Showing posts with label Stephen King. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stephen King. Show all posts

Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by Stephen King. It was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and was later made into a film of the same name.

Louis Creed, a doctor from Chicago, moves to a house near the small town of Ludlow, Maine with his wife Rachel, their two young children, Ellie and Gage, and Ellie's cat, Winston Churchill ("Church"). Their neighbor, an elderly man named Jud Crandall, warns Louis and Rachel about the highway that runs past their house; it is used by trucks from a nearby chemical plant that often pass by at high speeds.Jud and Louis become friends. Since Louis's father died when he was three, his relationship with Jud takes on a father-son dimension. A few weeks after the Creeds move in, Jud takes the family on a walk in the woods behind their home. A well-tended path leads to a pet cemetery (misspelled "sematary") where the children of the town bury their deceased animals. A heated argument erupts between Louis and Rachel the next day. Rachel disapproves of discussing death and she worries about how Ellie may be affected by what she saw at the cemetery. It is later explained that Rachel was traumatized by the early death of her sister, Zelda, from spinal meningitis.Louis has a traumatic experience as doctor of the University of Maine's campus health service when Victor Pascow, a student who is fatally injured after being struck by an automobile, addresses his dying words personally to Louis even though they have never met. On the night following Pascow's death, Louis is visited by the student's walking, conscious corpse, which leads him to the cemetery and refers specifically to the "deadfall", a dangerous pile of tree and bush limbs that form a barrier at the back. Pascow warns Louis not to "go beyond, no matter how much you feel you need to." Louis wakes up in bed the next morning convinced it was a dream, but discovers his feet and the bedsheets covered with dirt and pine needles. Louis dismisses the episode as a result of stress from Pascow's death coupled with his wife's anxieties about death. He dismisses the situation as a bout of sleep walking.Louis is forced to confront death at Halloween, when Jud's wife, Norma, suffers a near-fatal heart attack. Thanks to Louis's immediate attention, Norma recovers. Jud is grateful for Louis's help and decides to repay him after Church is run over by a truck at Thanksgiving. Rachel and the kids are visiting her parents in Chicago, and Louis frets over breaking the news to Ellie. Jud takes him to the pet cemetery, supposedly to bury Church. Instead, Jud leads Louis beyond the deadfall to "the real cemetery": an ancient burial ground that was once used by the Micmacs, a Native American tribe. Following Jud's instructions, Louis buries the cat and constructs a cairn.The next afternoon, the cat returns home. However, while he used to be vibrant and lively, he now acts ornery and "a little dead," in Louis's words. Church hunts for mice and birds much more often, but rips them apart without eating them. The cat also smells dead. Louis is disturbed by Church's resurrection and begins to regret his decision.Several months later, Gage, who had just learned to walk, is run over by a speeding truck. Overcome with despair, Louis considers bringing his son back to life with the power of the burial ground. Jud, guessing what Louis is planning, attempts to dissuade him by telling him the story of Timmy Baterman, a young man from Ludlow who was killed during World War II. His father, Bill, put Timmy's body in the burial ground, where he came back to life, and was seen by the terrified townsfolk soon thereafter. Jud and three of his friends went to the Baterman house to confront the pair, but Timmy confronted each of them with indiscretions they had committed, indiscretions he had no way of knowing, thus giving the impression that the resurrected Timmy was actually some sort of demon who had possessed Timmy's body. Jud and his friends fled the house horrified, and Bill shot his son and burned his house to the ground, killing himself.Jud concludes that Gage died because he showed Louis the burial ground. There are hints that the burial ground was sometimes used for victims of cannibalism and that the ground behind the pet cemetery has become the haunt of the Wendigo, a terrible creature of the forest, whose mere presence gives men a taste for flesh of their own kind.Despite Jud's warning and his own reservations, Louis's grief and guilt spur him to carry out his plan. Louis has Rachel and Ellie visit her parents again, not telling them his intentions. Louis exhumes his son's body and hikes him to the burial site. Along the trail, the Wendigo nearly frightens him away, but Louis's determination, combined with the power of the burial site, keeps him moving.Ellie has a nightmare featuring Victor Pascow on the flight to Chicago. Because of this, and an agreement between Rachel and her daughter as to Louis' behavior, Rachel attempts to fly back to Maine, but can only get a flight to Boston on such short notice. She reaches the decision to drive the rest of the distance to her home that night.Louis buries Gage at the burial ground. Gage returns as a demonic shadow of his former self, able to talk like an adult. He breaks into Jud's house and taunts Jud about his wife's implied infidelity, then kills Jud with one of Louis's scalpels. When Rachel arrives at Jud's house, Gage kills her also (and, it is implied, partially eats her corpse). It is suggested that this event pushes Louis's mind into its final stage of insanity. Louis kills Church and Gage without hesitation with a fatal dose of morphine, and then grieves for his son by sitting in the corner of the hallway.Louis, now completely insane and having prematurely aged, burns down Jud's house, then carries Rachel's body to the burial ground, saying that he "waited too long" with Gage but is confident that Rachel will come back the same as before. After being interrogated by investigators about the fire, Louis waits until nightfall for Rachel to return. Playing solitaire, he hears his resurrected wife walk into the house, and the novel ends with Rachel speaking "Darling", her possession, and Louis's fate, unknown. (source Wikipedia)


