Misery follows a popular writer who is rescued by a fan after a terrible car accident only to find himself in an even worse position: captured by an unbalanced lady who has a lot of notes about his recent work. Rob Reiner directed his second perfect Stephen King adaptation with 1990's Misery and lead star Kathy Bates to an Oscar win, the first and only Oscar won for any King adaptation.

The Stand, if you don't know, is Stephen King's epic story of the a deadly viral outbreak and the battle for humanity's future that happens after 99.9% of the world's population is wiped out. Good versus evil, light versus dark, this is a top to bottom banger from the master of horror.

The Life of Chuck is a novella that was published in the recent story collection If It Bleeds. It's a story told in reverse that begins with the end of every single life in the universe and only gets sadder from there. More heady drama than supernatural spook-a-blast, this material opens the door for some surprisingly deep responses from those who have read it.

True Detective Season 4 debuts on HBO and Max January 14th and takes place in a small Alaskan town where weird shit has a habit of going down, especially when the month-long night settles in. The chat about this upcoming season is very light on spoilers, so don't worry about diving in before you start watching the new season.

1922 was a novella originally published in Stephen King's story collection Full Dark, No Stars. It's all about a rural farmer who kills his wife for her family's land and talks his teen son into helping. Both men can't grapple with the enormity of what they've done and soon begin to spiral into guilt-driven madness despite getting away with the crime free and clear. It was adapted by Netflix into a feature film released in 2017.

Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy find themselves recruited to help a small town fight ferocious bad guys that look like humanoid wolves on horseback. They are after the town's children and our ka-tet must stop them or die trying.

Carla Gugino is a national treasure, having made numerous appearances in stuff like Brian DePalma's Snake Eyes, Sin City, Watchmen, The Haunting of Hill House, and, of course, one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made: Gerald's Game.

It is Stephen King's giant novel about a group of tween kids confronting their fears and persevering through the power of friendship all while facing down an eternal killer clown who calls himself Pennywise. It is one of King's most enduring novels and only seems to be getting more popular as each generation passes.

Ur was controversial upon release. It's King's short story all about a very special Amazon Kindle initially only available to read on Amazon Kindles! There was some outcry at the time of release about the story being nothing more than a thinly veiled commercial for Amazon, but a closer look shows something with a lot more meat on its bones. A Kindle that has access to all stories and authors across all known multiverses? Sign us up!

Rose Red is Stephen King's take on Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, made exclusively for a TV mini-series in the early 2000s. Ghosts, psychics, greedy professors desperate to prove the existence of ghosts and the afterlife, Jimmi Simpson being a creepy weirdo, prune-faced entities, Melanie Lynskey being awesome, this series has it all!

In his sequel to The Shining, Stephen King focuses on a grown up Danny Torrance who is tempted to make the same mistakes his father did, but ultimately overcomes the challenges his father could not. Mike Flanagan's adaptation marries the Stanley Kubrick film and the Stephen King text in a way that miraculously honors both.

You may think you know what this episode has to offer, but trust us when we say that you're not prepared for the insanity that is about to be unleashed on your eardrums.

Carrie is a pivotal moment in Stephen King's career. It was the book that launched him and Brian De Palma's adaptation set King up to be a dominant figure in the movie theater as well as the book store. 

Holly Gibney is at it again, this time chasing down a pair of elderly cannibals. Can she find them before they devour another innocent? That's the question in Stephen King's latest book.

On Writing is Stephen King's memoir/how-I-write-good tome that is both inspirational and revealing about how one of our greatest living authors navigates his craft. Personal stories lead into grammar lessons that somehow diverge into editorial and then back to King's childhood where he suffered various traumas, like getting fart on by his babysitter and maybe even seeing his closest friend obliterated by a passing train.

Jessie Burlingame finds herself in one hell of a predicament when a romantic night with her husband goes south and she finds herself handcuffed to a bed with no chance of rescue. It's up to her to fight through the panic and figure out a way out of this impossible situation using only her wits and a secret buried deep with her memories of childhood trauma. 

Expect to hear from campers Kate Siegel, Mike Flanagan, Wynter Mitchell, David Lowery, Akela Cooper, Steve Agee, Devon Sawa, Josh Ruben, Flula Borg, Michael Kennedy, James Austin Johnson, Chuck Tingle, Laura Lux, Matt Fraction, Daniel Danger, Trae Crowder, Patton Oswalt, David Dastmalchian, David Farrier, Stephen Graham Jones, Dave Schilling, Josh Gondelman, Mallory O'Meara and Josh Robert Thompson as they recount their favorite short stories from Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes.

2006's Lisey's Story is King's self-proclaimed favorite novel, but it is one that has proven to be divisive among his constant readers and flies well under the radar of his casual fans. The story follows Lisey, the wife of a famous author, who is trying to cope with the loss of her husband after his untimely death, be there for her sister whose sanity is seemingly slipping away, and all the while having to defend herself against a particularly psychotic fan of her husband's. 

Pet Sematary is the one story Stephen King was reluctant to publish and he ultimately did so in order to fulfill his contract with his then publisher. It's the story that examines what a parent would do in the face the most excruciating series of events any mother or father could experience. Sometimes dead is better.

What is one to do when you find an alien spaceship buried on your property? Well, dig it up and start building weird-ass machines that can zap your little brother to a distant planet or sort mail real good. The Tommyknockers isn't one of King's most beloved books, but it does spawn a great discussion when you try to pick it apart.

What is concealed in the mist? Tentacle monsters? Massive behemoths that will squash you without even knowing you exist? Crazy white people? All of the above, it turns out, and every single one of those things are touched on in this episode.

