Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on Ghost Brothers of Darkland County Is Coming To Maryland! Stephen King’s exciting new musical, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, is coming to the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland for ONE NIGHT ONLY: Sunday, November 16, 2014 at 07:30 PM. There are still some good seats left, so click here to read more here before they all sell!
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Breaking News1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #174: Revival 
In an interview in June, King revealed his first thoughts about Revival. “It’s too scary. I don’t even want to think about that book anymore…It’s a nasty, dark piece of work.” A couple of months later, on his Twitter feed, he described it as “a straight-ahead horror novel. If you’re going to buy it, better tone up your nerves.”
Those comments, along with his publisher’s statement on the back of review copies that she asked him whether the book “really had to be this dark,” will probably remind people of King’s thoughts about Pet Sematary. After he finished writing that book, he deemed it too gruesome and disturbing to be published. His wife concurred, so a mythos developed around it. How bad could it be? As it turned out, pretty gruesome. Pretty disturbing.
Are comparisons between Revival and Pet Sematary appropriate? Well, yes and no. The first time I read Pet Sematary, I had to put it down from time to time because I could see where King was headed and I wasn’t ready to go there yet. It’s relentlessly bleak from the beginning.
Revival doesn’t start out seeming like it will be a dark book, but it does have a different feel to it. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but there’s something about the voice that stands apart from King’s other books.
The story begins in the 1960s, when Jamie Morton is six years old. He’s the youngest of five children and part of a loving family. They live in Harlow, Maine, his parents are normal and decent, as are his siblings. They attend Sunday services at the Methodist church.
A new minister comes to Harlow, a man named Charlie Jacobs who has a beautiful wife and a young son who everyone in the community dotes on. Looking back, Jamie refers to Jacobs as his “fifth business,” a movie term for an agent of change who pops out of the deck at odd times during a person’s life. You might be tempted to think Jacobs is evil, Randall Flagg in another guise, but that’s not the case. Jacobs and Jamie have a pleasant first meeting in the yard where the young boy is playing with toy soldiers, a recent birthday gift. Neither is Jacobs like the vile, pernicious title character in “The Bad Little Kid,” who keeps showing up time and again.
And yet there is a pervasive sense of dread and foreshadowing of terrible things to come. Jacobs casts a shadow over Jamie during their first meeting. There are hints that the Morton family’s future won’t be rosy. However, when the first crisis comes, it happens to Reverend Jacobs. A calamity befalls his family and, in the aftermath, his faith in God is tested and found wanting. He is forced to leave Harlow, and he falls out of Morton’s life for decades.
As a teenager, Jamie Morton develops a certain level of skill with a rhythm guitar. He and some of his school friends form a band and they play around the region throughout high school. His shyness fades and his popularity soars. He gets a long-term girlfriend. After school, he plays with a number of moderately successful groups. He’ll never be the front man, nor will his guitar chops bring him fame and fortune, but he’s solid, reliable, and can be called upon to fill in when needed. Reliable, that is, until life on the road leaves him vulnerable to various temptations, most notably heroin. He becomes so unreliable in his mid-thirties that his current bandmates take off without him, leaving him stranded in a motel.
He’s pretty much at rock bottom, which is when he again meets up with Charlie Jacobs, who now calls himself Dan Jacobs and is working in a carnival. Jacobs always had a fascination with electricity that borders on obsession. Back in Harlow, he used a homemade gadget to shock Jamie’s older brother out of a psychosomatic bout of muteness. He’s upped the ante now, and is using electricity as part of his act, creating stunning and unbelievable “Portraits in Lightning” of young women.
Jacobs recognizes Jamie…and his addiction, too. He treats Jamie, using a more advanced version of the technology he used on his brother, and Jamie’s addiction is gone. Just like that. He no longer craves heroin. Oh, there are side effects, to be sure, but they seem minor and, with time, they go away.
By now, we’re a third of the way through the book, and nothing truly sinister has happened. By the same point in Pet Sematary, Church had already come back from the dead. I say this to temper expectations that may derive from early comments about the book. Don’t get me wrong: this is a very dark book, but much of the darkness is reserved for the last thirty pages or so, when everything goes horribly wrong in ways readers are not likely to anticipate.
