There’s an old saying that goes like this: “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” It’s also the thematic statement used by the British documentary series that began with Seven Up!
While we know some things about Jack Sawyer from when he was seven, we first really got to know him when he was twelve, in 1981. We spent a few exciting months with him that fall/winter, ending with his thirteenth birthday.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead Zone2 Comments on Bev Vincent Explores Monsters in the Archives
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King is very much my jam! “His Works” appears first in the title of my book Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Works, Life, and Influences for a reason. I’m fascinated by process, and this new book takes a deep dive into some of King’s earliest novels, revealing previously unknown facts and details about Carrie, ‘Salem’s Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, and Pet Sematary.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneLeave a comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #245
“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!
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneLeave a comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #244
Richard Bachman has had a very good year for adaptations. Previous to this year, it had been nearly thirty years since one of his novels was turned into a movie and now, within a span of several months, two Bachman books have turned up on the big screen with stellar casts. And even his wife (widow?) is getting in on the action. Read on!
Two adaptations of King novels — one from six years ago, the other first published forty-six years ago — landed recently. They have one thing in common: kids in jeopardy being subjected to cruel treatment (The Institute) and execution (The Long Walk). Here are my thoughts.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneLeave a comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #242
A new book! A NY Times bestselling anthology inspired by The Stand! Two feature films coming before the end of the year, along with a streaming series! A new Talisman novel! Another collaboration forthcoming! A miniseries renewed for a second season! New interviews, including a Reddit AMA! Buckle up!
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.
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead Zone1 Comment on Bev Vincent explores Never Flinch by Stephen King
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!
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 ZoneLeave a 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.
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