Christine

Christine is a first-person narrative and a horror novel by Stephen King, published in 1983. It tells the story of a vintage automobile apparently possessed by supernatural forces. In 1983, the movie version of Christine directed by John Carpenter, and starring Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, and Harry Dean Stanton was released to theaters. Christine made a cameo in Stephen King's 1986 novel IT, sent by the monster Pennywise to help Henry Bowers murder Eddie Kaspbrak. The car was also seen in The Stand and Cat's Eye. A Quantum Leap episode has Sam Beckett driving Christine, along with his friend, a young Stephen King. While driving home from work, Dennis and Arnie drive past Christine, a dilapidated 1958 red and white Plymouth Fury. Arnie makes Dennis stop his car, and examines the car. The car's owner, Roland D. LeBay, an elderly gentleman in a back supporter, comes out onto the lawn, and offers the car to Arnie for $250. Unable to pay the full amount, he settles on a $25 deposit and agrees to return the next day with the balance. Arnie and Dennis return the following day, and LeBay invites Arnie into his house to sign the paperwork. While waiting for Arnie, Dennis decides to sit inside Christine, and as he does, he has a vision of the car and the surroundings as they were in 1957 when the car was new. Frightened, Dennis gets out of Christine, and decides that he does not like Arnie's new car. Arnie brings Christine to Darnell's, a local do-it-yourself auto repair facility. As Arnie restores the automobile, he becomes withdrawn, yet more confident and self-assured. He becomes humorless and cynical. Dennis is scared of these changes, and of Christine's changes. When Arnie is almost finished restoring Christine, Leigh Cabot transfers to his school. Leigh is instantly popular and regarded as the most beautiful girl in school. It is a surprise to everyone when she decides to go out with Arnie. Buddy Repperton, a vicious bully who Arnie and Dennis got expelled earlier in the story, visits Christine with his gang of thugs and severely vandalizes the car. Seeing Christine destroyed completely infuriates Arnie, resulting in the severance of his relationship with Leigh. Mysterious murders occur in Libertyville. One by one, members of Buddy's gang are killed by Christine. Others who were hostile to Arnie or Christine also die. The police investigate the murders and become suspicious of Arnie. However, Arnie has an airtight alibi for each of the murders, since the car apparently acts on its own. Although the police find paint chips at the crime scenes that match Christine's color, they find no damage, bloodstains, or other evidence on the car, since Christine supernaturally repairs herself after each attack. Dennis and Leigh become suspicious not of Arnie, but of Christine. They try to find out as much as they can about the car and its previous owner. As their suspicions grow, they try to destroy the supernatural forces that appear to be in control of Christine and Arnie.

The novel ends on an ambiguous note. Arnie's father is found dead in Christine, apparently from exhaust fumes. Arnie and his mother die in an auto accident: witnesses to the accident saw three people in the car before the crash, but only two bodies were found. In the meantime, Dennis and Leigh manage to destroy Christine in Darnell's using a huge, pink-coloured septic tanker truck, named Petunia, and Dennis is informed by a police detective that the remains were fed into the crusher in the back of the garage by two police officers, adding that one received a bad cut that needed stitches, and said "it bit him". Dennis ends the story proper with a salutation to his friend:"Rest in peace, Arnie. I love you, man."

