Danse Macabre

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This really comes to light in The Green Mile, where an aged Paul Edgcomb writes the first few chapters as though Coffey did murder those girls, despite the main plot point in the last half being the fact that he's actually innocent. He wrote the novel in installments, and admitted in the foreword of the first book that he himself may not even know how this thing ends. The resolution to the subplot with Mr. Jingles the mouse was added at the last minute when his wife asked what happened to him; King himself had completely forgotten he'd written a seemingly immortal mouse into the story. The first three chapters delve into what horror is, and what it can do. In these chapters King discusses why he wrote the book in the first place and what horror means to him, followed by analysis of urban legends like the classic “The Hook” that details what horror should be. These early chapters focus the most on examining the horror genre itself, giving King time to explore the genre in a myriad of ways and fixate on what makes it so popular to modern readers. The Lawnmower Man" — A bit of a special case. The 1992 film The Lawnmower Man was purported to be derived from the Stephen King story but had so little to do with it (even citing that there's a lawnmower in both stories is a stretch) that King actually took legal action to remove his name from it. The original title was Cyber God, and the Stephen King title was only brought on board to raise sales. Later adapted into a much more faithful Comic Book story. The fourth chapter, “An Annoying Biographical Pause,” goes into more specific detail about King’s childhood, including how his father abandoned him, and how horror played a role in his young life, like his interest in horror imagery both in fiction and in film, particularly in the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

a b Pagan, Amanda (October 24, 2019). "Where to Start with Stephen King". The New York Public Library . Retrieved February 25, 2021. Aliens in Cardiff: In King's works, Maine is apparently America's very own Lovecraft State, what with all the Ancient Astronauts, Wendigos and Eldritch Abominations hanging out there. The Breathing Method (or, A Winter's Tale)" — A woman wants to keep her child, no matter what. Has never been made into a movie, and it would probably be really hard to do so. The 2009 Goodreads Choice Awards: Mystery-Thriller". Goodreads. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010.SK discusses his childhood , films and their impact on him , Westerns , and archetypes in "Danse Macabre". I personally find "Danse Macabre" FAR more useful for understanding his work than "On Writing" despite the fact that "Danse Macabre" is ostensibly about horror films and literature. The Library Policeman" — Everybody's worst childhood fears about what happens when you lose a library book, except real and happening to adults. Workaholic: The man seems incapable of not writing for any extended period of time and has even described it as an addiction. The Dark Tower: The Little Sisters of Eluria (adapted by Robin Furth; script by Peter David; illustrated by Richard Isanove, Luke Ross, and Michael Whelan) The answer seems to be that we make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones. With the endless inventiveness of humankind, we grasp the very elements which are so divisive and destructive and try to turn them into tools—to dismantle themselves.” ― Stephen King, quote from Danse Macabre

He is watching with more than a little trepidation to find out what Netflix will make of it: “Frankly, I don’t think any adaptation (even the Wise film, as good as it is) will ever achieve the heights of the novel,” he says. “With that in mind, it might be a wise decision for the television series to go for its ‘modern reimagining’ rather than attempting another faithful adaptation. We’ll see.”Night Shift (1978) — Anthology of short stories, all of which have now been adapted into movies or TV series: But on another, more potent level, the work of horror really is a dance—a moving, rhythmic search. And what it’s looking for is the place where you, the viewer or the reader, live at your most primitive level. The work of horror is not interested in the civilized furniture of our lives. Such a work dances through these rooms which we have fitted out one piece at a time, each piece expressing—we hope!—our socially acceptable and pleasantly enlightened character. It is in search of another place, a room which may sometimes resemble the secret den of a Victorian gentleman, sometimes the torture chamber of the Spanish Inquisition . . . but perhaps most frequently and most successfully, the simple and brutally plain hole of a Stone Age cave-dweller. Is horror art? On this second level, the work of horror can be nothing else; it achieves the level of art simply because it is looking for something beyond art, something that predates art: it is looking for what I would call phobic pressure points. The good horror tale will dance its way to the center of your life and find the secret door to the room you believed no one but you knew of—as both Albert Camus and Billy Joel have pointed out. The Stranger makes us nervous . . . but we love to try on his face in secret.” ― Stephen King, quote from Danse Macabre A World Half Full: Some people are horrible, some are wonderful, some are somewhere in between. There will be senseless tragedies, and there will be unearned miracles. Making peace with life being a mixed bag is a frequent theme. Danse Macabre, King's overview of the horror genre from 1950-1980, is loaded with them, ranging from playful jabs to injurious wallops. Among others, Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Amityville Horror (both the book and the 1979 film), Kolchak: The Night Stalker and the novels of John Saul all take hits.

Another example of the 'misunderstood' monster that spurred my thinking was the Mothman in the film The Mothman Prophesies. It, some sort of inter-dimensional thing, causes psychological distress and horror to individuals and appears to be taunting and playing with them, but does not actually cause deaths* or disasters. However it may be for all we know find us as unfathomable as we find it. Gramma" — A child learns his invalid grandmother was a witch in the most hideous way imaginable. Adapted as an episode of The Twilight Zone (1985) and as a film staring Chandler Riggs in 2014 retitled Mercy. Dark Scribe Magazine - 2nd Annual - Winners". Dark Scribe Magazine. February 2, 2009 . Retrieved February 26, 2021. Announcing the Winners of the 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards!". Goodreads . Retrieved February 27, 2021. One for the Road" — A follow-up to 'Salem's Lot. Residents of a town just outside of Jerusalem's Lot try to save a man from the remaining vampires. A film version was announced for 2015; as of 2023, it has yet to surface.

Non-fiction

Cozy Voice for Catastrophes: King is acclaimed for his folksy, down-home prose, often compared to a someone telling a stories around a campfire. He uses a lot of slang, a lot of pungent metaphor, and makes frequent reference to pop culture. In the books that were originally published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, characters will comment that events seem like something out of a Stephen King novel. His critique on the radio examines such American programs as Suspense, Inner Sanctum, and Boris Karloff, and praises Arch Oboler's Lights Out. King ultimately concludes that, as a medium for horror, radio is superior to television and films, since radio's nature requires a more active use of imagination.