George A. Romero and Stephen King produced 1982's Creepshow and forever changed the landscape of anthology horror. That movie had a massive impact on a whole generation of horror nerds, including today's guest, and now it's time to dig into what still holds up today and what maybe doesn't so much.

Dreamcatcher is Stephen King's return to fiction writing after the accident that almost took his life. It's a novel about a bunch of friends who gather together in the woods as a really weird alien invasion is taking place, and while it does have its fans even King himself dismisses the book as a whiff, written mostly while the author was high on pain killers while his body was mending itself back together. As not great as the book is, the movie is even worse, despite the incredible A-list talent both in front of and behind the camera.

King's first foray into straight Fantasy was this 1984 story, The Eyes of the Dragon, which is a Dark Tower adjacent tale about two young princes in a fairy tale kingdom who are pitted against each other by the king's secretly evil magician, who regular Stephen King fans will recognize as the very same Flagg from The Stand. Part palace intrigue, part YA fantasy, The Eyes of the Dragon is an early departure from the horror realm for the author and is still a gripping read to this day.

Stephen King doesn't have much presence in the video game world, but the notable exceptions to this provide some absolutely bizarre King/Video Game tie-ins. The focus of this episode is on four of these weirdos: The Lawnmower Man, The Running Man, The Dark Half, and the CD-ROM collection of oddities known as F13.

Dolores Claiborne has been dealt a crap hand from life and in her later years she's dealt another blow when she finds herself the main suspect in the suspicious death of her tyrannical boss. 

Back in 1992, Stephen King released Gerald's Game, a novel about a traumatized woman named Jessie Burlingame who finds herself alone in a cabin, handcuffed to the headboard of a bed, with only her past and current traumas to keep her company. If she's going to survive this, she's going to have to listen to her inner voice and confront a past trauma that could very well hold the key to her freedom.

What if your cell phone turned you into a zombie? Okay, that's probably already the case, but I mean a real honest to God zombie? That's the premise of Stephen King's 2006 novel and its questionable, shoddy, and rather unpleasant 2016 adaptation starring the usually dependable John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.

One of Stephen King's early forays into fantasy was 1982's The Talisman, which he co-wrote with celebrated genre author Peter Straub. The story focuses on a young boy who embarks on a cross-country (and cross-reality) quest to save his dying mother by obtaining a magical talisman that could very well cure his mother and save a parallel world also at risk of falling apart. 

This episode is sponsored by A24 as they build up to the July 28 release of the fantastic Talk To Me, which is about a particularly grotesque party game involving a severed hand that can open the door to the afterlife. Naturally, things don't go very well when this happens and the result is one of the scariest, most fun horror movies of the year, coming soon to a theater near you. More info can be found here: https://a24films.com/films/talk-to-me

The Stand is Stephen King's epic tale of morality and survival set against the backdrop of a global pandemic that damn near wipes out the entire human race. Good and evil fight over the scraps of humanity in one of King's earliest masterpieces.

A devilish figure arrives in the small town of Castle Rock and he offers items to the townsfolk in exchange for an escalating series of pranks that could very well rip the town apart. Stephen King's Needful Things is an epic book that is darkly funny and also unflinching in its examination of the rot that festers at the heart of small town America.

Stephen King's delicately constructed tale of an innocent man on death row was a phenomenon upon its serialized publication in 1996 and was then adapted into an Oscar-winning movie by The Shawshank Redemption's Frank Darabont in 1999.

That bad, bad OG corn boy Isaac has done returned and there's hell to pay in this inexplicable fifth sequel to 1984's Children of the Corn. Oddly enough, this 1999 film barely features either children or corn, but what we do get is a middle aged religious zealot and a bunch of late '90s teenagers making a ruckus in a small town.

Once upon a time there were two titans of horror named George A. Romero and Stephen King. These masters joined forces to make a horror movie and the results of that was an anthology movie with roots going back to the horror comics of their youth. And thus Creepshow was born.

Night Shift is Stephen King's first collection of short stories and contains some of King's meanest writing. Almost every single one of these stories were first published in nudie magazines before King became famous and he wrote to his audience. That doesn't mean they're not sophisticated in the own right, but he definitely leans into sex, gore, and brutal Twilight Zone-ish twists. 

The Jaunt is quite possibly Stephen King's scariest story, all about the perils of ignoring safety protocols while using teleportation technology. While the episode only clocks in at just over an hour and fifteen minutes, it's longer than you think.

When a heroin-smuggling doctor gets stranded on a tiny rocky outcropping in the middle of the ocean he must decide just how far he's willing to go to survive. This Stephen King short story, which can be found in Skeleton Crew, is one of the maestro's goriest tales as the doctor loses his mind and body piece by piece.

Stand By Me is a formative movie for both hosts of this show and every time it comes up the episode tends to be a banger and today's episode is no exception. 

Danse Macabre was Stephen King's first non-fiction publication. Released originally in 1981, this tome promised to cover the history and impact of horror fiction from 1950-1980, but with King at the wheel the scope was widened significantly as he couldn't help but fold in the works of Stoker, Shelley, Lovecraft and many others.

Stephen King was such a big fan of The X-Files that he asked to write an episode. The result is Chinga, this weird monster-of-the-week entry that aired during the show's fifth season about a little girl, her (maybe?) witch mother, and an evil doll that makes people hurt themselves. 

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is a controversial entry in the Stephen King adaptation discussion. Some, including King himself, think it strays too far from the book while others hold it up as a classic of the genre. 

