prematurely, seemingly unaware that Donald Westlake was to present the award itself. Taking the podium, Westlake good-naturedly told the crowd, "I wasn't born to be the forgotten man." King seemed amused by the many labels that have been bestowed on him (thrillermeister, et al.), saying, "I never called myself anything except somebody who wanted to be a writer." CDs and DVDs of certain events from the awards are available from the Mystery Writers of America.

I have an essay (in French) called "Stephen King's Dark Tower" in Le livre des livres de Stephen King. Apparently contributor copies were sent out a few months ago, but mine hasn't shown up yet. Other contributors include F. Paul Wilson, Mort Castle, Stephen Jones, Tim Lebbon, Ed Bryant, Michael R. Collings, Steve Tem, Kim Newman, Poppy Z. Brite and Jack Ketchum.

King accepts his Grand Master Award at the Edgar Awards tomorrow night in NYC. Charles Ardai from Hard Case Crime interviewed King at a symposium that is part of the awards event today. DVDs or tapes of the event can be purchased from the MWA.

The New York Post reports that King will perform with the Rock Bottom Remainders at Webster Hall in NYC on June 1st as part of Book Expo America. This is the first time in several years that he has played with the band.

USA Network has picked up The Dead Zone for a Sixth Season of 13 one-hour episodes. The series returns Sunday, June 17 at 10/9C with a "dramatic premiere that will change everything in Johnny Smith's world."

We're less than two months away from the publication of Blaze. Ron McLarty will read the audio version of this Bachman novel. The author photo is vintage King, from 1973.

April 4, 2007: Lisey's Story won the Bram Stoker Award in the novel category at the HWA Banquet in Toronto last weekend.

Frank Darabont and his crew set people on fire on Day 18 of filming of The Mist. See the Webisode here (Quicktime .mov, 6 MB). Quint from Ain't it Cool News spent three more days on the set after our visit. His reports are here: Day 2.1, Day 2.2, Day 2.3.

Speaking of our favorite haunted car, Disturbia co-writer Christopher Landon may be involved in a remake of the movie. "[Christine] has been all over the place," he told Coming Soon. Apparently this was going to be a SciFi original or a movie for NBC. "If it happens or not we'll see, but when I came in what I wanted to do was really go back to the book, the source material. I'm a fan of the Carpenter version, it is fun. But the book was much more of a possession story than it was just a killer car. That's what made the book so great is that what was so terrifying was that it wasn't just about an inanimate object running around and killing people, it was a boy who was sorta being taken over by the former owner of the car - and there was something more terrifying about that. Also, I just love the dynamics of the characters and so forth. Right now it's way too soon say anything else about it. We're so in the thick of deal-making, I don't want to blow anything else!"

The paperback edition of Blaze will be released on December 26, 2007. The cover art for the hardcover, due out in June, appears here. Yes, that's a red mitten you see underneath the E in the title.

A while back I mentioned that Michael Marshall (Smith) would be adapting a King story for a UK TV series. At World Horror in Toronto last weekend he said that the story is "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut."

March 27, 2007: Rich Chizmar and I got to visit the set of The Mist in Shreveport, Louisiana on Thursday and Friday last week. I posted a lengthy "travelogue" of the trip on my Live Journal. While I was in Shreveport, this article was published in the local newspaper: A bad day at the market is fun for creators of The Mist. I'm writing a set visit report for Rue Morgue magazine, which will probably be in their next issue. Set videographer Constantine Nasr put together a video blog (a webisode) from day 10 of filming that premiered at Ain't It Cool News and later appeared at Jo-Blo.

I was interviewed recently for this article about the Dark Tower in the LSU Reveille. It seemed apropos that I was in Louisiana when it appeared. Also apropos that I took exit 19 from the highway to get to The Mist set every morning.

Postscripts 10 should be shipping soon, with the new King story "Graduation Afternoon." I strongly recommend that you skip King's introductory paragraph until after you read the story itself, because it reveals an image that is best left undiscovered until you get to that part of the story.

King is the editor for the new edition of The Best American Short Stories, an anthology that is organized by a well-known guest editor each year. King said he picked 20 stories to be featured in the 2007 edition, which will be out in October, after reading more than 400. King also said the book will contain a list of 100 short stories that weren't chosen for the collection but made the "honor roll." He wrote in the introduction to the collection: "There isn't a single one ... that didn't delight me, that didn't make me want to crow 'Oh man, you gotta read this!' to someone. I knew it would be that way. That's why I took the job. Talent does more than come out; it bursts out, again and again, doing exuberant cartwheels while the band plays 'Stars and Stripes Forever.'"

The Gunslinger's Guidebook, a concordance for the Marvel graphic novel series, has been pushed back to August. Co-author Anthony Flamini posted this on the Marvel DT board: "Yeah, The Gunslinger's Guidebook was originally envisioned as a handbook focusing on Roland's Hambry adventure and everything that occurred prior to that. But as Robin Furth and I discussed things in greater detail, we decided that we also wanted to feature profiles on the all-new Mid-World characters who would be debuting for the first time in the comic adaptation following the Hambry story arc . . . characters such as the ferocious General Grissom (of the blue-faced barbarians). So that's the primary reason for the book's delay -- but you'll be getting a superior product packed with much more original content! The wait will be worth it!"

The first issue of The Gunslinger Born has been reprinted with a new Quesada cover. I don't know how frequently this happens in comic-dom. Issue 3 will be released next Wednesday.

Eli Roth told SCI FI WIRE that King endorsed his version of Cell. "My first question when I adapted it was can I deviate from the book?" Roth said. "It's Stephen King. Am I going to piss off Stephen King? He was mad at Stanley Kubrick, I don't want him mad at me. And, finally, Stephen King was like, 'Do whatever you want.'" Roth warned that he would be making changes to the story. "I love the opening [scene]," Roth said. "But I also want to keep, ... not necessarily that same chaotic tone, but I want to keep the tension of the opening 40 pages of the book going throughout the whole film and introduce other elements. Because I think the book, for me, where it loses tension is where suddenly you don't feel like the phone crazies are trying to kill them. ... I find that it's finding other ways to make it so you still feel the tension that any second you could get killed [and] carrying that throughout the whole film." He hopes to get King to do a cameo. "There's always room. That's the good thing about Cell. Because it's like crazy people running around trying to [kill you] It's like everybody gets a cameo." He hopes to shoot the movie in his native Boston, where the book is set.

March 9, 2007: Quint from Ain't it Cool News reports from the set of The Mist. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 & Day 4 (with photos). Frank Darabont will provide fans with news about The Mist at the next West Coast edition of FANGORIA's Weekend of Horrors convention, May 18-20, 2007 at Burbank's Marriott Airport Hilton.

Here's a very brief interview with King in the NY Post. Quint's interview is much longer.

In an interview with Michael Marshall (author of The Straw Men and The Intruders, which I'm currently reading) I found this line: "At the moment, I'm about to start a television adaptation of a Stephen King short story." After a little detective work, I turned up the name of the story he's adapting, but I'm not allowed to say anything about it yet since the deal isn't signed. Stay tuned!

JJ Abrams had this to say to Wired News in a recent interview in response to a question about him directing The Dark Tower: "This is something that we are just now talking about with Stephen, so it's too early for me to say that we're even officially doing it yet just because the thing is in the early stages of discussion. I love what the The Dark Tower is. Damon Lindelof is obsessed (with it). We met Stephen, who was just the greatest, and hit it off. What's exciting to me about it is that it is a very edgy epic. You could . . . say it's his Tolkien Ring series, but I feel like it has a potential of being a lot more. I think that sense of that great hero, that sort of Western, iconic, almost spaghetti-Western-type hero in this landscape is just an amazing--it feels iconic to me."

Moviehole.net reports that Dimension is gearing up to remake Children of the Corn. Not a sequel, a remake, with Saw III director Lynn Bousman attached.

Here's an article about the artists involved with Gunslinger Born: Illustrators make `Tower' stand out. Issue two came out this week, in case you missed it.

In a recent interview with Movies Online, Lorenzo di Bonaventura admitted that they haven't yet shot the ending for 1408. "It was a really interesting idea because the idea of doing a real time movie in a hotel -- one man in a one-bedroom suite for 80 minutes of real time. We didn't know how you'd come out of that. Like do you need bigger or do you need smaller? What do you need? Or do you feel like he should die or do you feel like he should live? What do you feel? And so we wrote like 15 different endings because Stephen King's short story doesn't really have an ending. It just sort of ends and it's not a cinematic ending. I'll say it that way. So that's the last piece of the puzzle, but it's really fascinating to have done a movie all in a room and we all went sort of crazy."

Here is the publisher's description of Blaze, posted at Amazon/UK: "At 6'7"and just under 300 lbs, Clay Blaisdell is one big mother, but his capers were just small-time until he met George Rackley. George introduced him to a hundred cons and one big idea: kidnapping the child of rich parents. The Gerards are filthy rich, and the last twig on the family tree could be worth millions. There's only one problem: by the time the deal goes down, the brains of the partnership is dead. Or is he? Now Blaze is running into the teeth of a howling storm and the cops are closing in. He's got a baby as a hostage, and the crime of the century just turned into a race against time in the white hell of the Maine woods."

The March selection of a signed book through The Haven Foundation will be Dreamcatcher (hardcover). The price will be $60 plus shipping. The books will go on sale beginning at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time on March 12th. They have a total of 25 copies available and will be offering them in small lots at random times throughout the day so that they will not sell out within the first 2 minutes of going on-sale as they did in January. The April selection will be Black House (hardcover) signed by both Stephen and Peter Straub for $80 plus shipping.

February 27, 2007: Stephen King confirmed at New York Comic Con last weekend that he had granted the option to make a Dark Tower movie to J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindeloff (LOST) for $19.

King also addressed the persistent rumor that he might go back and rewrite the rest of the Dark Tower books, as he did with The Gunslinger. "Yes, that's correct. It's a first draft. It was written over a long period of time, and I look at it as a work that's still in progress. That's why I re-did the first book. The vision that I had of what was going on got clearer as it went along. So, for instance, I looked back at the first book and I said to myself 'there's a lot of things I can do with this now, now that I know how everything turns out in the end.' I'm a really instinctual writer—I don't work with an outline. I did have an outline of some of The Dark Tower stuff way back when, when I started, when I was stoned, and I lost it. I didn't have a clue, and I couldn't remember what was going on, and I had that poem by Robert Browning to draw on, to start, so I knew certain elements that I wanted to be in it, that were in the poem. So, when I got done, and I looked at it, I said This Horn of Eld should be there at the front. That's what you when you rewrite a book. I've got a book now called Duma Key, and there's a woman who has some bracelets and the bracelets are important, but they're not there until the end of the book. What I'm saying is, I know now some things I could do. The Dark Tower is one book, and I'd like go back and fix it up. Who knows—I might end up novelizing their comic book."

