NEWS -

Mellencamp, King Going Back To Work On Play

Posted: October 1, 2005, 13:17
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Mellencamp, King Going Back To Work On Play
By Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

John Mellencamp will spend the bulk of November working in New York with Stephen King on their long-gestating play with music, "The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County." Details of the project was first revealed by Billboard in the fall of 2000.

Mellencamp previously said the play is about "two brothers; they're 19 years old or 20, maybe 18 or 21, who are very competitive and dislike each other immensely. The father takes them to the family vacation place, a cabin that the boys hadn't been to since they were kids."

"What has happened is that the father had two older brothers who hated each other and killed each other in that cabin," he continued. "There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house. The older [dead] brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience. That's all I want to say, except through this family vacation, many things are learned about the family, and many interesting songs are sung."

Having just concluded a summer tour with John Fogerty and the 20th annual Farm Aid benefit, Mellencamp will perform Oct. 29 at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, Calif. Two additional benefit shows in New York are in the works for November, but details have yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, Mellencamp's paintings will on display from Nov. 18-Jan. 7 at Indiana University's Herron School of Art in Indianapolis.

UK Cell out in February

Posted: September 30, 2005, 23:41
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Hodder & Stoughton confirmed today that they also will release Cell in February.

Dollar Baby: Umney's Last Case

Posted: September 30, 2005, 00:00
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A Dollar Baby of Umney's Last Case is in the making. Right now it's in post-production and a finished product might be around the end of January. The movie was shot it on 35mm over 2 weeks, and it will run between 25 and 30 minutes.

Thanks to Peter Hansen.

If you missed King's appearance on Conan O'Brien you can now see the segment online over at
Stephen King Short Movies.

Thanks to Stephen King Short Movies.

Desperation release dates

Posted: September 28, 2005, 23:10
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As I have reported earlier Desperation will air in May 2006 and Lion's Gate is probably releasing the DVD the following July.

Cover of Wolves of the Calla in color

Posted: September 27, 2005, 00:00
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To the right you can see the paperback cover of The Dark Tower V - Wolves of the Calla in color.

Don't forget to check out Simon & Schuster Audio's promotion of The Colorado Kid. There will be 25 minutes of excerpts online in 5 parts. Part 1 to 3 is now online. You can listen to them here.

New column: My So-Called Admirer

Posted: September 26, 2005, 00:00
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King has a new column out. Its title is My So-Called Admirer and you can read it here.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Simon & Schuster Audio is promoting The Colorado Kid audio book with 25 minutes of excerpts over five days, 5 minutes a day. You can listen to them here.

King's interview for Sunday Morning on CBS about The Colorado Kid has been bumped to October 2nd but his appearance at Conan O'Brien will air again tonight. You can also read a transcript of King's interview with O'Brien here (scroll down a bit).

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

King in New York

Posted: September 25, 2005, 00:00
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Don't miss an all new holiday-themed episode of The Dead Zone, premiering Friday, December 9 at 10/9C! More info coming soon.

King visited Conan O'Brien last Friday. This was a last minute replacement for another guest. He was promoting the New Yorker Festival and The Colorado Kid. At the festival King signed books for 150 persons.

Thanks to Bev Vincent, Anthony Sposato and and Reader1504.

Here is a trailer for the Dollar Baby Suffer the little Children

Thanks to Stephen King Short Movies.

Salem's Lot ARC's

Posted: September 23, 2005, 00:00
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The ARCs for Doubleday's Illustrated Salem's Lot is out and it seems to be the same book as the one from Centipede Press (with at least most if not all the photographs included in the signed numbered editions). The one big difference though is that the Doubleday edition has a new introduction by King.

Thanks to John Hanic.

No nightmares for Stone

Posted: September 22, 2005, 11:30
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In an article from Herald Sun a spokeswoman for the production of Nightmares & Dreamscapes said a rumor that Sharon Stone had been cast in one episode was "entirely not true".

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

$25,100 to be in Cell

Posted: September 19, 2005, 23:39
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OK, the auction for naming a character in Cell is over. The winner paid $25,100 and as it turned out it was a present for her brother (talk about the perfect gift) and the name you should look for is Ray Huizenga. Read more about it here:

Fort Lauderdale woman wins eBay auction to name character in Stephen King book

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stephen King's new horror story focuses on a set of rampaging zombies controlled by cell phones. As of Sunday night, one may bear the last name Huizenga.