The Dead Zone is the tale of a mild-mannered school teacher who wakes up from a long coma and comes to find out he has psychic powers. These gifts turn out to be anything but welcome to Johnny Smith, who can't help but try to use them for good no matter the personal cost to himself.

A mild-mannered handyman becomes obsessed with collecting pieces of the Mangler and rebuilds it in his attic. One night... well, it kinda eats him and then replaces him with a doppleganger whose only goal is find more victims, feed them to the Mangler and drink the blood slurry that comes out. 

Christmas Mangler melds together a ton of King references into a movie that can only be described as the pinnacle of elevated horror. Perhaps this is why it seemingly disappeared upon release, but The Kingcast boys have uncovered it and beat all other Stephen King podcasts to this incredible discovery in yet another Kingcast Exclusive.

The day has finally come for The Kingcast to take a look at the infamous Simpsons parody of The Shining from 1994's Treehouse of Horror episode. The Shinning packs so many jokes and spot on references into around 7 minutes that we were able to fill nearly 2 hours talking about it!

The Lawnmower Man is the timeless classic about murder chimps, gratuitous VR sex scenes and Pierce Brosnan's earring that was so faithful to the original Stephen King short story that the author sued the film to get his name taken off of it. 

Set in the futuristic world of 2017 where man is hunted for entertainment while the world crumbles into a dystopia, The Running Man stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the everyman Ben Richards who is forced to compete for his very life against the most insane group of killers you could imagine.

Stephen King's On Writing is part memoir, part grammar lesson, and part inspiration. Who better to learn the ins and outs of basic writing from than the master of horror? And he does so in such a folksy, down to earth way that it never feels like homework. Follow the hosts on Twitter: @ScottWamplerRIP and @EricVespe Follow our guests on Twitter: @BeckandWoods

There are so many more Children of the Corn movies than you think there are. The Kingcast is already up to Part 5 and the movies are still in the late '90s. Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror follows a bunch of twentysomethings playing college kids on a road trip to scatter the ashes of their dead friend when they stumble upon a small town concealing, you guessed it, a weird youthful corn cult. This installment inexplicably stars Eva Mendes, David Carradine, Fred Williamson and at least two Zappa children.

The topic once again turns to 11.22.63, Stephen King's epic time travel story in which an average every day teacher is recruited to travel back in time to stop JFK's assassination. It's a tricky thing, messing with time. Turns out the timestream doesn't want to be tinkered with and all sort of weird things happen to our hapless protagonist as he investigates Oswald and a good many of the conspiracy theories before time runs out.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a somewhat overlooked King book about a young girl who gets lost in the Maine wilderness and must survive the elements and maybe even a cruel minor deity in the form of a savage bear as she either stumbles upon rescue or dies trying. A dyed-in-the-wool Red Sox fan, our young protagonist starts imaging her idol, Red Sox's closer, Tom Gordon, is there with her giving her advice along her journey.

The Mist is one of the best Stephen King stories and Frank Darabont made a hell of an adaptation. Both are up for discussion in this week's episode. Also, make sure you head over to Fangoria to cast your ballot for the 2023 Chainsaw Awards (aka the Oscars but with way cooler movies up for awards) by going to https://www.fangoria.com/voting/

Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess is a slightly different take on the apocalypse from his previous massive entry, The Stand. Here, we're wiped out by the good intentions of a scientist seeking world peace and that he does, but at a pretty dire cost.

Today's episode is brought to you by Blumhouse Productions' There's Something Wrong With The Children (https://www.blumhouse.com/tv) currently available on digital and digital on demand.  The topic of this week's show is Cujo. This story of a lovable family dog that turns rabid and tortures a poor mother and her young son in a tiny Ford Pinto holds up very well and today we dive into why we think that is.

Back in 1992, Mary Lambert followed up her popular adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary with a sequel that is flat out bonkers. Tonal shifts that are so abrupt you'll get whiplash, an already checked out tweenage Eddie Furlong in the lead, a totally confused Anthony Edwards in the kindly dad role, bizarre sex dreams involving naked women with dog heads and that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

What would you do if you could type in any phrase into a mysterious (and janky) computer and it would become reality? '80s Stephen King posits that the best thing to do is totally erase your jerk family members and replace them with a new loved ones.

Cycle of the Werewolf began life as a calendar that evolved into a novella penned by Stephen King and illustrated by the late, great Berni Wrightson. King himself penned the screenplay for the 1985 adaptation that the hosts of this show think is pretty good, but wasn't accepted by critics or audiences upon release. 

Wizard and Glass is a demarcation line in Stephen King's magnum opus: The Dark Tower. At the forefront is a tragic story of young love that left the series's lead character a cruel, empty shell of a man. Book IV of The Dark Tower series ups the stakes and bonds our beloved Ka-Tet even further.

Battleground is a simple story of a hitman fighting a bunch of revenge-seeking little green army men toys that King originally published in Playboy before rolling into his short story collection Skeleton Crew.

Gramma is one of Stephen King's creepiest short stories, all about a young boy left at home with his ailing grandmother... who might also be a witch and in the final stages of putting a master plan together that doesn't bode very well for her terrified grandson. Published in Skeleton Crew, this story made an impression on our guest at a young age and he came over to talk about that with the boys.

Conversation once again turns to Stephen King's second novel, 'Salem's Lot, which is about a corrupt small Maine town slowly being taken over by vampires. This chat largely focuses on Tobe Hooper's made-for-TV adaptation from 1979 which forever terrified a whole generation of kids who now can't look out a misty window without crapping their pants. Thanks, Tobe.