He also suggested that The Stand would make a good project for a comic book adaptation. Here are some reports about the panel, including some with photos:

Eric Roth also stated that Cell would be his next movie project after Hostel II. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood and 1408) are working on the script. "By the time I finish Hostel Part II the script should be ready. I really want to read it."

Lilja has a nice photo courtesy of Frank Darabont from The Mist set at his web site.

Don't forget that issue 2 of The Gunslinger Born will be out on March 7th. Each of the first five issues will be released on the first Wednesday in the month. No word yet on the release schedule for the July issue, since the first Wednesday is July 4th.

Thanks to King's praise of Meg Gardiner, both on his website and in Entertainment Weekly, there's been a run on her books at second hand outlets and her agent told Publishers Lunch that publishers are lining up to make book deals with her in the U.S., where she is currently unpublished.

February 19, 2007: Lilja reports that Scribner will publish the next Richard Bachman novel, Blaze, on June 12.

Everyone got excited last week when Hollywood Reporter announced that King was in talks with J.J. Abrams to bring the Dark Tower to the screen. Abrams is well known for his work on LOST, and he and King have formed sort of a mutual admiration society. However, it must be emphasized that this is very, very, very preliminary, and nothing might ever come of it. Keep in mind how long a movie based on The Talisman was in discussion before it showed any promise of becoming reality.

I finally had a chance to read through the Marvel Spotlight on the Dark Tower series. It has a two-page letter from King and interviews with Robin Furth, Jae Lee, Richard Isanove and Peter David. The Road to the Dark Tower even gets a couple of mentions, including in Peter David's interview. Peter David wrote on his website about his experience at the midnight signing at Times Square, and took part in a TV interview at WCSH (Portland, ME) that was up on the web site last time I checked. The same page had an archival interview with Tabitha King if you scroll down to the bottom.

Newsarama released the conventional cover for issue #4 of Gunslinger Born. They also got the David Finch variant artwork for issue 2. See right and click on the images for larger views.

Dennis Hopper is in negotiations to star in Dolan's Cadillac, a movie that was in preproduction a few years ago with Kevin Bacon and Sylvester Stallone attached to it. Then there were rumors of Freddie Prinze, Jr. The report said that production would begin in a couple of months. We'll see.

The February selection of a signed book through The Haven Foundation will be Hearts in Atlantis (hardcover). The price will be $60 plus shipping. The books will go on sale beginning at 12 noon Eastern Time on February 23rd. Haven has a total of 25 copies available and will be offering them in small lots at random times throughout the day so that they will not sell out within the first 2 minutes of going on-sale as they did in January. The March selection will be Dreamcatcher (hardcover), also at $60 plus shipping, and the April selection will be Black House (hardcover) signed by both Stephen and Peter Straub for $80 plus shipping. NOTE: Anyone who has purchased a signed Stephen King book through The Haven Foundation will not be eligible to purchase another signed copy. There is a one signed book per household lifetime limit in order to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get a signed book.

Award news from this past weekend: Stephen King's Desperation won The Art Directors Guild's Excellence in Production Design Award for best TV movie or mini-series. John Stokes (TNT's Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King) won for television movie/miniseries/pilot at the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers' Outstanding Achievement Awards.

February 8, 2007: Jae Lee's original drawings from Gunslinger Born are available for sale here.

Here are a few reports about the midnight openings at various comic stores across the country to launch the graphic novel.

In Entertainment Weekly, King had this to say: ''There are some that are an interesting hybrid between the superhero comics and the novels that I read as an adult.'' And while many would like to see The Dark Tower on the big screen, King is wary. To a degree. ''If Peter Jackson came along and said, 'I made up with New Line and they want to spend billions of dollars on this,' I'd say sure, knock yourself out.'' In other words, fans, don't look for that movie anytime soon.

If you're in the Portland, ME area, Peter David will be signing Gunlsinger Born at Casablanca Comics on Friday, February 9th from 3-6 PM. WCSH (Portland channel 6) will have an interview with Peter tonight at 7 p.m. local time.

Lilja has an excellent in-depth interview with Frank Darabont at Lilja's Library.

February 5, 2007: The Gunslinger Born is almost here! Marvel announced today that due to the tremendous popularity of the variant cover program, each issue of The Gunslinger Born will feature a sketch cover, as chosen by Jae Lee, and an all-new variant cover by one of the top artists in the industry. Issue #2 will feature a variant cover by David Finch (New Avengers, Moon Knight) and a sketch cover by Jae Lee (shown here). Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more on who the other variant cover artists will be. Jae Lee takes the T.M.I. quiz.

"We have more than exceeded our initial forecast numbers. With the first issue looking to surpass 200,000 units in sales, this is by far the biggest selling non-super hero comic event in recent memory," said Dan Buckley, president and publisher of Marvel Entertainment. At present, newsstands, including Barnes & Noble and Borders, can't carry the comic. Foreign translated version deals are being worked through..

"These comics aren't junk food; they're more like delicacies," King said. "Sushi for the mind, if you like. You have to teach yourself how to read 'adult comics,' which are actually comic/novel hybrids. and even then you have to give yourself to the experience, which means accepting the idea that you'll need to work a bit as you do with any good novel. This is, in a sense, an 'origin' story, and interesting in its own right These are not just retellings of books that have already been written. The books serve as a launching pad—and a resource center, I suppose—but the flight is into brand new territory. People curious about the Crimson King will find things to interest them here. And give them some nightmares, I hope. They—Marvel, and especially Robin Furth, who worked with me on the later ["Tower"] books, keeping the proliferating details straight—broke out a simple story line that might be called Teenage Gunslingers and How They Grew," King said. "The basis was Wizard and Glass, the only novel in the series that comes close to being a stand-alone. I modified their outline, and have had a chance to tinker with the dialogue and narration of each issue before it gets graven in stone. I don't tell anyone what or how to draw, though. I know my limitations."

Lilja reports these new additions to the cast of The Mist: Frances Sternhagen (Misery, The Golden Years), Alexa Davalos, Sam Witwer, Bill Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile), Jeff DeMunn (The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, Storm of the Century) and Brian Libby (The Woman in the Room).

A press release about a new film company from Fangoria mentions that Brian Witten, under his Witten Pictures banner, is producing a feature based on The Breathing Method.

January 29, 2007: Andre Braugher and Laurie Holden have joined Thomas Jane in Frank Darabont's production of The Mist. Holden, the female lead, plays Amanda, who is "on the good side of the aisle," and Braugher is Brent Norton, the attorney who lives next door to Tomas Jane's David Drayton and has "more of an adversarial relationship" with Drayton. Holden previously starred in Darabont's movie The Majestic. Shooting is scheduled to begin in mid- to late February in Shreveport, La. for a tentative November release.

To commemorate the launch of the Marvel Dark Tower series, almost 150 comic book retailers across the country will begin selling the issue at the stroke of midnight. A list of participating stores can be found at here. Fans who flock to Midtown Comics in Manhattan will see a couple of special guests: Peter David, who writes the dialogue for the series, and Jae Lee, the book's artist. The store will open for one hour.

In advance of the big release, Silver Bullet Comics' podcast guru Tim Beeman introduces a Marvel conference call featuring Robin Furth. The conference call is hosted by Jim McCann, Marvel's Assistant Manager of Sales Communication. Click the podcast image at this link to be taken directly to the conference call. Furth discusses her extensive experience as King's personal research assistant and how writing A Complete Concordance prepared her for the writing of this series. Furth details the challenges of telling Roland Deschain's back story.

Here is the trailer for 1408, which premieres in July and a positive review from an advanced screening. CHUD and Total Film have short articles about the movie, and Lilja has an interview with the director, Mikael Håfström. The movie will preview at Fangoria's Weekend Of Horrors in Chicago the weekend of Feb 23rd.

HBO Video, through Warner Home Video, will release Creepshow III on May 15th. Neither King nor George Romero were involved in this production, which features five new inter-connected tales of horror: "Alice," "Rachel the Call Girl," "Professor Dayton," "The Haunted Dog" and "The Radio." The DVD arrives unrated with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Extras will include behind-the-scenes interviews with directors Ana Clavell & James Glenn Dudelson and make-up artist Greg McDougall. Retail is $19.98.

January 23, 2007: Ehren Kruger talks about The Talisman miniseries with the folks at Coming Soon. "The core structure of the feature was always that of the novel, but there was just no way we could include a lot of what's in the novel, so now we're able to go back and cherry-pick the best sequences and plotlines and subplots of the novel again."

New York Comic Con announced that it will launch an audio and video podcast available free to the general public. The podcast episodes, which will begin almost immediately after New York Comic Con (February 23-25) concludes, will feature interviews, anime clips, previews from TV shows and films and highlights from panel discussions at the show. The podcasts are expected to be released for several months following the convention and will remain available throughout the year. King, who will be at the con on February 24th, will be among the guests of honor featured in interview podcasts. Read the rest of the press release.

Marvel held a press conference yesterday to discuss The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born #1, released next month. Sitting at the head of the audio table was Robin Furth, chief story architect of the hotly anticipated comic adaptation and long time associate of Stephen King. Also in attendance were Marvel editors Ralph Macchio, Nicole Boos, John Barber, as well as Jim McCann, Marvel's Assistant Manager of Sales Communication. Read more about what was said at the press conference.

January 19, 2007: Dimension announced that 1408 has been pushed back to July 13th. Here's an article about The Mist, which starts filming in Shreveport, LA in just over a month from now.

This week in Entertainment Weekly, King spends an hour flipping around the TV dial. Television Impaired.

SKFakes is running another competition this year. To register, send your name and email address to comp2007@skfakes.co.uk. The entry fee is £10 ($17). Over half a dozen books, all signed by King, are among the list of confirmed prizes to date. More details about the nature of the competition will be announced closer to the starting date, April 1st.

January 18, 2007: Lilja reports that Scribner will publish Duma Key in January 2008. In the third and final section of his interview, King talks about Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, books in cellphones and limited editions.

In addition to the graphic story we've been expecting, issue 1 of Gunslinger Born will contain a map of New Canaan, a preview of issue #2 and an exclusive prose short story by Robin Furth telling the tale of Roland and his friends as they learn how their worlds came into being--all accompanied with spot-illustrations by Jim Calafiore and June Chung. The 48-page issue is all content--no outside advertising.