King fans from Romania to Australia spent much of last week on eBay, outbidding each other in an online auction organized by prominent authors selling the right to name characters in their new novels. Initially conceived as a creative fund-raiser for the First Amendment Project, a struggling nonprofit that defends the free speech rights of writers and artists, the auction quickly became the Internet site's most watched item.

As the online auction's first round closed Sunday night, Pam Alexander of Fort Lauderdale spent the last nail-biting minutes pledging $25,100 to name a character in King's zombie novel, CELL. That money, plus an additional $50,000 in proceeds from other auctions, will go directly to the First Amendment Project.

"I thought it would be a great gift to give to my brother to have his name in the book,'' said Alexander, who won the auction as a gift for her brother, Ray Huizenga, a fishing captain and longtime King fan. "It's definitely extravagant but it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and he's worth it.''

Alexander beat out a disappointed Paul Stegman, of Papillion, Neb., who was poised to take out a credit line on his house to buy a way into King's head.

"How many times do you have the opportunity to purchase immortality?'' said Stegman, who owns 300 King books and bid on a borrowed computer he felt would increase his "winning karma.'' "This was very out of character for me, because my general rule of thumb is to be cheap whenever possible. I thought I was the only person crazy enough to spend that much money.''

On Sept. 1, eBay Giving Works, the site's dedicated program for charity listings, went live with the electronic auction. Since then, hundreds have been bidding 24 hours a day to insert names into their favorite writers' books. The auctions already have fetched well over the non-profit's fund-raising goal of $50,000.

It's also became the "most watched'' item on eBay, an internal marker the company uses to gauge popularity, and has warranted so much attention that eBay Italy requested organizers translate the entire auction into Italian.

"We can safely say we're not going to close now,'' said David Greene, executive director of the Oakland-based First Amendment Project, which was founded in 1994. "I'm thrilled.''

Greene said that money raised by the auction will go to support the organization's pro bono work representing clients being sued over free speech, free press and freedom of expression.

The auction's second phase, which will allow bidders to vie for the chance to name a character in books by John Grisham, Dave Eggers, Neil Gaiman and others continues through Sept. 26. The benefit was the brainchild of Gaiman, who approached Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon with the idea when he heard the group was running out of money.

It has become the single largest fund-raising event for the First Amendment Project, whose lawyers are currently defending a publisher who produces a magazine distributed in prisons and a former sailor seeking information from the U.S. Army.

Some of those bills may be paid through the generosity of science fiction writer David Brin, who joined the cause last week. In the next round, he'll auction off the right to name a rogue moon, an exotic and gruesome disease or an entire species of extraterrestrials in his new book, which he said he wrote, thanks to First Amendment freedoms.

"Only a knowledgeable, empowered and vocal citizenry can perform well in democracy,'' Brin said in an e-mail interview.

For San Francisco author Andrew Sean Greer, the tone and structure of his new book gave him so much to think about that he hadn't even begun to figure out how to fit a fan-designated name into the plot line.

"I'm happy to try to please whoever wins the bid and give them prominent placement,'' said Greer, who sold the chance to name a creamery for $895 but didn't know yet what the winning bidder had in mind.

"Usually a soda shop isn't called Englebert Humperdink, so they'll have to content themselves if it gets reworked,'' Greer added. "We're trying to make this like a secret, a little Easter egg in the novel, not a hurdle for the writer to overcome.''

King, meanwhile, appears to be busy writing CELL, a novel he warns will read "like cheap whisky ... very nasty and extremely satisfying.''

"He's been busy,'' said Marsha DeFillippo, his personal assistant. "He just didn't have time to follow the auction that closely.''

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Stone and Macy in Umney's Last Case

Posted: September 19, 2005, 11:26
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According to Friday's Australian Financial Review newspaper Sharon Stone and William H Macy will star in the adaptation of Umney's Last Case for the Nightmares and Dreamscapes series being shot in Melbourne.

No limited Lisey's Story

Posted: September 18, 2005, 23:36
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There where a question on King's official message board on whether there would be limited editions of Cell and/or Lisey's Story and the answer from the moderator was:

There are no plans for limited at this time.

