PMP#18: Stephen King’s Media Empire

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Is the most popular writer of our time actually a good writer? Or maybe he used to be good but has long since run out of inspiration? What are the most effective ways to adapt these very readable short stories and novels? Does showing us the evil in a film lessen its impact? While you’ve been thinking about those questions, King already wrote another book, so ha!

Mark, Erica, and Brian share their experiences with and opinions about King’s oeuvre and the films and shows that have come out of it, including It, “The Body” (aka Stand By Me), The Shining, In the Tall Grass, The Dark Tower, The Stand, Children of the Corn, From a Buick 8, Under the Dome, The Outsider, Mr. Mercedes, Castle Rock, Pet Sematary, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, and more.

Some articles we read to prepare for this discussion include: 

• “Stephen King Has Spent Half a Century Scaring Us, but His Legacy Is So Much More Than Horror” by Aja Romano
• “Is Stephen King a Great Writer?” by Jane Ciabattari
• “Stephen King Responds to Controversy Surrounding Excluded ‘IT’ Child Orgy Scene” by Helen Meriel Thomas
• “This Stephen King Novel Will Never Be Printed Again After It Was Tied To School Shootings” by Corey Adwar

If you’ve never actually read a Stephen King novella, go ahead and read “The Body.” 

This episode includes bonus discussion that you can only hear by supporting the podcast at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life podcast network and is curated by openculture.com.