Back in 1998 I visited Bangor and King’s red house. I was not inside the house, only outside, posing for a picture and admiring the look of the house. At that time King lived in the house but today it’s a different thing. King and his wife Tabitha don’t live there anymore. The house is now an archive housing early versions of King’s books among other things. Researchers can apply for access to the house and if they are granted access they can visit and check out its contents. A goldmine for every King fan but access is only granted sparsely. As far as I know, only one person has been granted access so far and that person is Caroline Bicks.

Bicks spent one year in that house (not without leaving thank God) and checked out early versions of The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ‘Salem’s Lot and Night Shift. What she found was that there were quite a lot of differences between the first draft and the final draft. Characters got new names and some changed quite a bit during the rewrites in the different drafts. Her findings are presented in a book called Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King. And, as if full access to the archives wasn’t enough, she also had access to King himself so she could ask him about the changes, why he made them and how he thought when he did them.

To say that Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King is an interesting book is a huge understatement. This is the book I have been waiting for, without knowing that I was waiting for it. I love to read about how things and characters in King’s books have changed during the different drafts and why. Titles have changed and some characters were renamed and redone. Bicks also highlights some small changes that have a big impact on the story. It can be the removal of one small word or the addition of a sentence. This if anything shows how well King masters the English language and his delicate feeling for what one word can add or remove.

Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King is the most interesting book about King's work I have read since…well since I can remember and I’m hoping that Bicks will go back and spend more time in those archives. I want the same treatment for all of King’s books, not just these five books. I don't know if she will but she didn't give me a har "never" when I interviewed her about the book. So keep your fingers crossed.

Check out Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King. If you’re even the slightest interested in knowing how King’s books developed from the first draft to the final draft this is the book for you. And if you’re thinking, “how interesting can this be?”, just read the book and you’ll find out.