A note regarding the signed books being offered at the Haven Foundation storefront: there is a one-per-household limit for signed books. If you bought a copy of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon or Secret Windows, you are not eligible to purchase any future signed offerings. This policy ensures that signed books will be available to more people. This restriction does not apply to the unsigned books the charity is also offering.

January 17, 2007: Parts I and II of Lilja's interview with Stephen King are online at Lilja's Library. Part I covers such topics as Fan sites, Blaze and The Haven Foundation. In Part II, King talks about Duma Key, Jack Sawyer and The Gingerbread Girl. Part III appears tomorrow.

In March, Marvel will publish Gunslinger's Guidebook, which appears to be a concordance type book for the Dark Tower graphic novel series. "May luck rise to meet you, sai. Dark days have befallen the once powerful Affiliation. As the Good Man's revolutionaries continue their assault on the civilizations of the Inner Baronies, young Gunslinger Roland Deschain of Gilead and his loyal ka-tet embark eastward on an undercover mission to the distant Outer Barony of Mejis on behalf of the Affiliation. The Gunslinger Guidebook serves as your essential guide for Gilead to Mejis and all points in between ö featuring profiles on the Big Coffin Hunters, Sheemie Ruiz, and Rhea of the Coos." Click the cover image for a larger version.

Nicole Boose has a new entry in her Marvel blog, The Error That Almost Was. Issue 1 of the series is at the printers.

Peter David and Jae Lee will sign The Gunslinger Born #1 at Midtown Comics at midnight on February 6th at Times Square.

January 15, 2007: A new short story called "Graduation Afternoon" will appear in the special 10^th issue of Postscripts magazine from PS Publishing, the publisher who is also doing the limited edition of The Colorado Kid. The magazine will debut at the World Horror Convention in Toronto in March, but PS is taking advanced orders for the various issues (including a 200-copy slipcased edition signed by all contributors, including King) now. (You can also order the unsigned hardcover through the Cemetery Dance online store.) Other contributors to this 160,000 word magazine include: Lucius Shepard, Joe Hill, Ramsey Campbell, Graham Joyce, Tim Lebbon, James Cooper, Nancy Kilpatrick, Rick Hautala, T.M. Wright, Thomas Tessier, Chris Fowler, Stephen Gallagher, Stephen Volk, Mark Morris, Peter Atkins, Allen Ashley, Lisa Tuttle, Chaz Brenchley, P.D. Cacek, Steven Erikson, Paul Jessup and Connie Willis.

The January 22 issue of Newsweek, on newstands today, has an article where famous baby boomers--including Stephen King, Dan Quayle, Bill O'Reilly, Camille Paglia and Cal Ripken Jr.--to list the three things they still want to do--no matter what. Their answers range from improving their golf game to learning a new language to fighting AIDS.

Interviews: Entering the Dark Tower III: Richard Isanove and Part I of an interview with Peter David, which builds up to his discussion of Gunslinger Born next week. The Jae Lee variant cover is a sketch, which the artist says is one of his favorite sketches for the series thus far. Jae Lee's pencils are famous for their distinctive, moody look and this variant can only be described as gorgeous. The second variant is Joe Quesada's take on Roland. Visit this link and click on the images to get larger versions.

January 11, 2007: The Haven Foundation will be offering a very limited supply of signed books by Stephen King each month. The January selection is Secret Window. This was published as an exclusive Book-of-the-Month Club anthology of hard-to-find non-fiction pieces, little-known interviews, short stories, and articles, with an Introduction by Peter Straub. It was intended as a companion to On Writing. Copies will go on sale at 12 PM on Monday, January 15th (eastern time zone) and will be on an 'as supplies last' basis. They may be purchased at the Haven Foundation store. Unsigned hardcover copies of other King titles will also be available for purchase at the original cover price plus shipping. Many of these are now out-of-print in the hardcover edition. New titles will be added as they become available, so check back often for current inventory.

Stay tuned for an in depth interview with King at Lilja's Library. He reported yesterday, "About an hour ago I hung up the phone after doing a 45 minute long phone interview with King himself. Yes, you heard correct. Hearing 'Hello Hans? Steve King...' when I answered the phone was probably one of the weirdest (in a very good way) things I have ever experienced."

You can buy the original cover art or prints of Edward Miller's cover art for the PS Publishing edition of The Colorado Kid here.

Dorman T. Shindler reviewed Secretary of Dreams in the St. Louis Dispatch. He called it "a Twilight Zone-like anthology featuring illustrated works by Stephen King that are reminiscent of the EC horror comics the author professes to love. The tales gathered here—featuring hordes of invading zombies, a haunted truck and a 'storm' of frogs—are well-suited to the treatment. And Glen[n] Chabourne's pen and ink, nightmarish, illustrations (featuring lots of skeletal detail, rotting skin and deranged stares) is the perfect accompaniment. The difference here is that none of King's words is edited, so the illustrations enhance rather than replace the prose. That makes for near perfection when it comes to King's 1981 World Fantasy-winning story, 'The Reach,' a story Joyce Carol Oates once termed elegantly composed." Here's the transcript of Glenn Chadbourne's recent chat.

January 4, 2007: Happy New Year! Welcome back to News from the Dead Zone. This should be an exciting year, with the possibility of two new novels, at least two films, the graphic novel series and who knows what else? You'll know what else—if you keep checking out this page.

The Marvel web site has lots of new goodies to promote the Dark Tower graphic novel series, which will be out in just over a month from now. On the main DT page you can download a cool screensaver and wallpapers and watch a trailer for the series. On the blog page, Nicole Boose presents a first look at some of the extra material that will be included with the first issue: a map of New Canaan based on a sketch provided by Robin Furth. The previous blog entry is here.

A group called Dead Issue has a song called The Last Gunslinger inspired by Roland on their MySpace page. I haven't listened to it yet, but I thought I would pass this along.

Filming of The Mist is slated to commence filming February 20 for a tentative November 21 release.

Rebecca Gibney says King called (director) Mikael Salomon after seeing The End of the Whole Mess to tell him it was one of the best adaptations of any of his works that he'd ever seen.

Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro told SCI FI Wire that he hand-carried a copy of his movie to King's Maine to screen it for him personally. King later named it his favorite film of 2006. "Even now, when you say it, I get chills," del Toro said in an interview this week in Beverly Hills, Calif. "I do. I mean, ... Stephen King has been a huge influence." del Toro, "like a Muslim going to Mecca," hand-toted two enormous film cans containing a print of his movie through three airports from Los Angeles to Bangor. "And then I arrived to a theater that, technically, was very hard for me to go, 'Oh, this is the optimal screening,'" del Toro said. "And yet, to this day, it remains the best screening of my entire life. Because I was sitting next to Stephen King, and he was squirming during the impalement sequence, and I was like, 'It doesn't get better than this.'" The FX people who did Pan's Labyrinth will be doing The Mist, by the way.

Subterranean Press announced recently that they should receive their slipcases for the new edition of The Green Mile within a few weeks, at which time the marathon shipping operation will commence.

I started a new book review site called Onyx Reviews, where I've posted a bunch of my book reviews and a couple of interviews. The Owen King interview appeared previously online but the Tabitha King interview appears here for the first time.

December 19, 2006: Chapters 1 and 2 of Blaze are now online at King's web site. King's note says that he hopes to publish the book in 2007, with royalties going to The Haven Foundation.

If you subscribe to the newsletter from Stephen King's official web site, you received a notice late last week concerning a chance to buy a signed copy of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon or John Irving's Until I Found You from a special store set up at The Haven Foundation website. Though the King books aren't first editions, $40 for a signed hardcover with unequivocal provenance is a great deal in today's market. The approximately 200 copies sold out very fast, but subscribe to the newsletter or check the Haven web site for future offers throughout the winter. Haven is the replacement for the Wavedancer Foundation, an organization designed to support people in the book and publishing industry who have little or no financial cushion in the event of a sudden catastrophic accident. All proceeds from the sale of these books goes to Haven.

Both Stephen King and Robin Furth will be attending New York Comic Con at the end of February. King will be a Guest of Honor and will appear with Furth on a special panel hosted by Joe Quesada, Editor In Chief of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. on Saturday, February 24. Marvel is beginning a full-court press to support the Dark Tower comic series. One of the series associate editors has established a Dark Tower Blog at the Marvel web site. There's also an article in today's USA Today (Dark Tower looms in graphic form) and the newspaper's website has the e-mail Q&A that gave rise to the article. Both links have sample artwork from the first issue.

CaféFX Plus (Pan's Labyrinth, Eragon, Ghost Rider) will be doing special effects for Frank Darabont's The Mist, starring Thomas Jane, who describes the script as "12 Angry Men with monsters." The movie will be shooting in Shreveport, LA at the end of February for a couple of months.See the interview with Jane here. (Windows Media).

And finally, here are King's three top-ten lists for 2006: Books, Music, Movies.

December 13, 2006: Check at your local comic shop today for the free Dark Tower sketchbook to promote The Gunslinger Born. This 16-page booklet has pencil art and character design by Jae Lee and some sample color art demonstrating how Richard Isanove developed the sketches. Here is the description of Issue 2 of The Gunslinger Born: "Roland has incurred the wrath of the evil sorcerer Marten, and must flee his home in Gilead with two of his young friends. But arriving in the supposedly friendly town of Hambry may be no safer, for the dreaded agents of Marten are abroad--The Coffin Hunters! Though it's not all completely bleak as Roland meets the woman who will become the love of his young life--the beautiful Susan Delgado. Plus: Learn more about the land of the Dark Tower with exclusive bonus material!"

Thomas Jane has confirmed that he will be playing the part of David Drake in The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont. Filming is expected to start early in 2007.

December 5, 2006: TNT will team with executive producers Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy and DreamWorks Television for a six-hour miniseries adaptation of The Talisman, scheduled to air on the cable network during summer 2008. "We are so happy and proud to be working with DreamWorks Television and Steven Spielberg after such a tremendous experience making Into the West," said Michael Wright, senior vice president of original programming for TNT and TBS. "We've also had excellent results working with Stephen King's material on Salem's Lot and Nightmares & Dreamscapes, so the opportunity to bring these talents together on our network is just about as good as it gets. Like those previous projects, The Talisman is a truly epic production, but one that will present all new challenges and opportunities. We look forward to working with this top-notch team of filmmakers as we create what is certain to be a television event to remember." Ehren Kruger (Skeleton Key, The Ring) will write the script. No director has been announced yet.