No limited Cell

Posted: September 18, 2005, 23:34
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There where a question on King's official message board on whether there would be limited editions of Cell and the answer from the moderator was:

There are no plans for limited at this time.

Confirmation of King and Marvel?

Posted: September 18, 2005, 21:49
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It seams that in the latest Italian Spiderman comic issue, there is news about the collaboration between King and Marvel. They just said that they will give more info in a month but they confirmed that King would collaborate with Marvel. More info to come.

Thanks to Matteo.

Black House movie

Posted: September 18, 2005, 00:00
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Here is an interesting post from King's official message board:

Black House - Johnathon Schaech and his business partner Richard Chizmar are writing the screenplay for a movie based on the novel Black House written by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Executive producer is Akiva Goldsman (The DaVinci Code, Cinderella Man, I Robot, Practical Magic) and the production company is Weed Road.

Cell released in February

Posted: September 17, 2005, 23:08
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Huge news today! Scribner has announced that Cell will be released in February 2006

King on CBS

Posted: September 17, 2005, 00:00
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From the official Stephen King site:

Stephen will be doing an interview to promote The Colorado Kid on CBS Sunday Morning. We do not have definitive information from CBS regarding the broadcast date. It could be as early as September 18th, but is more likely to be on the 25th. You should check your local listings.

Also, Scribner's King site has gotten a nice face-lift, check it out here.

The Colorado Kid review

Posted: September 13, 2005, 00:00
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Now you can see what I think of The Colorado Kid. Yes, I was fortunate enough to get an early copy of it and now you can read my thoughts about it. I have tried to keep this review spoiler-free and I think I have done a pretty good job but as always, you have to reveal some things if your going to be able to say anything...

Here is a photo of King from Augusta at the Katrina fundraiser.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Stephen King's Gotham Café is a winner

Posted: September 12, 2005, 00:00
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Stephen King's Gotham Café won awards for Best Director, Best Actor (Chaney Kley), Best Special Effects and Best Cinematography at the 2005 Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and the Supernatural in Las Vegas. These awards are even more meaningful as the feature film and shorts categories were combined. For the first time ever a short film swept a festival garnering awards meant for features!

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Contra Costa Times reports that a new Dollar Baby version of Gotham Café is being done by Steve Wozniak.

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

The Colorado Kid news

Posted: September 10, 2005, 00:00
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King will do an interview for Sunday Morning on CBS about The Colorado Kid.

Anthony Mason and Douglas Smith of CBS visited with Hard Case Crime to talk about the history of paperback crime novels and what they're doing in the Hard Case Crime line; they also spent some time talking with King and with legendary cover painter Robert McGinnis, who showed them around his studio. The resulting story is scheduled to air on the Sunday Morning program on September 18th.

Hard Case Crime also reports that The Colorado Kid has a first printing of about one million copies but if you don't want to buy a copy you can enter one of the two known contest to win a copy of the paperback. A dozen people will be select at random by Hard Case Crime to receive a free copy. To enter the drawing, just send an e-mail message to drawing@hardcasecrime.com before midnight New York time on Saturday, September 17th. The winners will be selected on Sunday morning, right after the Sunday Morning show.

King takes back rights to Dolan's Cadillac

Posted: September 8, 2005, 20:58
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According to Fangoria King has taken back the movie rights to Dolan's Cadillac:

September 7: Director talks King's unmade DOLAN’S CADILLAC

Four years ago, Stephen King gave up-and-coming writer/director Stacy Title the rights to make the movie out of DOLAN’S CADILLAC, one of the tales in the anthology NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES. Six months ago, after a lengthy and ultimately fruitless development period, King took the rights back.

“He was incredible and very generous about the whole thing," says Title ... “He loved the script when he first read it and then, all of a sudden, he changed his mind. I did a lot of drafts for free, so it was disappointing.”

While Title had the rights, with the now-defunct Franchise Pictures and producers Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner also attached to the project, a number of high-profile actors drifted in and out of the adaptation of King’s story, in which a man seeks vengeance against the Las Vegas mobster who has murdered his wife. “First, Sylvester Stallone was supposed to do it,” Title recalls. “Then Cuba Gooding Jr., then Val Kilmer, then Freddie Prinze Jr. and then Gabriel Byrne. A lot of people were interested in doing this picture.”

