Fun Facts: Stephen King

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and suspense. He has received many notable awards throughout the years such as the Hugo Award. Although critical reaction to King’s work has been mostly positive, he has occasionally come under fire from academic writers. As one of my favorite authors I decided to dig up some interesting facts about Stephen King and was surprised at what I could find.

Maybe this is a surprise and maybe it isn’t King had pretty serious drug and alcohol addictions in the 80s. He says that he doesn’t remember writing Cujo at all, really, and wishes he could. It came to a head when his family members confronted him with drug paraphernalia they had collected from his trash can, including Xanax, cocaine, beer cans and Valium. It was the eye-opener he needed: he got help and has been sober ever since.

King suffers from triskaidekaphobia. When he’s writing, he will never stop work if the page number is 13 or a multiple of 13. Given that so much of his work plays on mankind’s deepest and darkest fears and superstitions, it’s quite apt that the bestselling horror author is himself superstitious when it comes to this dreaded number.

Stephen King threw away early drafts of the manuscript of his first novel, Carrie. His wife retrieved it, encouraged him, and it was later published. King’s fiction has repeatedly centred on the loner, the figure who is bullied at school, who fails to ‘fit in’. His first novel, Carrie (1974) – about a girl who has telekinetic powers which she uses to exact revenge on her school bullies – perfectly exemplifies this. But King had doubts about the first few pages of the novel’s draft, and abandoned it; it was only down to his wife’s faith in the idea that he persevered with it.

About 54 novels were tagged to Stephen, including seven under his pen name Richard Bachman and six other non-fictional books. Nearly 200 short stories by him have been collected into various books. On the whole Stephen’s books have accounted for selling more than 350 million copies. These were later adapted to feature films, miniseries, television shows, and comic books.

Of all the ‘monsters’ King has written about, which one does he find the scariest? It’s a tie. Pennywise the Clown (It), because clowns have scared him since childhood, and Randall Flagg (The Stand), because there’s a little of him in all of us.

Which books have proved most inspirational/influential to him as a writer? There are so many! Lord of the Flies, The Collector, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Blood Meridian, everything by John D. MacDonald, Watchers, The Poet, everything by H.P. Lovecraft, The Great God Pan…and that doesn’t even scratch the surface!

Carrie: 1976 v. 2013

I watched the original, staring Sissy Spacek, and then the remake, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, with a few things being added or cleaned up. While both movies mainly carry out the same plot, there are a few 21st century conflicts in the newer version. With new technology in play movie makers have to add new elements when doing a remake so that todays kids can connect more to what is happening. In 1976 it was simpler, there was no texting or embarrassing videos involved in the plot of the movie. I’m going to give a couple examples of similarities and differences the two movies had and let you decide which is the better of the two, the original or the remake.

Carrie (1976) All of the girls chant “plug it up” and throw sanitary napkins at Carrie in the shower. Sue Snell realizes it was wrong and tries to make up for it. Chris Hargensen decides to seek revenge and turns out to be a bigger psycho than Carrie. 

Carrie (2013) All of the girls chant “plug it up” and throw sanitary napkins at Carrie in the shower, and Chris takes a video of it. Sue feels terrible about the whole thing. Chris is upset at everyone for not taking her side. Her side is that Carrie deserves it.

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Carrie (1976) Using telekinesis, Carrie breaks a light bulb, tips a kid on his bike, shakes an ashtray, shatters a mirror, opens a door, closes lots of doors, sprays people with a fire hose, makes a car swerve, throws knives and finally makes a house implode.

Carrie (2013) Using telekinesis, Carrie makes sanitary napkins shake, breaks a light bulb, breaks a water cooler, tips a kid on his bike, cracks a door, shatters a mirror and controls the broken pieces, raises books and her bed, tosses a knife, moves the living room furniture, moves her mom, turns radio on, electrocutes people, burns others, throws knives, and makes a house implode.

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Carrie (1976) At home, Carrie is comforted by her mother, who reveals her guilt about giving birth to Carrie, a product of marital rape. As they pray together, Margaret stabs her daughter in the back and pursues her through the house. Defending herself, Carrie causes kitchen utensils to fly through the air and crucify Margaret. Distraught over her mother’s death, Carrie loses control of her powers as the house crumbles and burns down around her. Sometime after Carrie’s death, Sue, the sole survivor of the prom massacre, dreams of laying flowers on the charred remains of Carrie’s home. As a bloody arm reaches from the rubble and grabs her, Sue wakes up screaming.

