The Losers' Club: A Stephen King Podcast

Forgive the creaking hinges and fluttering moths, Constant Listeners. The Losers just cracked open Stephen King’s fabled TRUNK, the one where he keeps all the inked-up pages he’s not yet ready to unleash upon the world. It’s here where the final (?) Richard Bachman's Blaze moldered for decades. Join Losers Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, Dan Caffrey, and Dan Pfleegor as they chat about this curio in...

This month marks the 30th anniversary of George A. Romero's The Dark Half . To celebrate, the Losers are unlocking their Ka-mmentary track for the Stephen King staple that features Dan Caffrey, Dan Pfleegor, and Justin Gerber returning to Castle Rock to talk all things Romero and all things Rooker. For more Ka-mmentaries like this -- we have one for almost every King movie to date -- please join u...

Spring is here, but the Summer heat is on across King's Dominion. So, once again, The Losers' Club is putting on their shades, revving up their Plymouth Fury, and feeling the breeze in Hollywood King. Along the way, they sort through plenty of Needful Tweets. Topics include Welcome to Derry , Stephen King 4K releases, Mike Flanagan's latest ideas for The Dark Tower , favorite soul songs, The Last...

Here's a preview of our latest installment of the CrichtonCast, our Michael Crichton spinoff podcast exclusive to The Barrens. Last year, the series debuted by discussing The Andromeda Strain . This installment sees Randall and Justin engaging in a sweeping conversation about 1987's Sphere , a sci-fi page-turner that not only came out the same year as Stephen King's The Tommyknockers , but shares...

The Losers reach Boo'ya Moon, where they discover Stephen King's 2006 novel, Lisey's Story. Join Losers Jenn Adams, Michael Roffman, Ana Marie Cox, and special guest Johann Trotter as they meditate on how King's personal story of love and trauma brings us closer than ever to the Master of Horror. Note: This episode was originally recorded and released in June 2021 ahead of the Apple TV+ series. It...

The Losers gather at Boston International Airport to close out their coverage on Stephen King's Cell . Now that they've explored the 2006 novel (see our book episode from back in March), they leap ahead a decade to dial into Tod Williams’ 2016 adaptation. Together, they discuss the film's super long production history (and time in development hell), the reunion of 1408 stars John Cusack and Samuel...

It's St. Patrick's Day! To celebrate, the Losers untie another big ol' Bag of Bones and answer your questions. Questions like "Who's the luckiest (and unluckiest) character in King's Dominion?", "Who wins in a fight? Church or Cuj?", "What's the best St. Patrick's Day read?", "Which King book was the biggest let down?", "What's your favorite King sentence?", and, naturally, "Who in King's Dominion...

Will you accept this rose, Constant Listeners? Hope so. The Bachelor himself Zach Shallcross joins the Losers to discuss his journey through Stephen King's catalogue. Together, they discuss how he stumbled into King's Dominion, the books he's read so far, the books he can't wait to read, and how Billy Summers has kept him company on his quest for love. Elsewhere, we also discuss his affinity for t...

There's a new crop in the cornfields -- it's Kurt Wimmer's Children of the Corn . The Losers head to Nebraska to cover the new re-imagining of the Stephen King short story and get high on the corn oil along the way. Together, they discuss how this franchise has amassed 11 features, why the Corn endures, where they could possibly even take this IP down the road, what an Adapted By credit means (as...

Here's a clip from Jenn’s King Character Corner, our new Patreon exclusive series that sees Jenn Adams embarking on a deep dive into our favorite Stephen King characters both on the page and on the screen. This kickoff episode sees her lighting fires with the Firestarter herself, Charlie McGee. Want to hear the full track? Become a member of The Barrens (Patreon) by visiting www.patreon.com/thebar...

The Losers run out of Boston Common as The Pulse consumes the world around them. Luckily, they find a peaceful retreat at Gaiten Academy, where they catch their breath to discuss Stephen King's Cell . Together, they meditate on the reverberations of 9/11 throughout the post-apocalyptic novel, the parallels to H.G. Wells and Richard Matheson, the hilarious digital marketing campaign around its rele...

Black Forest author Laramie Dean, practitioner of Montana gothic and one of Randall’s smartest friends, joins us for a spirited, enlightening chat about queerness in King’s work as it’s evolved from ‘Salem’s Lot and The Stand to 2018’s Elevation . Laramie also opens up about what he looks for in queer horror stories and tells us about his copy of Silver Bullet , which was sent to him at age 8 with...