Title does not hold a grudge against the horror author. “He waited a long time for this to happen,” she says. “It wasn’t his fault. I thanked him for the rights when I had them. All I can say is that I tried.”

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

King at a spaghetti dinner

Posted: September 8, 2005, 00:00
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A new column is now out. This one is called Lost's Soul and is in the September 9 issue of Entertainment Weekly. You can read it online here.

Thanks to Paul Poroshin.

Author Stephen King will be in Augusta Monday at a spaghetti dinner to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to an announcement made today.

The community dinner, organized by Gov. John Baldacci and the American Red Cross Chapters of Maine, will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Augusta Armory, 179 Western Ave. The suggested donation is $5.

"It's a way for the larger community of citizens to do what they can do and come together in a public event, and give an opportunity for the American Red Cross to go through and make a presentation about their resources and their needs," Baldacci said.

King will speak during the event. Baldacci said Maine entertainers are welcome to attend the event as well.

To RSVP for the dinner, or to donate money, auction items or services, call 1-800-452-8735 or 624-4400

Thanks to Bev Vincent and Ms. X.

Check out a trailer for Mangler Reborn here.

Thanks to Anders Jakobson.

Update on The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

Posted: September 7, 2005, 20:10
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Here is an update on The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.

His two current concerns, however, are a showing of his paintings coming up in November and a Broadway production he's been working on for years with horror writer Stephen King.

"We're trying to get to the stage in the next year. That's really what my focus had been," he says. "We had our first read-through about three months ago in New York. We're going to have another read-through before the first of the year. And then hopefully make some final changes, put it out and see if we can get it made."

As the pairing might suggest, fans shouldn't expect the typical Broadway production.

"The musical takes place in the present day but also in 1948, '49 and 1950. It takes place in Mississippi," he says. "I'm able to write a lot of blues songs, a lot of zydeco-type material. The songs aren't traditional Broadway songs. Steve and I hope we're making something for Broadway that they've never seen before. It's a dramatic show with music."

Both have long had an affinity for the era of music from the '30s to the '60s.

"The best music ever made, as far as rock and blues and folk, came from that era. Songs that Robert Johnson had written, songs that Bob Dylan was just starting to write," Mellencamp says. "There was so much a wealth of material in that society and culture and time period.

"As time went on and people got involved with record companies and radio stations and yakkity yak - the further we got away from the originals, the worse it got."

Thanks to Rocky Wood.

A teaser for The Colorado Kid

Posted: September 6, 2005, 00:00
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It's just a bit under 1 month left until The Colorado Kid is released and the promotion for the book is now starting to take form. There will be a contest over at Simon & Schuster audio where you can win copies of the audio. On September 27th they will also start releasing audio excerpts from the book. Day One (September 27) there will be a clip of the first 5 minutes, Day Two (September 27) the next 5 minutes of the program, and so on for five days. You will be able to find it all here when it's time.

But, if you don't want to wait till September 27 there is actually a clip online already, yes, that is correct. A teaser for The Colorado Kid can now be found here.

The program for the 2nd Dollar Baby festival is now online at the official site. Please check it out; it's an impressive list of Babies.

And don't forget that the auction to put your name on one of the characters in Cell start tomorrow. Read more here.

The Dead Zone back for season 5

Posted: September 5, 2005, 00:12
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We had all guessed it but now it's official, The Dead Zone will return to USA Network with all new episodes in 2006!

Dead Zone Christmas Special and Suffer the Little Children

Posted: August 28, 2005, 00:00
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There will be a Chrismas special of The Dead Zone to air on one night during the Christmas season. The title is A Very Dead Zone Christmas and we'll get to see it in December. It features the return of the guest star Jennifer Finnigan, as Alex the female psychic, whom Johnny met in the Season Four episode Double Vision.

A title from season 5 has also been revealed. It's Articles of Faith but that all info I have at this time. Oh, and don't miss season 4's finale tonight.

Bernardo Villela has directed a Dollar Baby based on King's story Suffer the Little Children. It's still in post-production and initial test screenings are anticipated by October 2005.

Thanks to Peter Hansen and Stephen King Short Movies.

2nd draft of Lisey’s Story done

Posted: August 23, 2005, 23:30
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When asked about the status Lisey’s Story and Cell the reply from the moderator of King's official site was this:

He has finished the second draft of Lisey’s Story and just recently finished Cell.

