NEWS -

Richard Bachman Connection In The End Times

Posted: October 4, 2025, 00:40
_

Interesting news about the upcoming The End Times. I have heard that…

King's Constant readers will be excited to learn that King's contributions will have an interesting connection with Richard Bachman.

There are still physical editions left but get them fast, no way of telling how long they will last. Get the physical edition here.

If you rather get a digital edition you can get that here.

Tom Gordon On Becoming Subject Of A King Novel

Posted: October 3, 2025, 13:28
_
Tom Gordon talks about becoming subject of a King Novel.


Gordon said Stephen and Tabitha King came to his hometown to see if he was the right person for the book.

"They came and met me at my hometown and ate at a restaurant called Olympic Restaurant. And she told Stephen, she says, Flash is the right person for this. Stephen told me, he said, when she said that there was no other body, no other person, we were thinking that this was gonna happen with you, my friend," Gordon said.

"And that was the actual final outcome. And I'm grateful."

Gordon questioned King about why he was chosen and not anyone else.

"I asked a couple times, why me? You know, why me? And he said to me, there was no better guy to do this with because we liked how you approached the game. And I approached the game the same way I did as a kid," Gordon said.

Check out the full clip here

Edgar Wright On The Ending Of The Running Man

Posted: October 1, 2025, 13:08
_
Edgar Wright talks about how he had to change the ending of The Running Man (no spoilers on the book and/or Movie ending) and what King thought about it in an interview with Film Stories Magazine.


Possibly the most nerve-wracking day of the entire production was writing to King with an attachment of the screenplay and pressing send. Everybody knew at the outset that [the novel’s ending] wasn’t going to be part of this adaptation exactly the way.

But would King approve the new ending?

He realised even before he read it that we weren’t going to be doing the ending from the book. And when [King] emailed back, he said, ‘I was very curious how you were going to tackle the ending, and I think you did a great job.’ So I was very happy with that.

We Have A Dragon Winner!

Posted: October 1, 2025, 08:45
_
The Contest is over and we have a winner. But before we come to that, let’s check on the question.

The question was:
Joe Hill has written two short stories with his father Stephen King. Name the title of one of them.


The answer is:

Throttle, published in He Is Legend in 2009.
In the Tall Grass, published in Esquire in 2012.

Both stories can also be found in Joe’s collection Full Throttle from 2019 so if you haven’t read them, order the book here and do that now. In the Tall Grass can also be found as a feature film on Netflix.

And now to the winner. From over 1,000 entries I have drawn one winner. This person gave the correct answer and followed me on social media as required and will now receive an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of Joe Hill’s upcoming book King Sorrow, signed by Joe.

The winner is Will Steven from the US. Now, I know this is a fairly common name so before you get all excited let me tell you that I have been in touch with the right Will and if I haven’t been in touch with you even though your name is Will Steven you are not the winner.

With that said, congratulations to Will and a HUGE thanks to Headline, Joe Hill and all of you that entered the contest.

One-Night Only Special Screening Of The Life Of Chuck

Posted: September 25, 2025, 16:15
_
The Life of Chuck returns to theaters for a one-night only special engagement on October 1st.

This unique event will feature an exclusive conversation with director Mike Flanagan and legendary actor Mark Hamill, offering audiences rare insight into the making of the film, its emotional resonance, and the enduring legacy of Stephen King’s original short story.


Tickets are available beginning September 24th at participating theaters and major ticketing platforms. At AMC Theaters the film will be screened in Dolby and at Regal in RPX screens.

New Ending For The Long Walk

Posted: September 25, 2025, 15:17
_
Amazon.com has the DVD, BD and 4K BD listed on their site with some very interesting info.


1. They list the running time as 2 hours and 30 minutes. While shown at the cinema the running time was only 1 hours and 48 minutes. It's not stated what the extra 42 minutes are. It could be a directors cut edition, all extra material included or just an error on Amazon's part.

2. They list a new ending on the 4K edition that I'm very interested in. This new ending is only included in the 4K edition.

Jay Van Hoy Filming Rat

Posted: September 25, 2025, 08:20
_
King's novella Rat is being turned into a film by producer Jay Van Hoy. The screenplay is written by Jeff Howard and Isaac Ezban will be directing.

Ezban said:
“Stephen King has always been my favorite writer, ever since I started reading horror as a teenager, and since then, I’ve had the long-time dream of adapting some of his material… He embodies that essence of the contrast of beauty and brutality that has shaped my vision and sensibilities as a storyteller. I’ve read most of his work, and Rat remains one of my favorite stories he’s ever created… the perfect match — a dark, intimate, bizarre, even humorous and deeply unsettling story that gets under your skin… I see this as a survival movie about writer’s block, and also as the ultimate tale of our craft vs. our people, our creations vs. our loved ones, our art vs. our family, a theme I can very personally relate to. King has always inspired me as a filmmaker and a storyteller, and I feel honored to bring this tale to life.”

