Thanks for the recap. I've not read this for a long time. There's something about this story that reminds me of Whistle And I'll Come To You My Lad by M.R. James. I suppose it's the haunted feeling I get and the things that wait in the walls or elsewhere. I'm going to dig this collection out and join in properly next session.
This is very much Lovecraft coming through, and that's perhaps not so surprising given when King wrote this and (I assume; correct me if I'm wrong) some of his early influences. It's an unusual style for King, I'd say, but it did work here, and it was quite interesting reading it after having read the main novel. (In my version of the book it was appended after the main story. There was also another short story in there, too. Set many years after the events of 'Salem's Lot.)
Definitely read some Lovecraft. The Color Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Call of Cthulhu would be the top three I would recommend. They're all pretty short, though the language/style makes them less of a quick read. The Penguin Classics version that have the footnotes by Lovecraft literary expert S.T. Joshi are superb. Other stories of note are The Music of Eric Zann as well as The Dreams in the Witch House. Oh, and let's not forget At The Mountains Of Madness.
Greetings from the Maine coast! I know it's bad form to join in a thread two months after the fact; apologies. This story is another that showcases King at his best. As Shaina states so eloquently, King transports us, wholly, to a time and setting at once alien and a bit too recognizable for comfort. The landscape of New England has always been dotted with the remains of old homesteads and religious colonies (none so colorful in their history as the fictional Jerusalem's Lot, say thakee). The one twenty minutes up the road from where I write this was called Punkin Town. That's the actual spelling. Nothing left of most of them these days except the stone foundations, which we were happy to play in as kids. All of this to say, this part of the world is a wonderful setting to read a story like this, especially during this part of the year when the days grow shorter, and the wind in the tall trees is more present than the sounds of the distant highway.
King draws on Lovecraft (and other aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos) with skillful economy, which allows this story to stand on it's own as an original work. De Vermis Mysteriis originally created by fiction writer Robert Bloch, was incorporated by Lovecraft into the Mythos back in the thirties, when Bloch was a very young writer indeed. The Conqueror Worm, as noted, also has it's place in the Mythos from early on. King summons a similar beast, the Long Boy, in Lise's Story. I do not thinks Charles Boon's use of "It" is a reference to the Bridge Troll of Derry Maine, though SK might say otherwise. As far as actual connections to 'Salem's Lot there are few; even the revenants in the cellar seem different than Barlow's vampire convert's in the later story. However, the 2021 Epix series Chapelwaite, starring Adrien Brody brings the two stories into much closer communion. I recommend the show to anyone who enjoyed this short story. Be well.
Thanks for the recap. I've not read this for a long time. There's something about this story that reminds me of Whistle And I'll Come To You My Lad by M.R. James. I suppose it's the haunted feeling I get and the things that wait in the walls or elsewhere. I'm going to dig this collection out and join in properly next session.
Good writeup, Shaina.
This is very much Lovecraft coming through, and that's perhaps not so surprising given when King wrote this and (I assume; correct me if I'm wrong) some of his early influences. It's an unusual style for King, I'd say, but it did work here, and it was quite interesting reading it after having read the main novel. (In my version of the book it was appended after the main story. There was also another short story in there, too. Set many years after the events of 'Salem's Lot.)
Definitely read some Lovecraft. The Color Out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, and The Call of Cthulhu would be the top three I would recommend. They're all pretty short, though the language/style makes them less of a quick read. The Penguin Classics version that have the footnotes by Lovecraft literary expert S.T. Joshi are superb. Other stories of note are The Music of Eric Zann as well as The Dreams in the Witch House. Oh, and let's not forget At The Mountains Of Madness.
^^^future The Barrens material pretty please!
Greetings from the Maine coast! I know it's bad form to join in a thread two months after the fact; apologies. This story is another that showcases King at his best. As Shaina states so eloquently, King transports us, wholly, to a time and setting at once alien and a bit too recognizable for comfort. The landscape of New England has always been dotted with the remains of old homesteads and religious colonies (none so colorful in their history as the fictional Jerusalem's Lot, say thakee). The one twenty minutes up the road from where I write this was called Punkin Town. That's the actual spelling. Nothing left of most of them these days except the stone foundations, which we were happy to play in as kids. All of this to say, this part of the world is a wonderful setting to read a story like this, especially during this part of the year when the days grow shorter, and the wind in the tall trees is more present than the sounds of the distant highway.
King draws on Lovecraft (and other aspects of the Cthulhu Mythos) with skillful economy, which allows this story to stand on it's own as an original work. De Vermis Mysteriis originally created by fiction writer Robert Bloch, was incorporated by Lovecraft into the Mythos back in the thirties, when Bloch was a very young writer indeed. The Conqueror Worm, as noted, also has it's place in the Mythos from early on. King summons a similar beast, the Long Boy, in Lise's Story. I do not thinks Charles Boon's use of "It" is a reference to the Bridge Troll of Derry Maine, though SK might say otherwise. As far as actual connections to 'Salem's Lot there are few; even the revenants in the cellar seem different than Barlow's vampire convert's in the later story. However, the 2021 Epix series Chapelwaite, starring Adrien Brody brings the two stories into much closer communion. I recommend the show to anyone who enjoyed this short story. Be well.