That means that Cell is finished in first draft, unedited and Lisey’s Story has been revised.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

King has finished Cell

Posted: August 23, 2005, 23:03
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When asked about the status of Lisey’s Story and Cell the reply from the moderator of King's official site was this:

He has finished the second draft of Lisey’s Story and just recently finished Cell.

That means that Cell is finished in first draft, unedited and Lisey’s Story has been revised.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

Paperback to re-released

Posted: August 23, 2005, 00:00
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There will be a lot of paperbacks re-released in the near future. Hodder & Stoughton is releasing the following titles in May next year: Firestarter, Cujo, Eyes of the Dragon, Different Season, Skeleton Crew and Danse Macabre.

And Pocket Books will release the following titles in September of this year: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Green Mile, Carrie, Everything's Eventual, Pet Sematary and From A Buick 8

Now you can get a complete wrap-up of Coming Home, episode ten of season 4 of The Dead Zone on their official site. And here is a description of the season finale, Saved:

This week, when a staged rescue at sea goes horribly wrong, Stillson must seek Johnny's help to find out what really happened and save a girl who may be the key to ending Johnny's visions of Armageddon.

Lisey's Story in the UK

Posted: August 22, 2005, 23:29
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I just got an email from King's UK publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, in which they confirmed that they have bought King's book Lisey's Story. They also confirm that they will release it in October 2006. Here is a short quote about the book from the mail:

Stephen King has written a magnificent novel very much in the mainstream of his work, about love, marriage, blood ties, and madness which calls to mind Gloria Naylor’s description of Bag of Bones: ‘a love story about the dark places within us all’.

No word yet on when the US edition will be out but my guess is that it will also be out in October 2006.

Faithful paperback and 2nd Annual Dollar Baby Film Festival

Posted: August 19, 2005, 00:00
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The trade paperback of Faithful is now out and the "extras" offered are:
- The essay SK wrote for the New York Times at the beginning of this year's baseball season
- A 2 page essay by O'Nan
- An index
- captions for the photographs that start the chapters and quotes from players on the page after the photos.

Order you copy here.

Thanks to Ricky Williams.

SHOCKERFEST has nominated Stephen King's Gotham Café for the award for BEST HORROR SHORT and Cullen Douglas (Guy) is also nominated for BEST ACTOR! The festival takes place September 23-25. Keep checking with www.shockerfest.com for more information.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

The 2nd Annual Dollar Baby Film Festival will feature: A Friday (September 30) night Premiere of Stephen King's Gotham Cafe, produced by Julie Sands and adapted in part by Bev Vincent. A screening of Riding the Bullet, directed by Mick Garris will follow. Directors and producers will be on hand for a Q&A. This event will take place at Cinema 10 in Bangor at 8PM. Tickets are $8.

Then, on Saturday Oct. 1, the fest moves to the Corbett Business Building at the University of Maine in Orono. Screenings are divided into three blocks of films and two panels, beginning at noon.

Tickets are $5 per event. Scheduled films include:
The Woman in the Room, directed by Frank Darabont
The Lawnmower Man, directed by Jim Gonis
The Last Rung on the Ladder, directed by James Cole
Strawberry Spring, directed by Doveed Linder
Luckey Quarter, directed by Robert Cochrane
Roland Meets Brown, directed by Robert Cochrane
The Man in the Black Suit, directed by Nick Mariani
Paranoid, directed by Jay Holben
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away, directed by James Renner
The Road Virus Heads North, directed by David Brock
Autopsy Room 4, directed by Steve Zakman
I Know What You Need, directed by Shawn Lealos
All That You Love, directed by Scott Albanese
The Boogeyman, directed by Jeff Schiro
The Secret Transit Codes of America's Highways, directed by Brian Berkowitz
Night Surf, directed by Peter Sullivan
Srajenie (the battle) directed by M. Titov
The Woman in the Room (french) directed by Damien Maric
Selected shorts from the animated Dark Tower, directed by Josh Greenwald
Minimum Overdrive, directed by Liam Engle
And a special appearance by The Shining Bunnies

Panels on Saturday will include "How to Deliver Your Own Dollar Baby", featuring many directors who have already been through the process. And "A Conversation and Booksigning with Rocky Wood", author of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished.

