The Dark Multiverse of Stephen King

Happy Thanksgiving! It's a small celebration of Food and Stephen King, in his stories -- from It to Thinner, from The Briar Rose Cafe in Cutter's Mill to Midworld itself to that ... unfortunate incident at The Gotham Cafe -- and from real life, including real, live King-inspired foods, some great web sites for King-culinary weirdness, and a re-visit to our very own DMoSK Kitchen for a testing of the latest Red Apron recipes. Good news: some of us actually survive. Enjoy ... and have a great holiday!

Cat and Brad saw Mike Flanagan's amazing interpretation of the sequel to The Shining, and BOY do they have some things to say. It's a spoilerific exploration of another amazing adaptation, different but in many ways just as good as the book itself, and we go into detail in our mini-celebration of What Went Right this time around. Strap on our mucklucks and join us in the snowy ruins of the Overlook Hotel!

It's finallyl here! A brand new season of Castle Rock on Hulu, and Cat and Brad take to her bed and watch the first two episodes! It's all about a young Annie Wilkes (still crazy before all these years), an aging Pops Merril, the reluctant head of his idiot Castle Rock crime family, and a whole lot of creepy things happening in the ruins of the Marston House over in Jeruselem's Lot. So catch it on Hulu and join us. Plus: a special message from our mascot!

One of King's early short stories from almost fifty years ago became a really pretty lousy movie about thirty years ... and here we are talking about Graveyard Shift, as well as dishing on the horrible true story of a rat that tried to ruin Brad's life ... and would no die. Learn the truth about Ratsputin, and what lies beneath the cotton mill, is this week's giddy new ep!

The Stephen King/Joe Hill novella was just released as a Netflix feature ... and in this ep, we stagger into the original story, then watch the new movie and go deep into the green with that weird new arrival as well. It's a rough, wild ride and worth every minute. So read the story, watch the movie on Netflix and join us ... if you daaaaare! More info at our website, DarkMultiPod.com. A Proud Member of the Podbelly Network!

Up-to-date rumors and pointless innuendo about If It Bleeds, King's next book, and The Institute, King's last book, and a weird little ad about the entirely mythical but eqally insane "Castle Rock Ruins Tour." Yes: it's the mini-episode for October 4 ... and beyond!

The newly revived Creepshow series has finally premiered on Shudder ... and first up is an adaptation of Stephen King's "Gray Matter," where bad beer FINALLY takes over the world. That, plus a haunted dollhouse story from Josh Malerman, who wrote Bird Box, is a love letter to George Romero from all his buddies. Hear about the original story and the new adaptation, complete with Tobin Bell, Adrienne Barbeau, the little girl from The Walking Dead and so much more!

It's kind of amazing: this 40-year-old collection of short stories has generated literally dozens of movies, and in this special "storytelling episode," we talk a bit about all those that have already been adapted … and then re-tell each other a few of the best that have yet to be seen on any screen, including a prequel and sequel to Salem's Lot, a couple of twisted romance storiesk and one of King's creepiest monsters ever. No homework required on this one; just jump right in and be reminded of just what a great storyteller this guy can be ...

A little bit about a whole lot of things in this short, solo Mini-Episode. Creepshow is abut to premiere on Netflix ... there's a very recognizable name who's been chosen to play big, bad Randall Flagg in the remake of The Stand ... there are brand new trailers for In the Tall Grass and Castle Rock, and there's even loose talk about a possible IT Number Three from someone who might actually know a thing 'r two about evil clowns. All that and more in this week's Mini-Episode!

All the multiversal tie-ins, all the untold stories, all the drama and terror that didn't makeit into either adaptation of IT ... right here! We tell the stories still hiding in the original novel that deserve some attention, revealing connections to everything from The Shining to The Gunslinger to The End of All The Whole Mess. In-depth and outta control -- as usual!

We talk a lot about Joe Hill and all the books, TV shows, movies, and comic books -- yes, comic books! -- he has in the works, not to mention a new trailer for Castle Rock, Season 2, more on The Institution, and a great story about Patton Oswalt turning into a werewolf while skydiving and fighting Mutant Butterfly Hitler ...

We saw it last Wednesday, we saw it on Friday, and now we've got plenty to say. Is it a faithful adaptation? More important is it a good movie? How does it stack up to Chapter 1 and to the other high-profile King adaptations? There's so much to talk about ... but be sure to see Chapter Two before you dive in, because this time, more than ever, we're All Spoilers, All The Time. Hang on!