After the publication of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot he decided to write a prequel short story in the style of Bram Stoker's Dracula about the origins of the cursed town that would, eventually, be overrun by vampires. Jerusalem's Lot is that story is perhaps the earliest story by the prolific author to go into some creepy Lovecraft territory.

The image of the toy monkey on the cover of Skeleton Crew traumatized a generation. This episode dives into the short story that inspired that cover image, all about a cursed toy monkey that can make really bad things happen when it clangs its little symbols together. 

The year of our lord 2022 saw the release of Blumhouse's remake of Firestarter in which a bunch of stuff got changed without much thought and all the stuff they left alone was boring. For the first time this new adaptation is up for discussion and they boys are ready with some sharp, sharp knives.

Insomnia is a rare Stephen King novel that has not yet been adapted. The book centers on an elderly protagonist named Ralph Roberts who must square off against a mischievous supernatural being working at the behest of the dreaded Crimson King.  The novel tackles abortion rights, ageism, and lets us know that a bout with insomnia is all you need to pull back the dull veil of our real world and see the colorful beauty and horror beneath it all.

Going back nearly 50 years of written material, Stephen King's queer characters run the gamut from authentic to caricature and it's about time someone took a long, hard look at that representation and have a lengthy discussion about where we think the popular author lands in terms of allyship.

If It Bleeds is the most recent novella compilation from Stephen King, containing four short stories (Mr. Harrigan's Phone, The Life of Chuck, If It Bleeds and Rat), three of which have either been adapted or optioned. 

N. is one of King's more disturbing short stories, which is all about the thin place between realities and the Old God style evil that might just be trying to break through. The story has a large focus on repetitive behaviors and OCD as well as a terrible fascination with round numbers.

When Dino De Laurentiis and Stephen King team up, things are gonna get wild, especially with Cat's Eye, a cable staple for '80s kids that features three Stephen King short vignettes all strung together by a cute cat and little Drew Barrymore.

Billy Summers is a damn good hitman out on his final job, so of course things go wrong. Today's episode takes a look at one of Stephen King's more recent books that is soon to be adapted by JJ Abrams and Ed Zwick.

Originally published in Cavalier magazine in 1972, Suffer the Little Children is a bleak, twisty short story of a stern teacher who begins to suspect her third grade students are turning into evil creatures and takes... well, desperate measures. 

The conversation once again turns to Stephen King's collaboration with George A. Romero. Creepshow and each of its segments is up for discussion in this lively chat.

You Know They Got a Hell of a Band is a short story that sees a couple on a road trip stumbling across a small country town with a ton of undead rock stars. It might be tempting to stay and enjoy the great music, but there's something sinister underneath this seemingly peaceful town. Like the song says, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

It takes a brave guest to pick a 1200 page book to cover, but by God we found such a guest to once again journey into The Stand and its two TV adaptations. Plus, our guest is such a King fan that we can't help but cover a couple dozen other King books and short stories while we're at it.

We made our poor guest watch 2017's questionable (at best) adaptation of Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower and she hadn't even read the books. The goal was to find out if the movie was at all coherent to a Dark Tower newbie and... well, you'll just have to listen to find out.

Stephen King's most existentially terrifying short story is under the microscope in today's episode. At nearly 2 hours, this episode is longer than you think.

Before Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark burned a mountain of cash, the poster child for high profile Broadway failure was a stage adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie. Ten million dollars down the toilet for a show that was a critical disaster and closed in a week. However there is a vocal contingent that holds that Carrie the Musical is a misunderstood masterpiece so it's about time The Kingcast boys take a hard look at this baffling adaptation.

The topic is The Raft, with a focus on both the short story and its adaptation in Creepshow 2. It's a fun little ditty about some horny college friends who take a swim where they're not supposed to and are picked off by a malevolent and very hungry oil slick in the water.

One of Stephen King's best stories is up for discussion this week. That's right, we're talking about The Long Walk, the dystopian tale and likely Vietnam allegory that has America sending its young men off to die while the adults cheer them on in a cruel contest that can only have one winner.

That's right, we got the OG Beverly Marsh, Ben Hanscom and Stan Uris from the 1990 It mini-series on the show to talk about their experiences filming the landmark adaptation, dealing with the legacy of that show and what they're up to now.

The journey through the two thousand Children of the Corn movies continues with The Kingcast boys tackling 1996's Children of the Corn Part IV: The Gathering which inexplicably stars Naomi Watts and a bunch of pissed off corn children.

Finally, The Kingcast focuses an episode on Andy Muschietti's It: Chapter 1, the blockbuster success that launched this current Stephen King cinematic renaissance with an iconic horror villain performance and a bunch of charmingly foul-mouthed kids.

We've done our spoiler-lite Dark Tower episodes... this is not one of those! Everything in the books is up for debate, including reading order, character deaths and, of course, that ending. So, beware of spoilers!

The time has come. A guest has finally chosen 11/22/63 to talk about on The Kingcast. This is King's 2011 novel about a modern day English teacher who is sent back in time to prevent the assassination of JFK, a difficult task in the best of circumstances and nearly impossible when time itself fights back.

Carrie was the book that launched Stephen King's literary career and the movie that put Brian DePalma on the map, so it's only fitting that we get an expert cinephile and King fanatic in to break them both down.

Finn tells the story of a young man cursed with a lifetime of bad luck who ends up kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity and tortured by a faceless agency demanding answers he doesn't have.

Sometimes They Come Back is an odd little old school King story originally published before the success of Carrie that was then adapted for TV during the early '90s Stephen King adaptation boom. The story centers on a school teacher whose students start dying and are replaced by transfers who just happen to look like the long dead greaser teens who killed his brother when he was a child.