Carrie (2013) Carrie arrives home and she and Margaret embrace. Margaret tells Carrie about the night of Carrie’s conception. After having shared a bed platonically with her husband, they yielded to temptation one night and, after praying for strength, Carrie’s father “took” Margaret, who enjoyed the experience. Margaret attacks Carrie, who attempts to flee and ends up killing her with several sharp tools. She becomes hysterical and makes stones rain from the sky to crush the house. When Sue arrives, a furious Carrie grabs her with her powers, but senses something inside Sue, and tells her that her baby is a girl. Carrie pushes a stunned Sue out of the house to safety as the house collapses and apparently kills Carrie. As a voice-over gives her testimony in court regarding the prom incident, Sue visits Carrie’s vandalized grave and places a single white rose by the headstone. As she leaves, the gravestone’s surface begins to break.

Children of the Corn: movie v. book

Children of the Corn is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse, and later collected in King’s 1978 collection Night Shift. Children of the Corn is also a 1984 American horror film based upon the 1977 short story, directed by Fritz Kiersch. While not everyone can agree upon which is better the movie holds much more violence and a more promising ending for the main characters. Both the movie and the book have some similarities, but many differences, let’s take a look:

The Book:

Burt and Vicky are driving to California for vacation when they accidentally run over a boy. Upon examination of the body, Burt discovers the boy’s throat had been slashed before being hit. The two arrive in Gatlin in search of a police station when Burt sees a church, the only place not run down. Inside the church, Burt hears Vicky sound the horn, Vicky surrounded by a group of kids is then dragged into the corn field. Burt tried to intervene but is stabbed and chased into an alley. Burt escapes and ducks into the cornfield where he sees Vicky crucified, he realizes something is after him and is killed by a giant one eyed monster. The children’s leader Isaac tells them ‘He Who Walks Behind the Rows’ is lowering the age limit to 18 because they could not kill Burt. As night falls all 18 year olds walk into the cornfield to sacrifice themselves.

The Movie:

Job, a small child, tells the story of how Gatlin became a haven for a group of young cultist. When the crops failed one year, Isaac brought all of the children into the cornfield and preached of ‘He Who Walks Behind the Rows’ and leads the children, along with Malachai, to kill all of the adults in town. Three years later… Burt and Vicky are driving to Washington when they hit a boy whose throat had been slashed before being hit. In search of a telephone, they become stranded in Gatlin where they meet a young girl named Sarah. While Burt goes to look for a phone, Vicky is ambushed and taken into the cornfield to be sacrificed. Burt is attacked in town and as Job and Sarah care for him he is told Vicky has been captured. Burt and the two children run into the cornfield where instead of Vicky, Malachai sacrifices Isaac. Vicky, Burt, and the children flee as Isaac kills Malachai. The wind becomes a terrible storm that gathers over the cornfield as Vicky and Burt gather the children inside a barn to protect them from both the storm and the supernatural forces at work. As the storm intensifies all around them, Job shows a Bible verse to Vicky and Burt that indicates that they must destroy the cornfield for the evil to cease. Burt burns down the field and the four flee, with the ending implying that the two will adopt Job and Sarah.

                             

A Nightmare on Elm Street: Facts

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, released on November 9th, 1984. The film stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film debut. The plot revolves around several teenagers who are stalked and killed in their dreams (and thus killed in reality) by Freddy Krueger. The teenagers are unaware of the cause of this strange phenomenon, but their parents hold a dark secret from long ago. Here are eight facts about this film you may be unfamiliar with..

• Freddy was inspired by a bully, a homeless man, and a pop song: Wes Craven has said he based Freddy on a bully named Fred Kreuger who menaced Craven in his youth. Freddy’s famous hat and sweater is said to be influenced by a homeless man whom Craven remembers staring at him through his bedroom window when he was 10. Finally, Gary Wright’s 1976 hit “Dream Weaver” inspired Craven to create a character who “weaved” through people’s dreams.
• The movie’s success saved New Line Cinema from bankruptcy, and that’s how the studio got the nickname “the house that Freddy built”.
• The very first time we are introduced to Freddy in the first scene, he’s not being played by Englund. Instead he’s being played by special-effects artist Charles Belardinelli, because he was the only one who knew exactly how to cut the glove and insert the blades.

• Over 500 gallons of fake blood was used during the making of the feature. Most of it was probably used in Depp’s epic death scene!
• The sparking glove effect was achieved by attaching the glove to a car battery. These days they’d just use digital effects. As for the famous scraping noise, it was created by scratching a steak knife on the underside of a metal chair.
• There’s an omen given when Depp’s character is about to die. It occurs as he is laying in bed listening to his radio. The broadcaster announces, “It’s midnight and you’re listening to station KRGR.” KRGR is “Krueger” without the vowels.
• Craven is the guy who came up with the idea of the glove. He wanted the character to have a unique killing tool, but also wanted something that could be made on the cheap, and wouldn’t be hard for the character to carry around.
• Wes Craven first came up with the basic idea for the movie from several newspaper articles. They were about a group of Cambodian refugees, the group had come to America to escape the reign of Pol Pot, and within a year of arriving, three men had died, with the situation the same in each cases; the young, otherwise healthy, man would have a nightmare, then refuse to sleep for as long as possible. Upon finally falling asleep from exhaustion, the man awoke screaming, then died. Autopsy results revealed that they had not died because of heart failure, they had simply died. It was this lack of cause which intrigued Craven so much.