The story is told through the memories of Jamie Morton, who we see from the time he is six until he’s nearly sixty. Is there another King book that encompasses such a long span of a character’s life in such detail? None come to mind. Jamie’s life isn’t exactly overshadowed by the former Rev Jacobs, who goes on to become a televangelist called Pastor Danny, but he never seems to be able to shake himself free of the man, either. Jamie’s not a hero—he’s just an ordinary guy, plugging along, making mistakes…and not making very much of himself, either. He gets a job at a recording studio in Colorado, where he has a comfortable life. But…
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Crossovers Whereas Mr. Mercedes took place in the “real world,” and all of its King references were to fictional events or to film adaptations, Revival is firmly set in the Stephen King universe. The story begins in Harlow, Maine, which borders Chester’s Mill (Under the Dome) and isn’t far from Castle Rock. Later, events move to Nederland, Colorado, which was the hometown of the Colorado Kid. There is a reference to the Joyland fairground, and mention is made of De Vermis Mysteriis, a grimoire invented by Robert Bloch that appears in “Jerusalem’s Lot.” There is a mysterious #19 or two, and reference to an enigmatic character from Insomnia, Dorrance Marsteller, aka Old Dorr. |
Jacobs has come to believe that there exists a secret electricity. If he can tap into that, he will be able to accomplish great things. He has already invented revolutionary batteries and power generation devices that are far ahead of current technology, but he doesn’t use these to get rich, merely as stepping stones in his research. He has also healed afflictions in hundreds of people. However, not all of his experiments are as successful as his heroin cure for Jamie. Some of his patients suffer horrible side effects, and it becomes one of Jamie’s missions to keep track of all these missteps. For his part, Jacobs is willing to accept a few failures because, on the whole, he has helped more people than he harmed. People clamor for his assistance, as they did with Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone.
What does the book’s title mean? The word brings to mind tent revivals and evangelical preachers, and there’s an element of that here. Musicals and plays have revivals—it is derived from “reviving,” after all, as in bringing back to life. What exactly is Jacobs capable of if he finds his secret electricity?
It all comes down to the book’s climax, at which point Jacobs is a feeble old man and Jamie is no spring chicken. Jamie once again crosses paths with Jacobs, only this time the man’s darkest plan is about to come to fruition. How dark? Poe at his darkest. Lovecraft at his most fantastical and cynical. Think of the most pessimistic world view you can imagine and you probably won’t even be in the ballpark. Maybe there are worse things than dying, King suggests. Perhaps we should cling to this life with everything we’ve got.
This book is going to disturb people profoundly. I guarantee it.
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on Dead Harvest: A Collection of Dark Tales (Volume One) Dead Harvest: A Collection of Dark Tales (Volume One)
edited by Mark Parker
Nearly 700 pages of horror from a great mix of well-known authors and up-and-coming new voices!
Hi Folks!
We’re pleased to report that we’ll be getting some copies of the debut title from a new press, Scarlet Galleon Publications:
Dead Harvest: A Collection of Dark Tales (Volume One)
edited by Mark Parker
PLEASE NOTE:
This anthology features many authors and includes stories by Cemetery Dance founder Richard Chizmar and his son Billy Chizmar. Both of them will be signing any copies of the book that are pre-ordered through our website while supplies last. This is Billy’s first pro sale, so don’t miss out on your chance to snag what could be a great collectible in the years to come!
About the Book:
IT’S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE HARVEST…
Each year, as summer fades to memory, and the sky begins to grow dark, and the leaves change color and fall, the faint, fetid scent of death—of slowly rotting things—begins to drift in, hanging on the chill air like a ghostly pall, making us wonder what this year’s harvest will produce. Well…the harvest is here. And it’s dead. With these 50 dark tales—and nearly 700 pages of terror—you will experience fear, depravity, love, and loss. And a kind of chill that won’t soon leave your bones.
DEAD HARVEST is a crop like no other!
Enter the harvest and get lost…
Edited by Mark Parker, this huge trade paperback includes stories from Tim Lebbon, Richard Chizmar, Ronald Malfi, Benjamin Kane Ethridge, Jeff Strand, James A. Moore, Tim Waggoner, Greg F. Gifune and many more…
Click here to read more or place your order before all of our copies have sold!
Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on The Cemetery Dance Book Club Is Back Sooner Than Expected! sold out!
Even if you signed up to be notified of the launch of StephenKingRevisited.com, you need to sign-up again to be notified of news and updates from the actual website now that it is live!
How to sign-up for the Stephen King Revisited update list:
1) Go to http://www.StephenKingRevisited.com
2) Enter your email address in the ”
Updates and Notifications via email” box
3) Click “Subscribe”
4) Click on the confirmation link you will receive via email within a few moments. Otherwise, you won’t really be subscribed!
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on New Halloween eBooks by Simon Clark and Ray Garton! Here’s Your Treat From Cemetery Dance:
New Halloween eBooks by Simon Clark and Ray Garton!
Hi Folks!