Today's topic: Stephen King's Graveyard Shift, an early short story from the master that was made into a very fun, often overlooked B-movie of the same name.

Shelbyville is a comedy/horror Actual Play podcast heavily inspired by the works of Stephen King that chronicles the adventures of a trio of tweens in early '90s Maine as they navigate changing bodies, hormones and the occasional reanimated pile of meat.  Previously only available on The Kingcast's Patreon (www.patreon.com/thekingcast), the first four chapters are being released as bonus episodes on the main Kingcast feed in celebration of the show's 2nd anniversary.

Night Shift is Stephen King's first short story collection, compiling his earliest stories that he sold to various gentlemen's magazines in order keep the lights on before he hit it big with Carrie. The book contains 20 stories, many of them having been adapted into films big and small.

Previously only available on The Kingcast Patreon, this nerdy horror/comedy themed Actual Play podcast is finally available to the masses as The Kingcast celebrates its second birthday!

Previously only available on The Kingcast Patreon, this nerdy horror/comedy themed Actual Play podcast is finally available to the masses as The Kingcast celebrates its second birthday!

Episode 1 starts off with the hosts building their characters, figuring out their skills and traits and learning the ropes on playing a tabletop RPG before the story begins in earnest as all of our characters find themselves in a Saturday detention even more hellish than normal.

Take a trip, if you dare, into Stephen King's London-based Lovecraftian nightmare where you can run into rat-faced teenagers, children with claws for hands and unimaginable eldrich horrors.

Sometimes these episodes feature deep dives into King's writing and examine the  subtext of its cinematic adaptation and sometimes these episodes use the title at hand as a jumping off point for a chaotic conversation. This episode is the latter.

If we're talking about buried alien spaceships, metal plates in heads, killer soda machines, a protagonist who is both a drunk and a wife-killer... you know what that means! That's right! It's time to talk Tommyknockers.

This episode has everything: Bill Hader talking about working on It, a constantly shifting conversation that never stays on a single topic for more than 5 minutes, casual mentions of some really big name Stephen King fans, what reading King at a young age can mean to a creative kid and MTV's Dan Cortese.

The Man in the Black Suit was something of a turning point for Stephen King. Published in The New Yorker in 1994, this short story went on to win many prestigious awards, including the O. Henry Award for short fiction and seemed to singlehandedly turn critical perception of the best selling author around.

In the late '90s the great character actor Miguel Ferrer starred in an HBO Original Movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Night Flier as a sleazy tabloid reporter on the trail of a Cessna pilot who also happens to be a vampire and it has become a favorite of the Kingcast boys.

Michael Whelan's paintings and illustrations have graced the covers and interior pages of the best genre authors. We're talking Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Edgar Rice Burroughs, HP Lovecraft and, yes, Mr. Stephen King.

A finger pops out of a bathroom sink's drain and drives the poor bastard who lives in that apartment out of his mind. That is the topic in today's surprise bonus episode drop.

The little town of Desperation, Nevada has fallen on hard times and that was before an ancient evil decided to take over the body of the town's gentle giant cop. Today's topic is Desperation, with a little talk about its twinner book, The Regulators, for good measure.

One of the rare Stephen King books that hasn't been adapted, Joyland is a quick, breezy read about a broken-hearted teenager who works at a dilapidated (and haunted) amusement park where he finds new love and even a ghost or two.

Children of the Corn follows a couple as they investigate a small, isolated Nebraska town and find that it has been taken over by a murderous cult of corn-monster worshipping children. It has many Stephen King benchmarks, like creepy kids and... well, corn-based horror. 

Ready to take a stroll through one of Stephen King's most f*cked up short stories with The Kingcast boys and one of the funniest comedians working today? If your answer's yes then, boy, do we have some good news for you.

The Kingcast has been going strong for nearly two years, bringing in some amazing guests to break down the work of one of our top living authors. It's about time Vespe and Wampler go straight to the horse's mouth, don't you think?

Dreamcatcher is one of Stephen King's least favorite of his own novels, but how does it stack up with the co-hosts of a very popular film podcast? This story of a group of childhood friends battling an extra-terrestrial menace with psychic powers and a little help from their deeply problematic friend, Duddits, should have been a non-stop pinata party, but there are some surprise fans in the mix for this discussion.

Stephen King's first full-blown masterpiece, and the novel that moved him firmly to the top of the best seller list, is front and center once more. The topic: The Shining. The guest... well, someone comfortable wearing some really short shorts.

Did you know they made a sequel to The Mangler that doesn't involve a haunted laundry press at all? Well, now you do. Instead of an evil laundry machine the sequel takes the absolutely bonkers step of making it an evil computer virus that takes over a boarding school run by Lance Henriksen and boy is it a crazy watch.

Way back in the halcyon year of 2014, Warner Bros attempted a prequel to The Shining and one man rose to the challenge, crafting a truly messed up screenplay called The Overlook Hotel which tells the story of the family that built the dastardly hotel. Things didn't turn out too well for them. They ended up not making the movie, but now...

Way back in the mystical time known as the late 1990s there was a feminist horror script about a goth girl taking down rapey dude-bros at her school. They decided to take that script and force it to be a Carrie sequel and the result is The Rage: Carrie 2.

Maximum Overdrive is a film that requires a lot of silliness when trying to discuss it, so it's no coincidence that the boys have brought in a heavy hitter to look at Stephen King's one and only directorial outing.

