stephen king c/d?

Isn't "Steven King" just a collective at this point?

James Patterson is a load of writers hooked up to those matrix pods, king’s books seem consistently the product of the same weirdo

FFS "Stephen"

yeah, there have been SK imitators over the years but no one could quite bring the crazy like he does

aside from wtf sex stuff, on a purely supernatural/horror level he’s still one of the best at creating tension & getting a reader to suspend disbelief - something about the familiarity of his characters & their lives, he’s v good at putting the reader in a time/place & giving plenty of room for you to get to know characters. incredibly patient with his pacing imo

xp that scene is the worst imo

In case it isn’t clear I am referring there to the “demon sex scene” from the third dark tower book and not the infamous scene from the end of It, which I would not vote for in such a poll

The folksiness of the voice just makes everything 30% more ick. It’s a shtick but it always works. It’s like the fun schoolteacher who you can never tell if they’re cool or creepy. I think a lot of his “oh Stephen” moments are probably more deliberate than we think

on a purely supernatural/horror level he’s still one of the best at creating tension & getting a reader to suspend disbelief - something about the familiarity of his characters & their lives, he’s v good at putting the reader in a time/place

This is very striking when you read a bad Stephen King impression. I read Nick Cutter's 'The Troop' late last year and it's a pure 'kids in quasi-supernatural danger' King thriller and it was just absolutely terrible without any of King's charm.

I've read IT three times, and I still went "wait, what masturb... oh..." I think I've just blocked that scene.

It's also why I can reread books and rewatch movies. I forget things.

There are also two scenes being talked about here which may confuse: the teenage masturbation scene is the bully characters in the junkyard, the other scene is at the end and involves the *preteen* characters

Pretty much everything in Detta Walker's voice rivals the sex scene but that one's on a whole new level.

Theres a dark tower prequel short story about a vampire nun tugging roland off in a tent y/n?

As per last post, at this stage king is probably better writing boomer nostalgia via punk rock horror but leaving:

i. monsters
ii. characters with disability
iii. characters with weight issues
iv. poor characters
v. child sex

out of it entirely

Uh what does that leave

Non white characters I beg

Jesus yes sorry

Just fellas walking in the woods, can be post apocalyptic if he likes, thats all

y'all wanna see a deracinated body?

i want him to do a full boomer feverdream with wall to wall springsteen, dylan & creedence songs & old cars & washed up musicians & jaded ex-hookers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEYjZB0K5sI

whoa

!

legendary flop if you're unfamiliar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_(musical)

Early in the 21st century, playwright Erik Jackson attempted to secure the rights to stage another production of the musical, but his request was denied. Jackson eventually earned the consent of Stephen King to mount a new, officially sanctioned, non-musical production of Carrie, which debuted Off-Broadway in 2006 with drag queen Sherry Vine in the lead role.

Similarly, other unofficial spoofs have been staged over the years, most notably Scarrie! The Musical, Carrie White the Musical and Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the American sitcom The Facts of Life.

In 2018, a high school production of the musical is the focus of "Chapter Thirty-One: A Night to Remember" episode of Riverdale. The Riverdale cast album of the musical was produced via WaterTower Music.

Carrie's Facts of Life, which was a hybrid of Carrie and the American sitcom The Facts of Life

I'd workshop that title a little more, but that sounds brilliantly funny.

https://i.imgur.com/ynUGYez.png

I've read that book three times and I still forget some of that shit.

lol

It's also why I can reread books and rewatch movies. I forget things.

― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, January 20, 2022 2:33 PM (three weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't usually post pictures of myself, but today is an exception. pic.twitter.com/IvuiH3QVZv

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 28, 2022

If those are actually SK’s bookshelves then i guess believe he actually likes all those books he writes blurbs for.

Shit, that's just his "to blurb" shelf for March.

Is there anything in the recent run that actually sticks the landing as well as 11-22-63 did? I kinda feel like picking something up. The Institute had some raves - anyone read it?

Yeah, I dug it. It definitely felt like a pastiche of his greatest hits, tho

^^^^

I enjoyed The Institute, but yeah

i still need to read Revival

My wife says the holly gibney related books are all good (esp the outsider) and co-signs on The Institute

The Outsider is pretty good but it definitely doesn't stick the landing

^^ otm. Oddly enough, I thought the HBO adaptation actually managed to slightly make the landing less terrible.

Gibney is such a fucking horribly written character it’s a real handicap to every story she’s in (as I recall the outsider is ticking along fine until exactly that point)

Now to take a big sip of coffee and see what he’s working on next

Yeah, The Outsider (TV version) ended slightly better than the book, but the book was better in just about every other respect.

Revival is really good.

The last several books I read (Sleeping Beauties, Institute, Outsider) were satisfying in their way but very much felt like extruded King product

Revival is my favourite King book since 11/22/63

I consider it one of his best endings, not alone in that but opinion is somewhat polarised

It’s not too long so it’s worth finding out for yourself!

i have it, so will def give it a go on that recommendation:D

The first in the trio of Hodges Det Ret books (Mr. Mercedes) is very good. The next book is pretty solid! The last book I cannot recommend,

I mean... I will cuz you you told me to, but I have no idea who that is so I'm just picturing a fish on a roller-coaster.

— Shawn Nutting (@ZackGavin2) September 8, 2022

the best fans

i picked up the new one, “Fairy Tale”, from the library this weekend … it’s got me hooked early, loving it so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zuiVwFNEqc

update: I read Revival and didn’t love it.
The dedication to Mary Shelley let me know what the upshot would be from the start, and i got annoyed waiting and waiting for the other shoe to drop like honestly waiting til the last three chapters drove me NUTS

i liked the childhood stuff early on though, and the pastor’s “fuck u god” sermon was a+

I'm not quite sure what to make of Fairy Tale. I thought the pacing and plot progression were all over the place. But it had some great sequences - the first walk through the abandoned city was fantastic, and the waiting room build-up to the "Fair One" was the most intense, horrifying thing he's written in a long time.

perlstein on stephen king as the writer of the great death of democracy novel: https://prospect.org/culture/2024-02-14-cultural-artifact-meets-the-moment/