Reserve your tickets now by emailing tickets@dollarbabyfilmfestival.com

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away review

Posted: August 17, 2005, 00:00
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Here is my review of the Dollar Baby All That You Love Will Be Carried Away.

The movie has also gotten into the 11th Annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival! The festival will run from September 14th-22nd. It's getting three screenings for sure and possibly a fourth. More info to come...

No ARCs of The Colorado Kid

Posted: August 16, 2005, 00:00
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Hard Case Crime tells me they are not printing any ARCs or bound galleys of The Colorado Kid but loose print-out galleys have been sent to a handful of reviewers and reviews should start to appear in September.

It has also been confirmed that Jeffrey DeMunn will read the audio edition of The Colorado Kid. It will be on 4 CD's or 3 Cassettes.

King will appear on the 2005 New Yorker Festival

Posted: August 15, 2005, 00:00
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Now the dates and times for when King will appear on the 2005 New Yorker Festival been released. Here is when you can catch him:

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23rd
- Michael Chabon and Stephen King
- 7 P.M. Directors Guild of America ($15)

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2005
PANELS
- When Reality Fails Fantasy and invention in fiction.
Deborah Treisman, moderator. With Martin Amis, Judy Budnitz, A. M. Homes, Stephen King, and George Saunders.
10 A.M. Celeste Bartos Forum
The New York Public Library ($25)

2 P.M.
Michael Chabon - "The Final Solution: A Story of Detection"
Stephen King - "The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower"

Thanks to Audrey*

Now you can get a complete wrap-up of Babble On, episode nine of season 4 of The Dead Zone on their official site. And here is a description of this week's episode, Coming Home:

This week, residents at a Cleaves Mills retirement community are dying at an unusual rate, and the old folks there speak in whispered tones about a Shadow Man that creeps the halls in the dead of night. It's a macabre tale that ultimately threatens to swallow Sarah's beloved father (guest star Ed Asner), Bruce, and possibly Johnny himself. Meanwhile, JJ manages to put aside his fears and preconceptions about the elderly and connect with his cantankerous old great grandfather by helping to unlock the little boy inside the old man.

No Lisey's in first half of 2006

Posted: August 12, 2005, 23:28
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The new spring 2006 catalogs from Simon & Schuster are now out and there is no mention of Lisey's Story which means it probably won't be out during the first half of 2006.

Miscellaneous news

Posted: August 12, 2005, 00:00
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Here is the cover of the paperback edition of The Dark Tower V that will be released in February 2006.

The paperback edition of Faithful (released in September 2005) will have bonus material throughout the book including new epilogues from both King and O'Nan.

This Sunday episode 9 of The Dead Zone will air but I have already gotten some info about the seasons last two episodes Coming Home and Saved.

Coming Home In the episode, we meet Sarah's father, who has moved to her Maine home town from Florida, into the Cleave Mills retirement community. But there's something amiss at the retirement home, where people are dying too frequently. Sarah's father and everyone else there is in danger, and Johnny steps in -- but only with the help of his son, JJ. Ed Asner will guest star as Sarah's father.

Saved In Saved, Greg Stillson finds himself at the center of a terrible dilemma -- and the one person he can turn to to find out what really happened is his enemy, Johnny Smith. And the more Johnny learns about the situation, the more he learns that it could be a key to Armageddon.

The crew of The Dead Zone is now finishing up shooting season 5 that will air in 2006.

Stephen King's Gotham Cafe is screening at HORRORFIND in Baltimore, Maryland on August 19th at the INDIE Shorts Screening in the Garden Room 10:45-11:45. This will be the ONLY screening in the Maryland, Pennsylvania, D.C. Metro area. More info here.

Stephen King's Gotham Cafe is also screening at the 19th Annual Dragon*Con Film Festival in Atlanta September 2-5. More info here.

In the New York/New Jersey area you can see the movie at Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors September 24-25. More info here.

New column: Kick-Back Books

Posted: August 11, 2005, 00:00
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A new edition of Needful King's Online is finally online.

This one is called If It Wasn't For Red Sox, We Wouldn't Have No King At All... at Least in 2004, plus a Few Other Things and is really long so enjoy.

