The Kingcast

Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess is a slightly different take on the apocalypse from his previous massive entry, The Stand. Here, we're wiped out by the good intentions of a scientist seeking world peace and that he does, but at a pretty dire cost.

Today's episode is brought to you by Blumhouse Productions' There's Something Wrong With The Children (https://www.blumhouse.com/tv) currently available on digital and digital on demand.  The topic of this week's show is Cujo. This story of a lovable family dog that turns rabid and tortures a poor mother and her young son in a tiny Ford Pinto holds up very well and today we dive into why we think that is.

Back in 1992, Mary Lambert followed up her popular adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary with a sequel that is flat out bonkers. Tonal shifts that are so abrupt you'll get whiplash, an already checked out tweenage Eddie Furlong in the lead, a totally confused Anthony Edwards in the kindly dad role, bizarre sex dreams involving naked women with dog heads and that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

What would you do if you could type in any phrase into a mysterious (and janky) computer and it would become reality? '80s Stephen King posits that the best thing to do is totally erase your jerk family members and replace them with a new loved ones.

Cycle of the Werewolf began life as a calendar that evolved into a novella penned by Stephen King and illustrated by the late, great Berni Wrightson. King himself penned the screenplay for the 1985 adaptation that the hosts of this show think is pretty good, but wasn't accepted by critics or audiences upon release. 

Wizard and Glass is a demarcation line in Stephen King's magnum opus: The Dark Tower. At the forefront is a tragic story of young love that left the series's lead character a cruel, empty shell of a man. Book IV of The Dark Tower series ups the stakes and bonds our beloved Ka-Tet even further.

Battleground is a simple story of a hitman fighting a bunch of revenge-seeking little green army men toys that King originally published in Playboy before rolling into his short story collection Skeleton Crew.

Gramma is one of Stephen King's creepiest short stories, all about a young boy left at home with his ailing grandmother... who might also be a witch and in the final stages of putting a master plan together that doesn't bode very well for her terrified grandson. Published in Skeleton Crew, this story made an impression on our guest at a young age and he came over to talk about that with the boys.

Conversation once again turns to Stephen King's second novel, 'Salem's Lot, which is about a corrupt small Maine town slowly being taken over by vampires. This chat largely focuses on Tobe Hooper's made-for-TV adaptation from 1979 which forever terrified a whole generation of kids who now can't look out a misty window without crapping their pants. Thanks, Tobe.

After the publication of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot he decided to write a prequel short story in the style of Bram Stoker's Dracula about the origins of the cursed town that would, eventually, be overrun by vampires. Jerusalem's Lot is that story is perhaps the earliest story by the prolific author to go into some creepy Lovecraft territory.