On the eve of the release of her season of True Detective, longtime Kingcast favorite Issa Lopez (Tigers Are Not Afraid) returns to chat with Wampler and Vespe about the Stephen King influences on her season of True Detective, why she had to be very upfront with nods to Carpenter's The Thing in her season, what miracle workers Jodie Foster and Kali Reis were, embracing sexuality in popular fiction, and even a little bit about her recent read of King's Holly and how it mirrors what she was going after in this upcoming True Detective season.

213: Issa Lopez's Triumphant Return

A Stephen King Podcast For Stephen King Obsessives

TV & Film

Comic book legend and longtime Stephen King super fan Scott Snyder (The Court of Owls Batman arc, American Vampire, Swamp Thing) joins Wampler and Vespe for a lengthy chat about why King is such a gripping writer, with a particular focus on the author's tale of vampire horror, One For The Road. Snyder collaborated with King on the comic book American Vampire and also has tales that encourage us all to actually meet our heroes.

232: One For The Road with Scott Snyder

We're just as surprised as you are, but our guest this week is Renny Harlin, the insane director behind A Nightmare On Elm Street 4, Cliffhanger, Deep Blue Sea, and the upcoming The Strangers Trilogy, Chapter 1 of which debuts in theaters this coming weekend. Renny joins us to talk about how Stephen King impacted him as a creative and how Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is an all-time favorite. Be forewarned: this is a wildly entertaining conversation that bounces between topics every few minutes, so be prepared for some chaos! And a good time. That, too.

231: The Shining with Renny Harlin

Writer/Director Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn, The Domestics, V/H/S/85) joins Wampler and Vespe to chat a bit about the oddball killer rat/bat movie Graveyard Shift as well as the original Stephen King short story that it is based on. This episode is chock full of talk about outrageous Maine accents, a wasted Brad Dourif, late '80s/early '90s nostalgia, and a whole lot of seemingly random Monster Squad love that is actually on topic thanks to the scene-chewing performance by one Stephen Macht.

230: Graveyard Shift with Mike P. Nelson

Writer/Director John Rosman (New Life) joins Vespe and Wampler to discuss his new film, how it is heavily influenced by Stephen King, and also break down what really works in both the novella and the feature film adaptation of The Running Man. How successful would The Running Man be in today's America? And which version would be more popular, the one portrayed in the book which spans the entirety of the country, or the one shown in the movie, which is more like American Gladiators made with even more cocaine. We may never know, but we have a few good guesses...

229: The Running Man with John Rosman

When you have a story featuring timeaters that may or may not resemble flying meatballs with metal teeth you have to bring in the best of the best to break it down. Lucky for us Elan Gale (The Bachelor, FBOY Island, and the upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck) answered the call to come chat The Langoliers with the Kingcast Boys. 

What was Elan's take on the mini-series? Why is Bronson Pinchot so damn cool? What would Wampler do if he found himself in the Langoliers's dimension and why is Elan pressing him on his empty world daydreams? All these questions and more will be answered in this episode!

213: Issa Lopez's Triumphant Return

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