Here's the Film's trailer



Misery

Misery (1987) is a psychological horror novel by Stephen King. The novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1988, and was later made into a Hollywood film and an Off-Broadway play. Paul Sheldon, the author of a best-selling series of Victorian-era romance novels surrounding the heroine character Misery Chastain, has just finished the manuscript of his new crime novel, Fast Cars, while staying at the Hotel Boulderado in Colorado; since 1974, he has completed the first draft of every one of his novels in the same hotel room. With his latest project finished, he has an alcohol-induced impulse to drive to Los Angeles rather than fly back home to New York City. However a snowstorm hits while he is driving through the mountains. Sheldon drives off a cliff and crashes upside down into a snowbank. Paul is rescued from the car wreck by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse who lives nearby. She takes him to her own home rather than a hospital, putting him in the guest bedroom. Using her nursing skills and stockpiled food and medical supplies (including an illicit stash of codeine), Annie slowly nurses Paul back to health. She proclaims herself as Paul's "number one fan", being an avid reader of the Misery series. When she reads the Fast Cars manuscript, she argues with Paul on its violent content and coarse language, punishing him by withholding his medication and forcing him to drink soap water. Paul has a horrifying experience in the hands of Annie. It is around this time that the latest Misery book hits the shelves. Unaware that this is also the final Misery book, Annie – whose life revolves around the character – buys her reserved copy. Upon reading the book, and learning of the main character's death, she flies into a rage and yells at Paul, saying she thought he was good, but he was just a lying old "dirty birdie". She leaves Paul alone in the house for over two days, stating that she may do something "unwise" if she stays. During this time, Paul suffers from hunger, thirst, extreme pain and withdrawal from the painkillers. By the time Annie returns, he is close to death. Upon Annie's return, she forces him to burn the Fast Cars manuscript - the only one in existence. She also presents him with a typewriter, which she announces that he will use to create a new Misery novel, one that will bring her back from the dead. After biding his time, Paul manages to escape his room while Annie is on an errand, touring the house in search of more painkillers. He is almost caught by Annie, but he manages to return to his room before she enters the house. Another time he gets out of the room when a rainstorm hits, sending Annie into a great depression. She goes to her "laughing place" - a cabin located not far from her house - where she stays until she feels better. Meanwhile, Paul explores the house again, and notices a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings from Annie's life, all of which suggest that Annie is a serial killer who murdered her own father, her college roommate, and numerous patients in several states. He also finds a magazine clipping about his status as a missing person. Annie realizes that Paul had been out of his room, and punishes him by cutting off his foot with an axe, and cauterizing the wound with a blowtorch. A Colorado state trooper eventually arrives at Annie’s house, searching for Paul. Realizing a chance for escape, Paul alerts the officer by throwing an ashtray through the window. However, Annie surprises the trooper, stabs him repeatedly and rides over him with with her lawnmower. She temporarily hides Paul in the basement while she departs, meaning to dispose of the trooper's body and his police cruiser. When Annie returns, she and Paul argue about the condition of the typewriter given to him, angering Annie again. She punishes Paul by amputating his left thumb. Paul finally finishes the new Misery book. As a celebration, he asks Annie for a cigarette and a match, which he uses to seemingly light his manuscript on fire. Paul fights with Annie, and stuffs her mouth full of the burning pages. She gets him down and runs to get a weapon to kill Paul, but she trips on the typewriter he had initially hit her with, causing her to crack her skull on the mantelpiece. Mortally wounded, she exits the house and goes to the barn to get a chainsaw to kill Paul, but she finally succumbs to her head injury and dies in the barn. Two police officers find Paul and take him to a hospital. (source: Wikipedia.com)


The Running Man

The Running Man is a science fiction novel by Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the hardcover omnibus The Bachman Books. The novel is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and world violence is rising.The story follows protagonist Ben Richards as he participates in the game show The Running Man in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are chased by "Hunters," employed to kill them.The Running Man was loosely adapted into a film with the same name, which was released five years after the book in 1987. The film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Richards, MarĂ­a Conchita Alonso, Jesse Ventura, Erland van Lidth, Jim Brown, and Richard Dawson. The film was later made into a video game released on several different game consoles. Here's the Official 1987 Trailer of The Running Man top billed by Arnold Schwarzenegger:


