The Kingcast

Set in the futuristic world of 2017 where man is hunted for entertainment while the world crumbles into a dystopia, The Running Man stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the everyman Ben Richards who is forced to compete for his very life against the most insane group of killers you could imagine.

Stephen King's On Writing is part memoir, part grammar lesson, and part inspiration. Who better to learn the ins and outs of basic writing from than the master of horror? And he does so in such a folksy, down to earth way that it never feels like homework. Follow the hosts on Twitter: @ScottWamplerRIP and @EricVespe Follow our guests on Twitter: @BeckandWoods

There are so many more Children of the Corn movies than you think there are. The Kingcast is already up to Part 5 and the movies are still in the late '90s. Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror follows a bunch of twentysomethings playing college kids on a road trip to scatter the ashes of their dead friend when they stumble upon a small town concealing, you guessed it, a weird youthful corn cu...

The topic once again turns to 11.22.63, Stephen King's epic time travel story in which an average every day teacher is recruited to travel back in time to stop JFK's assassination. It's a tricky thing, messing with time. Turns out the timestream doesn't want to be tinkered with and all sort of weird things happen to our hapless protagonist as he investigates Oswald and a good many of the conspirac...

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a somewhat overlooked King book about a young girl who gets lost in the Maine wilderness and must survive the elements and maybe even a cruel minor deity in the form of a savage bear as she either stumbles upon rescue or dies trying. A dyed-in-the-wool Red Sox fan, our young protagonist starts imaging her idol, Red Sox's closer, Tom Gordon, is there with her giving...

The Mist is one of the best Stephen King stories and Frank Darabont made a hell of an adaptation. Both are up for discussion in this week's episode. Also, make sure you head over to Fangoria to cast your ballot for the 2023 Chainsaw Awards (aka the Oscars but with way cooler movies up for awards) by going to https://www.fangoria.com/voting/

Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess is a slightly different take on the apocalypse from his previous massive entry, The Stand. Here, we're wiped out by the good intentions of a scientist seeking world peace and that he does, but at a pretty dire cost.

Today's episode is brought to you by Blumhouse Productions' There's Something Wrong With The Children ( https://www.blumhouse.com/tv ) currently available on digital and digital on demand.  The topic of this week's show is Cujo. This story of a lovable family dog that turns rabid and tortures a poor mother and her young son in a tiny Ford Pinto holds up very well and today we dive into why we thin...

Back in 1992, Mary Lambert followed up her popular adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary with a sequel that is flat out bonkers. Tonal shifts that are so abrupt you'll get whiplash, an already checked out tweenage Eddie Furlong in the lead, a totally confused Anthony Edwards in the kindly dad role, bizarre sex dreams involving naked women with dog heads and that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

What would you do if you could type in any phrase into a mysterious (and janky) computer and it would become reality? '80s Stephen King posits that the best thing to do is totally erase your jerk family members and replace them with a new loved ones.

Cycle of the Werewolf began life as a calendar that evolved into a novella penned by Stephen King and illustrated by the late, great Berni Wrightson. King himself penned the screenplay for the 1985 adaptation that the hosts of this show think is pretty good, but wasn't accepted by critics or audiences upon release. 

Wizard and Glass is a demarcation line in Stephen King's magnum opus: The Dark Tower. At the forefront is a tragic story of young love that left the series's lead character a cruel, empty shell of a man. Book IV of The Dark Tower series ups the stakes and bonds our beloved Ka-Tet even further.

Battleground is a simple story of a hitman fighting a bunch of revenge-seeking little green army men toys that King originally published in Playboy before rolling into his short story collection Skeleton Crew.

Gramma is one of Stephen King's creepiest short stories, all about a young boy left at home with his ailing grandmother... who might also be a witch and in the final stages of putting a master plan together that doesn't bode very well for her terrified grandson. Published in Skeleton Crew, this story made an impression on our guest at a young age and he came over to talk about that with the boys.

Conversation once again turns to Stephen King's second novel, 'Salem's Lot, which is about a corrupt small Maine town slowly being taken over by vampires. This chat largely focuses on Tobe Hooper's made-for-TV adaptation from 1979 which forever terrified a whole generation of kids who now can't look out a misty window without crapping their pants. Thanks, Tobe.

After the publication of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot he decided to write a prequel short story in the style of Bram Stoker's Dracula about the origins of the cursed town that would, eventually, be overrun by vampires. Jerusalem's Lot is that story is perhaps the earliest story by the prolific author to go into some creepy Lovecraft territory.

The image of the toy monkey on the cover of Skeleton Crew traumatized a generation. This episode dives into the short story that inspired that cover image, all about a cursed toy monkey that can make really bad things happen when it clangs its little symbols together. 

The year of our lord 2022 saw the release of Blumhouse's remake of Firestarter in which a bunch of stuff got changed without much thought and all the stuff they left alone was boring. For the first time this new adaptation is up for discussion and they boys are ready with some sharp, sharp knives.

Insomnia is a rare Stephen King novel that has not yet been adapted. The book centers on an elderly protagonist named Ralph Roberts who must square off against a mischievous supernatural being working at the behest of the dreaded Crimson King.  The novel tackles abortion rights, ageism, and lets us know that a bout with insomnia is all you need to pull back the dull veil of our real world and see...

Going back nearly 50 years of written material, Stephen King's queer characters run the gamut from authentic to caricature and it's about time someone took a long, hard look at that representation and have a lengthy discussion about where we think the popular author lands in terms of allyship.

If It Bleeds is the most recent novella compilation from Stephen King, containing four short stories (Mr. Harrigan's Phone, The Life of Chuck, If It Bleeds and Rat), three of which have either been adapted or optioned. 

N. is one of King's more disturbing short stories, which is all about the thin place between realities and the Old God style evil that might just be trying to break through. The story has a large focus on repetitive behaviors and OCD as well as a terrible fascination with round numbers.

When Dino De Laurentiis and Stephen King team up, things are gonna get wild, especially with Cat's Eye, a cable staple for '80s kids that features three Stephen King short vignettes all strung together by a cute cat and little Drew Barrymore.

Billy Summers is a damn good hitman out on his final job, so of course things go wrong. Today's episode takes a look at one of Stephen King's more recent books that is soon to be adapted by JJ Abrams and Ed Zwick.

Originally published in Cavalier magazine in 1972, Suffer the Little Children is a bleak, twisty short story of a stern teacher who begins to suspect her third grade students are turning into evil creatures and takes... well, desperate measures.