Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneLeave a comment on Bev Vincent explores The Life of Chuck 
In my review of If It Bleeds, I called “The Life of Chuck” unusual, and the story has led to the creation of a most unusual and unique adaptation. Many directors have re-imagined King’s works over the years, but Mike Flanagan has imagined King’s novella. Rereading the story after watching the movie is an interesting experience. King’s words have never been so faithfully rendered on the screen before.
Although Stephen King has written books that could be classified as thrillers in the past, it’s hard to pick one with more intricate interweaving of fast-paced events featuring numerous characters in different locations than you’ll find in the climactic section of Never Flinch. With plenty of foreshadowing to prime the pump, King begins the drive toward an impressive series of confrontations at the book’s midpoint. It’s a whodunit, replete with red herrings and misdirection, and even after the true identity of the killer is revealed, King keeps the tension level high as he juggles several independent but interlinked plotlines and roars to a gripping finale.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #239
There’s a lot going on in the Stephen King Universe in the next six or seven months, so you should get a calendar and fill in all the important dates. Or you could just refer to all the information in this column, which has you covered!
The Order of the Circle by Levi Cory, Elisabeth Mkheidze, Maria Letizia Mirabella and Eva de la Cruz
Dead Sky Publishing (February 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Levi Cory is a new graphic novelist fresh off the farm. With a degree in Playwriting and studies in film and theater, Levi brings a deep understanding of narrative structure and character development to their work. They have written and directed films and TV shows such as Living… and Snakemagic.com. In addition to their work in film and TV, Levi has authored several written works, including The Comfort of The Womb, Robbing Stupidity, and The Sick Rose. Their playwriting has earned significant recognition, including a Texas Playwright Award. Known for blending deep thematic exploration with innovative narrative structures, Levi continues to captivate audiences across both written and visual media, pushing creative boundaries with each new project. Cory’s newest book, The Order of The Circle, is available on Dead Sky Publishing.Continue Reading
In this episode of News from the Dead Zone, I’ll be dealing with two things from the opposite ends of the age spectrum: My ramblings about a very R-rated adaptation, The Monkey, and news of an unexpected book coming up this fall that is targeted at 6-8 year-olds that was announced recently.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #237
I should start off by saying Happy New Year. We can hope it will be happy anyway. And why not? For the first time in a while, we know not only what King’s next book is going to be, but also what he’s currently working on for the book after that, assuming inspiration continues to flow in his direction. Or, as he so colorfully put it, that the “red thread that comes out of a mousehole in the ground” doesn’t break. And there will be at least six adaptations hitting screens of various sizes during 2025.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead Zone2 Comments on Bev Vincent explores ‘Salem’s Lot (2024)
Back in 2011, Screem magazine commissioned me to write an article about ‘Salem’s Lot and its adaptations. (1) That led me to revisit the 1979 miniseries, starring David Soul, that had so terrorized me at the time. I had just started reading King a couple of months earlier, and two scenes in particular—ones that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen it—haunted me for a long time thereafter. Even though the original miniseries doesn’t stand the test of time—even in 1979, Soul didn’t have the gravitas required of the role and I find the adaptation almost painful to watch now—those scenes do hold up. I would say that the miniseries is better as a memory than as an actuality. I found a lot of flaws in it when I wrote about it for Screem and I doubt I could make myself watch it again today. (2)
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #235
I can’t believe it’s been a year since I last wrote one of these columns (except for a couple of book reviews). I refused to believe it until I verified it three different ways. It’s mind-blowing. Where has the time gone? Oh well, I’m here now and we have a few things to talk about.
No, not hurricanes or the Olympics or the forthcoming election. We’re here to talk about what’s new in the Stephen King Universe, so let’s get to it.
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“Lack of belief is the curse of intelligence”
It’s a short story collection. No, it’s a novella collection. No, it’s two…two…two things in one! OK, you have to be really old to get that reference to an old Certs commercial. They don’t even make Certs anymore, I’m displeased to discover.
Anyhow, You Like It Darker is a hybrid of two types of books we’ve come to expect from Stephen King. It’s a collection of the seven short stories published since The Bazaar of Bad Dreams but it also contains five brand-new long works ranging from a novelette (“The Dreamers”) to novellas (“The Answer Man,” “Two Talented Bastids” and “Rattlesnakes”) to a story long enough to be considered a novel by the SFWA and other awards criteria (“Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”).
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Bev Vincent explores Holly by Stephen King
“No one will believe it really happened”
Stephen King doesn’t hide the identity of the murderers at the center of Holly Gibney’s latest case in the novel that bears her name. In 2012, Emily and Rodney Harris, professors emeritus at Bell College, tricked a colleague named Jorge Castro into helping them resolve a roadside issue. They drugged him and took him to a dungeon in the basement of their presentable home in a respectable part of town.
Why did the elderly Harrises kidnap him, why do they force him to eat something unpalatable, and what are their plans? Since Castro knows the identity of his abductors, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be released. The popular consensus is that he packed up and left town abruptly, although his lover doesn’t agree.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneLeave a comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #232
It’s hot. Oh, so hot. Ever so effing hot. As many of you probably know, I live in Texas. Some years we get by without a single day with a temperature above 100°. This year, we’ve been “blessed” with almost nothing but triple-digit days, with “feels like temps” over 110°. It’s relentless.
So, while the world is melting down, what else should a person do but stay inside, with the A/C turned up high, reading and writing and watching television?
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Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #231
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant holiday season. I know a lot of people had travel issues, so I hope none of you are still stuck in an airport somewhere (if you are, Mr. King and I have an anthology to help you pass the time) or trying to track down your luggage.
Will 2023 be a good year? Hard to say, but I know one thing for sure: we have a new King book to look forward to in September and a movie adaptation that has the studio’s confidence.
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Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #230
Time for another Stephen King news update, don’t you think? Recently we saw the publication of King’s latest novel, Fairy Tale, and I have news about the next adaptation, which launches this week. In addition to those items, I’m going to talk about two associational projects, one of which involves yours truly and the other that involves someone from New Brunswick in Canada—and it’s not me!
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Bev Vincent is living the life that most Constant Readers can only dream of.
Bev has written volumes documenting Stephen King’s work, from career-spanning books like The Illustrated Stephen King Companion to more focused works like The Dark Tower Companion. He co-edited an anthology with King called Flight or Fright. He gets early copies of King’s books, which he reviews for us here at Cemetery Dance as part of his “News from the Dead Zone” column. And soon he’ll have a new book out: The Stephen King Ultimate Companion: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences.
Recently, I fired off a few questions about this new project, which Bev graciously took the time to answer.Continue Reading
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead Zone2 Comments on Bev Vincent explores Fairy Tale by Stephen King
“There are other worlds than these”
Traditionally, in stories modeled after the Hero’s Journey, the main character receives a call to action, which he or she initially resists. Take, for example, Bilbo Baggins, who is cajoled out of his comfortable, quiet life to go on an adventure by Gandalf. In Stephen King’s fantasy stories, the characters are self-motivated. No one has to urge Jack Sawyer to light out for the Territories—he has a good reason to embark on a perilous journey. Similarly, Roland Deschain chooses his mission to find and save the Dark Tower, even though it will take him on a wild journey for the rest of his natural days. No one conscripts him. (Although, to be fair, sometimes his characters are yanked into a quest without being given any choice in the matter.)
In Fairy Tale, Charlie McGee[1] Reade also decides for himself to go on a magical adventure although, when he sets out, he has no idea what dangers he will face and what will be asked of him while he attempts to achieve his goal.
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