NEWS -

Pet Sematary Retrospective Book

Posted: July 18, 2023, 07:37
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Pet Sematary retrospective book will be released in 2024 for the film’s 35th anniversary!

The team behind the documentary Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary is headed back into the world of Stephen King’s terrifying horror classic with a brand new book!

A retrospective book to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Stephen King’s big screen cult classic, Pet Sematary, Hollywood Comes to Maine: Revisiting Stephen King’s Pet Sematary will serve as an updated and greatly expanded companion book to the 2015 documentary, Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary.

The coffee table book will include new interviews with cast and crew, newly discovered archive from the production, essays from prominent writers, filmmakers, and film historians, as well as interviews with those inside the Stephen King book + film orbit.

Source: Bloody Disgusting.

Stephen King: Not Just Horror

Posted: July 14, 2023, 15:31
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My book Stephen King: Not Just Horror will be released in Italy later this year by Independent Legions. Here are their announcement.

Siamo felici di annunciare la pubblicazione, entro la fine dell'anno, in italiano, del libro STEPHEN KING: NOT JUST HORROR di Hans-Åke Lilja (che ha curato l'antologia 'Shining in the Dark') con prefazione di John Ajvide Lindqvist. Presto presenteremo i contenuti (speciali!) e la copertina del libro, aprendo anche i preordini.
Il saggio sarà pubblicato in Svezia ad agosto, e poi in inglese e altre lingue.
(Foto: Hans-Åke Lilja con Stephen King, ad Amburgo)

We're pleased to announce the publication, by the end of the year, in Italian, of the book STEPHEN KING: NOT JUST HORROR by Hans-Åke Lilja (who edited the anthology 'Shining in the Dark') with a preface by John Ajvide Lindqvist. We'll present the (special!) contents and the cover art of the book soon, opening also the preorders.
The book will be published in Sweden in August, and then in English and other languages.
(Photo: Hans-Åke Lilja with Stephen King, in Hamburg)

The Dreamers; A New King Story

Posted: June 16, 2023, 00:22
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In the article about Cormac McCarthy King mentions a new story he has writen The Dreamers.

He looked like a bird colonel I knew over there in that other world watching through his binoculars as the F-100Ds and Super Sabres of the 352nd came in low over Bien Hoa, pregnant with the firejelly they would drop in an orange curtain, burning a miscarriage in the green, turning part of the overstory to ash and skeleton palms. The men and women too, them calling nahn tu, nahn tu to no one who could hear or care if they did.

Thanks to Leon Russell

My Thoughts On The Boogeyman

Posted: June 8, 2023, 09:12
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Here are my thoughts about The Boogeyman.

There are a few minutes in there where they actually tell King’s story. It’s when Lester Billings talks to Dr. Harper and tells him how his kids were killed by the boogeyman. Here I hoped that they would let the movie show us Billings telling Dr. Harper his story.

Teaser Update 2

Posted: June 7, 2023, 12:15
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The redesigned and updated version of Liljas-Library.com is almost finished. There are just a few last adjustments and then the update will be online and you can enjoy a modern and responsive website that will continue to deliver news from The World of Stephen King, as it have done since 1996.

Keynote With Tabitha And Stephen

Posted: May 13, 2023, 03:45
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Maine Library Association Fundraiser Featuring Stephen and Tabitha King will take place on May 21 at the Sunday River Ski Resort - Grand Summit Hotel Ballroom. At 7:15 Stephen and Tabitha will give the Keynote. Please note that the Kings will not be giving autographs or signing books at this event.

Join us for an evening with Maine authors, philanthropists, and library advocates, Stephen and Tabitha King.

The Kings really need no introduction. They have created many books for readers to enjoy over the past several decades, and have given generously to Maine communities through the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, which has awarded grants to many libraries around the state of Maine. They are major supporters of the work that libraries do, and the ideals our profession upholds.

Proceeds from this event will help to fund the work we do, in support of our mission to promote and enhance the value of Maine libraries and librarianship, to foster cooperation among those who work in and for Maine libraries, and to provide leadership in ensuring that information is accessible to all citizens from their libraries.

More info

Teaser Update

Posted: May 12, 2023, 12:26
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The redesigned and updated version of Liljas-Library.com is almost finished. Just a few more adjustments and then you can enjoy a modern and responsive website that will continue to deliver news from The World of Stephen King, as I have done since 1996. Just be patient for a little while more.

The Monky Stars Theo James

Posted: May 9, 2023, 22:15
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Theo James will star in the movie version of King’s story The Monkey

The team behind the project includes James Wan who is producing with Michael Clear and Jason Cloth. The story has been adapted for the screen by Osgood Perkins who also will direct.

Talking about the film, Wan said:

“Stephen King is the godfather of the horror genre. He had a huge influence on me as a child and throughout my career, and it’s always been a dream to help bring one of his stories to life. The Monkey is a personal favorite, with its simple, iconic and incredibly marketable conceit. And I can’t imagine anyone better than a visionary and lifelong genre fan like Osgood to bring this to life.”