As a special treat for all of our readers who love Halloween as much as we do, we’re publishing TWO brand new Halloween short stories as eBook exclusives today:
The Man Who Killed Halloween: A Halloween Short Story
by Ray Garton
About the eBook:
Halloween, 1974: a gray and drizzly day in El Reno, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City. Todd Strauss is dressed up as a pirate with a black cloth patch over one eye. His six-year-old sister Lisa is a princess with a tiara made of Christmas garland and pipe cleaners. One of these kids will be dead before the night is over, and the town will find itself gripped by a terror they have never known before…
The Ghosts of Pontefract Castle: A Halloween Short Story
by Simon Clark
About the eBook:
Mark called up to the boy who stood on top of a ruined fragment of castle wall. The boy was more than a dozen feet above the ground and swayed. The October breeze made Mark even colder in his Halloween costume. Shivers ran up his back. The boy’s head slowly turned and he looked down, fixing his pale blue eyes on Mark’s face. He said something. It sounded foreign. Then Mark understood the truth, and he was terrified….
Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on Cemetery Dance Publications Featured in The New York Times We’re very pleased to report that Cemetery Dance Publications was featured in The New York Times and you can now read the article online:
Artisanal Terror From Lilliputian Presses: Horror From Cemetery Dance, EC Archives, Centipede Press
Cemetery Dance Publications Launches Stephen King Revisited!
Hi Folks!
Cemetery Dance Publications invites readers everywhere to the launch of StephenKingRevisited.com, a massive new project that is unlike anything we’ve undertaken in our twenty-five years in publishing!
Starting this Halloween, Cemetery Dance founder and publisher Richard Chizmar will be re-reading ALL of Stephen King’s books in the order of publication, starting with Carrie, and posting his thoughts about the experience.
When Chizmar asked Stephen King what he thought of the idea of him re-reading all of the books in order, King replied, “You should blog about it” and “go for it!”
There are two posts already on the site for you to read today:
Introduction to Stephen King Revisited by Richard Chizmar
How Carrie Happened by Bev Vincent
While you’re on the website, be sure to sign-up for notifications and updates from Stephen King Revisited using the “Updates and Notifications via email” sign-up box on the right side of the website, so you never miss a post!
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on New Website: Prepare For Revival by Stephen King! As you know, Revival by Stephen King will be shipping in just a few weeks, and our friends over at StephenKing.com have announced that PrepareForRevival.com is now online. What is PrepareForRevival.com? Here’s how they describe the site:
As Revival is perhaps Stephen’s darkest novel to date, some Constant Readers may wish to take some time to prepare for the experience of reading the story.
Prepare for Revival is intended for Stephen’s fans to explore the dark side of the human condition in anticipation of reading the novel. Prepare for Revival invites you to explore and anonymously share your innermost thoughts on the major themes contained within the story.
Users can safely and securely post their experiences and feelings about Faith, Tragedy, Disillusion, Addiction, Curiosity, Obsession, Death and The Afterlife.
Once users have read the novel, fans can also post their thoughts on Revival, its plot, characters, events and the larger-than-life climax.
Leigh Buchanan from Inc. magazine came to visit Cemetery Dance Publications and write about life at the “spookiest little publisher in the world,” which you can read online now:
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Breaking NewsLeave a comment on Revival: The Spectacularly Dark New Novel by Stephen King! Revival: A New Novel by Stephen King
A spectacularly dark and riveting novel about addiction, religion, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life!
Hi Folks!
We’re pleased to report that Revival by Stephen King, another brand new novel from the King of Horror, is less than two weeks away and we’re hearing nothing but amazing things from early readers who are calling this Stephen King’s darkest novel since PET SEMATARY!
About the Book:
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of 13, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
Add A Special Exclusive Slipcase To Protect Your Book!
Even though Revival by Stephen King is being published by another publisher, we will be producing one of our popular custom-made slipcase for this title like we have for the last few Stephen King books!
The easiest way to add a slipcase to your purchase is by selecting the “Trade Hardcover Edition with Exclusive Slipcase!” option on the book’s product page — you’ll also save on shipping by ordering this way! (You can order just the slipcase by itself on the Revival custom slipcase product page.)
Don’t know what a slipcase is? That’s okay! You can see some sample images of other slipcases we’ve made below. We’re using the same high-quality materials we have used for our previous Stephen King cases, with one color hot foil stamping. The company who makes these for us is the best in the business and you won’t find a better way to protect your investment! (If you are new to collecting, you can read more about slipcases on our Book FAQ page.)
We’re selling these special slipcases for just $24.95, making them an extremely affordable way to protect your book. These cases will be produced after the book is published because we need a real copy of the book to get the sizing just right and your book and slipcase will ship together to save you on shipping. We think our collectors will be very pleased with what we have in mind for these very special cases, so don’t wait to place your order!
Sample Slipcase Photos From A Past Project:
Read more on our website or place your order!
Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!
Two Exciting Signed Limited Editions by MAX BROOKS Shipping Soon!
World War Z: The Deluxe Special Edition
The Zombie Survival Guide: The Deluxe Special Edition
Hi Folks!
We’re pleased to announce that both World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks are just about ready to ship to us from the printer, and our customers who placed preorders should see their shipping notices in early November.
