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Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #235

Bev VincentAugust 5, 2024August 2, 2024Stephen King News from the Dead Zone'Salem's Lot, Always Holly, Bev Vincent, Columns, Holly, It, mike flanagan, News from the Dead Zone, Stephen King, The Dark Tower, The Institute, The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, The Monkey, The Running Man, The Shining, The Talisman, Welcome to Derry, You Like It Darker1 Comment

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I last wrote one of these columns (except for a couple of book reviews). I refused to believe it until I verified it three different ways. It’s mind-blowing. Where has the time gone? Oh well, I’m here now and we have a few things to talk about.

No, not hurricanes or the Olympics or the forthcoming election. We’re here to talk about what’s new in the Stephen King Universe, so let’s get to it.
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Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #232

Bev VincentAugust 11, 2023August 11, 2023Stephen King News from the Dead Zone'Salem's Lot, Bev Vincent, Christine, Columns, Gerald's Game, Holly, It, King on Screen, mike flanagan, News from the Dead Zone, Pet Sematary, Stephen King, The Boogeyman, The Dark Tower, The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, The Monkey, Welcome to DerryLeave a comment

It’s hot. Oh, so hot. Ever so effing hot. As many of you probably know, I live in Texas. Some years we get by without a single day with a temperature above 100°. This year, we’ve been “blessed” with almost nothing but triple-digit days, with “feels like temps” over 110°. It’s relentless.

So, while the world is melting down, what else should a person do but stay inside, with the A/C turned up high, reading and writing and watching television?
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Bev Vincent Reviews If It Bleeds by Stephen King

Bev VincentApril 20, 2020April 19, 2020Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneBag of Bones, Bev Vincent, castle rock, dark tower, Different Seasons, If it Bleeds, Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Mr. Mercedes, News from the Dead Zone, Rat, Reviews, Stephen King, The Life of Chuck, The Outsider, The Shining, TR-90Leave a comment

“I Contain Multitudes”

What is a novella? In some quarters, it’s defined as a long short story or a short novel. But this is the Stephen King Universe we’re dealing with, where “The Langoliers,” coming it at over 90,000 words—a length many writers would find appropriate for a novel—is considered a novella because it was bundled with three other works of similar length. On the other side, some often consider the four entries in The Bachman Books novellas because they are bundled in similar fashion when, in fact, all four were originally published as standalone novels.

During his live reading of the first chapter of the novella “If It Bleeds” on YouTube last week, King described the book If It Bleeds as a collection of three novellas and a short novel. The four works, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone,” “The Life of Chuck,” “If It Bleeds,” and “Rat” come in at 85, 60, 187 and 85 pages respectively.

The original King novella collection, Different Seasons, was notable in that three of the four stories had no supernatural elements. The same claim could almost be made about If It Bleeds, although with some caveats. Strange things appear in every story—a dead man avenging the protagonist, a room where people see visions of impending death, a shapeshifting scavenger, and a talking rat that grants wishes—but an argument could be made that in at least two stories, and maybe three, the existence of the supernatural is, itself, speculative. It could also be based on assumptions made by the characters or their delusions. About the fourth story, though, there is no question.

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