I have an essay about upcoming King projects in the Overlook Connection catalog, which should be out in January. Other contributors to the magazine include Ellen Datlow, Jack Ketchum, Mick Garris, Jonathan Reitan and Rob Zombie. The catalog features over 1,300 related King items, from signed limiteds and first editions to rare magazine appearances and special signed videos by Frank Darabont and Mick Garris. If you use the coupon code BevSentMe, you'll get $5 off the list price of the catalog, as well as an additional $10 off your purchase total if you buy something else. The Overlook Connection will launch their new web site later this month, but you can have a sneak peak right now.

November 28, 2006: Check out Steve's picks on his official web site, and the current issue of Entertainment Weekly for a lengthy interview/article called "When Stephen King met the LOST boys.

The moderator on King's message board says that Duma Key, his next novel, is 835 manuscript pages in first draft manuscript, and that it was written between February and October 2006

I've had an unconfirmed report that King will be on BBC4's Desert Island Disks on Sunday, November 19th. This program will likely NOT be archived on the BBC site after it is presented due to rights restrictions.

The new Carrie stage play runs off-Broadway at P.S. 122 in New York from December 2-30th. Tickets, priced $18, are available by calling (212) 352-3101. P.S. 122 is located at 150 First Avenue at Ninth Street.

After about a week on eBay, the bench King signed for charity went for a little more than $2,000. Someone in Virginia bought it. The money goes to the Maine Discovery Museum in downtown Bangor.

Don't expect esteemed filmmaker Frank Darabont to make nice with The Mist. "This one's more angry than what I've done before," he tells the Los Angeles Daily News. "To get my 'shoot fast and loose' legs under me, I did an episode of The Shield. I had such a blast. I put aside everything I know about filmmaking, the whole Kubrick wannabe approach and shook things up."

Here's the official announcement about the Dark Tower graphic novel series debut, and a profile of artist Jae Lee:

DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN #1 (of 7)
COVER BY: JAE LEE
WRITER: ROBIN FURTH
PETER DAVID
PENCILS: JAE LEE
COLORED BY: RICHARD ISANOVE
LETTERED BY: CHRIS ELIOPOULOS

THE STORY:
ãThe man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.ä With those words, millions of readers were introduced to Stephen Kingâs Roland÷an implacable gunslinger in search of the enigmatic Dark Tower, powering his way through a dangerous land filled with ancient technology and deadly magic. Now, in a comic book personally overseen by King himself, Rolandâs past is revealed! Sumptuously drawn by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove, adapted by long-time Stephen King expert Robin Furth (author of Stephen Kingâs The Dark Tower: A Concordance) and scripted by New York Times Best-seller Peter David, this series delves deep into Rolandâs origins÷the perfect introduction to this incredibly realized world, while long-time fans will thrill to adventures merely hinted at in the novels. Be there for the very beginning of a modern classic of fantasy literature!

48 PGS./CARDSTOCK COVER/Parental Advisory ·$3.99

PRICE: 3.99
IN STORES: 2007-02-07

November 10, 2006: According to Lilja, the newly discovered Bachman manuscript I mentioned last time is Blaze, written in the early 1970s. Visit Lilja's site to read about his meeting with King in the UK. Blaze is about a huge, almost retarded criminal who kidnaps a baby and plans to ransom it back to the wealthy parents, but falls in love with the child instead.

November 8, 2006: The deadline to get your name in the back of the new limited edition of The Green Mile is Monday, November 13, 2006 at 5:00 EST. Visit Subterranean Press's website for full details. In unrelated news, the movie version of The Green Mile has been voted the most tear-jerking film, beating Ghost and Titanic in a poll by the British Heart Foundation.

The issue of Playboy (December 2006) containing the new short story "Willa" is on many newsstands now.

Here is the eBay link for the signed desk auction mentioned last time. The bid is currently over $800 with four days remaining.

November 2, 2006: Lisey's Story entered the USA Today mixed fiction/non-fiction bestseller list at #1.

Craig R Baxley (Kingdom Hospital, Storm of the Century) hopes to direct a film version of Gerald's Game starring Nicole Kidman, adapted by King.

If you're looking for one of the oddest Stephen King collectable items, check out an auction starting today for a signed bench.

At his appearance in New York last week, King said the he has spoken with Peter Straub about the final book in the Talisman trilogy. He sees the story as "sort of a 24 thing" where Jack can only travel back to our world for brief periods because it accelerates his death.

Marvel Spotlight: Dark #14, on sale on January 17, will have a feature on the Dark Tower graphic series. "We'll talk to the creative team that will unite Marvel Comics with the concepts of one of the giants of modern fiction, getting an inside look at Robin Furth, Peter David and Jae Lee and we'll even talk to Stephen King himself! So if you're a longtime fan of DARK TOWER or curious as to what it's all about, you'll want to check out this issue."

October 30, 2006: There's just one week left to take advantage of the promotion to get your name in the back of the new limited edition of The Green Mile from Subterranean Press. Don't forget to check out the calendar below for details about King's upcoming book tour on the West Coast and in the UK. Always check with the venue before committing yourself to a trip, because some events have changed and many may be sold out.

If you missed King's appearance on Good Morning America last week, the streaming video is available at ABC. Also, check out John Connolly's blog about interviewing King last week. It's the October 26th entry. During the interview, King described an idea he had for another novel. Read how SKEMER Noah described the plotline here.

In the current Entertainment Weekly, King discusses his favorite audiobooks. Hail to the Spoken Word.

October 24, 2006: Well, here it is--the day we've all been waiting for. Not only does Lisey's Story come out today, but the DVD set of Nightmares and Dreamscapes is also available starting today. The London Times has a Stephen King special that has reviews, excerpts, interviews, commentary and an exclusive PODcast. King is interviewed in a Financial News segment.

Here is a batch of reviews, which you should read at your own risk. Some of them will likely contain discussions of plot that may spoil the fun of reading Lisey's Story:

Dale McGarrigle, Bangor Daily News
Chris Barsanti, PopMatters
Mark Graham: Rocky Mountain News
Peter Millar in The London Times
Marion Winik in Newsday
Motoko Rich, New York Times News Service
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
Adam Mars-Jones, London Guardian
Edward Champion, Philadelphia Inquirer
Steve Almond, LA Times
Todd Camp, Fort Worth Star Telegram

David J. Montgomery, Chicago Sun Times
Janet Maslin in the New York Times
Erica Noonan in the Boston Globe
Karen Sandstrom in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Rene Rodriguez in the Miami Herald
Allen Walton in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Carol Memmot in USA Today
Ted Anthony, Associated Press
Laura Miller in Salon
Alan Cheuse at NPR (Audio)

Thomas Jane will star in The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont from his own script. "It's a project Stephen King and I have been talking about doing for almost 20 years now. In fact, it almost was my first directing project many years ago, but I went classy and did The Shawshank Redemption instead. It's time to get down and dirty and make a nasty little character-driven gut-punch horror movie," Darabont said. Read Darabont's longer statement about the adaptation at Ain't It Cool News. Dimension co-chairman Bob Weinstein and production president Richard Saperstein have set a spring production start for the film, which Darabont will produce with Castle Rock's Martin Shafer and Liz Glotzer. Contrary to early reports, the film will not be shot in black and white. Jane said, ãNah, this is gonna be all-color and pretty amazing. I canât wait.ä

AICN reports that Eli Roth has chosen writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski to pen the screenplay of Cell.

October 16, 2006: Subterranean Press has an interesting offer as part of their 10^th anniversary edition of The Green Mile. If you buy any version of the commemorative six-volume set directly from them, you'll get your name included in a special section included at the end of Volume Six--Those Who Walked the Green Mile--that lists all those who met their end seated in Ol' Sparky. If you've already ordered this special edition, you're already on the list.

In a movie round-up article at MTV, Thomas Jane (Dreamcatcher) says, "Frank Darabont and I are supposed to be doing Stephen King's The Mist." No schedule or anything, but it's the first indication that someone beyond Darabont is attached to the project.

Another UK tour update: Wednesday Nov. 8^th: 1-2 PM Signing at Waterstones, Leadenhall Market, London.

Also, here are the details of King's appearance in Los Angeles: We love Stephen King because he makes the ordinary extraordinary in every possible way. His books turn on ordinary situations, and feature characters that we all can understand÷who face the inexplicable. From high school in Carrie to his new novel, Lisey's Story, King brings fear, from the unconscious to the visceral, right to the surface. He has stated that he's the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries, and we couldn't disagree more. Big Macs are empty calories indeed, and furthermore, not recommended for anyone's health. King is another story entirely÷because the best stories are the best medicine, and no one is a better storyteller. David Ulin is the editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and is the editor and author of several award-winning books. Tickets are $20. Make a Reservation to this Event The Fine Arts Theatre is located at 8556 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. It is: 1 block West of La Cienega Blvd.; On the South side of Wilshire Blvd.

October 11, 2006: No Quills awards for King this year, but the MWA (Mystery Writers of America) endowed upon him the highest award bestowed on an individual by the organization: the coveted Grand Master Award.

"I'm delighted to be getting the Grand Master Award and to be joining the company of some of my greatest idols and teachers--people like John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, and Donald E. Westlake," says King. "The award means a great deal to me personally, because it's an award from people who understand two things: the importance of good writing and the importance of telling stories."

King will receive the award at the 61st Annual Edgar Banquet to be held on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.

I hear from Brian Freeman that the final production hardcovers of Lisey's Story are a delight to behold. The shovel depicted on the dust jacket is a die cut, revealing a portion of the full-cover wraparound art that is physically on the book's boards themselves. I've seen a few books recently that are using similar effects--one by Jonathan Kellerman springs to mind. This design makes for attractive books with or without the dust jacket in place. According to the artist's web site: "Readers will soon discover the significance of the shovel and later understand the image revealed through the di-cut. King fans should find this amongst his best work."

More details about King's UK visit have been released. He will appear at Battersea park Events Arena on November 7th at 7.00pm in an event sponsored by The Times, Hodder & Stoughton and Waterstone's. Ticket information available at King's web site. Information is also available concerning his November 10th appearance.

And finally, King's short story "Willa" will be published in the December issue of Playboy.

October 2, 2006: This is Lisey's Story month. You can hear an excerpt of Mare Winningham performing the audio version here.

Wouldn't Christine look great parked in your garage? One of the sixteen cars used during filming of the John Carpenter adaptation is up for auction on eBay. The buy-it-now price is a mere $175,000. As one news report said: "Even though on film they rebuilt themselves, only three actually survived, including the one now being offered. She's been smashed, crashed, and burned but keeps coming back. Hell hath no fury like Christine."

