“I wanted to go back to Mid-World, which was always the Territories by another name.” So says Stephen King in announcing Other Worlds than These, also known as T3, co-authored with Peter Straub. The release date has been set: October 6, 2026. What else do we know? Read on!
In Other Worlds than These, the third book to feature Jack Sawyer, Jack must stop a rampaging gang of infected teenagers from America-side, and the forces of the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World, before it destroys our world and all worlds. Jack is older now; his Ka-tet (echoing the world of Roland) is fraying; and his task, nearly impossible.
The book will feature 30 black and white illustrations by Gabriel Rodriguez, who did something similar for Fairy Tale. Esquire magazine ran an exclusive excerpt from the novel earlier this week.
We have bit of a wait to read more of the book (you can already pre-order it, though), but I hope to have more news related to Other Worlds than These in the not-too-distant future.
The next book after OWTT will likely be the Holly Gibney novel he mentioned recently. He also continues to contribute to Benjamin Percy’s The End Times post-apocalyptic newspaper, writing as Claudia Inez Bachman.
We learned late last year that the Duffer Brothers have given up on their plan to adapt The Talisman as a limited series. “I think it was probably naive of us to think we could break The Talisman,” Matt Duffer said. I’ve almost lost count of the number of times that plans to adapt the novel have collapsed — except I haven’t! This makes the ninth time in the last forty years it’s happened.
Not to fear! There are other adaptations in the works — some quite surprising — as well as other adaptations that are no longer in the works.
This week, we learned that Mike Flanagan’s next project will be a remake of “The Mist.” He will both direct and write the screenplay. In the meantime, we are still waiting for a release date of his series adaptation of Carrie, which should launch on Amazon Prime this year. Recently, he gave a lengthy update about how he has modernized and changed the story.
Production is underway in Nova Scotia for season 2 of The Institute. Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy on Game of Thrones) joins the cast as an eccentric European tech billionaire named Nolan Reeves who is one of the Institute’s financial backers with an ambitious agenda all his own.
Giancarlo Esposito (aka Gus Fring from Breaking Bad) announced that he was close to making a deal to adapt “The Dreamers” from You Like it Darker. He planned to work with screenwriter Guy Busick on the script.
A one-hour drama based on “The Revelations of ‘Becka Paulson” announced nearly six years ago is no longer happening. It is one of the many projects impacted by The CW’s change in ownership.
Recent interviews and other appearances
- Esquire: All the Weird Things The Running Man Predicted About 2025
- Entertainment Weekly: Stephen King reveals his thoughts on the big ending change in The Running Man
- New York Times: Why I Hugged Rob Reiner After Watching Stand by Me
- New York Times: Farewell, Pocket Books
Religious characters and religion in general has been a topic in many of King’s books. Now, Billy Martin (writing as Poppy Z. Brite), tackles the subject in the forthcoming book Water if God Wills It: Spirituality and Religion in the Work of Stephen King, coming from Cemetery Dance this year.
Signed copies of Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences are available from Village Books in The Woodlands. Be sure to specify if you’d like a dedication and/or inscription on the order form. A new edition, Stephen King: His Life, Work, and Influences (Young Readers’ Edition), came out last September, which you can also order from Village Books, along with any of my other books.