Firestarter

Firestarter is the story of Andrew and Charlie McGee, a father-daughter pair on the run from a government agency known as The Shop. During his college years, Andy hadparticipated in a Shop experiment dealing with "Lot 6", a drug with hallucinogenic effects similar to LSD. The drug gave his future wife, Victoria Tomlinson, minor telepathic abilities, and him an autohypnotic mind domination ability he refers to as "the Push". Both his and Vicky's powers are physiologically limited; in his case, overuse of the Push gives him crippling migraine headaches and minute brain hemorrhages, but their daughter Charlie developed a frightening pyrokinetic ability, with the full extent of her power unknown. After a mistake was made by Shop agents, Vicky was killed and Charlie was taken, but Andy, using the Push, managed to reclaim her and the pair have been on the run since.Using a combination of the Push, Charlie's power, and hitchhiking, the pair escape through Albany, New York and are taken in by a farmer named Irv Manders near Hastings, New York. However, they are tracked down by Shop agents, who attempt to kill Andy and take Charlie at the Manders farm. At Andy's instruction, Charlie unleashes her power, incinerating the entire farm and fending off the agents, killing a few of them. With nowhere else to turn, the pair flees to Vermont and take refuge in a cabin that had once belonged to Andy's grandfather.With the Manders farm operation disastrously botched, the director of the Shop, Captain James Hollister, or "Cap", calls in a Shop hitman named John Rainbird to capture the fugitives. Rainbird, a Cherokee and Vietnam veteran, is intrigued by Charlie's power and eventually becomes obsessed with her, determined to befriend her and eventually kill her. This time the operation is successful, and both Andy and Charlie are taken by the Shop.The pair is separated and imprisoned at the Shop headquarters. With his spirit broken, Andy becomes an overweight drug addict and seemingly loses his power, and is eventually deemed useless by the Shop. Charlie, however, defiantly refuses to cooperate with the Shop, and does not demonstrate her power for them. Six months pass until a crucial blackout provides a changing point for the two: Andy, sick with fear and self-pity, somehow regains the Push, and Rainbird, masquerading as a simple janitor, befriends Charlie and gains her trust.By pretending to still be powerless and addicted, Andy manages to gain crucial information by Pushing his psychiatrist. Under Rainbird's guidance, Charlie begins to demonstrate her power, which has grown to fearsome levels. After the suicide of his psychiatrist, Andy is able to meet and Push Cap, using him to plan his and Charlie's escape from the facility, as well as finally communicating with Charlie. Rainbird discovers Andy's plan, however, and decides to use it to his advantage.Andy's plan succeeds and he and Charlie are reunited for the first time in six months. Rainbird then interrupts the meeting at a barn, planning to kill them both. A crucial distraction is provided by Cap, who is losing his mind from a side effect of being Pushed. Andy Pushes Rainbird into leaping from the upper level of the barn, breaking his leg. Rainbird then shoots Andy in the head. Rainbird then fires another shot at Charlie, but she uses her power to melt the bullet in midair and then sets Rainbird and Cap on fire. A mortally wounded Andy then instructs Charlie to take revenge with her power and inform the public, to make sure the government cannot do anything like this ever again, and dies. A grief-stricken and furious Charlie then sets the barn on fire. She exits the barn and people start going after her. She uses her pyrokinesis to kill the employees and blow up their getaway vehicles. People try to flee and some do. Military men are called, but Charlie blows up their vehicles and when they fire at her she melts their bullets. Charlie blows up the building, shooting it sky-high. She leaves Lot 6 burning and almost all workers dead.The event is covered up by the government, and released to the papers as a terrorist firebomb attack. The Shop quickly reforms, under new leadership, and begins a manhunt for Charlie, who has returned to the Manders farm. After some deliberation, she comes up with a plan and leaves the Manders, heading to New York City. She decides on Rolling Stone magazine as an unbiased, honest media source with no ties to the government, and the book ends as she arrives to tell them her story.
I remember the film adaptation of this novel with the same title top billed by Drew Barrymore. Here's the theatrical trailer of this film adaptation:


