I recently saw a preview of Chapelwaite, a new TV series that will be based on King's story, Jerusalem's Lot. The story is included in this anthology of King's early stories dating from the 1970s. For some reason, I had never read these even though I know I had a hardcover copy of Night Shift many years ago that somehow got away from me without me ever reading it. Anyway, I found a paperback copy on PaperbackSwap.com and decided to read it because of the Jerusalem's Lot story. Well, I was glad I did. This was an excellent collection of King's stories most of which were originally published in men's magazines such as Cavalier and Penthouse.
Although the stories are definitely now dated, I enjoyed every one of them. They included stories from many of King's tropes including witchcraft and vampire stories, apocalyptic end of world stories, haunted machinery stories, and psychological horror.
Jerusalem's Lot takes place in 1850 and tells the story of man who inherits a house near the then deserted town of 'Salem's Lot. People from the surrounding area dare not venture into its deserted houses and businesses and especially the church where satanists once held their macabre services. What is the evil that dwells there? I could definitely see the influence of H.P. Lovecraft in this story and I'll be looking forward to seeing how this is dramatized in the TV series which premieres in August.
Many of the other stories in this collection have already been made into movies and I must say that they are probably some of King's worst movie adaptations. These include Graveyard Shift, The Mangler, Trucks (made into the movie Maximum Overdrive), Sometimes They Come Back, The Lawnmower Man, and Children of the Corn. I have seen most of these movies and like I said, they were not the greatest. The stories they were based on were a lot better. One of these, The Lawnmower Man, was completely different from the movie. I found out that only the title of King's story was used for this movie. From IMDB:
New Line Cinema had obtained the rights to the Stephen King short story "The Lawnmower Man", and the producers also had an unrelated script called "Cyber God". For economical reasons, they simply placed King's title on the production of "Cyber God", and early promotional material with that claim even went public. King was furious at this abuse of his name, and he sued the studio to have his name and title removed from the film and promotion. The studio refused, but was eventually ordered to pay ten thousand dollars and full profits to King.
Some of these stories were definite precursors or supplements to some of King's best novels. This includes Jerusalem's Lot and One for the Road which relate to 'Salems Lot; Night Surf a story about a flu that wipes out most of mankind and is referred to as Captain Trips, a definite precursor to The Stand; and The Mangler and Trucks, stories about possessed machinery that will later be used in King's Christine.
I'm glad I finally got around to reading this great collection of some of King's best known stories. I know I sometime neglect reading anthologies and there are a few more by King that I need to get to.
Although the stories are definitely now dated, I enjoyed every one of them. They included stories from many of King's tropes including witchcraft and vampire stories, apocalyptic end of world stories, haunted machinery stories, and psychological horror.
Jerusalem's Lot takes place in 1850 and tells the story of man who inherits a house near the then deserted town of 'Salem's Lot. People from the surrounding area dare not venture into its deserted houses and businesses and especially the church where satanists once held their macabre services. What is the evil that dwells there? I could definitely see the influence of H.P. Lovecraft in this story and I'll be looking forward to seeing how this is dramatized in the TV series which premieres in August.
Many of the other stories in this collection have already been made into movies and I must say that they are probably some of King's worst movie adaptations. These include Graveyard Shift, The Mangler, Trucks (made into the movie Maximum Overdrive), Sometimes They Come Back, The Lawnmower Man, and Children of the Corn. I have seen most of these movies and like I said, they were not the greatest. The stories they were based on were a lot better. One of these, The Lawnmower Man, was completely different from the movie. I found out that only the title of King's story was used for this movie. From IMDB:
New Line Cinema had obtained the rights to the Stephen King short story "The Lawnmower Man", and the producers also had an unrelated script called "Cyber God". For economical reasons, they simply placed King's title on the production of "Cyber God", and early promotional material with that claim even went public. King was furious at this abuse of his name, and he sued the studio to have his name and title removed from the film and promotion. The studio refused, but was eventually ordered to pay ten thousand dollars and full profits to King.
Some of these stories were definite precursors or supplements to some of King's best novels. This includes Jerusalem's Lot and One for the Road which relate to 'Salems Lot; Night Surf a story about a flu that wipes out most of mankind and is referred to as Captain Trips, a definite precursor to The Stand; and The Mangler and Trucks, stories about possessed machinery that will later be used in King's Christine.
I'm glad I finally got around to reading this great collection of some of King's best known stories. I know I sometime neglect reading anthologies and there are a few more by King that I need to get to.
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