A charming statesman rolls into the sleepy town of Castle Rock and all hell breaks loose in his wake. Today's topic is Needful Things and the Ed Harris/Max Von Sydow movie that was made from it.

King's story about a mysterious car that is somehow a portal to another dimension and the cops who sit around and drink coffee while talking about it a lot is divisive. It has even turned the hosts of The Kingcast against each other.

The Kingcast's journey along the path of the beam continues with Dark Tower Book 3, The Waste Lands, which sees everybody's favorite grouchy gunslinger finally gathers his ka-tet, fights a giant robot bear, some rapey pirates and a suicidal locomotive who just happens to love riddles.

Doctor Sleep is the story of young Danny Torrance all grown up after his traumatic experience at the Overlook Hotel and his relationship with a young girl powerful with the shining. 

Back in 1984 Stephen King and Peter Straub teamed up for a fantasy adventure story called The Talisman about a young boy named Jack Sawyer who traverses not only our world but a parallel world called the Territories on a quest to save his dying mother. Despite being a childhood favorite of both of your humble hosts, we have yet to tackle this title on The Kingcast. Until now.

That's right, the Corn Boys have returned and this time they're moving on up to the Big City, but don't worry. He Who Walks Behind the Rows is along for the ride.

We've done episodes that focus on the Arnold Schwarzenegger '80s cheeseball classic adaption of The Running Man, so it's about time we buckle down and focus a little more on King's more nihilistic, complex novel, written under the Richard Bachman pseudonym.

The Oscar-winning director of The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 and 2, The Devil's Backbone and the upcoming Nightmare Alley makes his Kingcast debut to talk about evil clowns and the legacy of one Mr. Stephen King.

Well, we finally got him. The Pinch has come to the Kingcast, at long last, and boy did he come in loaded for bear. 

A woman is handcuffed to a bedpost during some sexy time with her husband and he drops dead of a heart attack. Gerald's Game is Stephen King's tale of overcoming trauma and surviving an impossible situation through sheer force of will.

Stephen King and his son Joe Hill teamed up to write this creepy short story called In the Tall Grass about a supernatural grass field that traps hapless victims, bends time and space and inspires madness.

Today's topic is No Smoking, a Hindi adaptation of Stephen King's short story Quitters, Inc, which was itself adapted in the anthology film Cat's Eye in a segment starring James Woods.

Rose Madder is one of the few Stephen King books that hasn't been adapted for the big or small screen just yet, but that won't stop The Kingcast from cracking it open and discussing it for an hour+.

The final Halloween Kills guest graces the Kingcast stage this week to take a close look at The Dead Zone book, David Cronenberg film and the long-running early aughts TV series adaptation.

The iconic masked murder breaks his silence and discusses his life, career and personal outlook on life with Wampler and Vespe.

Continuing our run of Halloween Kills guests, this latest episode of The Kingcast focuses on Rob Reiner's adaptation of Stephen King's Misery.

The iconic star of the Halloween series joins Vespe and Wampler to discuss Rob Reiner's seminal coming of age classic Stand By Me and the Stephen King novella it is based on.

Join us as we travel to the quaint little town of Desperation that has stunning historical sites, sweeping desert vistas, interesting local wildlife and the friendliest public servants you could ask for.

The second book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series opens with our favorite gunslinger on a beach and ends with a brand new ka-tet setting off in search of the titular tower.

Spiders with human teeth, a distinct lack of faith in humanity and some of the best creature feature sequences in modern memory. The topic at hand is Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist.

Secret Window is the story of a writer being stalked by a mysterious stranger who claims that the famous author stole one of his stories. Based on a novella collected in Four Past Midnight, the movie was written and directed by Stir of Echoes's David Koepp.

The Outsider is a story of a man accused of a horrific crime and proclaims his innocence in the face if irrefutable evidence to the contrary. Is he a murderer or is there a supernatural force at work?

What would you prefer? Annie wielding an axe (like in the book) or a sledgehammer (like in the movie)? Why was this book so cathartic for the author to write? And why the hell do so many Stephen King characters drink Pepsi?

Today's guest has appeared in Mulholland Dr., Twin Peaks: The Return, Mad Men and Hail, Caesar! His chosen topic: The Dead Zone.

It's not often Wampler and Vespe get to talk about a Stephen King book that doesn't have a movie adaptation, but in today's episode we get just that. 

Graveyard Shift has everything. Ridiculous Maine accents? Check. Brad Dourif as a Quint rip-off exterminator? Check. Giant mutant Rat Bats? Check, check and check. 

It's time once again to return to the prison yard with Andy, Red and that despicable Warden Norton and this time we're bringing along a twofer Suicide Squad cast member.

The Kingcast Boys have recruited several members of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad to come on over and talk Stephen King with them and they're kicking it all off with a banger.

When you have three whole segments to break down, behind the scenes drama to discuss, and a whole sub-genre of horror to put into context you get this nearly three hour long deep dive podcast episode.

Did you know that in the late '90s there was a long-running TV adaptation of Stephen King's IT that ran in India? 

Rage is perhaps Stephen King's most controversial book and is in fact the only one he allowed to fall out of print following an unfortunate series of copycat crimes tied to this story of a teen who brings a gun to school and holds his class hostage.

Don Coscarelli exploded onto the scene with PHANTASM in the late '70s. That film has many fans, Stephen King included, who has namechecked Phantasm many times in his work, including a big nod in the fifth Dark Tower book, Wolves of the Cala. 

It is time to once again face off against the skin-crawlingly off-putting adaptation of Thinner, which was produced as a Bachman book before King was revealed to be the man behind the pen name. 