The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone is a horror novel by Stephen King published in 1979. It concerns Johnny Smith, who is injured in an accident and enters a coma for nearly five years. When he emerges, he can see horrifying secrets but cannot identify all the details in his "dead zone", an area of his brain that suffered permanent damage as the result of his accident. Much of the novel is played out against the historical backdrop of the 1970s. It has been suggested that the story might be based on self-proclaimed "psychic" Peter Hurkos, who received a head injury in a fall from a ladder, and afterward claimed to be able to know things about people by touching objects that belonged to them, psychometry. The Dead Zone was nominated for the Locus Award in 1980. The prologue narrates two unconnected episodes in the lives of the principal and subsidiary characters. In January of 1953, in Maine, a young boy named Johnny Smith is knocked out cold while ice-skating. As he regains consciousness, he is helped to his feet by Chuck Spier, an adult at the scene, to whom he mumbles, "Don't jump it no more." Chuck pays no mind to this, but a few months later, he is seriously injured when a car battery he's trying to jumpstart explodes. Johnny forgets this incident as time passes. Two years later, a young Bible salesman named Greg Stillson, suffering emotional issues, kicks an aggressive dog to death outside of a farm in Iowa. As he drives away, he dreams about greater things in his life. The story properly begins in 1970. Johnny is now a high school teacher and dating a fellow teacher named Sarah Bracknell. As they leave, Johnny decides to try his luck at a Wheel of Fortune stand. A small crowd gathers as Johnny keeps winning. After winning a substantial amount of prize money, Johnny takes Sarah home and decides to take a taxicab to his place. The cab is hit by a car that is drag racing, the cab driver is killed, and Johnny is sent flying through the windshield and into a pond by the side of the road. A short while later, Johnny's parents, Herb and Vera are informed that Johnny has gone into a coma. Vera begins to lose her sanity, and her already problematic religious obsessions intensify. After nearly five years, Johnny wakes from his coma, and is shocked to learn that it is 1975. He is also dismayed to learn that Sarah has gotten married and has a son. As he recovers, Johnny undergoes a series of tests and makes the news when the public learns his story. During one test, it is discovered that he has trouble visualizing certain objects (and more specifically their physical location, the "where" of things), because those memories were lodged in a damaged part of his brain, called his "dead zone." Johnny has several other experiences during his stay in the hospital. He predicts that the eye surgery his nurse's son is facing will be a success and that his physical therapist's house is on fire. When both predictions turn out to be true, a small press conference is held. During the conference, Johnny is handed a necklace by a disbelieving reporter and asked if he can sense anything from it. Johnny tells the reporter that the necklace belonged to his sister, who died of a drug overdose. The reporter becomes tearful and passes out. Johnny receives national attention for his newfound abilities. In the time that has passed since Johnny left the hospital, Stillson decides to run for the House of Representatives, and begins his campaign by blackmailing a local businessman into raising funds for him.More time passes, and Sarah visits Johnny again, introducing him to her son, Denny. She tells him that he was right about the ring, and after having dinner with Johnny and Herb, returns home. It is mutually understood that the encounter is a one-time event, a sort of making-up for all that might have been. Johnny once again makes the news, but now loses his teaching offer because the school believes him to be "too controversial to be effective as a teacher." He begins to question his mother's dying words. After losing the teaching opportunity, Johnny takes a tutoring job for a young man named Chuck Chatsworth, who has a reading disorder. He befriends Chuck's family and their Vietnamese gardener, Ngo Phat, who is in the process of becoming a citizen. During his tutoring career, Johnny takes up an interest in politics, and becomes concerned when he watches a rally for Stillson. Later on, Johnny meets presidential candidate Jimmy Carter and shakes his hand. Having another clairvoyant incident, he tells Carter that he is going to be president. Johnny then makes a hobby out of meeting politicians to see their futures, although he still can't take his mind off Stillson. As time goes on, Johnny's health starts to worsen. He contemplates how he might impede Stillson's career, and finds out that his father is going to be remarried. As Johnny continues to contemplate whether or not to kill Stillson, Chuck graduates high school, and plans on attending a massive senior graduation party at a restaurant called Cathy's. Chuck, so thankful that Johnny was able to help him learn to read, hugs Johnny at the commencement, and Johnny has another vision. At the rally, Stillson begins his speech, when Johnny decides it's now or never. He begins to fire at Stillson, but misses several times. Stillson's bodyguards open fire on him, but don't mortally wound him. Johnny has Stillson in his sight and is about to pull the trigger when Stillson grabs a young child and holds him up as a shield. Johnny pauses, not being able to shoot, and is shot twice by the bodyguards, falling off the balcony, breaking his legs and back. Meanwhile, the young photographer Johnny met earlier gets a few pictures of Stillson using the child as a shield and runs off. When Johnny touches Stillson again, he sees and feels nothing, and knows that the terrible future Stillson would bring around as President will never come to pass (thanks to the photograph of Stillson hiding behind the child, which utterly destroys his reputation). Knowing he has prevented a war and saved countless lives, Johnny closes his eyes and passes away, content. (reference : Wikipedia)