King had an essay in The Washington Post yesterday entitled The Writer's Life. You can read it online. He has columns in two consecutive issues of Entertainment Weekly. One is a special two-page piece about the series LOST, while the more recent one tackles Nancy Grace, drawing comparisons to the Richard Bachman novel The Running Man, though I haven't found either online yet.

September 20, 2006: Newsarama reports that comic stores will be giving away copies of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born Sketchbook starting in December. It features character designs, penciled pages, commentary, and a primer on the world of the Dark Tower. The Sketchbook comes out two months before the Marvel Dark Tower graphic novel launches.

King contributes an introduction to the new limited edition of Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine from PS Publishing, which will be out early next year. There are three editions--only the deluxe two-book edition is signed by both the author and the introducer. (The second book is a new collection of all of Bradbury's Greentown stories, some of which are previously unpublished.)

Panels from the Dark Tower graphic novel series were shown to an enthusiastic group of retailers during the recent Diamond Comics Retailer Conference. The full series name is Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born. Artist Jae Lee is already hard at work on the fifth issue of the series. The first issue ships February, 2007.

Rocky Wood interviews 'Carrie' playwright. (Note: the link wasn't working this morning, but keep trying!)

September 12, 2006: King's official web site now lists four UK dates for his book tour to promote Lisey's Story. The first event is November 7^th at Borders Books and Music, Oxford Street, London. The only other confirmed event is November 9^th at Asda supermarket in Watford, but he will also be making appearances on the 8^th and 10^th.

Note that the September 1st entry (below) originally said that John Irving would be appearing with King, when in fact it should have said John Grisham.

September 1, 2006: More Lisey's Story reviews are starting to appear. Publishers Weekly gives the book a starred review, and the print issue that contains the review has a short interview with King that you can also read online here. You can read reviews from Kirkus, PW, Booklist, and Nora Roberts at the Lisey's Story page at Amazon.com.

Stephen King and John Grisham plan to appear at a Sept. 24 fundraiser for fellow writer Jim Webb's Democratic U.S. Senate campaign at the 1,000-seat Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, VA. "It will be a lot of fun," Grisham said of the event at which Webb will speak and also read from some of his works. Grisham said he will talk for a few minutes about the campaign and politics before reading from his new nonfiction book, An Innocent Man, due out in October. Tickets for the Webb fundraiser will be tiered at $100, $500 and $2,100, Grisham said. Webb is challenging U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., in the November election. Allen's campaign manager disparaged the Webb event, saying, "Since his whole campaign is based on fiction, having two fellow fiction novelists campaign for him is not a surprise."

Bett's Bookstore has just taken delivery of a huge Stephen King collection to sell on behalf of a collector. Proprietor Stu Tinker has listed the lot on eBay to generate some interest in it. Check out the Betts web page next week for an inventory listing of the 1600+ items, some of which are extremely rare.

For those of you who attended Harry, Carrie and Garp, I've heard that the signed books associated with the deluxe package are starting to arrive.

August 25, 2006: Cell was nominated in the science fiction/fantasy/horror category of the second annual Quills awards. Through Sept. 30, voters can make their picks online at http://www.quillsvote.com and at http://www.quills.msnbc.com. The awards will be handed out at an Oct. 10 ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History. Admission will range from $1,000 for a single ticket to $75,000 for a "Platinum Sponsorship."

TNT's Nightmares and Dreamscapes and ABC's Desperation were both nominated in the "Killer Television" category of the Chainsaw Awards. The first-ever televised fuse Fangoria Chainsaw Awards will be held Sunday, October 15th at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles and will premiere on fuse Sunday, October 22nd at 9:30 p.m. EST.

People in the UK will get a chance to see the Nightmares and Dreamscapes series on the digital channel Five US, launching October 16, airing daily between 16:00 and 01:00.

Picture a hand reaching through the earth from beyond the grave to grip at someone visiting the cemetery. Yes, like that famous hand, Carrie is rising from the dead to a second life as a musical. Originally a three-day wonder on Broadway, this new version is called Carrie: A Period Piece. It will debut Off-Broadway at P.S. 122 on Dec. 6 and run through Dec. 30. "It will definitely be very black comedy," Theatre Couture leader Eric Jackson told Playbill.com. "But that's inherent in the novel. It's a very serious take on the pressures and pain of adolescence. But Carrie is also so well known in our culture; we all know the story. Everybody feels it's their story. Because of that collective unconscious, there's a way to have fun with the story. There will be comedy and camp, and some horror, and maybe a little blood." Drag performer legend Sherry Vine will star and Basil Twist (Symphonie Fantastique) will create special puppets.

Classify this one under the heading "wild, unsubstantiated rumor." Cinescape online is reporting that Michael J. Fox is up for a role in DreamWorks' long-delayed The Talisman. Quoting a source by the name of Scooper Squirrel (Deep Throat was already taken, apparently) "Steven Spielberg is apparently involved with it--in some capacity. I have no idea--either do they--whether he's going to be playing the main role, or just a role, it was something he apparently mentioned in a meeting....in conversation... and nothing more was said of it." There you have it... it doesn't get any more reliable or specific than that!

Peter Straub tells me that the broadcast date of his second appearance as blind detective Pete Braust on One Life to Live is September 21.

August 10, 2006: Those who could not attend the star-studded literary event at Radio City Music Hall last week, "AN EVENING WITH HARRY, CARRIE & GARP" will now be available to watch free of charge in its entirety for two days only. On Thursday, August 10 and Friday, August 11 MSN will stream the event at http://video.msn.com/, and beginning on Saturday, August 12 until the end of the month, highlights will be available on demand. MSN will enable viewers to make contributions to The Haven Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. From the description of presenters, it sounds like this is the Wednesday night show. Check out my message board for links to some recent reports from youngsters and Rowling fans.

Netflix is hosting a special screening of The Shining at the screening area outside the Stanley Hotel on August 16th. Admission is free.

A new Special Edition 2-disc DVD of The Green Mile is scheduled for release on November 14. Extensive new bonus materials include Miracles and Mystery: Creating The Green Mile, an interview with Tom Hanks, additional scenes, makeup and screen tests, and commentary by writer/director Frank Darabont. See full details here.

Bloody Disgusting reports that a remake of Children of the Corn is in the works. I know you're all on the edges of your seats at this news!

August 3, 2006: Joe Camillieri reports that King's official website now has information about upcoming events related to Lisey's Story. The SF event is showing sold out, but since it was just announced I'd recommend checking back to see if this is real or not. More events will be announced, so check that page (and this one) often.

There has been a spate of rumors alleging that George Clooney will be starring in Paramount Pictures' remake of Pet Sematary announced recently. The report originated with Bloody Disgusting, where a follow-up stated that Clooney's publicist denied the report.

I was at the August 1 Harry, Carrie and Garp event, which featured readings by King ("The Revenge of Lardass Hogan"), John Irving (the Christmas pageant scene from A Prayer for Owen Meany) and JK Rowling (a scene from the sixth Harry Potter novel). Special guests on Tuesday included Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Bates, Andre Braugher, Jon Stewart and CNN's Soledad O'Brien, who moderated the Q&A. King and Irving declared themselves the "support act" for Rowling, who definitely had younger and more vocal fans in the audience. The two men had the advantage of reading hilarious passages, which resulted in more audience feedback during their respective readings. Irving and Rowling, however, were asked the more intelligent questions. There are a few user-posted photos from the event at my message board. Reports appeared many places, but the two best I've seen so far are here and here. The event was filmed for a webcast on MSN later this month.

July 19, 2006: Two more episodes of Nightmares & Dreamscapes air tonight: "Umney's Last Case," starring William H. Macy and "The End of the Whole Mess." TNT has added some new promotional videos to their site. You can find a review of "Umney's Last Case" here and an interview with Ron Livingston, star of "The End of the Whole Mess" here. The show averaged 5 million total viewers during its two-part debut last week. "Battleground" delivered 2.52 million adults 18-49 and 2.88 million adults 25-54. Here's a cartoon that seems apropos to "Battleground!"

Veronica Mars' creator, Rob Thomas, offered King the chance to guest-star on an upcoming episode as a kooky sociology professor. Unfortunately, King was busy.

July 12, 2006: Mark Haber, director of Crouch End, tells me that the DVD of Nightmares & Dreamscapes will contain an extended version of Umney's Last Case because it was originally supposed to get the "no commercial" treatment like Battleground. When that plan changed, the episode was edited down to 44.5 minutes from its original length.

My buddy Glenn Chadbourne has been announced as the third illustrator for the PS Publishing limited edition of The Colorado Kid. More copies of the traycased edition have become available because King has authorized an additional 48 copies for a total of 100. Each artist will illustrate 33 of these. This edition will feature a gallery at the rear of the book containing all eighteen pieces of artwork, in full color---that's the three dust-jackets and three sets of five interior pieces. "We will be producing a one-hundredth traycased copy which will have something extra special inside--we haven't decided exactly what it'll be yet, but it will be a bona fide one-off: so that means that the author will not be getting a copy and PS will not be getting a copy. The book will be auctioned on the PS website with all proceeds (that means no deduction for production expenses etc) going to the Macular Degeneration Foundation."

Grey's Anatomy's Kate Walsh has joined the cast of 1408. The actress (who plays Mrs. Dr. Shepherd, the wife of "McDreamy") plays John Cusack's ex-wife and mother of his young daughter. Shooting starts this summer in the U.K. for a 2007 release.

July 11, 2006: Just one day to go before the debut of the Nightmares and Dreamscapes series on TNT. Here are some promo clips from the network. I've read one report that the DVD release will be on October 24th from Warner Home Video. The three-disk set will feature "an unaired extended episode starring William H. Macy" (no further info available), commentary tracks with the cast and crew, along with exclusive documentaries. The cover art for the DVD pack is here. Scroll down to my June 12th entry for a preview of the series.

Desperation received Emmy nominations, for Art Direction and Sound Editing for a Miniseries.

July 5, 2006: King's newest short story "Memory" is now available in Tin House magazine, which is available at the magazine stands of many major chain bookstores or can be purchased directly from the publisher using PayPal. He debuted the story at an event at Florida State University several months ago. It is about a man who's been in an accident and has memory problems when he recovers.

Last Sunday's Parade magazine featured a profile/interview with King. You can read the article online at the Parade web site.

If you don't get USA Network, or you happen to miss an episode of The Dead Zone, Lions Gate will make Season Five episodes available on the day after their broadcast premiere at USA Network's online iTunes store. By the end of the summer, all 67 episodes from seasons one through four will be available on the site for fans to download.

