Stephen King's Gothic , livre ebook

SERIES PREFACE
Gothic Literary Studies is dedicated to publishing groundbreaking scholarship on Gothic in literature and film.The Gothic,which has been subjected to a variety of critical and theoretical approaches, is a form which plays an important role in our understanding of literary, intellectual and cultural histories. The series seeks to promote challenging and innovative approaches to Gothic which question any aspect of the Gothic tradition or perceived critical orthodoxy.
Volumes in the series explore how issues such as gender, religion, nation and sexuality have shaped our view of the Gothic tradition. Both academically rigorous and informed by the latest developments in critical theory, the series provides an important focus for scholastic developments in Gothic studies, literary studies, cultural studies and critical theory.The series will be of interest to students of all levels and to scholars and teachers of the Gothic and literary and cultural histories.
SERIES EDITORS
Andrew Smith, University of Glamorgan Benjamin F. Fisher, University of Mississippi
EDITORIAL BOARD
Kent Ljungquist, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Massachusetts
Richard Fusco, St Joseph’s University, Philadelphia
David Punter, University of Bristol
Chris Baldick, University of London
Angela Wright, University of Sheffield
Jerrold E. Hogle, University of Arizona
Stephen King’s Gothic
John Sears
© John Sears, 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales Press, 10 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library CIP Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN (hardback) 978-0-7083-2345-8 ISBN (paperback) 978-0-7083-2402-8 e-ISBN 978-1-78316-471-4
The right of John Sears to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Cover image: Jack Nicholson in The Shining ,dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1980 © Photos 12/Alamy
In memory of
A.G.S. 1933–2009
C ONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
1 Rereading Stephen King’s Gothic
2 Carrie ’s Gothic Script
3 Disinterring, Doubling: King and Traditions
4 Genre’s Gothic Machinery
5 Misery ’s Gothic Tropes
6 Gothic Time in ‘The Langoliers’
7 ‘ This Inhuman Place ’: King’s Gothic Places
8 Facing Gothic Monstrosity
9 Conclusion: King’s Gothic Endings
Notes
Bibliography
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The British Academy generously funded a research visit to the Fogler Library at the University of Maine, Orono, in March 2009. I am grateful to Stephen King for permission to view some of the materials stored there, and to Brenda Steeves and her colleagues at the Special Collections of the Fogler Library for all their assistance with my research.
Early versions of chapters 6, 4 and 8 were delivered at the PCA/ ACA conferences in San Francisco in 2008, New Orleans in 2009 and St Louis in 2010. Another version of chapter 4 was delivered at the IGA conference at Lancaster University in 2009. I am grateful to the organisers of all these events for allowing me to present, and to members of the various audiences for their comments and ideas, which were always positive and constructive. In particular I owe much to Mary Findley, Phil Simpson, Tony Magistrale and Patrick McAleer, and to other regular and one-off presenters at the ‘Stephen King Area’, and to Catherine Spooner and Fred Botting. The anonymous reader for University of Wales Press offered detailed and valuable comments that, in every case, improved this book.
Sue Zlosnik and Berthold Schoene gave important initial encouragement to this project. Patricia Allmer has, as always, supported it from beginning to end, beyond and back.
Stephen King generously granted permission to reprint extracts from his works. The following permissions were also kindly granted:
For extracts from the following books: Bag of Bones © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; Carrie © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; Firestarter © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; The Dark Half © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1989 by Stephen King; used by Permission of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.); Duma Key © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; Everything’s Eventual © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; Four Past Midnight © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1990 by Stephen King; used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin (USA) Inc.); Insomnia © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1994 Stephen King; used by permission of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.); It © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1986 Stephen King; used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.); Misery © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1987 Stephen King, Tabitha King and Arthur B. Greene, Trustee; used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.); Needful Things © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1991 by Stephen King; used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.); Night Shift © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; On Writing © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; Rose Madder © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1995 Stephen King; used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin (USA) Inc.); ’Salem’s Lot Illustrated Edition © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; The Shining © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited; The Tommyknockers © Stephen King, reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited (© 1987 Stephen King, Tabitha King and Arthur B. Greene, trustee; used by permission of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.); lines from George Seferis: Complete Poems © Princeton University Press.
A BBREVIATIONS
Editions of Stephen King’s works used in this book are referred to throughout by the following abbreviations. BB Bag of Bones , 1998 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) C Carrie , 1978 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) Ce Cell , 2006 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) Ch Christine , 1983 (London: Book Club Associates/Hodder & Stoughton) Cu Cujo , 1981 (London: Hodder/Macdonald & Co.) DC Dolores Claiborne , 1993 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) DH The Dark Half , 1989 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) DK Duma Key , 2008 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) DM Danse Macabre: The Anatomy of Horror , 1982 (London: Futura Publications) DS Different Seasons , 1995 (London: Warner Books/Little, Brown) DZ The Dead Zone , 1992 (London: Warner Books/Little, Brown) ED The Eyes of the Dragon , 1987 (London: Book Club Associates/Macdonald & Co.) EE Everything’s Eventual , 2002 (London: Book Club Associates/Hodder & Stoughton) F Firestarter , 1981 (London: Macdonald/Futura Publishers) FB8 From a Buick 8 , 2002 (New York: Scribner) FPM Four Past Midnight , 1991 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) G Gerald’s Game , 1992 (London: Book Club Associates/Hodder & Stoughton) GL The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon , 1999 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) GM The Green Mile (in six parts), 1996 (London: Penguin Books) HA Hearts in Atlantis , 1999 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) I Insomnia , 1994 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) It It , 1987 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) LS Lisey’s Story , 2006 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) M Misery , 1988 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) ND Nightmares & Dreamscapes , 1993 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) NS Night Shift , 1979 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) NT Needful Things , 1991 (London: Book Club Associates/Hodder & Stoughton) OW On Writing , 2000 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) PS Pet Sematary , 1984 (London: Book Club Associates/Hodder & Stoughton) RM Rose Madder , 1995 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) S The Shining , 1980 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton) SC Skeleton Crew , 1985 (London: Book Club Associates/Macdonald & Co.) SL ’Salem’s Lot ( Illustrated Edition ), 2006 (London: Hodder & Stoughton) St The Stand ( Complete & Uncut Edition ), 1990 (London: Book Club Associates/Hodder & Stoughton) SW Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing , 2000 (New York: Book of the Month Club) T The Tommyknockers , 1989 (London: New English Library/Hodder & Stoughton)
1
Rereading Stephen King’s Gothic

‘Does anybody ever reread King? Are his texts susceptible to rereading?’ 1
‘Reread too Kings … ’ 2
‘If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.’ (OW, 164)
Rereading King
What would it mean to reread Stephen King? What kind of demand would be levied on the rereader? Stephen King’s fictions (and those written by the different ‘King’, Richard Bachman, making two ‘Kings’ to reread) comprise a vast and ever-increasing number of novels, short stories, screenplays. To reread them (all)