Stephen King Cast

Stick around for Dark Tower goodness!

Please note this is the second part of a two part review. 

Somewhere over the rainbow. . .is Stephen King's fourth entry of his Dark Tower series, The Wizard and Glass.  Signaling the pinnacle of a creative height of Stephen King's career, Wizard and Glass serves as a highlight to the Dark Tower saga. Detailing the most formative point of Roland Deschain's life, we learn how the boy became the man we know him to be.  Is this novel as great as many DT fans think it is?  Find out this week in this two part review of Wizard and Glass!

Tak! In September of 1996, Stephen King published two novels on the same day.  One was published under the pen name Richard Bachman I'm a wolf and the other, under his own publishing name, is the terrifying novel about faith v. despair in a small desert town: Desperation.  How does it fare?  Find out here at the Stephen Kingcast! Mi him en tow!

This week, I examine Stephen King's most underrated novel, The Regulators.  Published on the same day as Desperation, this entry, under the pen name Richard Bachman, is one of King's most out-there and high concept novels.  Perfectly skewering suburban life as well as offering up commentary on living with a difficult child, The Regulators is an action sci-fi with satirical horror elements that combine to make this novel  an incredibly imaginative journey.   

This week I take another stroll down The Green Mile, examining Frank Darabont's cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's classic.  How does this compare with Darabont's other Stephen King prison movie, The Shawshank Redemption?  Find out this week in the Stephen Kingcast!

In 1996, King embarked upon a six month journey that provided a new installment of an ongoing serial for half a year.  The result? The much beloved The Green Mile.  

Do you remember Rose Madder?  The answer is, "probably not."  And you might be better off for it.  Why?  Find out this week in The Stephen Kingcast!

With Insomnia, King introduces us to the big bad of his multiverse, The Crimson King.  He's a character whose legend will cast many of Stephen King's future works in a scarlet shadow.  This bonus episode analyzes the character as he's presented here in contrast to when we see him in the Dark Tower series.  Also in this episode, I place the Insomnia itself into context of the greater Dark Tower series as well as Patrick Danville.  So if you've completed your journey to the Tower, feel free to enter the Court of the Crimson King!  

This is a big one, guys!  Insomnia was the first novel that Stephen King had published after I had become a Stephen King fan.  Nightmares and Dreamscapes might have been the first short story collection, but this is the first, full-blown novel that I had to look forward to, and I honestly think that Stephen King wrote it specifically for me.  Why? 1) It takes place in Derry, the city of his 1986 masterpiece, IT. 2) It's a wild, comic-booky concept involving colorful auras, super powers, and higher levels of existence.3) It introduces 2 classic Stephen King villains, the rusty blade wielding Atropos and his master, the grand daddy of all Stephen King baddies, the Crimson King, which brings me to . . .4) He fleshes out the mythology of the Dark Tower series in ways that he hadn't done so in the actual Dark Tower books.  Some people hate this novel, and this episode is designed to convince them that they should give Insomnia another chance! 

One year ago, I published my review of Carrie!  Now one year later, with 80 something reviews under my belt, The Stephen Kingcast is still going strong!  I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made this podcast an international hit!  In this episode, I look back on year one, look ahead to year 2 and discuss some Stephen King movie news. 

In this week's review, I look at a little known Stephen King adaptation of a short story from his Nightmares and Dreamscapes publication, the Miguel Ferrer-starring vehicle: The Night Flier.  Starring Lloyd Henries himself, the classic character actor, Miguel Ferrer, we follow the escapades of sleazy tabloid reporter Richard Dees as he tries to track down the killer of a series of airport murders.  Will he find the Night Flier?  Will you stick around until the end of the movie to find out?  Did I?  Listen to this week's review for all of my thoughts on this little gem!

For me, Nightmares and Dreamscapes was Stephen King's first new book that he published after I had become a Stephen King fan.  I distinctly remember seeing the image of the striking front cover in the grocery store, picking it off the shelves and taking it home.  How does it hold up against his previous short story collections, Night Shift and Skeleton Crew?  Find out this week on the Stephen Kingcast!

In this episode, I take a look at the Kathy Bates-starring adaptation of King's seminal novel.  She has already embodied one of King's other classic characters, Annie Wilkes from Misery, and her casting as Dolores herself makes perfect sense.  But does it make a perfect movie?  Find out this week in the Stephen Kingcast!

In this week's review, I examine Stephen King's spiritual sequel to Gerald's Game, the first-person account of one woman's life told to us by that woman herself, Dolores Claiborne.  Once again, King examines the lasting effects of abuse, in this case, the lengths that one woman will go to to ensure her daughter's safety from familial abuse.  How does this novel compare to his other works?  Find out this week in the Stephen Kingcast!