June 26, 2006: Tickets for King's appearance in Seattle on November 1st are now on sale. Books will likely be available for sale at the event and there is a reception following the appearance at which King may be in attendance--he hasn't yet confirmed. Four levels of tickets are available. The most expensive (Patron, $60) gets you into a special reserved section of the main floor and includes admission to the reception. Students and others under the age of 25 who submit copies of their student ID or other proof of age can get in to the balcony for $15. General main floor and balcony admission is $35 and $25 respectively.

June 20, 2006: And the limited editions keep on coming! PS Publishing announced today that they are doing a multi-version limited edition of The Colorado Kid, with introduction by Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai. What's unique about this edition is that they are using multiple artists, but each copy will be illustrated by only one of them (Edward Miller, J.K. Potter and a third artist to be announced) except for the most expensive edition. There's a price for everyone—so wander over to PS (who have published Joe Hill, Graham Joyce, Ramsey Campbell, Ray Bradbury, Tim Lebbon and many others) and pick one from column A, one from column B and/or one from Column C.

Read King's review of The Ruins by Scott Smith at Amazon. Thanks to Lilja for pointing this out. It's a creepy, creepy book and I'll be interested to hear what people think about the ending.

June 16, 2006: Subterranean Press announced today that they are issuing a 10th Anniversary Edition of The Green Mile. Mark Geyer, whose art graced the original paperback releases, will provide more than 60 original sketches for this edition. This exclusive publication will consist of six individual illustrated hardcover volumes, contained in a cloth slipcase. King will be signing one of the six volumes in each limited set. The book comes in three editions:

Some of the usual bookstores are getting gift editions to resell, but the Limited and Lettered editions must be ordered directly from Subterranean. These are bound to go fast!

Paramount has set a September 26th release date for The Stephen King Collection, which will include the new collector's edition DVDs of Pet Sematary and The Dead Zone as well as re-packaged versions of Silver Bullet and Graveyard Shift. The discs will also be available on the same day separately.

June 12, 2006: Talk of an It remake are surfacing again. Peter Filardi, who scripted the 'Salem's Lot remake for TNT as well as The Road Virus Heads North for Nightmares and Dreamscapes, told attendees of Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors that he's developing a new "televisualization" of It. The project has the attention of the Sci Fi channel and might end up as a four-hour broadcast event, perhaps told from the point of view of Beverly Marsh.

TNT sent me screener DVDs of seven of the eight episodes (all except Autopsy Room Four), and I had the opportunity to watch them over the past several days. The first thing I noticed is the high production qualities, which was also true of their 'Salem's Lot remake. However, unlike that adaptation, these stories are incredibly faithful to the source material. Where they've had to change things (because of length, for deeper characterization or for context), everything seems loyal to the original story's intent. The acting is top notch, too.

William Hurt is on screen for almost every second of Battleground and never utters a word. A few grunts of pain, but he acts with his face and his body to convey his character's hard-as-nails pathology. When the impossible starts to happen, he doesn't talk to himself or utter words of disbelief. He simply reacts as an assassin might. Slowly, though, his hard shell splinters. It's a tour-de-force performance and sets the tone for the series. The animation and other effects are convincing--as might be expected since the episode is directed by Jim Henson's son Brian. Screenplay by Richard Christian Matheson, son of the legendary Richard Matheson.

Crouch End is a daring adaptation, since it strays into the surreal world of Lovecraftian mythos. It represents the first time I've ever heard some of the bizarre names from Lovecraft pronounced. It also contains the first ever cinematic depiction of what can only be described as a "thinny." Claire Forlani is the heart of this episode, the pretty, vivacious newlywed on honeymoon who tolerates her husband's need to network while on vacation, only to find an innocent trip out to dinner turn into madness. The question in this kind of tale is: how much to show and how much to leave to viewer's imagination. I think this adaptation strikes the right balance.

Umney's Last Case is the episode I was looking forward to most, and it doesn't disappoint. William H. Macy is stellar as both Clyde Umney and his creator, Sam Landry. He comes off as stiffly stereotypical in the opening moments, until you realize that's exactly what he is. One of my favorite moments takes place when Sam steps into the detective's shoes, starts hearing awkward dialog coming out of his mouth and checks himself. A few seconds later he lets loose some purple prose straight out of Chandler, and he stops to admire it. The ending is a little abrupt, which dilutes the episode's impact, but these screeners aren't 100% complete, so they may do something in the production version that softens this nebulous finale.

I saved The End of the Whole Mess until the end because it was the story I had the least interest in, but it turns out to be a strong episode. I really like the emotional arc of this one. It makes use of the dreaded voice-over technique, but in a clever way that makes sense, given what the main character does for a living.

Tom Berringer. Wow. What more can I say? In The Road Virus Heads North, he plays Richard Kinnell, a horror writer who has just received disturbing news. On the way home from a lecture--which is a horror show in its own right--he picks up a creepy painting and things start getting strange. Marsha Mason has a nice cameo as his Aunt Trudy. This is the other episode that has a less-than-satisfying conclusion, but everything up to that moment is pure terror. Unlike William Hurt's character, Berringer does talk to himself, expressing shock, amazement and disbelief. Both approaches work because they reflect character.

The Fifth Quarter is probably the story readers will be least familiar with. It's a straight crime drama, with no supernatural elements. It's about dishonor among thieves, and their other associates, too. It's a brutal episode, with lots of realistic violence. Samantha Mathis, though she isn't the primary focus of the story, carries the show from beginning to end. Jeremy Sisto turns in a strong performance, too, as the guy who can never quite get it right, who has spent all but eighteen months of his seven-year marriage behind bars.

The series ends with You Know They Got A Hell of a Band, which is the lightest, most whimsical episode, and probably the weakest entry. It stars Steven Weber, who impresses me less each time I see him, and Kim Delaney. I didn't buy into their relationship, which weakens the story. Delaney looked odd and Weber's delivery isn't convincing. The episode also has the most outright grue (maggots, empty eye sockets, etc.) but is tongue-in-cheek throughout. It's sort of fun, but the tone feels completely different from the other episodes.

The series debuts a month from today. Check it out! I look forward to hearing viewer feedback about the individual episodes, and I especially want to discuss the last couple of minutes of Crouch End!

May 26, 2006: Well, Desperation went over like a lead balloon, in terms of both ratings and popular opinion. I was surprised by how poorly it was received in general, not only by the critics but by the fan base. I enjoyed it. Watched it twice in fact. If you missed it, the DVD release is scheduled for August 29th, and will feature an on-camera interview with King and commentary track by Mick Garris.

Coming up next is the Nightmares and Dreamscapes series. You have two chances to see parts of it early. CHUD is offering a a sneak peek of two episodes for people in the Atlanta area. Details here. A special presentation will take place at the next FANGORIA's Weekend of Horrors convention, presented by Anchor Bay Entertainment, to be held June 2-4, 2006 at LA's Burbank Airport Hilton. Guest speakers previewing the eight-part TNT series event will be directors Brian (Farscape) Henson, Rob (The X Files) Bowman and Mikael ('Salem's Lot) Salomon; scripters Richard Christian Matheson and Peter Filardi and Crouch End actress Claire Forlani. In addition, two episodes will make their world premieres at the con: Battleground and You Know They Got a Hell of a Band. The King-sized panel and Battleground screening will close the convention late Sunday.

May 10, 2006: Stephen King will be joined by JK Rowling and John Irving at Radio Music City Hall on August 1 and 2nd for two reading events to benefit charity. Read King's message here. Tickets go on sale on Friday, May 12th. Read the full press release. Rowling is quoted as saying, "Stephen pretended to be in suspense about my answer, but frankly, this was easily one of the most enticing propositions ever put to me in an envelope."

April 27, 2006: It's been a while since my last update, primarily because there hasn't been much news to report. With May fast approaching, and bringing with it the sweeps season, some reviews and previews of Desperation are starting to emerge. The first review I've seen comes from the San Antonio Express News. Their bottom line: "The movie has a little of everything: heart, spirituality, incredibly crafted flashback sequences, wonderful acting and shiver-under-the-covers shocks, a combo that should get ABC big audience numbers."

Ron Perlman (Collie Entragian/Tak) told SCI FI Wire that his character is particularly unpleasant. "He commits some very, very gruesome acts that are very cold-blooded, very sudden and very unpredictable, and they're without compunction, which is really the scariest part of it all. There's no censoring. There's no value judgment to this guy's bloodlust. And he's smart. Because he's a Stephen King character, his turn of a phrase and his theatrical point of view is really, really smart. So there's an added perverseness to all of it that make it incredibly compelling to watch... I hope. I'm just giving you the sense I had of him from reading the script and playing the role."

The Tucson Film Office and Fox Tucson Theatre are presenting an exclusive prescreening of Desperation on Saturday, May 6. Desperation was filmed in and around Tucson and Bisbee in the fall of 2004. Several cast and production members are scheduled to appear and get a red-carpet welcome, including director Mick Garris, producer Mark Sennet and actors Steven Weber, Annabeth Gish and Ron Perlman. The red-carpet opening event starts at 6:30 p.m., followed by opening comments by the director and producer at 7:15, and the film screens at 7:30. Tickets are available for $25 at the Fox Tucson Theatre box office at 17 W. Congress St.

The Things They Left Behind from Transgressions was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Winners will be announced at the HWA Annual Conference and Stoker Banquet in in Newark, NJ, June 16-18 at the Hilton Newark Airport. As with Legends, the paperback of this anthology (to be released in late August) is split into multiple volumes. King's story is in Volume 2 along with The Ransome Women by John Farris.

The Seattle Arts & Lectures announced that King will appear as part of its Literary Lecture Series on November 1^st. Information: www.lectures.org or call 206-621-2230. Other authors appearing include New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich and author Frank McCourt. King's appearance is only a week or so after the publication of Lisey's Story. The moderator of his message board quotes the book jacket copy: "Lisey's Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love," and continues, "Translated, that means a woman is regaining memories of the dark side of her husband triggered when she is going through his belongings after his death."

Read Kev Quigley's report of his encounter with Stephen King in a bookstore and King's newest EW column, My Morning People.

As tracked by Nielsen BookScan, Stephen King's Cell has sold more than 377,000 copies.

April 6, 2005: Lilja reports: I just got an email from Mick Garris in which he told me that ABC has moved the airdate for Desperation to Tuesday, May 23rd. They are getting wonderful feedback to the film, and apparently that would be a stronger night for it.

Variety reports that Samuel L. Jackson will join John Cusack in 1408, scheduled to film this summer. Jackson will play the Dolphin Hotel's manager.