Tom, Mark & Mike Will Give Life To Chuck

Posted: May 9, 2023, 08:25
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Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill are set to star in The Life Of Chuck from If It Bleeds. Mike Flanagan is directing, scripting and producing for Intrepid Pictures alongside fellow producer Trevor Macy.


Hiddleston will play Chuck, with Hamill playing the role of Albie.

Constant Reader Edition Of Carrie

Posted: April 25, 2023, 13:34
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The Constant Reader Edition of Carrie is now available for order. Here’s what you get:

- An exclusive one-off edition of CARRIE, the classic first novel by Stephen King.

- Exclusive art prints

- An enamel 'Constant Reader' badge

- A new separately printed exclusive question and answer session with Stephen King.

This is only available exclusively through Special Edition Books and this very special one-off edition with an entirely new cover design rendered in gold foil onto the book's unjacketed boards; brand new part title artwork; beautifully designed endpapers; a ribbon marker; and sprayed black page edges.

The price for the book is £65 + shipping (free if you live in the UK) and it’s limited to 1 copy per customer. Shipping is scheduled to start on August 14th.

You can order between now and 12:00 BST 23 May 2023. After that the publisher will print as many copies that’s been ordered and that’s it. It won’t be sold at a later time.

There has also been talks about if there will be other Constant Readers Edition and this is how the publisher answered that question:

Maybe, watch this space!

So probably there will if this one does well.

Find more info and order on the publisher’s site

Please Welcome Stowe And Rider To Derry

Posted: April 16, 2023, 15:59
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Madeleine Stowe and Stephen Rider have joined Max (previously HBO Max) original series, Welcome to Derry which will
Premier in 2024.

Stowe will have a recurring guest role while Rider is a series regular. Their parts are being kept under wraps for now.

First Casting For Welcome To Derry

Posted: April 6, 2023, 09:50
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The first casting for Welcome to Derry has been announced.


Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk and James Remar has been cast. Exact plot and character details are being kept a secret, but the official description for the series is:

“Set in the world of Stephen King’s ‘It’ universe, ‘Welcome to Derry’ is based on King’s ‘It’ novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films ‘It’ and ‘It Chapter Two.'”

Remains to see how much of King’s book vs. the movies this will he based on…

Bill Skarsgård Not In Derry

Posted: March 30, 2023, 23:31
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Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgård is not involved in Welcome to Derry:


We'll see what they come up with and what they do with it. I'm, as of now, not currently involved in it. And if someone else gets to do it, my advice would just be: do it your own, make it your own, have fun with it, you know what I mean? What I thought was so pleasurable about that character was how incredibly abstract he was.
Thanks to Herbert West.

Abra, Danny & Rose To The Dark Tower Go?

Posted: March 18, 2023, 01:10
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Mike Flanagan spoke to Script Apart Podcast about his ideas for The Dark Tower and it turns out he want to add characters from The Shining and Doctor Sleep to The Dark Tower universe.

“Abra Stone in the Dark Tower universe, as a Breaker [telepathic agent], is really interesting,” he says. “There’s a character in The Dark Tower named Dandelo, who I think is a cousin of the True Knot, who’s this emotional vampire but who feeds on laughter instead of fear. But there’s room in that world for the True Knot themselves, there’s room for Rose The Hat. There might be room for Danny Torrance.”

What do you think, should Abra, Danny and Rose The Hat be in The Dark Tower adaptation? Personally I don’t think so. They are fine in their own world and not everything King has written are connected to The Dark Tower.

Is Salem’s Lot Heading Straight To Blu-ray?

Posted: March 12, 2023, 02:22
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The remake of Salem’s Lot seems to have a date (July 3) set for a Blu-ray release which would mean Warner no longer plan on releasing it in the theaters. After reading a plot description (no I won’t post it here since Warner is making everyone who do take it down but it’s out there) I can understand them. I wasn’t impressed by the description.




King On Welcome To Derry

Posted: February 23, 2023, 21:42
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King on Welcome To Derry.

”I’m excited that the story of Derry, Maine’s most haunted city, is continuing, and I’m glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities, along with a brain trust including his talented sister, Barbara. Red balloons all around!”

Fairy Tale is an Audie Finalist!

Posted: February 23, 2023, 15:16
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On Thursday, February 23rd, the Audio Publishers Association announced that actor Seth Numrich is an Audie Award Finalist for Best Male Narrator for his performance on Fairy Tale, the most recent bestselling audiobook from Stephen King. The winners will be announced at the awards gala on Tuesday, March 28th.

38 Years Ago Today: King Revealed As Bachman

Posted: February 9, 2023, 19:49
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38 years ago today Bangor Daily News revealed that King was Bachman. Here is what an UPI News article wrote about it two days later.