In a joint statement, the producers added:
“Coming off the incredible experience of producing 52nd State, we were eager to dive into a project with the same level of ambition and artistic edge. Rat gives us that opportunity. Stephen King’s work has always been a touchstone for genre filmmakers, and with Isaac and Jeff steering this adaptation, we believe it will capture both the terror and humanity that make his stories timeless.”

Earlier Ben Stiller has been mentioned as the films producer but he seems to be out of the picture as of now.

Writing Books On A Typewriter

Posted: September 24, 2025, 09:47
_
Joe Hill just posted his newsletter Escape Hatch: Issue 68 and in it he reveals a very interesting thing. He is writing his books on typewriters. How about that. Here is what he writes.

It’s no secret to regular readers of Escape Hatch that I’m in some kind of managed retreat from the 21st Century. I try to keep the median temperature in my office set to about 1976. I mostly skip streaming my music and opt for vinyl. I don’t bring the cell phone in the office, if I can help it. And I wrote all of The Fireman longhand in a bunch of massive ledgers.

But I don’t know if I can work that way and get a novel done every year. So, just in the last couple months, I’ve shifted over to writing my first drafts on the typewriter instead of the computer. It’s the happy spot halfway between scrawling a story on parchment with a raven’s feather and using some bloated piece of word processing software.
If you even want to call working on the typewriter “writing” at all. In the time since I’ve shifted over, I’ve hardly felt like I was writing at all. It’s more like driving nails—or squeezing the trigger on a nail-gun. The steel keys on my Olivetti go chomp-chomp-chomp and eat up the page and a while later I’ve got another 1600 words. No going back to fix things. No second thoughts.

I’ve got a whole stack of functioning typewriters, and I thought I’d rotate them between pieces, see how it goes. I’ve got a frail Selectric III (with a fancy-pants innovation: Correct-Tape!), a robust olive-colored Selectric II, and the one I’m using currently, my blood-red Olivetti, a 60-year-old manual. So far it seems like there might still be some good words left in this antique. Whether I refer here to the machine or the man sitting behind it, I leave you to decide.

Subscribe to Joe’s Substack to receive the next email.

My Interview With JT Mollner

Posted: September 18, 2025, 15:18
_
A few days ago JT Mollner (scriptwriter for The Long Walk) took time of from working on his new script for the movie version of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon to talk to me about The Long Walk (and a little about The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon). It was a very pleasant and informative conversation. Please note though that there are some spoilers.

Hill's Introduction To Salem's Lot

Posted: September 15, 2025, 21:46
_

In the upcoming 50th anniversary edition of Salem’s Lot Joe Hill has written an introduction where he talks about seeing the adaptation of the book back in 1979 with his parents as well as the importance of the book in the vampire genre. Check it out here

My Thoughts On The Long Walk

Posted: September 12, 2025, 09:39
_
Here are my thoughts about The Long Walk.

I really like the movie and I’m going to go so far as to say that it’s one of the best movies based on a King movie ever done. I know there are movies like The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption but I stand by my word. Given the chance to watch only one of those two or The Long Walk I would pick The Long Walk.

Contest Time

Posted: September 9, 2025, 23:06
_
Headline and Joe Hill sent me a signed Advanced Readers Copy of King Sorrow to use in a contest here at Lilja’s Library. So, here is your chance to own a quite special edition of Joe’s upcoming book AND it’s signed by Joe. There aren’t many copies like this out there so don’t miss this chance!


This is Joe’s first book in 9 years if you’re not counting collections and comics and the wait is finally over on October 21st. And if you’re like me you’ll love this one.

To win this special book you need to do the following:

1) Follow Lilja’s Library on one or more of my social medias. Facebook, Instagram, X, Bluesky or Threads.
2) Answer the question below no later than September 30.

I will then after drawing a winner randomly select one of my social media and if the person I have drawn follows me there, we have our winner. If the person is not, I will draw a new winner and again randomly select one of my social media and so on. So, the more of my social media you follow the better.

Question:
Joe Hill has written two short stories with his father Stephen King. Name the title of one of them.

Send in your answer here.

Good Luck everyone and again, thanks to Headline and Joe Hill.

Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King

Posted: September 3, 2025, 08:59
_
What seems to be a very interesting look into early King and how he worked is being published by Hodder & Stoughton on April 21 next year. I’m talking about the book Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks.