March 29, 2006: John Mellencamp reports that he and King are still looking for a director for their musical The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. "What we will do is take it to Chicago or the equivalent and workshop it—get the kinks out before we try to take it to Broadway," Mellencamp told the Bloomington Herald-Times. "Elton John opened his musical in San Francisco, and it lasted all of seven days before they closed it down and decided to rework it. When we hit Broadway, we want it ready from day one."

Trisha McFarland is over her ordeal of being lost in the woods. However, according to an interview in the Philadelphia Daily News, "I had to go into counseling right around Christmas in 2003, when I was 14," she said. "That's when Tom Gordon signed as a free agent with the [censored] Yankees." According to the parody, "She used a scatological modifier commonly used by all Red Sox fans over age 6 to describe their mortal baseball enemy." For the record, Trish can breathe easier now that Gordon plays for the Phillies.

Mick Garris talks to MovieHole about upcoming projects, including Desperation. I watched the movie last weekend and boy did Garris ever nail this one. It will be very interesting to see how it is received by the general public, because it doesn't shy away at all from the religiousness of the novel, the debate between David Carver's unflinching faith and Johnny Marinville's lack thereof.

If there's a star in the movie, it's Tom Skerritt as Johnny. A terrific performance. The rest of the cast is decent: Charles Durning as the town drunk is another notable. Steven Weber is okay--he gets better as the movie progressess, Kelly Overton makes a good Cynthia Smith though she doesn't match my visualization of the character, and Ron Perlman is a hoot as Collie Entragian, vacillating between lucidity and insanity. Matt Frewer is uncharacteristically restrained as David's father. The actress who plays his mother is bitchy and strident and I wasn't sorry when things didn't work out so well for her.

The film doesn't flinch from violence, either. There are shocking scenes and real gross out moments the likes of which I don't think I've ever seen on broadcast TV. I'll have more to say about Desperation in the near future, but let me close by saying it had me glued to the screen. Commercials will abound of course, which might dilute the impact (my screener DVD had brief blank gaps to show where they will come), but hold on for a heckuva ride.

March 22, 2006: The countdown to Desperation (ABC, May 18) has begun. A few people have reported seeing a trailer on television. The current issue of TV Guide (Without a Trace cover) has a small paragraph about the three-hour movie with accompanying photos.

King discusses his depiction of Malden, Massachusetts in Cell in this interview.

Sci Fi Channel will run Kingdom Hospital in four-hour blocks on Tuesday nights starting April 11. The network has also purchased the replay rights to 'Salem's Lot (miniseries), The Langoliers, Rose Red and Storm of the Century.

Check out several batches of photos from the upcoming Nightmares and Dreamscapes series at Lilja's Library.

March 9, 2006: Charles Wilson was the first to alert me to this movie news, hot on the heels of yesterday's Cell announcement. John Cusack has been cast as Mike Enslin in the big screen adaptation of 1408, to be directed by Mikael Hafstrom for Dimension Films. As you may recall, Enslin is the author of a series of haunted location travelogues. He checks into the notorious Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York. Filming is scheduled to begin this summer. "This film is so much a one-man show," Hafstrom told Daily Variety. "It's quite a contained drama. It is a horror film if you want to put a label on it, but the way I see it, it's much more an inner-journey of this character." The story originally appeared as part of the Blood and Smoke audio trilogy and was later collected in Everything's Eventual.

March 8, 2006: Dimension Films has acquired the movie rights to Cell and has chosen Eli (Hostel) Roth to direct. Mike Fleiss and Chris Briggs will produce. Roth wants to write or co-write, depending on the time constraints created by work on the Hostel sequel, which shoots in Prague. He said King is his favorite writer and accepted the offer to direct right after reading the book. "I couldn't put it down. It was such a balls-out horror movie with a smart take on the zombie genre," he said. Dimension also has the rights to 1408, adapted by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, which will be directed by Mikael Hafstrom and is in the casting stage.

February 28, 2006: Dark Tower Concordance author Robin Furth sat down for a lengthy interview with Lilja for his website. Among her revelations is the fact that she's working on a single-volume version of the Concordances, which Scribner will release this year or next year in paperback, with a limited hardcover edition from Cemetery Dance. She also discusses the Marvel Dark Tower series in detail. The first series of seven comics will retell the Hambry section of Wizard and Glass. The rest of the comics (there will be thirty in all) cover the time period between Roland leaving Hambry and the fall of Gilead.

February 27, 2006: Cell is holding on to its #1 position on the main bestseller lists. This is the best performance by a King book that I can recall for a while.

According to this news report, King read another new short story at FSU last weekend. It's called "Memory," a "first-person narrative about a wealthy building contractor who is almost crushed to death when he's run over by a construction crane on a job site. The builder grapples regaining speech, thoughts of suicide, a deep hatred for a song by Reba McEntire and exactly what he may have done to his wife while recovering from his coma."

February 17, 2006: According to FSU specials project coordinator Fran Conaway, Stephen King has agreed to sign books following his presentation. "Books will be on sale, or readers may bring their own copies. Signings will be in Ruby Diamond Auditorium following the presentations. For the King signing, there is a limit of one book per person. Also, because of time constraints, this won't be a photo opportunity for individual readers at the King signing." The event comes up as sold-out, but organizers suggest you contact them in case there are ticket returns from people who purchased them originally for the original Russo event.

On his VoA call-in today, King indicated that he probably won't ever finish The Plant (Never say never, he qualified), there will be a third book in the Talisman series at some point and he fully expects there to be a Dark Tower feature, though not necessarily in his lifetime.

February 15, 2006: King appears on Voice of America's "Talk to America" radio program live on Friday, February 17th at 11 am EST. Callers can ask questions of him via telephone, fax, SMS Text Messaging, and the Internet. To listen to streamed programs or get more information, visit the show's website at: www.VOANews.com/talk

February 13, 2006: Cell continues to do well, retaining its #1 position on the main bestseller lists.

People in Florida will have another chance to see King at a public event. He is filling in at the Seven Days of Opening Nights arts festival on February 26^th at Florida State University after Richard Russo had to cancel because of a family medical crisis. Tickets purchased already for the Russo event will be honored. To purchase tickets, see this page. King has also agreed to conduct an informal masters class with graduate students from FSU's film school and Creative Writing Program.

Locus magazine announced that King will edit The Best American Short Stories: 2007 for new series editor Heidi Pitlor at Houghton Mifflin. He will also write an introduction for a new edition of Dandelion Wine from PS Publishing.

January 31, 2006: Listen to a 24 minute podcast where King discusses the backstory of Cell.

January 30, 2006: According to several online TV listings, King will be on Late Night With Conan O'Brien tonight. Other guests include Ricky Gervais and Nickel Creek. I'm not sure if this is a new episode or a rerun of a previous appearance. Check your local listing for time and station.

Nicholas Sparks has this to say about King's upcoming novel: "Lisey's Story is a wondrous novel of marriage, a love story steeped in strength and tenderness, and cast with the most vivid, touching and believable characters in recent literature. I came to adore Lisey Landon and her sisters, I ached for Scott and all he'd been through, and when I finally reached the bittersweet and heartfelt conclusion, my first thought was that I wanted to start over again from the beginning, for it felt as if were saying good-bye to old friends. This is Stephen King at his finest and most generous, a dazzling novel that you'll thank yourself for reading long after the final page is turned."

January 25, 2006: The Amazon Fishbowl episode where Bill Maher interviews King is now online. One blogster wondered aloud how the folks at Amazon feel about the drug and booze discussion that was part of their 10-minute set. "Now, it's one thing when you're hearing this type of thing on late night TV, but on the front page of an e-tailer's Web site? In broad daylight? While at work? It's kind of a different brand resonance for Amazon than I expected. Will we be seeing more of this type of disconnect as programming becomes increasingly un-hitched from time-of-day (and expected place of consumption)?"

For all his apparent disdain of cell phones, don't think for a minute that King is reactionary against all technology. He is quoted in a NY Times article as saying, "It wounds me to be called a technophobe" in a statement sent - as if to prove his point - by e-mail.

January 23, 2006: King surprised people at his St. Petersburg appearance on Saturday by reading a new 7500-word short story called "Willa," which was described by one attendee as being about a group of people waiting for a train to come pick them up after theirs was derailed. Here's a report on the event. He hinted that one of his future books may have a Florida setting.

Tomorrow is Cell day, and the reviews are starting to emerge. Beware: they may contain spoilers.

Janet Maslin in the NY Times
Dale McGarrigle in the Bangor Daily News
Charles Ealy in the Dallas Morning News
Karen Sandstrom in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
Dorman T. Shindler in the Seattle Times
Erica Noonan in the Boston Globe
Rene Rodriguez in the Miami Herald
Carol Memmott in USA TODAY
Alan Johnson in the Columbus Dispatch

A glimpse at the illustration that ran with the Entertainment Weekly excerpt. Click on the image to see the full version on EW's site.

JaJanuary 20, 2006: The Entertainment Weekly excerpt from Cell can be read here. Also, Amazon's relatively spoiler-free review is now online.

January 19, 2006: Stephen King's official web site has a page dedicated to Cell. Among the news: Entertainment Weekly will be running the first two chapters of Cell in their issue on stands January 20, 2006, as a first serial excerpt. This is the first time in the history of the magazine that they have run a fiction excerpt. Here's Scribner's press release about their campaign. Scribner publisher Susan Moldow says, "'For Annie Proulx or Don DeLillo, this might not be a good fit,' citing two of her authors with a more purely literary and less tech-oriented following than Mr. King. 'For an author that has the kind of fan base Steve has, there's a lot of potential.'"

Lilja has an ongoing contest at his website where the daily prizes involve audio and hardcover copies of Cell.

King will be one of the first participants in a new webcast program Amazon is launching this summer, to be hosted by Bill Maher, featuring performers and authors touting new releases. The company plans to record the first show of Amazon Fishbowl at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, with guests including authors Stephen King and Armistead Maupin, musician Rob Thomas and actress Toni Collette. It will then preview tidbits of that show beginning Tuesday and leading up to the June 1 launch. Read the press release here.

January 18, 2006: Cell fever is building! Kirkus's review is now online (may contain spoilers). The official Cell web page is active. If you sign up your cell phone number you'll receive text message alerts in the coming days (standard charges will apply) and be entered in a contest to win cool signed stuff. Here's a Wall Street Journal article about the marketing campaign.

See these articles for news about Creepshow 3, which involves neither King nor original director George Romero. The first, at MoviesOnline, shows the campy movie poster and the second at Hollywood News, lists the five new stories featuring unknown actors being adapted for this direct-to-DVD release.

William Hurt is currently in Australia filming "Battleground" for the TNT Nightmares and Dreamscapes series that will start airing in June.