BANGOR, Maine -- Some authors get writer's block, but Stephen King has the opposite problem -- writing so many best-selling horror and mystery novels that he resorted to publishing five books under a pseudonym.

'It's been a chronic problem not wanting to over-publish,' King confessed to the Bangor Daily News Weekend in a copyright story.

King revealed that Richard Bachman, his 'other self,' is really an insurance agent in Minnesota and a friend of his press agent, whose picture was borrowed to dummy a flap on his first novel in hardcover printed under the alias.

Credited to Bachman are the books: 'The Rage,' 'The Long Walk,' 'Road Work,' 'The Running Man' and 'Thinner.'

'Thinner,' the first hardcover Bachman book, was doing well, King said, and could make the best seller list this spring. King said he wrote 'Rage' as a senior in high school and 'The Long Walk' while he was a freshman attending the University of Maine at Orono.

The author, who now makes his home in Bangor, pledged his schoolmates to secrecy about the pseudonym, but said a Washington attorney recently sent him a long letter putting the pieces together.

Last week, the Bachman and King relationship was hinted at on the television show Entertainment Tonight, and King granted an interview to the Bangor Daily News to confirm the mystery.

'You know how when you're carrying home some groceries in the rain and the whole bag falls apart? Well, that's how it's been with Bachman lately,' King said.

King's college alma mater acknowledged their file card lists a notation that reads, 'Stephen King also writes under the name of Richard Bachman.' Later, King wrote the college library and asked them to disassociate the two identities.

Bachman, King conceded, is also listed as a pseudonym at the Copyright Office in Washington.

Thanks to Bev Vincent

Feature Film Instead Of Limited Series For Billy

Posted: February 4, 2023, 01:47
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Billy Summers was originally meant to be a ten-episode limited serie but it has now been decided that it would work better as a feature.

The project will be produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and maybe DiCaprio could end up playing the title character.

What do you think? Is DiCaprio Summers?

Welcome To Derry Set To Start Filming In April?

Posted: February 3, 2023, 17:56
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Looks like Welcome to Derry might start filming in April. Her is what Bleeding Cool says about it:

Welcome to Derry: HBO Max's Pennywise Prequel Series Filming In April. Based on a recent production list, it looks like filming is taking place in April on HBO Max's It/Pennywise prequel series, Welcome to Derry.

A little less than three months after HBO Max's upcoming "It" film franchise prequel series found its showrunners in Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman) & Brad Caleb Kane (Tokyo Vice), we have what looks to be good news to pass along regarding Welcome to Derry. The series kicks off in the 1960s and leads up to the events of 2017's It: Part One (based on Stephen King's classic horror novel) while also touching upon the backstory of Pennywise the Clown. Now, based on a listing on Production List, the series is looking to start filming in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 3rd. Andy Muschietti, who directed both films in the King franchise, will executive produce the series alongside Barbara Muschietti, Fuchs, and Kane. In addition, Fuchs wrote the teleplay for the first episode based on a story he wrote with the Muschiettis, with Andy Muschietti considering directing the series opener. Warner Bros. Television serves as the studio, with the Muschiettis' Double Dream production company also producing.

Thanks to Herbert West

UK Edition Of Holly Announced

Posted: January 24, 2023, 17:20
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Hodder & Stoughton has announced their edition of Holly.


A missing girl

Two serial killers with a savage secret

Only one determined woman on their trail . . .

Hodder & Stoughton is thrilled to announce the publication of Holly, a major new novel by international bestseller Stephen King. Hodder will publish in hardback, eBook and audiobook, and in trade paperback for Australia and New Zealand on 5th September 2023.

Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King heroine Holly Gibney – one of his most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters – as she uncovers the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a Midwestern town.

Pre-order your copy here.

Cover For Holly Revealed

Posted: January 21, 2023, 12:04
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Simon & Schuster have released the cover for Holly.


Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King's most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

Stephen King's Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges's partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King's new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl's desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie's disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King. "I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart. Holly is all her." -- STEPHEN KING

Release: September 5, 2023
Page count: 464

Special feature

King calendar

Out Now!:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (US ed.)
March 2024:
Shining in the Dark (Turkish ed.)
Spring:
The Extra Hour (short in CD #79
2024:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (Czech ed.)
2024:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (German ed.)
May 21, 2024:
You Like It Darker
2024:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (Greek ed.)
2024:
Salem’s Lot
2025:
Welcome To Derry

Latest interviews

Angelina Kekish
February 16, 2021
Aaron Haye
February 15, 2021
Eli Roth
October 5, 2020

Latest reviews

Stephen King’s Maine: A History & Guide
April 11, 2024
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
September 28, 2023
Holly
September 5, 2023

Richard Bachman

The story of Richard Bachman and how he was exposed.

Author Photo Quiz

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King's best book

Vote for the best Stephen King book of all time...

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