Late but worth the wait: our exploration (and we admit it: celebration) of IT: Chapter One, as the first part of our three-episode ITstravaganza. Amazing acting from a perfectly chosen cast, in a careful, thoughtful, and admittedly risky adaptation of a damn difficult book. We go up, down, and all around, as we prepare to drink in Chapter Two ...

The dates, times, and secret passwords (no really) for our ongoing ITstravaganza, some great quotes from a new interview with King in Rolling Stone (his first!), and some weird and wonderful casting news about who'll be playing Holly Gibney in HBO's series based on The Outsider. Spoiler alert: you'll be surprised!

Cat is trapped (temporarily, we hope) in the Derry Museum of Arts and Crafts (and you get to hear the ad we produce for them a while back), and we have news about yet ANOTHER new movie based on a so-far-unproduced King story. Plus a very strange, true tale of Pennywise visiting someone's back yard, entirely uninvited... catch up!

It started as an incomplete sample in King's nonfiction book On Writing, then "seduced" him into completing it, turning it into a complex and harrowing short story in Everything's Eventual, Years later, it became the 2007 John Cusack/Samuel L. Jackson hallucination, 1408. Two very different but equally satisfying versions of the story, and one of Cat's favorite King tales and adaptations. We talk about it at length this week. Definitely one of the forgotten treasures of the Multiverse!

Returning graphic novels from the maters, hidden King mini-series you have to go searching for, yet ANOTHER King novel being made into a TV series and more. It's the newest Mini-Episode with all the latest King news, and a solid endorsement from a new horror/actoin comedy that 'most every King fan will love. Enjoy!

The Stand was published forty years ago, in 1978. It took fifteen years, 'til 1993, to see a filmed version of king post-apocalyptic battle between Good and Evil, Tech and Magic, Reason and ... Not-Reason? The three-part TV mini-series starred Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, Ray Walston, and oh so many others, and it's amazing that the only (to date) adaptation of this highly memorable book is so entirely forgettable. But the lackluster performance, indifferent direction and truly terrible special effects make it .. um ... uh ... what were we talking about? I'm sorry, what? Wow, really? Tune in as Cat and Brad say a whole lot of interesting things about a wildly uninteresting mini-series. How is that possible? It's the end of the damn world!

Did YOU know that Apple has commissioned a mini-series based on Lisey's Story and starring a major-league actress? We didn't ... until now. Or that Stephen King himself has written new material to be included in It: Chapter Two? Or that IDE is doing a Sleeping Beauties comic? Details on all that ... and the final solution to the mystery of The Fig Bandit! All in this week;'s Mini-Ep!

Way back in 1978 -- yeah, more than 40 years ago, Stephen King published his post-apocalyptic horror epic The Stand, still probably one of his best-loved and best-remembered books. So how does it stand up today? Still awesome after all these years? We spend some time talking about the original novel add lay the groundwork to talk about the 1994 TV mini-series in a ramble that talk about the book's great strengths and major flaws. Come join us, before the super-flu gets us all. MY LIFE FOR YOUUUUu....

We got into depth about the upcoming Creepshow series on Shudder, including cast, writers, and directors. (Looks very cool!), and confess to our many (most recent) errors all over the place. Plus a couple of recommendations on soon-to-release movies and great ongoing podcasts. News, views, reviews and blues ... all in a mini-ep!

Secret Window, Secret Garden was King's psychological thriller about The Author as Other -- how the "writer" guy is an evil second personality. The Dark Half is King's supernatural story that explores the same theme. This time around we talk about the late 80's novel that's better than we remember, and the early 90's movie starring Timothy Hutton and directed by George A. Romero, of all people, that few recall at all ... and for a good reason.

First in a (hopefully) endless series of Friday Mini-Episodes, all about King and King-related news. This time around: updates on the casting and plot for Castle Rock Season 2, some great stuff about Andre Overdal's film version of The Long Walk -- finally! -- and the return of Radio Ads from the Multiverse, re-beginning with a visit from the Professor with a bowl full of Red Raspberry Zingers. Nothing to worry about here!

One of King's many, MANY stories about writers and how crazy they really are first appeared as a novella in Four Past Midnight, and a few years later as a movie written by David Koepp and starring Johnny Depp. Remember it? No? Most don't. We talk about the novella and the remarkably-not-bad-but-mostly-forgotten film, including deep explorations of how unavoidably creepy Johnny Depp is and how wonderfully surprising John Turturro is.

We're back, and more beautiful than ever! Our first full episode will magicalliy appear on Monday, July 29 ... but until then, here's a quick mini-episode with some Stephen King news and some secrets about future plans!