Top 10 WORST

The best of the worst: As I had previously stated in my last post we all watch some pretty awful horror movies to get to the good ones. To continue with that post I have decided to make a top 10 list of the worst horror movies I have watched over the years in search of a thrill. These movies were less than satisfying and if you have not seen them I advise you to keep it that way.

Jennifer’s body: Released in 2009 this movie fallows a beautiful cheerleader (Megan Fox) who gains an insatiable appetite for human flesh after a hungry demon takes control of her body.

Dead Silence: After his wife meets a grisly end, a man (Ryan Kwanten) returns to their haunted hometown and uncovers a supernatural link to her death. This old ghost story about Mary Shaw, a ventriloquist who went mad.

House of Wax: Released in 2005 a group of friends become stranded in a town where murderous twins entomb their victims in wax.

Paranormal Activity: Released in 2007. Young couple Katie and Micah move to a new house, Katie claims an evil presence has been haunting her since she was a child, so Micah sets up a camera in their bedroom to record any paranormal activity that occurs while they sleep. Katie hires psychic Dr. Fredrichs, who reveals that Katie is being haunted by a demon that feeds off of negative energy and is intent on tormenting Katie.

Stay Alive: Released in 2006 this movie is about an online game that becomes real when its young players start to die along with their onscreen characters.

When A Stranger Calls: Also released in 2006 this film is about a sadistic stranger that subjects a teenage babysitter to an increasingly threatening round of phone calls.

Ouija: Released in 2014 this film is about teens who unwittingly awaken a dark power when using an antique ouija board to communicate with a recently deceased friend.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer: A killer with a hook returns to stalk a young woman and her friends at a tropical island resort. Released in 1998.

Prom Night: Released in 2008. Donna’s senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, though a sadistic killer from her past has different plans for her and her friends.

Human Centipede 2: The sequel released in 2011 fallows a deprived mamas boy who goes on a killing and collecting spree to recreate the experiment portrayed in The Human Centipede.

Top 10

At some point in time I believe we have all wondered what are the best horror movies around are. We can occasionally find ourselves watching some pretty crappy films just to find one good one. I can say i have looked around quite a bit doing research as to what people believe are the best horror films out there and while I may not agree with all there have been some that continue to pop up in everyone’s list, so I have taken these and made a list of my own. Here are what others and I can agree on being the top 10 best horror films: (In no actual order)

The Exorcist: The Exorcist is a classic horror movie, and for a good reason.

This story of an innocent little girl possessed by an evil demon has been captivating audiences since the movie’s release in 1973.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: Serial killer Freddy Krueger stalks this Midwestern neighborhood, bringing terror and even death to teenagers while they thought they were safe in their beds. (I believe all of the Elm Street movies belong on this list as well.)

The Shining: In this terrifying slasher horror movie, Jack Nicholson’s character turns crazy and goes on the rampage, chasing after his family through a haunted hotel to try to kill them. This creepy movie, released in 1980, is based on a Stephen King novel.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Released in 1974, this movie actually got banned in several countries because it was deemed so disgusting. Now, however, it is available to view for anyone who can stand it. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre could be described as a gore-fest rather than a creepy movie, but that wouldn’t do it justice.

It: Stephen King novels often make great horror movies, and It is no exception. a 1990 supernatural horror miniseries based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. The story revolves around an inter-dimensional predatory life-form, which has the ability to transform itself into its prey’s worst fears, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims.

The Ring: Based on a Japanese movie released just four years earlier, The Ring captivated audiences upon its release in 2002. The film is also responsible for one of the most terrifying scenes ever captured on film when the figure of a young girl who was imprisoned in a well climbs out of the television screen.

The Blair Witch Project: When it was released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project had audiences flocking to the movie theaters to see what all the fuss was about. While the film isn’t actually scary you will almost certainly get caught up in the fear that is playing out in the eyes and voices of the characters on screen.

The Grudge: American horror movie makers love to take Japanese films and remake them with American actors and actresses starring in the leading roles.

Following on from the success of The Ring, the 2004 movie The Grudge is one more creepy example of this trend.

Halloween: A 1978 film that most of us could say as children it terrified us. This John Carpenter original is a cold, bloody slasher flick that cuts to the bone.

Candyman: It plays on the ol’ “Bloody Mary” game: After seeing what the murderous spirit in this movie has in store, you simply won’t be able to repeat “Candyman” in front of a mirror.