Welcome to Derry’s images and the Dark Tower Rises

Lilja
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November 1, 2024

Welcome back, Constant Readers, to this month’s Derry Monthly with me, Sam Barry – sorry, Lilja – Dread Central’s Stephen King correspondent. It was a quiet month overall for King news. Yes, we have the new one Salem’s Lot movie, but I’ll save my thoughts on it until the end for those who haven’t seen it yet.

We also received a poster and trailer for it The Monkey. It looks fine, but the poster doesn’t really stand out to me, and I didn’t recognize the scenes in the trailer from the original story, which worries me a bit. I’m not sure why, but I can’t get too excited about it yet. It’s a solid story (if still intact in the film), but in line with many other, more exciting adaptations. Plus, keeping expectations low might not be the worst idea for these short story adaptations.

The cover for The end of the world as we know it was recently revealed. This book contains short stories set during or after the events of The standardalthough King himself does not write one. It can be an exciting collection of “what happened next” stories, or it can feel more like authorized fan fiction. The release date is August 19 next year, so we’ll see if it lives up to the hype. King has given his blessing and even written an introduction, which is surprising considering he previously opposed similar projects. I’m curious if his intro explains his change of heart.

What I really want – and need – now is news about King’s next book. Will it be so? Always Hollyas many of us suspect, or something completely different? He recently hintedT The Dark Tower on X, but that could mean a new book or maybe just excitement about Mike Flanagan’s adaptation. We’ve also heard whispers that he might be ready The talisman trilogy, which he and Peter Straub started forty years ago. Before Straub died, he sent King a letter detailing the storyline The talisman 3. Maybe King will write it himself and finally complete the trilogy. But if I had to bet, I’d say AAlways Holly will be his next release. We’re just waiting for confirmation. Normally the first hint slips during an interview, but so far not a word.

On Monday, October 15, it was announced that The Rock Bottom Remainders will hold a panel on November 23 in Miami at the Chapman Conference Center to discuss their 32 years on the road. The event is called ‘Life on the Road’. Nothing unusual so far. But then I got an email from a friend saying, “Look at the author’s photos, lol.” I checked, and sure enough, when I got to Sam Barry’s photo, I did a double take because it was actually a photo of me. Why or how this happened, I have no idea. Could Sam Barry be my pseudonym? Am I the newest member of The Rock Bottom Remainders? Am I going to Miami in November? The answers are no, no and no. Most likely someone at the Miami Book Fair made a mistake. It’s funny though, because Sam and I don’t look alike (I googled him to check), and if you do an image search for Sam Barry, you don’t get any pictures of me (I tried that too). Sorry, Sam, this is probably worse for you than for me. If anyone ever knows how this happened, I’d love to know. And if the Miami Book Fair wants me to join the panel, just send a plane ticket and I’ll be there.

By now I can imagine those of you wanting to see the new Salem’s Lot adjustment have already done this. But for anyone who hasn’t yet, be warned: this last part of the column contains minor spoilers. I watched it, and while I won’t do a full review (there are plenty of them out there), there are a few things I’d like to comment on. Visually the film looks solid, but the rest is disappointing. The casting is mostly okay, with a few exceptions. I wasn’t a fan of Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody, and Makenzie Leigh as Susan Norton was nothing short of disastrous. Leigh overplays her role as if she thinks she’s in a completely different (and much funnier) movie. It just doesn’t fit. Kurt Barlow works, but he’s a pale shadow of the terrifying figure we saw in the 1979 version. But the biggest disappointment is the ending. Instead of a gripping conclusion, we get an action-packed finale, seemingly made for a younger audience. Someone suggested that this movie is for the scroll-and-watch generation, and if even one of them gets interested in movies, that’s great, but not at the expense of a classic King adaptation. Keep the King adaptations pure, please.

Pennywise returns in 2025 for IT: Welcome to Derry

A real Halloween could never have happened without a proper King customization update. Yesterday, the fine folks at HBO’s Max released some shiny new photos from their upcoming prequel series: IT: Welcome to Derry. Check out the images for the streaming series that Max will see next year.

And finally: for the latest news! This just in, posted by King on X.

‘I’m back in Mid-World… and the Territories. I don’t know if it will be anything – I never know – but it’s good to be back.”

Middle world means The Dark TowerTerritories means The talisman and the post means that King is writing something about both worlds again. He says he doesn’t know if it will work out, but I think he’s already working on it. He knows his fans and I don’t think he would tease us like that unless he starts working on something. I suspect we’ll be back in these worlds in 2026 or 2027 at the latest, and I’m EXCITED!

And that concludes this month’s column. If I’m not in Miami next month to speak on the Rock Bottom Remainders panel, I’ll be back. But if I Doing If you end up in Miami, expect a great story for next month’s column. Be careful and read a book in the meantime!

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