Here's a clip from our Valentine’s Day special exclusive to our patrons in The Barrens. We called it The Sweetest Slice, which, yes, is a reference to poundcake. Why? Because, this year, we played Kinky Cupid and tore out our favorite sex scenes from Stephen King’s works. Want to hear the full track? Become a member of The Barrens (Patreon) by visiting www.patreon.com/thebarrens . You'll unlock hu...

The Losers head to the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, DC to help the FBI solve a strange case file sent from the Derry Private Library in Maine. It's an X-File dated February 8, 1998 and there's a single word at the top: "Chinga". Join Special Agents Michael Roffman, Justin Gerber, McKenzie Gerber, and new recruit Sammie Kuykendall as they attempt to solve this bizarre case and explain ho...

One club welcomes another on the latest installment of The Losers’ Club ’s On Writers series. This week, Losers Randall Colburn and Mel Kassel chat with acclaimed novelist Paul G. Tremblay about last year’s The Pallbearers Club . Tremblay unpacks his careful approach to ambiguity and the necessity he feels to earn his experiments with narrative. He also discusses A Knock at the Cabin , the M. Nigh...

Winter is fierce, but the heat is on across King's Dominion. So, once again, The Losers' Club is putting on their shades, revving up their Plymouth Fury, and feeling the breeze in Hollywood King. Topics include the just-released trailer for Rob Savage 's The Boogeyman , all the updates surrounding King's next novel Holly , Kurt Wimmer's finally-to-be-released Children of the Corn , and all those K...

Here's a clip of our Patreon exclusive series the Dark Tower Detour, which sees co-hosts Dan Pfleegor and Dan Caffrey studying the minutiae of Roland Deschain’s epic quest. Now that they’ve completed their run through Mid-World, the Dans are going back to the beginning. The very beginning. All the way back to Robert Browning’s poem “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”. Want to hear the full trac...

In the latest installment of their On Writers' series, Randall and Mel talk with Brian Evenson, author of such eerie and enigmatic works  Last Days, Song for the Unraveling of the World , and Father of Lies . Brian discusses his "ruthless" style, body horror, and genre experimentation in his 2021 collection  The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell.  We also chat about his TV work on Peacock's Friend of...

The Losers return to Maine and take a ferry out to Moose-Lookit Island, where they learn about the mystery of The Colorado Kid . It's a slim tale with very little answers, but they quickly learn there's a lot of meat to chew on. Hell, you might even choke on it! Keep all that in mind as you join the Losers for their first book episode of Season 7. Together, they discuss the origins of the Hard Cas...

Six years, seven seasons! The Losers reassemble following a much-needed holiday break to look ahead at 2023. Together, they share their own highlights of Season 6, share the Club's reading and viewing lists for the year, dig into some Needful Tweets, and make a stop in Hollywood King to finally discuss all the news surrounding Mike Flanagan's The Dark Tower . Gonna be a real wild year, alright. Fo...

In their second episode dedicated to The Dark Tower , the last book in Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga (that isn’t Wind Through the Keyhole ), the Losers get caught in the web of the book’s most controversial character: the child-spider Mordred. Is the hungry arachnid one of King’s most vicious villains or a massive letdown? And what of his most controversial kill? They also delve deep into the sto...

The beginning of the end has arrived: Join Losers Randall Colburn, Ana Marie Cox, Dan Pfleegor, and Dan Caffrey as they ascend Stephen King's The Dark Tower VII . In the first of two book episodes, they'll discuss endings, second chances, and the weight of expectation. Is The Dark Tower King’s crowning achievement, as so many posited at the time of its release? Also, what has King said about it —...

Here's a clip of our Patreon exclusive episode that sees the Losers taking inventory on the highs and lows of the horror genre in 2022. Pearl , Barbarian , Smile , Nope , X , Scream , Halloween Ends , it's all discussed. Rest assured, Stephen King's place in the slate is also discussed. Want to hear the full track? Become a member of The Barrens (Patreon) by visiting www.patreon.com/thebarrens . Y...

Next week, the Losers will begin their much-anticipated final coverage of The Dark Tower with the first of two book episodes dedicated to the epic 2004 closer. In anticipation, we're unlocking this quirky, spoiler-filled discussion about the Crimson King from way, way back in August of 2020. At the time, we were just wrapping up our book episode on Insomnia, so it felt right to discuss Big Red. No...

It's beginning to look a lot like Kingmas. Join Losers Michael Roffman, Jenn Adams, Sammie Kuykendall, and special guest Julia Marchese as they dream up the perfect gifts for Constant Readers both naughty and nice. Think of it as a Stephen King gift guide of sorts. Eh, more like a wishlist. Follow us on  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram   |  Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...