The Kingcast

Jessie Burlingame finds herself in one hell of a predicament when a romantic night with her husband goes south and she finds herself handcuffed to a bed with no chance of rescue. It's up to her to fight through the panic and figure out a way out of this impossible situation using only her wits and a secret buried deep with her memories of childhood trauma. 

Expect to hear from campers Kate Siegel, Mike Flanagan, Wynter Mitchell, David Lowery, Akela Cooper, Steve Agee, Devon Sawa, Josh Ruben, Flula Borg, Michael Kennedy, James Austin Johnson, Chuck Tingle, Laura Lux, Matt Fraction, Daniel Danger, Trae Crowder, Patton Oswalt, David Dastmalchian, David Farrier, Stephen Graham Jones, Dave Schilling, Josh Gondelman, Mallory O'Meara and Josh Robert Thompson as they recount their favorite short stories from Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes.

2006's Lisey's Story is King's self-proclaimed favorite novel, but it is one that has proven to be divisive among his constant readers and flies well under the radar of his casual fans. The story follows Lisey, the wife of a famous author, who is trying to cope with the loss of her husband after his untimely death, be there for her sister whose sanity is seemingly slipping away, and all the while having to defend herself against a particularly psychotic fan of her husband's. 

Pet Sematary is the one story Stephen King was reluctant to publish and he ultimately did so in order to fulfill his contract with his then publisher. It's the story that examines what a parent would do in the face the most excruciating series of events any mother or father could experience. Sometimes dead is better.

What is one to do when you find an alien spaceship buried on your property? Well, dig it up and start building weird-ass machines that can zap your little brother to a distant planet or sort mail real good. The Tommyknockers isn't one of King's most beloved books, but it does spawn a great discussion when you try to pick it apart.

What is concealed in the mist? Tentacle monsters? Massive behemoths that will squash you without even knowing you exist? Crazy white people? All of the above, it turns out, and every single one of those things are touched on in this episode.

George A. Romero and Stephen King produced 1982's Creepshow and forever changed the landscape of anthology horror. That movie had a massive impact on a whole generation of horror nerds, including today's guest, and now it's time to dig into what still holds up today and what maybe doesn't so much.

Dreamcatcher is Stephen King's return to fiction writing after the accident that almost took his life. It's a novel about a bunch of friends who gather together in the woods as a really weird alien invasion is taking place, and while it does have its fans even King himself dismisses the book as a whiff, written mostly while the author was high on pain killers while his body was mending itself back together. As not great as the book is, the movie is even worse, despite the incredible A-list talent both in front of and behind the camera.

King's first foray into straight Fantasy was this 1984 story, The Eyes of the Dragon, which is a Dark Tower adjacent tale about two young princes in a fairy tale kingdom who are pitted against each other by the king's secretly evil magician, who regular Stephen King fans will recognize as the very same Flagg from The Stand. Part palace intrigue, part YA fantasy, The Eyes of the Dragon is an early departure from the horror realm for the author and is still a gripping read to this day.

Stephen King and merritt k discuss bizarre Stephen King video game tie-ins, including The Lawnmower Man, The Running Man, The Dark Half, and F13. They reminisce about childhood gaming, their experiences with Stephen King, and their opinions on horror video games. They critique The Dark Half's puzzles and praise its visuals. They explore Stephen King's crime novels and the importance of displaying action figures. They highlight The Lumbar Man's surprising quality and discuss Stephen King's F 13 as a CD-ROM game. They also mention a poorly connected video game based on Stephen King.