World War Z sold out pre-publication very early after the announcement, with some people asking INSANE prices, so don’t let The Zombie Survival Guide get away when you can order our few remaining copies at the retail price today!
The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now.
Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.
Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack
1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.
Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset—life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life.
The Loveliest Dead by Ray Garton
Surprise Signed Limited Edition Selling Very Quickly!
Our surprise in-stock signed Limited Edition hardcover of The Loveliest Dead by Ray Garton has proven to be a huge hit with our collectors and is selling VERY quickly, so be sure to place your order now or you might miss out!
Sorry, this special has ended!
Author Bev VincentPosted on Categories Breaking News1 Comment on Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #174
When it was announced that Lifetime would be behind a made-for-TV adaptation of “Big Driver,” the second novella from Full Dark, No Stars, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The novella is dark and brutal, whereas Lifetime is better known for the kinds of stories that the novella’s protagonist writes—cozy mysteries—or romances. The network’s material is targeted at women, primarily. So what did that mean for this revenge tale? You’ll be able to see for yourself this Saturday at 8/7C when the movie premieres.
I had the chance to screen the film a couple of weeks ago and I’m here to tell you that it pulls few punches, if any. Tess is played by Maria Bello (Amy Rainey in Secret Window). She gets a last name in this version, Thorne, whereas she was just Tess in the novella. The plot plays out much the same as it did in King’s story. Tess drives herself to a nearby community where she is the featured guest at a brown bag luncheon and regales her sizable audience with the kinds of stories authors tell about themselves and their characters, and has the kinds of encounters writers often do with the public. The woman who organized the event suggests a shortcut that will get Tess home faster and, on a lonely road miles from civilization, Tess has a fateful encounter with the Big Driver. What happens next is brutal and, frankly, hard to watch. If you have any triggers about male-on-female violence, you may wish to avert your eyes. And even when the assault is over, the worst isn’t done for Tess. She has to crawl to freedom. Whoa. It makes me cringe just thinking about it now.
Ann Dowd from The Leftovers plays Rebecca Norville, Olympia Dukakis plays the physical manifestation of one of Tess’s characters, and Joan Jett plays the bartender at the Stagger Inn. Eastern Canada plays the part of New England—in fact, the movie was filmed just down the road from where Haven is shot. I recognize some of the roads, and I’m pretty sure Tess’s reading takes place on my alma mater’s campus, Dalhousie University. At least the external shots look like the old science library and nearby buildings. Events in the final act are somewhat condensed and restructured, but Tess still talks to Tom, her GPS, her cat, and with the characters in her novels, and sometimes they talk back. This monologue with non-human objects seems a bit awkward at first, but it works in general, and Bello is unquestionably the star here. It’s almost a one-woman show, and she nails it. Joan Jett is more of a novelty. She’s done a little acting, but she’s not entirely comfortable here.
There are a few grace notes added by screenwriter Richard Christian Matheson that add to the story’s overall symmetry and should put a smile on viewers’ faces despite the brutality. You can watch the trailer here.
This has been the month of Full Dark, No Stars adaptations. A Good Marriage opened a couple of weekends back in a limited theatrical release concurrent with Video On Demand. You can rent or buy it on iTunes or Google Play (I chose the latter so I could cast it to my television), and on the OnDemand sections of cable services. I had a hard time finding it on UVerse until I discovered it was listed under “S”—for Stephen King’s A Good Marriage. This adaptation, too, is quite faithful to the source material—as well it should be since King wrote the screenplay. Some of the character interactions in the final 10-15 minutes are different, but there are no real surprises here if you’ve read the novella.
King was all over the place promoting A Good Marriage, as well as appearing on the PBS series In Search of Our Fathers. Here are some links.
Mercy, the adaptation of “Gramma” starring the kid from The Walking Dead that’s been in the can for a while, is now available for purchase on iTunes. It will be available for rent shortly. Speaking of The Walking Dead, did you pick up the Creepshow “easter egg” in the season premiere?
JJ Abram’s adaptation of 11/22/63 will be a nine-hour limited series on Hulu. It is being described as a limited “event series,” but there will be opportunities for future subsequent seasons based on the story.
In this interview King did with MTV while promoting A Good Marriage, he discusses his thoughts on the Dark Tower movie adaptation. “It took me 35, 36 years to write ‘The Dark Tower.’ I can wait [for the movie],” King said. “We’ve been close a couple of times. I’m content to see what happens. Sooner or later, it’ll show up.” He explained why he chose to write the screenplay for A Good Marriage and also teased that Josh Boone’s cinematic version of The Stand may be two movies.
CBS has renewed Under the Dome for a third season.
The audio version of Revival is being read by David Morse, who has a strong King pedigree. He appeared in The Green Mile, Hearts in Atlantis and The Langoliers.
And stay tuned for a special announcement from Rich Chizmar on Halloween!
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