Stephen King Archive

Death as the Villain in Pet Sematary

Author: | Categories: Critical Essays No comments
Beneath the waking nightmares, reanimated children, and mythological Wendigo, Stephen King’s 1983 novel is about a fundamental and universal experience: grief and the fear of death.

Child Sexuality and the Never Filmed Scene in Stephen King’s It

Author: | Categories: Critical Essays No comments
There is a part of King’s iconic novel that has been left out of both of its film chapters (as well as previous adaptations). And while I understand and agree with the filmmakers’ decision to leave it out, I admit I would be awed by anyone who attempted to

Stephen King’s Misery, Delphine de Vigan’s Based on a True Story, and Writers’ Fears

Author: | Categories: Critical Essays No comments
If de Vigan’s novel indulges the writer’s fear that the writing may dry up, King’s indulges a different but related fear: that you will be forced to write, forever, what you long to outgrow.

Big Picture, Small Picture: Context for Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot

Author: | Categories: Series No comments
October 17, 1975. Salem’s Lot, King’s second novel is published. The story chronicles what happens in the titular, fictional hamlet in Maine when a centuries-old incubus named Kurt Barlow moves into a long-vacant mansion that the locals consider haunted.

The Mother of All Fears

Author: | Categories: Personal Essays No comments
This week, I reread Alexandra Kleeman’s short story “Choking Victim”. I had first read it when it was published in The New Yorker in May 2016, when I was spending most of my days at home with a mysterious newborn.

Weekly Round-Up: Howard Zinn, WALDEN, and Stephen King

Author: | Categories: Round-Up No comments
From a book-banning bill to Stephen King's new collaboration, here's the latest literary news.

Short Stories Are Forgotten Grist for the Hollywood Mill

Author: | Categories: Reading No comments
January means it’s award season for the movie industry. As the nominations and trophies are being passed out, it’s a good time to note how the history of Hollywood is inextricably linked to the history of literature.

Round-Up: Man Booker Prize, Bob Dylan Breaks Nobel Silence, and Stephen King’s New Picture Book

Author: | Categories: Round-Up No comments
From the Man Booker Prize winner to Stephen King’s new picture book, here are last week’s biggest literary headlines: Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout following a unanimous decision by the judges. Beatty is the first American to win the prize, which was expanded

Witches in Literature, or Bodies as Translators of Fear

Author: | Categories: Reading No comments
Lady sorceresses are vessels of fear through their bodies , or representations used to translate terror. A witch’s greatest strength is her body, as when Circe seduces and distract Odysseus from his journey; it is her greatest weakness, too, as when the Wicked Witch of the West is destroyed:

Round-Up: the Highest Paid Authors, an Out-of-Print Book’s Sales, and HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD

Author: | Categories: Round-Up No comments
From the sales of the newest Harry Potter story to a list of the highest paid authors of 2016, here are some of last week's most interesting literary headlines.