The Stephen Kingdom

Morality, Recession, and Faust . . . oh my!! Welcome to the third novella ("FAIR EXTENSION") in Stephen King's 2010 collection FULL DARK, NO STARS, a classic Deal with the Devil story with a Stephen King twist. We'll traverse our way through the history of Deal with the Devil stories, beginning with the story of Faust, all the way to the present, where Deal with the Devil stories...

As part of our first episode, "The Magic of Stephen King," we interviewed over 20 people from all manner of professions spread out across the globe who have been impacted in some way by Stephen King. We were only able to use a small clip of each interview in the episode, but we want to share their full stories and explore further why Stephen King is so important to so many people. First...

For many Americans, the 4th of July is just another day to get plastered and blow shit up. Like St. Paddy’s Day or Cinco de Mayo... but with explosives. Such is the premise of one of Stephen King’s rare forays into pure comedy—the short story DRUNKEN FIREWORKS. David discusses the short story while also taking a look at the centuries-long history of fireworks. But you know what? F*ck fireworks. Th...

As you recall from Part 1, BIG DRIVER is the story of a woman raped and left for dead who fights the odds and takes vengeance on her assaulter. King roots this novella firmly in the tradition of Rape Revenge Cinema, and this episode will take a look at the long and complicated history of how this fraught subgenre went from fringe outcast to respected mainstream. Along the way we'll hear from I...

Springtime is a time of rebirth and renewal. Flowers and trees blooming and all that crap. So leave it to Stephen King to write a story about springtime and make it about . . . a serial killer. Appearing in King's first short story collection NIGHT SHIFT (1978), "Strawberry Spring" investigates a series of brutal murders at the fictional New Sharon College in New England in March of...

REVENGE vs JUSTICE! Welcome to BIG DRIVER, the second novella in Stephen King's FULL DARK, NO STARS collection. It's the story of a woman raped and left for dead who fights the odds and takes vengeance on her assaulter. Because there's a lot to unpack here, we'll break down the novella into two parts. Part 1 will focus on Revenge Cinema through the lens of three movies King namedro...

Every now and then, we like to open up The Stephen Kingdom vaults and humbly offer the general public a taste of the goods that we provide to our devoted Patrons as exclusive content. When it comes to Stephen King scholars, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone more knowledgable than this week's guest. Bev Vincent is the author of "The Road to the Dark Tower", "The Stephen Ki...

Better known as “Mother Horror”, Sadie Hartmann is a horror reviewer, publisher, blogger, and general connoisseur of all things horror. Aside from being editor of Dark Hart Books and co-owner of the horror fiction subscription company Night Worms, she's also been known to have a direct line to Stephen King when it comes to new horror recommendations. Sadie also recently compiled an incredible...

Writer Philip Fracassi experienced firsthand the mighty power of Stephen King with a simple tweet that jumpstarted his career. Fracassi's first published novel, BOYS IN THE VALLEY , explores good vs evil, demonic possession, free will, and many other dark themes. (Bonus round, we also discuss what scares Stephen King!) 'Boys in the Valley' is out now in bookstores everywhere -- be sure...

Whether you're a fan of Stephen King, musical theatre, or just thrive on some good ol' schadenfreude, you're undoubtedly familiar with CARRIE: THE MUSICAL, one of Broadway's most notorious flops. In his new book, OUT FOR BLOOD: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF CARRIE THE MUSICAL (as well as the companion podcast of the same name), Chris Adams sifts through the annals of theatre history to bri...

In his brand-new bestselling novel WHALEFALL, Daniel Kraus puts a scientific spin on the old Jonah and the Whale myth -- what would it be like if you were actually swallowed by a whale? Kraus discusses the rigorous scientific research behind WHALEFALL, why he set the novel in Monterey, the importance of having a strong narrative voice before he starts writing, what it's like collaborating with...

In his latest novel LOWDOWN ROAD, published by Hard Case Crime, author and film critic Scott Von Doviak takes us on a wild, gritty, rampant joyride. Part heist, part road trip, and fully unchained, it's got cops and criminals, a music festival gone awry, a sh*t ton of marijuana, and Evel Knievel. LOWDOWN ROAD is more than just an homage to the 1970s, it's a love letter to a bygone era that...

