The Kingcast

Rose Red is the rare mini-series that Stephen King wrote directly for the screen and is essentially his stab at playing in Shirley Jackson's Hill House sandbox. With a wild cast that includes both Nancy Travis and Julian Sands and Melanie Lynskey and a story that feels like a Greatest Stephen King Hits compilation, Rose Red is a fascinating one to look back on.

"A Death" is a lesser-known Stephen King short story from The Bizarre of Bad Dreams. Set in the Old West times, a young girl is killed and the town rounds up a likely suspect who proclaims his innocence upon deaf ears. Is this man a murderer or is he innocent, like he claims? 

Larry Hama not only worked on GI Joe, he also dabbled with Wolverine, Nth Man, and Elektra. His work on Joe didn't end with the comics, either. He also penned the majority of the dossier files on the back of all the toys. 

Both The Mist and our guest's latest film, Drop, are contained pot-boilers as a small group of people share the same small common area as wild stuff is happening outside. One involves creepy cell phone drops, the other tentacled monsters, but go with us with this comparison.

Carrie is the novel that started everything for Stephen King, a runaway success that set him up to be the master of horror for going on 5 decades now. It tells the story of a sheltered, awkward girl who just so happens to be telekinetic and when she's pushed too far... well, she makes her wrath known to the entire town.

Christine tells the story of Arnie Cunningham and his disturbingly close relationship with his car. What does this story have to say about toxic masculinity? How hard is it to film automotive mayhem? And what's with all the wiener grabbing? All these questions and more are asked and answered in today's episode.

Eyes of the Dragon sees a small kingdom completely upturned thanks to the murder of their King. An innocent prince is framed for his father's murder and is locked away in a tower while his younger brother takes the thrown, the unwitting lapdog of the evil wizard Randall Flagg. Thanks to our sponsors this week: Lumi Gummies and A24's Opus

Director Osgood Perkins is most famous for the recent genre smash, Longlegs, and he brings his unique point of view to The Monkey, which is out in theaters now from Neon and James Wan's Atomic Monster. Make sure to check out the movie and read Kingcast co-host Anthony Breznican's wonderful Vanity Fair profile on Osgood Perkins.

James Wan is famous for Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, and Aquaman, but he's also produced a few Stephen King adaptations, including The Monkey, which is being released February 21st. We talk a lot about working with Osgood Perkins, how perfectly horror and comedy can work together if crafted correctly, his version of The Tommyknockers which never made it off the ground, and his love of Stephen King's It.

King drops some news about his current novel, The Talisman 3, and fields a variety of questions ranging from the adaptations of his work (stuff like the upcoming The Life of Chuck, The Long Walk, and The Monkey, and classics like Cujo and Maximum Overdrive) to nerdy deep dives into his craft, his relationship with Tabby, the new Holly Gibney novel coming this May called Never Flinch, Mike Flanagan, and just what the hell is up with all the corn in his work. This episode is sponsored by Neon's The Monkey, an adaptation of King's short story of the same name directed by Osgood Perkins (Longlegs), and starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, and Elijah Wood, coming to theaters February 21st.