The Long Walk

The Long Walk is a novel by Stephen King published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1995 in the hardcover omnibus The Bachman Books, and has seen several reprints since, as both paperback & hardback. Set in a near future, the plot revolves around the contestants of a gruelling walking contest, held annually by a somewhat despotic and totalitarian version of the United States of America.. One hundred teenage boys participate in an annual walking contest called "The Long Walk," which is the "national sport". Each Walker must maintain a speed of at least four miles per hour; if he drops below that for 30 seconds, he receives a verbal warning (which can be erased by walking for one hour without being warned). If a Walker with three warnings slows down again, he is "ticketed". The meaning of this term is intentionally kept vague at first, but it soon becomes clear that "buying a ticket" means to be shot dead by soldiers riding in half-tracks along the roadside. Walkers may be shot immediately for certain serious violations, such as trying to leave the road or attacking the half-track. The half-tracks use electronic equipment to precisely determine a Walker's speed.The event is run by a character known as "The Major," who is implied to have much power, stemming from a possible military or fascist state system. The Major appears at the beginning of the Walk to encourage the boys and start them on their way, and then occasionally thereafter. While the Walkers initially greet him with awe and respect, they eventually realize their admiration is misplaced and ridicule him in later appearances.

After five days and hundreds of miles, the Walk eventually comes down to Garraty and Stebbins, who reveals that he is the illegitimate son of the Major. Stebbins states he used to think the Major was unaware of his existence, but it turns out that the Major has numerous illegitimate children nationwide. Four years earlier, the Major took Stebbins to the finish of a Long Walk, and now Stebbins feels that the Major has set him up to be "the rabbit" in the race. That is, just as greyhounds in dog races need a rabbit to motivate them to run faster, Stebbins will spur the others to walk farther and make the race more entertaining. Stebbins's plan, upon winning the Walk, is to ask that his prize be to be "taken into [his] father's house." At the end of the book, having walked farther than any Long Walk in history, Garraty decides to give up after realizing that Stebbins has shown almost no weaknesses over the duration of the Walk. Garraty catches up with Stebbins to tell him this, but before he can speak, Stebbins grabs his shirt, says "Oh, Garraty!", collapses and dies; thus Garraty is declared the winner.Unaware of the celebration going on around him, Garraty gets up from Stebbins's side and walks on. He sees a jeep coming towards him, but thinks it a trespassing vehicle, and does not realize that in it is the Major coming to award him the victory. Garraty walks past the jeep towards a hallucination of a dark figure, not far ahead, beckoning Garraty to him. The figure is familiar to Garraty, but he does not recognize it. He decides to get closer to find out which of the walkers he has yet to walk down. While the crowd cheers his name, Garraty walks on unhearing, trying to identify the dark figure. When a hand, possibly the Major's, touches his shoulder, Garraty shakes it off impatiently. The figure beckons him to come and play the game, telling him to get started, that there is still far to walk. Unseeing now, Garraty walks towards the figure. When the hand reaches for his shoulder again, Garraty somehow finds the strength to run. (reference : Wikipedia)

The Stand

The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It demonstrates the scenario in his earlier short story, Night Surf. The novel was originally published in 1978 and was later re-released in 1990 as The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition; King restored some text originally cut for brevity, added and revised sections, changed the setting of the story from 1980 (which in turn was changed to 1985 for the original paperback release in 1980) to 1990, and updated a few pop culture references accordingly. The Stand was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1979, and was adapted into both a television miniseries for ABC and a graphic novel published by Marvel Comics. The novel is divided into three parts, or books. The first is titled "Captain Trips" which also had a film adaptation and takes place over nineteen days, with the escape and spread of a human-made biological weapon, a superflu (influenza) virus known formally as "Project Blue" but most commonly as "Captain Trips" (among some other colloquialisms). The epidemic leads directly to the death of an estimated 99.4% of the world's human population.King outlines the total breakdown and destruction of society through widespread violence, the failure of martial law to contain the outbreak, and eventually the death of virtually the entire population. The human toll is also dealt with, as the few survivors must care for their families and friends, dealing with confusion and grief as their loved ones succumb to the flu. (reference: Wikipedia)