Mick Garris finally comes on The Kingcast and the conversation gets wild (and filled to the brim with Bill Malone and Miguel Ferrer appreciation).

Lisey's Story tells the tale of a widowed woman playing a sort of scavenger hunt set up by her late husband while also dealing with the mental decline of her older sister and threats from a crazed fan of her husband's books. It stars Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Joan Allen and Dane DeHaan.

Once upon a time, Michael Jackson wanted to make a short film that would top THRILLER so he hired Stephen King to write a script for a scary musical. That evolved into Michael Jackson's Ghosts, a 40 minute short that is largely forgotten today.

It was a dark and stormy night (literally, you'll hear the thunder in the background of this episode) when two Stephen King nerds were joined by a very funny guest to discuss the most frightening thing of all: a serious in tone Canadian direct-to-video remake of Maximum Overdrive. 

Do you want to hear Wampler geek out about Prometheus with a guest who was actually IN Prometheus? How about a deep dive into one of King's best stories that has never been adapted to the big or small screen? Well, then this episode is for you!

The boys are joined by acclaimed writer-director Issa Lopez for this super-sized deep dive into The Shining, with a focus on Stanley Kubrick's controversial (at least among King nerds) adaptation.

It's The Kingcast's One-Year Anniversary and to celebrate Vespe and Wampler are joined by over 20 returning guests from the past year to break down Stephen King's Skeleton Crew one story at a time. Buckle up, this is gonna get chaotic. 

Listener favorite Mallory O'Meara (author of The Lady From the Black Lagoon, co-host of the Reading Glasses Podcast and the mother of Kingcast's unofficial mascot, Chutt Buggins) returns to the show to take a deep look into the final Castle Rock story: Needful Things.

Anthrax's Scott Ian has been a longtime Stephen King super fan, so it was only a matter of time before he joined Wampler and Vespe to take a deep dive into a pivotal installment of King's Dark Tower series: Wizard and Glass. Warning: There are Dark Tower spoilers a-plenty this episode!

For the first time ever Stephen King has allowed his Dollar Baby short films to be viewed online and has put his full support behind a virtual festival called Stephen King Rules.

Comedian and host of the This Might Help podcast Matt Braunger joins Vespe and Wampler to take a deep dive into Stephen King and George Romero's Creepshow.

The boys are joined by legit horror royalty for this return trip to 'Salem's Lot. 

Author Mark Z. Danielewski joins the boys to take a hard look at Stephen King's Cujo and the 1983 film adaptation. Is Cujo and allegory for alcoholism? What is up with the monster in Tad's closet? 

The Koontzcast boys have finally broken through time, space and reality to deliver a full episode devoted to the Sultan of Shivers, Mr. Dean Koontz.

Why are old people scary to kids? Between the hosts and the guest, whose grandmother was the creepiest? Plus, Vespe tells a crazy real-life Harlan Ellison story.

Is Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (alias Jobe's War) a good bad movie or a bad bad movie? That is the question and there is some debate as to whether or not this film qualifies as good-weird. 

Happily star Joel McHale and director BenDavid Grabinski join Vespe and Wampler to take another trip into cyberspace and discuss all the ins and outs of the movie Stephen King hated so much he sued to get his name taken off of it: The Lawnmower Man.

Pop culture journalist and host of Barnes & Noble's Stephen King podcast, King of the Dark, Louis Peitzman joins the boys to discuss the differences between Doctor Sleep: The Book and Doctor Sleep: The Movie (there are many, buckle up!).

Topics discussed on today's episode: How many Netflix series that contain the word "Midnight" in the title will Mike Flanagan make? What is one particular filmmaking technique Frank Darabont uses to adapt Stephen King so well? How pitch perfect is this cast? Where did each guest buy their copies of The Green Mile when they came out? Which Kingcast host has actually spent time in prison? And so much more!

Dark Tower expert Bev Vincent joins the boys to answer some extremely nerdy questions plus discusses his frequent collaborations with the master himself.

Topics of discussion this week: the 2019 remake's big change from the book, the astonishing lack of outrageous Maine accents, would Wampler clone his beloved dog, Mad Max, if he had Streisand money and just what the hell was that zombie family's plan at the end of the movie.

Actual lawyer Lindsay Traves makes her best case for Andy Dufresne of The Shawshank Redemption. 

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Emily V. Gordon joins the boys to talk about all things Pennywise, from Tim Curry's luscious lips to the psychology behind the printed page. 

In this episode of The Kingcast, the boys are joined by CUBE director Vincenzo Natali for a rollicking discussion that covers the wish fulfillment aspect of post-apocalyptic fiction, Randall Flagg's hatred of drug users, why there's a lack of crucifixions in the CBS All Access Stand finale, agreement that past Kingcast guest Bryan Fuller is aces and, curiously, Sonny Corleone's wiener. We run the gamut here, folks. 

The episode starts off with a lengthy debate about poutine and only goes more bananas from there. The boys are joined by the great Kate Siegel in her second Kingcast appearance and cover all topics of Stephen King's Firestarter, from book to its adaptation.

Popular super funny musician Nick Lutsko comes into this episode looking to examine the '90s Shining mini-series. Kubrick vs King and Garris. Who wins? The episode is guaranteed to make you utter "WIGH" ("What In Gremlin Hell") a few times. 

William Hurt fighting a battalion of little green army men in a penthouse apartment? If you're not sold already we don't know what else to say. The boys are joined by Fred Raskin, the preferred editor for both Quentin Tarantino and James Gunn, to dive into this crazy episode from the Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV show, directed by Brian Henson.