In our CARRIE PART 4 episode, we delved briefly into telekinesis and pseudoscience with paranormal investigator Benjamin Radford, but David's full conversation with this renowned skeptic covered so much more. Radford has done first-hand research into psychics, ghosts, exorcisms, miracles, Bigfoot, stigmata, lake monsters, UFO sightings, reincarnation, crop circles, and many other topics. He ha...

POW! This is how Stephen King describes the elements in his life colliding to form his first novel CARRIE. In Part Four of our CARRIE Megasode, David explores King's struggles with writing the world of teenage girls, as well as the two real-life girls from his past who informed the character of Carrie. Along the way, David chats with renowned skeptic and paranormal investigator Benjamin Radfor...

Today's guest is a rare treat as we welcome to the show a true American treasure: special make-up effects designer and horror guru Greg Nicotero. Greg learned his trade under the watchful eye of SFX splatter guru Tom Savini, and got his start on George A. Romero's 1985 film "Day of the Dead". Shortly thereafter, he and close friends Howard Berger and Robert Kurtzman started the K...

Every now and then, we like to open up The Stephen Kingdom vaults and humbly offer the general public a taste of the goods that we provide to our devoted Patrons as exclusive content. Today is one such occasion, bringing you David's conversation with Andrea Subissati, a Toronto-based writer/podcaster/magazine editor/mother of dragons with a background in sociology, market research and horror m...

CARRIE is Stephen King's first published book, but did you know he actually wrote a bunch of other novels before ever typing a single word of CARRIE? In Part Three of our CARRIE Megasode, David explores King's pre-CARRIE works and some of the factors that gave him just the right kick in the pants to start writing the novel that would become a horror classic, including pushback on his early...

Following up our previous coverage of the novella "1922" from Stephen King's gruesome collection FULL DARK NO STARS, David scored some face time with Australian writer/director Zak Hilditch to talk about his incredibly faithful film adaptation of the story.   Zak initially rose through the ranks with his 2013 apocalyptic thriller THESE FINAL HOURS, which ultimately led to him teaming up with...

This week, David transports us to the sinister world of Stephen King's grim novella, "1922," from the collection FULL DARK, NO STARS. Centered around Nebraskan farmer Wilfred Leland James and the gruesome murder of his loathsome wife, we'll explore this grisly tale of cows, rats, and ever-encroaching guilt.  Featuring special guests Zak Hilditch (Writer & Director of the film adaptation o...

With this week's release of his brand new novel DON'T FEAR THE REAPER, David had the pleasure of sitting down with bestselling author STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES to chat about Stephen King, horror, Texas, and dollar burgers.  Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfoot Native American originally from Midland, Texas who has been reading everything he could get his hands on for as long as he can remember. His...

In Part Two of our ongoing multi-part CARRIE Megasode, David makes his way to Chamberlain, Maine to explore firsthand the origins of Stephen King's debut novel. Riding on the coattails of horror leviathans like THE EXORCIST, ROSEMARY'S BABY, and JAWS, the stage was set for CARRIE, assuming King could successfully maneuver the perplexing publishing world of the mid-70s. And as it turns out, this li...

In this first part of our multi-part CARRIE Megasode, David takes us back to the mid-70s to explore the circumstances that nearly resulted in a wildly different narrative for Stephen King, a dark alternate universe where CARRIE never became a sensational phenomenon. We'll delve into King's early days as a struggling writer, a young Doubleday editor who believed in him, and a series of happy accide...

As 2022 draws to a close, David looks back on the year's most memorable horror flicks to relive all the greatest thrills, chills, kills, and other truly disturbing and terrifying moments. 

Welcome to The Stephen Kingdom... In our premiere episode, we explore how Stephen King has cast a spell on millions of readers over the past five decades. With the help of filmmakers, writers, actors, and close friends of King, we take a look at his relentless workmanship, his contributions to the horror genre, his incredible knack for writing believable and relatable characters, and his endless g...

Whether you’re a Stephen King nut or a newbie who shudders at horror, join host David McCracken on his journey to discover the weird, wild, and wonderful world of Stephen Edwin King... if you dare.