WUH: Stephen King: The Bachman Books

Between 1977 and 1984 Stephen King published five novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Though many fans and critics surmised that Bachman was King, which he would deny, the truth wasn’t uncovered until Washington, DC bookstore clerk Steve Brown noticed similarities to King’s writing and did some investigating. He found copyright info for one of the Bachman books in King’s name at the Library of Congress. Brown went to King’s publishers to ask what he should do with the information and King himself told him he should write an article about it and gave an interview to Brown.

Rage (originally title Getting it On) was begun in 1966 when King was still in high school, and The Long Walk shortly thereafter. They were published in 1977 and 1979 respectively. These were two of the (five!) novels written before Carrie, which would launch King into literary stardom. Roadwork was written in response to the death of King’s mother in 1974 and published in 1981. The Running Man was written in a week(!) and published in 1982. It was adapted to screen in 1987 and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Thinner was published in 1984 and shortly thereafter King's reign as Bachman, right when Bachman was gaining his own steam, ended. Thinner was adapted by Tom Holland in 1996.

But this time it's mainly about the books. The Bachman Books in particular, which offered up a virtual smörgåsbord of "new" King material to sink my teeth into. The tales include a dangerously unstable teenager, a man brought to his breaking point, two dystopian future worlds where deadly games are played, and an oddly specific gypsy curse.

Wikipedia page • Postmortem with André Øvredal • Postmortem with Vincenzo Natali
• Too Much Horror Fiction • History of Bachman

WUH: Stephen King Extras

As in Extra Special! Along with my own ramblings on a handful of films that didn't get the full treatment on previous episodes (Creepshow, Children of the Corn, Maximum Overdrive, Stand By Me, etc.) there is an interview with horror film journalist and filmmaker Jerry Smith regarding his Dollar Baby Deal.

Where to watch Stephen King • Darabont Dollar Baby • The Pod and the Pendulum Podcast

WUH: Stephen King 1984-87

>

Were there signs of King slowing down over the next four years? Heck no! Remember what I said about 1980-83 being over saturated? Well that may have been premature. King published six novels, one novella, one collection of short stories, and the Bachman book Thinner. The previous four Bachman books were also re-released as an omnibus, which we will get to in time.

Eight movies were released during this time with many of them being adaptations of short stories, or novellas. I.e. Hollywood was really digging deep to provide movie goers with their King fix, but they were mining some of the lesser works.

Of the books published during that time these titles have been brought to the screen: Cycle of the Werewolf as Silver Bullet (1985) IT (1990 & 2017/2019), and Misery (1990). The Talisman is currently in the development stage, and Hulu is supposedly bringing The Eyes of the Dragon to their platform as a series.

My interest in King may have started to wane during these years, but, like so many of the things that brought me great pleasure when I was young, my love for all things King has returned with renewed fervor.

• Where to watch: Silver Bullet, It (1990), It (2017), It Chapter Two (2019), Misery
• IMDb listing: Silver Bullet, It (1990), It (2017), It Chapter Two (2019), Misery
• Wikipedia page: Silver Bullet, It (1990), It (2017), It Chapter Two (2019), Misery

WUH: Stephen King 1980-83

The years 1980 through 1983 might possibly be the most over-saturated in terms of Stephen King output. During this time five novels were published and five movies were released, and if you didn't know who King was you must have been living under a (Castle) rock. Ha ha. And lest we forget we also got the collection Different Seasons, as well as two novels published as Richard Bachman: Roadwork and The Running Man. That's EIGHT books in three years people!!

To one extent or another all of the books published in those years have been adapted to screen: Firestarter (1984), Cujo (1983), The Dark Tower (2017), Christine (1983), and Pet Sematary (1989). Three of the stories from Different Seasons have been adapted, with the fourth ("The Breathing Method") due in 2020, AS WELL AS the Bachman books The Running Man (1987) and Roadwork forecast from the producers of IT.

1983 was pure King Heaven for this 14 year old, with the acquisition of my first hardcover and seeing a King film in the theater for the first time. And to this day the books and movies from this time period are among my favorite horror stories, not just of King's but in general.

• Where to watch: Firestarter • Cujo • The Dark Tower • Christine • Pet Sematary
• IMDb listing: Firestarter • Cujo • The Dark Tower • Christine • Pet Sematary
• Wikipedia page: Firestarter • Cujo • The Dark Tower • Christine • Pet Sematary

WUH: Stephen King 1974-79

Stephen King shot out of the gate with the publication of Carrie in 1974. Though the hardcover didn't sell all that well the paperback rights were acquired for a whopping $400,000.00, of which King received half plus royalties. The paperback went on to sell one million copies in its first year.

Over the next five years King followed up with 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Stand, and The Dead Zone in quick succession. That's six novels in six years, plus the short story collection Night Shift in 1978 AND the books Rage and The Long Walk written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Whew!

In 1976 Brian DePalma brought Carrie to the big screen. The movie was a critical and commercial hit, and since King's books were selling like gangbusters Hollywood came a callin'. 'Salem's Lot was turned into a TV mini-series in 1979, The Shining was made into a movie by Stanley Kubrick in 1980 (and later a TV mini-series, written by King and directed by Mick Garris), The Stand became another mini-series directed by Garris, and The Dead Zone was made into a movie in 1983 by David Cronenberg and a TV series in 2002 that ran for six seasons.

Not all King adaptations are created equally, and some can cause division (and derision) among fans of the books. In my opinion things start out very strongly with DePalma, Kubrick, and Cronenberg at the helm of their respective films. In this episode I talk at length about three of my favorite King stories.

• Where to watch: Carrie • 'Salem's Lot • The Shining • The Stand • The Dead Zone
• IMDb listing: Carrie • 'Salem's Lot • The Shining • The Stand • The Dead Zone
• Wikipedia page: Carrie • 'Salem's Lot • The Shining • The Stand • The Dead Zone

WUH: Stephen King

Stephen King is one of America's most prolific writers whose books have sold roughly 350 million copies worldwide. The Master of Horror, as he's been known for quite some time now, knows how to scare people and sell books, and naturally Hollywood has mined his voluminous output in the hopes of putting butts in the seats and dollars in the bank. From his earliest novel, Carrie, which was put to film two years after publication, hardly a year has gone by without a King adaptation being released in one form or another. There have been big-budget prestige films, low-budget passion projects, TV movies, mini-series, television series, all those "dollar babies" and, more recently, a number of long-form shows and movie options on streaming platforms.

For me it all started with the books. Well, it started with the movies, or rather the trailers and ads for the movies. But I was too young to see any of those R rated films when they first came out. So I started checking out his books from the library, beginning with The Shining, which lead to his previous novels and short story collections, then to buying the paperbacks, and ultimately to buying hardcovers. King adaptations became regular rentals and I always anticipated each new film and book.

Above is the introductory episode to the Spotlight on Stephen King series. Upcoming episodes will appear over the next few weeks and months between our regularly (and irregularly) scheduled programming.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page • My comic story