My Long Walk Through Stephen King's Lot

  Before I started this blog, I imagined I would only write about Stephen King’s books.   But King’s work is frequently adapted to the screen—for better or worse—and occasionally the movies are worth examining. Not many of them, mind you, but some; particularly those which are ambitious attempts to tackle some of King’s most well-established and highly revered works.   Something, say, like the recent big-screen adaptation of IT .   I didn’t go see the movie when it was in theaters, which speaks to a curious fact about me at this stage of life.   If I were 15 years younger, I’d have been there in a heartbeat.   But life changes, and the things I like doing often get lost in the shuffle of managing everything I feel I need to do.     This weekend, however, I had a few hours to spare, and I allowed myself to factor in something I’d like to do, and that was most definitely to sit and experience “IT.”   I’ve mentioned the book in p...

   Every year, close to Halloween, I like to revisit a few of Stephen King's scariest short stories.  I'm not much of a horror movie fan, but I am never more impressed than when a written work is able to terrify me.  As I've mentioned previously, I do not regard King primarily as a horror writer, and usually his scariest works are not among those that I esteem most highly.  But there is no doubt that he is a master of terror, and when the mood strikes, there are a good number of his works that will get the job done. While there are frightening passages in most of King’s books, I find his short stories especially unnerving, since (being so concise and direct) they very often pack a strong, shocking punch.   The stories I usually like to crack open around Halloween are: ·         "N." ·         The Road Virus Heads North ·    ...