King
Stephen King is the master of popular mystery. He has sent shivers down our spines in the most crafty and beautiful ways known to mankind and has watched as his books became bestsellers and turned into some of the most heart-racing movies of all time. This Halloween, the desk looks back on its favorite King works, ranging from books to films to words of wisdom.
Melissa Seitz/The Diamondback
Love him or hate him, Stephen King has some insightful things to say
“Even if you get the creeps at the thought of Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It or you’re still traumatized from reading Pet Sematary too late at night, King has some very interesting things to say, both in his books and in interviews — and many of these pearls of wisdom are surprisingly nonthreatening.” — Zoë DiGiorgio
LASTING IMPACT: Bag of Bones, the novel
“But Bag of Bones is one of King’s scariest stories because it evokes a sort of tangible terror into which he doesn’t often dive. Rather than relying entirely on the paranormal and psychotic villains that have become the lifeblood of his popularity, King employs more accessible personal and societal evils that plague the book’s protagonist, Mike Noonan.” — Leo Traub
LASTING IMPACT: The Green Mile, the novel
“I saw the movie first and was blown away enough to buy the book not long after. It was then that I realized the obvious common factor between the greatness of the two: King’s writing. It’s so quietly powerful and genuine that the book’s more unrealistic, supernatural occurrences are not even questioned by readers or viewers who are too busy admiring it.” — Michael Errigo
The Shining revisted: a horror movie perfected
“I was probably 11 or 12 years old when I first saw Stanley Kubrick’s classic adaptation of the Stephen King novel. I stumbled upon it playing on one of those cable movie channels on a Saturday afternoon. I didn’t know what it was, but regardless, I was terrified. It wasn’t the first — or last — scary movie I had ever seen, but to this day, it’s certainly the only one to keep me from sleeping, still wound up long after the credits rolled.” — Mel DeCandia
Want some songs to accompany your reading?
Staff writer Jonathan Raeder’s list of truly terrifying songs is here.