King's new column (from the August 12th issue) is now out. It's called Kick-Back Books and you can read it here.

Be a character in Cell

Posted: August 9, 2005, 22:26
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King is participating in a major charity auction in which he is auctioning off the name and description of a character in a future book. What he is offering is:

"One (and only one) character name in a novel called CELL, which is now in work and which will appear in either 2006 or 2007. Buyer should be aware that CELL is a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it's very nasty and extremely satisfying. Character can be male or female, but a buyer who wants to die must in this case be female. In any case, I'll require physical description of auction winner, including any nickname (can be made up, I don't give a rip)."

When you can bid: September 8-18
Where can you bid: http://www.ebay.com/fap

As you can see there is also a pretty neat description of the plot of Cell.

Thanks to Brian Freeman.

Stephen King: Uncollected and Unpublished final cover

Posted: August 8, 2005, 00:00
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Here is the final cover for Stephen King: Uncollected and Unpublished. More info about it can be found over at Cemetery Dance.

Now you can get a complete wrap-up of Vanguard, episode eight of season 4 of The Dead Zone on their official site. And here is a description of this week's episode, Babble On:

This week, Johnny visits a noted local psychiatrist to seek treatment for his persistent nightmares. After his first session on the couch triggers a cryptic vision of an impending homicide, he is thrust into an investigation that will not only reveal the murderer's identity, but will ultimately uncover a family secret buried in the deepest, darkest regions of his subconscious.

Word from Frank

Posted: August 3, 2005, 14:02
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Robert McCammon's website (www.robertmccammon.com) reports today that they have heard from Frank Darabont on two of his upcoming projects, adaptations of McCammon's MINE and King's The Mist:

"I came close to getting MINE into production this year, but it was a near-miss. For those who may not know, getting a movie greenlit for production is like having the planets align---countless factors all have to come together at the right moment for anything to happen. I remain committed to making MINE, and am currently in a search for the actresses to play the lead roles of Laura and Mary. I'm hoping to get the movie before the cameras at some point in 2006, although it might be later that year rather than earlier. That's because circumstance and opportunity (the planets aligning) might dictate that I direct my adaptation of Stephen King's great horror novella, The Mist, first. If so, I will likely start shooting The Mist this coming December, '05."
--Frank Darabont, 08/03/05

Thanks to Jonathan Reitan.

Poster art for The Mangler Reborn and stage news

Posted: August 3, 2005, 00:00
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Here is the poster art for The Mangler Reborn. The release date is November 15th.

The last chance to see SCARRIE- The Musical is now on Sunday, August 7. Read more about it here.

More stage news (even though here King is a character in the story rather then the stories creator).

Women Center Stage 2005
THE SPEED QUEEN

Adapted and performed by Anne Stockton

Marjorie Standiford is on Death Row in Oklahoma. Answering questions posed to her by America's most popular horror novelist about the wild life of sex, drugs, and crime that has led to what may be her imminent execution, this is the story of a woman's attempt to set the record straight. Adapted and performed by Anne Stockton. Directed by Austin Pendleton. Based upon the novel by Stewart O'Nan.

Limited Engagement
August 11th, 12th, 18th, 19th, 25th & 26th at 8pm. $15

Approximate running time: 85 minutes

For tickets visit Theatermania.com or call 212-352-3101

The Shining audio review

Posted: August 2, 2005, 00:00
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Now you can see what I think about the audio edition of The Shining. My review is now online.

Now you can get a complete wrap-up of Grains of Sand, episode seven of season 4 of The Dead Zone on their official site. And here is a description of this week's episode, Vanguard:

This week, when Johnny touches a former science student and sees Armageddon, he sets out to find how this student - now a gifted researcher for a biomedical company - could be working on something that's connected to a weapon. The truth puts Johnny and his prized protégé in the crossfire between Greg Stillson and destiny.

Special feature

King calendar

Out now!:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (Greek edition)
2024:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (Italian edition)
2025:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (Spanish ed.)
2025:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (German ed.)
February 21, 2025:
The Monkey (movie)
2025:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (German edition)
2025:
Life of Chuck
May 27, 2025:
Never Flinch
2025:
Welcome To Derry (TV series)
2025:
The Long Walk (movie)
2025:
The Institute (TV series)
November 21, 2025:
The Running Man

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