The Constant Reader Podcast - The Canon of Stephen King

As the Dollar Baby experiment comes to its close, i would like to shine a spotlight on some of the more successful films made from the treasure trove of Stephen King's short stories. 'That Feeling' by Paul Inman expertly captures the dark, guilt-ridden themes of the 1998 short story 'That Feeling, You Can Only Say What it is in French'. It's being shown at October's King Con, and tickets for that can still be found here, but hurry, they're going fast.....

This Autumn why not head to the Linq Hotel between the 24th-27th of October for the first-of-its-kind Stephen King Convention (AKA KingCON2024)? There is a great lineup of guests, including Mick Garris, Robert Kurtzman and two of my recent favorite authors, Jonathan Janz and Ronald Malfi. There are also a host of illustrators, artists, writers, collectors, vendors and (more importantly) many like-minded King fans all in one place.

I was lucky enough to talk to two of the hard-working members of the convention planning committee, Kris Webster and Andy Graham. Kris joins us a litte ways in the conversation. We talk about the Con, their backgrounds as Constant Readers and the fine art of book collecting.

Find everything you need to know about the Con here.

Back once again with undisputed Queen of Stephen King podcasting, Kim C. In this episode, Kim C. plays Sherpa Tenzing to my increasingly word-baggery Edmund Hilary as we scale the second Dark Tower novel, The Drawing of the Three. As you will hear, this installment of the DT series left us bewitched, bothered, bemused and with breathe completely taken.

How autobiographical is it? Which is scarier, the world of lobstrosities or 1980s New York? How do you write a quest novel in which the protagonists only walk a few miles? We discuss all of this, and a lot more besides.

Find Kim's podcast here, and her wonderful Patreon here.

Our fever for The Stand has gone full blown this month, as we finish our epic conversation with Andy Stanton. We discuss the mutations of The Stand, from the graphic novels to the miniseries and touching on the forthcoming The End of the World as We Know It, a collection of short stories set in the world of Captain Trips with contributions from past guests including Paul Tremblay and Richard Chizmar. Plus, in-depth discussion of Nick Andros and Mother Abigial.

Andy's work can be found here, and the Tumbler's Willy Podcast can be found here.

Also, previous guest N P Cunniffe's book The Weejee man can be found here. and is well worth a look...

Lindsey Anderson Beer's 2023 prequel to the 2019 reboot of Pet Sematary got something of a kicking by most critics on its release. There are the bones of a good film in their somewhere though, and the look and the soundtrack of the film, plus an eclectic cast, make it an interesting curio if nothing else.

Joining me to discuss it is N.P. Cunniffe, the author of the new folk horror/Gothic novella The Weejee Man. It's a great, classically spooky story with an interesting format and some chilling twists. Plus, the book itself is a beautiful artifact, with a cover design by the author himself. I urge you to pick up a copy here, before the Wee Gee Man comes looking for you....

We're back (again) after a long hiatus, but what a return. One of the most listened to episodes of this podcast were the two-part epic discussions between me and Andy Stanton a few years ago. We both kicked around the idea of a rematch, and what other book could we cover but the 1990 edition of Stephen King's The Stand? Whilst other podcasts displayed depressingly lateral thinking of covering the book during the COVID 19 outbreak, Andy and i took the high ground.

As you will hear, Andy has lived with The Stand in his head and his heart for most of his life, and he brings his blend of wit, insight and passion to this talk.

Unsurprisingly, it was too much to fit in one episode, so this is just the first part of our conversation, stay tuned for part two in a few months' time.

We also discuss Andy's new book, Benny the Blue Whale. A meditation on AI and the creative process, it is well worth a look. Naturally, it also contains a few references to Stephen King.

Next month we talk to NP Cunniffe about Pet Sematary: Bloodlines and his new book, the Irish folk horror tale, The Weejee Man.

We unearth a real curio in the King canon today, as the teleplay for Sorry, Right Number gets a good grilling. Originally filmed as part of the Tales From The Darkside television series, the teleplay was then reproduced in the 1993 short story collection, Nightmares and Dreamscapes. My guest and I discuss how much of this is autobiography, how much a cry for help, and how much just an effective, gut-punch of a tale.

I am joined on the other end of the line by Adam Z Robinson, a multi-talented actor, writer and theatre manager whose work focuses on the supernatural, human relationships and what makes us truly afraid.

His website is here, and you can book tickets to his winter tour here and sign up for his ghost story masterclass, where i will also be in attendance, here.

It should be unsurprising that Stephen King, as the world's most popular writer, should have such a pervasive presence online. More than any other author, the number of his fan-sites is in the thousands.

However, only one fan-site has achieved the kind of dominance that Lilja's Library has. Indeed, it is a resource in producing this podcast every month. I sat down to talk to the man known as Lilja (because i can't pronounce Hans-Åke) about his life, his website, the past present and future of all things Stephen King and plenty more besides.

Lilja was a most gracious guest, and i highly recommend you check out his website here, and check out his books here

And don't forger (like there's a chance you would) that King's new book Holly is now for sale here

Daphné Baiwir is the writer and director of a new documentary, Stephen King on Screen. When I read the description of the documentary, I knew I had to talk to her. She has assembled not only a list of filmmakers and fans (including previous guest Tom Holland) that promise real insight, but it opens with an easter-egg filled introduction that will have King fans freezeframing for years to come.

Stephen King on Screen will get a limited theatrical release on August 11 followed by On Demand and Blu-ray on September 8, and is well worth checking out.

I had the pleasure of being a guest on Kim C's podcast, The Year of Underrated Stephen King, a few months ago. It was such a fun, lively conversation, and Kim C was such a knowledgeable, charming host that I took the liberty of inviting her to come on the Constant Reader Podcast to discuss the monolithic 11.22.63. It was a pleasure to dive back into this book, which is a real outlier for King - part sci-fi, part romance, part historical novel, with a big heart. I liked this book even more on a re-read, and the longueurs that occur in the middle of the book (including THAT Derry revisit) made a lot more sense.

Kim C's podcast can be found here https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tyousk and is well worth checking out.

I am hosting a book launch for local East Anglian author Sally Harris's new novel, Seahurst. I loved her first novel, Haverscroft, a classic ghost story for modern audiences, and this one seems just as good. If you're in the UK, get a ticket and come along here