Pre-order your copy now:
From Amazon.co.uk
From Amazon.com

After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maine’s inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writer’s creative process – most of them never before studied or published. The year she spent exploring King’s early drafts and hand-written revisions was guided by one question millions of King’s enthralled and terrified readers (including her) have asked themselves: What makes Stephen King’s writing stick in our heads and haunt us long after we’ve closed the book?

Bicks focuses on five of his most iconic early works – The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ‘Salem’s Lot, and Night Shift – to reveal how he crafted his language, storylines, and characters to cast his enduring literary spells. While tracking King’s margin notes and editorial changes, she discovered scenes and alternative endings that never made it to print, but that King is allowing her to publish now. The book also includes interviews Bicks had with King along the way that reveal new insights into his writing process and personal history.

Part literary master class, part biography, part memoir and investigation into our deepest anxieties, Monsters in the Archives – authorized by Stephen King himself – is unlike anything ever published about the master of horror. It chronicles what Bicks found when she set out to unearth how King crafted some of his scariest, most iconic moments. But it’s also a story about a grown-up English professor facing her childhood fears and getting to know the man whose monsters helped unleash them.
international bestseller Stephen King.

Philippa Pride, Stephen King’s British editor, says: ‘This is a fascinating and unique exploration of King’s work – authorised by Stephen King himself – by Shakespearian scholar Caroline Bicks. It offers new insights into the creative and personal world of Stephen King, which will appeal not only to those fans who devoured King’s book On Writing, but also to those who are fascinated by the writing process.’

My Thought On Hansel & Gretel

Posted: September 2, 2025, 08:49
_
Here are my thoughts about Hansel & Gretel. There is a small spoiler in the review so be warned...

While reading the book, I at one point found myself saying, “Yes, great work Steve!” and that was when he, in true King style, connected the story to his own world by revealing that...

Andy Muschietti Talks Welcome to Derry

Posted: September 1, 2025, 09:08
_
Check out this interview with Andy Muschietti where he talks about the Welcome to Derry and how it will connect to other works by King like The Shining and The Dark Tower. He also talks about how there are plans for at least two more seasons.

Welcome to Derry premiers in October on HBO.

New Interview With King

Posted: September 1, 2025, 08:18
_
Here is a new interview with King in which he speaks about his fear of dementia (no he doesn’t have it), having finished The Talisman 3 and is now on a temporary work halt.

In some areas the interview is behind a paywall but not all so check it out if you can here.

Excerpt From King Sorrow

Posted: August 30, 2025, 09:42
_
USA TODAY has the first exclusive excerpt from Joe Hill’s King Sorrow (out Oct. 21), which takes places over 25 years beginning in 1989 and follows six friends who strike a deal with a dragon to protect them, though that deal pays a bloody toll over time.

Check out the excerpt here.

Physical Copy Of The End Times

Posted: August 26, 2025, 16:00
_
Did you order a digital version (or not at all) of The End Times and want a physical copy? Now is your chance...if you live in the US.

You can order here and if you have already ordered a digital copy you should have gotten an email with a code giving you a discount on the physical edition.

The Institute Renewed For A Second Season

Posted: August 22, 2025, 18:08
_
The Institute renewed for a second season.


“Set free but hunted, new dangers await the escapees from the Institute and I can’t wait.”
- Stephen King.

"We’ve been so gratified by the response to our first season, which is a testament to the dedication of our fantastic cast and crew. We’re thrilled that Michael Wright and everyone at MGM have enabled us to continue Stephen’s powerful and timely story. From this project’s inception, we’ve felt there would be much more story to tell as our brilliant characters continue to navigate their way through the dangers of the world they’re facing”.
- Jack Bender and Benjamin Cavell.

June/July's Derry Monthly Is Out (A Bit Late)

Posted: August 20, 2025, 08:13
_

The latest and last issue of Derry Monthly is out. For one year I have written this column but this is my last one for Dread Central. Thanks to everyone who read it, liked it and commented on it. I’m still here if you want to keep chatting about King and off course you’ll always find the latest news about what he is up to right here.

Pennywise Flashback Figure

Posted: August 9, 2025, 23:29
_
This new Pennywise figure from McFarlane is based on Welcome to Derry and called Pennywise: Flashback and might give us a hint to how Pennywise looked once. If you look close it looks like he has a hood on his head and the clothes are more yellow. And what is he holding in his hans? What does that mean? I have no idea but hopefully we’ll find out in October.

More info here

Trailers You Need To See

Posted: July 27, 2025, 23:59
_
Here is our King fall in trailers. We still have four more adaptations coming this year and here are the trailers.

