hmmm.Start your engines for the scariest Stephen King adaptation courtesy of the master of horror, John Carpenter. I believe that one was also all on account of a dog.

Of course, this is also a terrifyingly prescient look at the accident that would sideline King and almost kill him in 1999.

That, to me, was where the story lost some of its steam and lustre.īut the end. King drew heavily-too heavily-on the 1950s EC comics that tended to focus heavily on gruesome revenge. Where it loses points is through the middle, when the bad shit begins to go down. And for that, it gains points, just for the heartbreaking sincerity. They aren't even there.Īnd when they do try and fight it, the engine just won't die.

And even more interesting, when the bad shit goes down, the Arnie/King persona is actually shunted to the sidelines. Losing their family.Īnd then, in the end, the addiction seems to be all they have. That's good, right? But they begin to realize they're losing control. Then things become even more desperate as situations begin to veer into the unethical and slightly shady.īut along the way, some of those assholes that made their life hell get pushed aside. Some spin control, some lying and some self-delusion needs to be applied. Arnie/King begin to look better, they begin to stand up for themselves, they get noticed by the girl, and they also stand up to the rules of society, bending them a bit in their favour.īut then, people begin noticing the cracks. Then he finds Christine, the embodiment of King's drugs of choice, and he slowly succumbs.Īt first, things aren't bad. Things aren't perfect, but things aren't bad. Let's talk about that, because it became very very obvious to me that, whether intentional or not, this is the book where King truly begins to wrestle with his addictions.Īrnie is a smart kid, a good kid, constantly living up to his parents' -and society's-expectations. As others have noted, I can only blame the mystifying switch of narrative voice in the second section on King's addictions and the fact that, I'm guessing by now, the editors began to take a hands off approach to his work, as this is also the point where the bloat sets in and his books get a little longer than they should be.Īnd then there's the addiction.

And then there was Leigh.damn.Īnyway, 35 years later, I see this as the first crack in King's near-perfect run up to now. So, at the time, I completely bought into him and loved Dennis for his love and loyalty. And I remember being completely enchanted with it. I remember buying it, coming home, parking myself in my bedroom and reading the entire thing in one sitting, pausing only when I needed to eat or bio break. Another of King's books I haven't read in 35 years.

Christine by stephen king movie