Rage

Rage (originally titled Getting It On) is the first novel by Stephen King published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1977. It was collected in 1985 in the hardcover omnibus The Bachman Books. Protagonist Charles Everett "Charlie" Decker is a junior at Placerville High School in fictional Placerville, Maine. The story begins in first period, when Charlie is called to the main office via intercom from his Algebra 2 class. Principal Mr. Denver wants to discuss with Charlie an incident that occurred two months earlier, where Charlie had almost killed his chemistry teacher, Mr. Carlson, by hitting him in the head with a heavy wrench. For unknown reasons, Charlie snaps and responds with a series of insulting remarks towards Mr. Denver, which prompts him to expel Charlie from Placerville High School. Charlie storms out of the office and retrieves a pistol from his locker. After setting the contents of the locker on fire, he returns to his classroom and fatally shoots his teacher, Mrs. Jean Underwood. The fire triggers an alarm, and students are prepared to be evacuated from the school campus. Charlie sits behind Mrs. Underwood's desk and makes sure all of the students stay where they are. When teacher Mr. Vance enters the classroom to notify students to evacuate, Charlie fatally shoots him as well. As the students and teachers evacuate the school, police and media arrive at the scene.A long discussion ensues with his fellow students, with Charlie claiming that he honestly does not know why he did this, and that he will probably regret this when the incident ends. The hostages eventually express approval to him, displaying symptoms of Stockholm syndrome. In the following four hours, Charlie toys with various authority figures who attempt to negotiate with him, including the principal, the school psychologist, and the chief of police, telling each one of them to do or not to do certain things, like saying he will kill a student if they ask him any questions or fail to call him Charlie. He also unwittingly turns the class into a sort of psychotherapy group, causing his schoolmates to semi-voluntarily tell embarrassing secrets regarding themselves and each other. Interspersed throughout are narrative flashbacks to his own troubled childhood, particularly his horrible relationship with his abusive father. Several notable incidents include a violent disagreement between two female students, and a SWAT team sniper shooting Charlie in the chest (his padlock, which he placed in his breast pocket on a whim, stops the bullet).Charlie finally comes to the realization that one student is really being held there against his will: a seeming "big man on campus" named Ted Jones, who is harboring his own secrets. Jones realizes this and attempts to escape the classroom, however is brutally assaulted by fellow students, rendering him in a battered catatonic state. At 1:00 PM, Charlie releases the students. When police chief Frank Philbrick enters the classroom, the now-unarmed Charlie deliberately makes a "threatening" gesture and is shot three times. He survives being shot and is found not guilty by reason of insanity, and is committed to a psychiatric asylum in Augusta until he is no longer a threat to society. The story ends with Charlie addressing the reader, "I have to turn off the light now. Good night."

(reference: Wikipedia.com)