The Long Walk (September 12)

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Welcome to Derry (October)

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

The Running Man (November 7)

Trailer 1:

The Black Phone 2 (October 17)

New Trailer For Welcome To Derry & Some Thoughts

Posted: July 27, 2025, 23:03
_
Here is the new trailer for Welcome to Derry.


Some thoughts.

1. Why is there no premier date, only the month? I don't think I have ever seen a show where they have been so reluctant to release the exact date.

2. I hope I'm wrong but I do get the feeling that it's almost a remake of the movies. It's said to be about Pennywise's background but there is still a new Looser's Club and as far as the trailer shows we diden't get many hints about much else. I hope I'm wrong but I can't quite shake the feeling.

What do you think?

The Long Walk To Comic-Con

Posted: July 26, 2025, 02:49
_
At the Comic-Con panel for The Long Walk a new trailer was show as well as the first 22 minutes of the movie, introduced by King himself (on link).


When Mark Hamill showed up (with others from the cast) he had a t-shirt with Based on the novel by Richard Bachman printed on the front. The Long Walk is a Bachman novel.

JT Mollner To Adapt The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Posted: July 24, 2025, 21:35
_
Lionsgate just optioned the rights to adapt The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

The company has enlisted JT Mollner ( The Long Walk to write and direct the adaptation.

"JT is a filmmaker we believe has a bright future," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Erin Westerman. "Throughout his work, he creates characters, and especially young characters, that are so compelling, heartbreaking, and emotional that they pop off the screen. And of course, that's what Stephen King does on the page as well. The story of survival and perseverance in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is timeless. We've loved this tale for a long time, and JT is the perfect choice to adapt and direct this King fan favorite."

King Writing For The End Of Times

Posted: July 17, 2025, 12:12
_
Benjamin Percy new project is called The End Times and is the name of a post-apocalyptic newspaper and written as such. A new edition will be released every month starting this November.


The editor-in-chief of The End Times is a woman who stumbles across a printing press a decade after a virus killed all but a tiny sliver of humanity and decides that survivors still need the news.

She starts posting the newspaper in the central square and then it gains more and more popularity and it starts to become a situation that I describe as a blend of Station Eleven and Our Town as different people’s voices start to fill the paper.

One of those voices will be written by King.

I’m not going to give too much away, but let’s just say some of what I already have in my inbox involves scarecrows with large button eyes and dead rats and bodies dangling from the rafters of barns. You know, the Stephen King special.

King will not be writing under his own name, but as a fictional character living in this post-apocalyptic world. Percy slyly hinted that we might be seeing some “Bachman in the byline” for King’s contributions.

Two versions of The End Times were made available to pre-order by Bad Hand Books. One is an actual, physical newspaper printing that would be delivered to your mailbox once a month (limited run of 500 already sold) out, but the digital version can be pre-ordered for $15. 

More info over at Fangoria

Welcome To Derry Coming To Comic-Com

Posted: July 13, 2025, 11:53
_
Welcome to Derry will be at Comic-Con 2025!


WELCOME TO DERRY: SDCC
2025 SPECIAL EVENT

HBO Max is bringing a chilling surprise for IT fans with an exclusive sneak peek of Welcome to Derry!

Saturday, July 26
Room 6DE
9:15-9:45 PM

Join Andy & Barbara Muschietti for a first look at the premiere episode and the debut of a brand new teaser trailer.

Enjoy free ice cream

No registration needed. Seating is first come, first served!

And that's not all:

Keep your eyes peeled on Friday and Saturday for Pennywise inspired pedicabs offering free rides. Brand ambassadors will also be roaming the area with some "chilling sweets.

My Thoughts On The Institute

Posted: July 13, 2025, 00:00
_
Here are my thoughts about The Institute that premiers tonight with it's two first episodes.

The series follows King’s book pretty well. There are differences, yes, and they have shortened or removed some scenes, but the feel of the story is still there and all in all I enjoyed it.

Special feature

King calendar

2026:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (Portuguese ed.)
2026:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (Portuguese edition)
2026:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (German edition)
2026:
Carrie TV Series
2026:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (German ed.)

Latest interviews

Joe Hill
November 3, 2025
JT Mollner
September 18, 2025
Angelina Kekish
February 16, 2021

Latest reviews

The Running Man
November 14, 2025
The End Times
October 28, 2025
Welcome To Derry
October 26, 2025

Books

A complete list of all of Stephen King's books.

Author Photo Quiz

How well do you know your King? Do the quiz!

King's best book

Vote for the best Stephen King book of all time...

Report errors

If you find errors considering links and images and such please report them along with detailed information about which page the error occurred.