January 13, 2006: Get your podcast receivers ready on February 9th for an exclusive 20-minute interview with King and an audio excerpt from Cell available from the Scribner web page. More details as they become available.

January 8, 2006: Mick Garris informs me that the official airdate for Desperation on ABC is Thursday, May 18^th. This is a three-hour one-evening movie for television, not a miniseries. I've seen the first fifteen minutes of the film and it looks wonderful.

King provided the opening two paragraphs to a serial story for the children's magazine The Weekly Reader. King's lead-in for a story called “The Furnace” introduces a 10-year-old boy named Tommy who is plunged into darkness while fetching wood from behind the furnace in the basement. Magazine readers were asked to submit continuations, with new lines or paragraphs being chosen from the best entries. R. L. Stine, Jane Yolan and other unspecified famous authors have agreed to add to the story throughout the year. The website also has a Q&A between King and students and a lengthier more formal interview.

January 4, 2006: Happy New Year, readers. Those of you who ordered the limited edition of The Road to the Dark Tower should be seeing your copies soon if you haven't received them already. Cemetery Dance is shipping copies as fast as they can pack 'em, and I've heard from people who've been notified by Amazon that their orders are being filled, too. I'm delighted at how the book turned out. The design is wonderful and I'm especially fond of the Tarot card endpapers.

I'm not much one to look back at the end of the year, or make resolutions or anything like that. However, since he started doing his column for Entertainment Weekly, King has done best-of lists for films, books and music from the previous year. Here are the columns that feature his lists:

If you haven't heard about The Secretary of Dreams yet, then you've missed out on the chance to get a lettered or numbered edition, unless stray copies turn up between now and publication, which is anticipated sometime in the first half of the year. The graphic short story collection, illustrated by my buddy Glenn Chadbourne (who worked with us on The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book and illustrated The Road to the Dark Tower) adapts "The Road Virus Heads North," "Uncle Otto's Truck," "The Rainy Season," "The Reach," "Jerusalem's Lot," and "Home Delivery." What's unique about these adaptations is that every word of the original stories is conserved. Check out the sample illustrations starting here and working your way through the six stories. Even better news: this is Volume I, which means Glenn will be working on a follow-up this year. This is going to be a gorgeous production that I'm looking forward to seeing.

I haven't had a chance to work my completely through Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished yet, but I'm very impressed by what I've seen and read so far. I was surprised to rediscover how many of King's stories had been substantially revised on repeat publications. Rocky Wood does a yeoman's job of chronicling all these updates and revisions and makes me want to go back and reread stories in their original forms.

I've updated the Guide to Identifying First Editions, which appears on King's official web page. It's now current through The Colorado Kid and corrects a few errors and omissions in the original version.

King wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times in response to a review of a D. H. Lawrence biography. He chastises the reviewer for thinking that a person may be "better able to understand a great writer by reading about him than by reading him." It's a riff on the line from Different Seasons: "It is the tale, not he who tells it," which King updates by saying, "The writer's rainbow is always found in his work."

I'm putting the finishing touches on my column for Cemetery Dance magazine issue #55, with in depth coverage of Cell, which I read last week. I'll have more to say about the book here as publication date approaches. If Richard Bachman hadn't died before cell phones became part of our culture, this might have had his name on the cover. It's a dark, gritty, pessimistic novel in many ways and stands in stark contrast to the fundamental optimism of The Stand. I'll not say more on that subject until more of you have had a chance to read the book. Keep an eye out for the names of the headmaster of Gaiten Academy and a gentleman in a Miami Dolphins hat who appears late in the story. The Publishers Weekly review is online at Amazon. It's relatively spoiler-free and concludes, "King's imagining of what is more or less post-Armageddon Boston is rich, and the sociological asides made by his characters along the way...are jaunty and witty. The novel's three long set pieces are all pretty gory, but not gratuitously so, and the book holds together in signature King style."

Here is an interesting article about King's appearance at the New Yorker festival last fall from the Sydney Morning Herald. Note the following snippet, which is surely the genesis of Cell.

King told a story about leaving a New York hotel to get a coffee one morning about six years ago. "A lady under the canopy was on her cell phone and the doorman was getting someone a cab. I thought, what if she got this message on her cell phone that she could not deny and she had to attack everyone she saw - and she started with the doorman, she ripped his throat out."

The Scribner edition of Cell contains a sneak peak at Lisey's Story. The first twelve pages of the book are presented in King's own handwriting. The excerpt is not the same as what we've previously seen in "Lisey and the Madman." The opening chapter is called "Lisey and Amanda (Everything the Same)" and deals with Lisey Landon two years after the death of her famous writer husband Scott. She's finally going through his writing office, trying to decide what to do about his unpublished works. Amanda is her older sister, and there seems to be tension between the two. My feeling is that this book will be in the Bag of Bones vein.

Each time I update this online column, I'm going to tackle a FAQ, which comes either from questions I see on King's message board or ones directed to me via e-mail.

A: The short answer is: "It's not on his to-do list at the moment." When King stopped work after finishing Book One: Zenith Rising, he said that he felt like he was pushing the story instead of having it pull him along. That's never a good feeling. My guess is that until the day comes when the story recaptures his imagination and sweeps him up again, "The Plant" will stay in its current state. Who knows? Someday a few years from now he may find new wind to breath life into the story. Those of us who bore with the Dark Tower series for two decades have learned patience toward the storyteller.

December 05, 2005: Welcome to the first installment of the web version of News from the Dead Zone. Those of you who read Cemetery Dance magazine know that I've been publishing a column in every issue for nearly five years now. However, because of the magazine's publication schedule, getting timely information out has been a little problematic. With the relaunch of their web site, the good folks at CD suggested doing an online "lite" version of my column. The magazine version will continue, focusing more on in-depth analysis, review and commentary than on breaking news.

Up top, you'll always find a handy-dandy calendar of important, upcoming dates so you can see at a glance what's on the horizon. Then I'll expand briefly on each item as news is announced. Then follow up in the next issue of Cemetery Dance magazine for more details and commentary.

The next book due out from King is called Cell, which will be published on January 24th, 2006. Here is the description from the publisher as posted to the Barnes & Noble web site.

Civilization doesn't end with a bang or a whimper. It ends with a call on your cell phone.

What happens on the afternoon of October 1 came to be known as the Pulse, a signal sent though every operating cell phone that turns its user into something . . . well, something less than human. Savage, murderous, unthinking-and on a wanton rampage. Terrorist act? Cyber prank gone haywire? It really doesn't matter, not to the people who avoided the technological attack. What matters to them is surviving the aftermath. Before long a band of them-"normies" is how they think of themselves-have gathered on the grounds of Gaiten Academy, where the headmaster and one remaining student have something awesome and terrifying to show them on the school's moonlit soccer field. Clearly there can be no escape. The only option is to take them on.

Cell is classic Stephen King, a story of gory horror and white-knuckling suspense that makes the unimaginable entirely plausible and totally fascinating.

I should have a review for you in the next issue, but let me just say that this book is sure to inspire some interesting discussions, with comparisons to classic books like The Stand and darker tales like The Regulators. King describes the book as "like cheap whisky . . . very nasty and extremely satisfying.'' I find it interesting that the main character in Cell is a graphic novel artist who has just sold his first major project, given the recent announcement of a graphic novel Dark Tower series (see below).

When you read the book, look out for a character named Ray Huizenga. His sister paid $25,100 in an eBay charity auction of character names benefiting the First Amendment Project. The real-life Huizenga is a fishing captain and longtime King fan, but is also the son of the owner of the Miami Dolphins. Huizenga beat out another strong bidder who was willing to take out a credit line on his house for the honor of having a character in Cell named after him.

The Dark Tower fan community was recently thrilled to learn that Marvel comics was planning to release a series of graphic novels based on untold Dark Tower stories. Originally planned for a May 2006 release, a recent memo on King's web site revealed a new schedule for this project.

Stephen and Marvel have decided to push back the launch of the Dark Tower comic books to 2007. "Given the size of the project and all the creative talent involved, I want to give the Marvel series all the room to breathe it needs and deserves," said Stephen. "I've got so much else going on in 2006-two novels coming out, Cell and Lisey's Story, and the work with John Mellencamp on 'Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.' The Marvel series is going to be a blast, and I want to have the time to enjoy it."

The 1st issue of the yet-to-be-named first arc of the Dark Tower comic series will be shipping in February 2007. The last issue of this six-issue series will be shipping in July 2007. The first hardcover collection will be shipping in October 2007.

Though original reports billed this project as The Dark Tower 8, in truth the stories will fill in some of the gaps in Roland's early history, in the era covering the trip to Mejis and the final battle at Jericho Hill, "new stories that delve into the life and times of the young Roland, revealing the trials and conflicts that lead to the burden of destiny he must assume as a man."

Jae Lee is the illustrator who will bring King's stories to life, and the colorist is Richard Isanove. The complete number of series has not been announced, but there may be as many as six different stories.

A stellar cast has been announced for the eight-part series Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King that will debut on TNT next June. Despite the show's name, the stories actually come from several King collections. The eight stories being adapted are:

Though originally scheduled to be part of the series, Mick Garris's adaptation of "Home Delivery" was shelved due to schedule changes for the series and his commitment to the Masters of Horror series on Showtime, which was recently renewed for a second season.

Among the cast members announced for the series are Steven Weber, Kim Delaney, William H. Macy, Henry Thomas, Tom Berenger, Marsha Mason, William Hurt and two actresses familiar from the recent 'Salem's Lot remake, Samantha Mathis and Rebecca Gibney. Richard Christian Matheson adapted "Battleground" and Lawrence M. Cohen (Carrie) penned "The End of the Whole Mess." The show will run one episode per week during the summer months of 2006 starting with "Umney's Last Case"—one of my favorite short stories—which will reportedly run without commercials. Filming is currently taking place in and around Sydney, Australia. An upcoming issue of Fangoria will feature a visit to the set.

King and his collaborator John Mellencamp got together in November to continue their work on a musical production about death and reconciliation called "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County." A member of The Dark Tower dot Net forum helped crew the latest reading. A self-admitted skeptic when he first heard about this project, he reported that the music is fantastic, the cast was great and, though there is still work to be done, he says it will be a worthwhile endeavor.

Mellencamp reports that the guys who did "Spamalot" are now involved, which may make the final stages of development "less hectic." King's story involves two brothers who dislike each other immensely. Their father takes them to their family vacation cabin, where, a generation before them, the father's two older brothers killed each other in a similar sibling rivalry.

"There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house," Mellencamp told Billboard. "The older (dead) brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience. That's all I want to say, except through this family vacation, many things are learned about the family, and many interesting songs are sung."