The Shinning

One of King's signature novel, The Shinning. The Shining is a 1977 horror novel. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma!", which contained the line "We all shine on…". It was King's third published novel, and first hardback bestseller, and the success of the book firmly established King as a preeminent author in the horror genre.Jack Torrance is a temperamental alcoholic and aspiring writer. He is trying to rebuild his life after previously breaking his son Danny's arm in a drunken rage and assaulting a pupil at a Vermont prep school where he was a teacher. After losing his teaching position and giving up drinking, Jack accepts a job as a winter caretaker at the large, isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado to rebuild his life with his family and write a new play. Jack, his wife Wendy, and the clairvoyant Danny move into the Overlook.Danny's clairvoyance makes him sensitive to supernatural forces. Shortly after the family's initial arrival at the hotel, Danny and the hotel chef, Dick Hallorann, talk privately to discuss Danny's talent and the hotel's sinister nature. Dick informs Danny that he shares Danny's abilities (though to a lesser degree), as did Dick's grandmother, who called it "shining". Dick warns Danny to avoid Room 217, and reassures him that the things he may see are merely pictures which cannot harm him.The hotel has difficulty possessing Danny, so it begins to possess Jack, frustrating his need and desire to work. Jack becomes increasingly unstable, and the sinister ghosts of the hotel gradually begin to overtake him. One day he goes to the bar of the hotel, previously empty of alcohol, and finds it fully stocked. As he gets drunk, the hotel attempts to use Jack to kill Wendy and Danny in order to absorb Danny's psychic abilities. Wendy and Danny get the better of Jack, locking him into the walk-in pantry, but the ghost of Delbert Grady, a former caretaker who murdered his family and then committed suicide, releases him. Wendy discovers that they are completely isolated at the Overlook, as Jack has sabotaged the hotel's snowmobile and smashed the CB radio in the office. Jack strikes Wendy with one of the hotel's roque mallets, breaking three ribs, a leg, and one vertebra in her back. Wendy stabs Jack in the small of his back with a large butcher knife, then crawls away to the caretaker's suite and locks herself in the bathroom, with Jack in pursuit.Hallorann, working at a winter resort in Florida, hears Danny's psychic call for help and rushes back to the Overlook. Jack leaves Wendy in the bathroom and ambushes Hallorann, shattering his jaw and giving him a concussion with the mallet, before setting off after Danny. Danny distracts Jack by saying "You're not my daddy," having realized that the Overlook had completely taken over Jack by playing on his alcoholism. Jack temporarily regains control of himself and tells Danny, "Run away. Quick. And remember how much I love you." Danny tells Jack that the unstable boiler is going to explode, and it rushes to the basement as Danny, Wendy, and Hallorann flee. Though Jack tries to relieve the pressure, the boiler explodes, destroying the Overlook. The building's spirit makes one last desperate attempt to possess Hallorann and make him kill Danny and Wendy, but he shakes it off and brings them to safety.

(reference : wikipedia.com)
here's the official trailer of the film adaptaion of 'the shining"

Salem's Lot

Before being trilled by edward and other twilight stars, we were once horrified by the characters from one of stephen king's creation, Salem's Lot
Salem's Lot is a 1975 horror fiction novel written by the American author Stephen King. It was his second novel to be published. The story involves a writer named Ben Mears who returns to the town he was born in (Jerusalem's Lot, or 'Salem's Lot for short) in Maine, New England, to discover that the residents are all becoming vampires. The novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1976. Ben Mears, a successful writer who grew up in the town of Jerusalem's Lot, Cumberland County, Maine (or “The Lot”, as the locals call it), has returned home after 25 years. Once in town he meets local high school teacher Matt Burke and strikes up a romantic relationship with Susan Norton, a young college graduate. Ben plans to write a book about the “Marsten House”, an abandoned mansion that gave him nightmares after a bad experience inside it as a child. In 1975, 36 years later, the Marsten House is about to be inhabited by the vampire Kurt Barlow. Ben Mears and Susan are joined by Matt Burke and his doctor, Jimmy Cody, along with young Mark Petrie and the local priest, Father Callahan, in an effort to fight the spread of the vampires, whose numbers increase as the new vampires infect their own families and others. Ben Mears and Mark Petrie succeed in destroying the master vampire Barlow, but are lucky to escape with their lives and are forced to leave the town to the now leaderless vampires.The epilogue has the two returning to the town a year later, intending to renew the battle. Ben, knowing that there are too many hiding places for the town's vampires, sets the town on fire with the intent of destroying it and the Marsten House once and for all. here's the 2004 trailer of Salem's Lot movie

CARRIE

Carrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. Carrie is an epistolary novel. It revolves around the titular character Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her. King has commented that he finds the work to be "raw" and "with a surprising power to hurt and horrify." It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States schools. Much of the book is written in an epistolary structure, through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books. Several adaptations of Carrie have been released, including a 1976 feature film, a 1988 Broadway musical, a 1999 feature film sequel, and a 2002 television movie. The book uses fictional documents to frame the story of Carrie (Carrietta) White, a teenager from Chamberlain, Maine, who has been abused at home for years by her unstable Christian fundamentalist mother, Margaret. She does not fare much better at Ewen High School; at the beginning of the novel, she has her first period while showering after her physical education class. Carrie, who is terrified, has no concept of menstruation; her mother never spoke to her about it, and she has been a social outcast throughout high school. But the thought that this could be Carrie's first period never occurs to her classmates; instead of sympathizing with the frightened Carrie, they use it as an opportunity to taunt her, throwing tampons and sanitary napkins at her instead of helping. Carrie draws strong parallels between the onset of the title character's adolesence, especially her menstruation and sexuality, and her psychic powers.

(reference: Wikipedia.com)

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