This crossover episode brings back Kingcast favorite Mallory O'Meara and this time she's joined by her Reading Glasses co-host Brea Grant to talk about '80s long butt, the return of shoulder pads in women's clothing and a creepy hungry blob that eats some shithead college kids as the gang discusses Stephen King's The Raft and its adaptation as a segment in Creepshow 2.

This wild chat with the Internet's First Boyfriend, Wil Wheaton, ranges from the silly (how does 90 Day Fiancee figure into things?) to the somber (Wil opens up about his abusive childhood and the shocking parallels between himself and Stand By Me's Gordie Lachance). All that and more in this breakdown of the four novellas contained in Stephen King's Different Seasons.

Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller returns to The Kingcast to once again deliver a fascinating queer read of another King classic: Christine. 

Merry Christmas! It's surprise bonus episode time! Here we have a rather silly interview with Nat Wolff, who plays Randall Flagg's #1 guy, Lloyd Henreid, in the new limited series based off of Stephen King's The Stand.

The great Rian Johnson joins the Kingcast boys to dig deep into King's inspirational memoir, his curious hatred of structure and how Johnson's own writing process mirrors King's (and where it drastically differs). 

The new adaptation of The Stand debuts on CBS AllAccess tomorrow, December 17th, and the series' showrunner, Ben Cavell, and executive producer, Taylor Elmore, are here to talk about the show, their history with the novel and then dig deep into dark Richard Bachman territory as they discuss their love of The Running Man. Cavell also developed a Running Man series for a hot minute and he lets loose some details about his plans for that show as well.

Fangoria Managing Editor Meredith Borders joins Vespe and Wampler to dig into Stephen King's Storm of the Century. And you know Meredith means business because she's been to Stephen King's house before.

Comedian, author, actor and podcaster DC Pierson joins the boys to take a deep dive into Tobe Hooper's very questionable adaptation of The Mangler. Talk turns Ted Levine's bizarre outfit, the barrage of questionable choices made by the filmmaking team and a clear-eyed deconstruction of Tobe Hooper's filmography. There are lots of swears. Sorry about that. 

Demi Adejuyigbe, a writer on The Good Place and The Late Late Show, has chosen The Shawshank Redemption to tackle. There's much praise heaped upon Frank Darabont's masterpiece as well as some trademark Kingcast detours into weird places, like Tom Cruise's animal magnetism and just why the vast majority of conservative comedy sucks butt. 

The boys are joined by director Ana Lily Amirpour to discuss how important King's Pet Sematary is in helping the reader cope with the act of dying. Lily shares her childhood trauma of finding a roadkill cat and trying to nurse it back to life with some milk and a fancy tablecloth as well as some stories from her time working on the King-centric Castle Rock series and even shares a little bit about her upcoming projects, the already filmed Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon and the to-be-filmed re-imagining of the Sly Stallone action vehicle Cliffhanger.

The pleasant memory of this movie was all but destroyed on the rewatch leading up to this episode. The boys are joined by Full Court Chat's Dave Schilling to examine one of King's bleakest and meanest stories and the resulting misfire of a film.

Mad Men's Rich Sommer joins the boys to discuss King anthologies with a sharp focus on Lewis Teague's Cat's Eye which pull from Night Shift stories Quitter's Inc and The Ledge. 

Cujo star Dee Wallace talks about her time trapped in a Pinto while facing off against a rabid St. Bernard. Did you know she hospitalized herself while filming the climactic scene in the movie? Did you also know she didn't read King's book until after she finished? All that plus stories from making The Howling, ET and The Frighteners.

Sleepwalkers is a weirdly hornt up movie so it's only natural that Vespe and Wampler are joined by their wildest recurring guest, Ms. Sarah Beattie. Vespe ends up recommending a bunch of obscure '80s horror movies, Wampler tells a traumatic story about an ex-girlfriend's borderline abusive cat and Sarah has a bonkers theory that ties two cat-themed Stephen King stories together.

Comedian Brent Terhune joins Vespe and Wampler to examine Frank Darabont's The Mist. Vespe regales the podcast group with more stories from his time on the set (including what Marcia Gay Harden did to stay in character) and talk turns to the dark, dark, dark ending. 

In this episode Kate Siegel and the boys discuss the lengths you would go to cover up a crime for your spouse, Stephen King's talents at getting inside the female mind (likely with the help of his wife, Tabby), give actor Anthony LaPaglia a new name (Tony Pogs, of course), and even dive into the complexities of Siegel's marriage to another Kingcast regular, Mike Flanagan. 

Vespe and Wampler are joined by former teen heart-throb and current grizzled badass Devon Sawa to discuss one of King's major works: Cujo. 

The Langoliers is an oddity in the realm of Stephen King. It's a great novella that also happens to be a well-below average mini-series. The boys are joined by actor Noah Segan to dive into both the written text and the crappy movie with CGI meatballs in it.

Bryan Fuller leads this discussion about one of the most important books in King's bibliography. From Vampires to queer coding in classic Universal monster movies to small town serial killers, this conversation is all over the map.

Seth Grahame-Smith is a screenwriter and producer who helped bring It: Chapters 1 and 2 to the big screen and also very nearly made an Eyes of the Dragon series on Hulu. In this episode he tells us all about the project that almost was. 

The star of The Mist, 1922 and Dreamcatcher opens up about his work on King adaptations all while smoking a pipe and going back and forth with his girlfriend, Anne Heche. This one's wild, y'all. 

April Wolfe comes on the show to take a peek behind the rows at what Malachai and the Boys are up to back there. 

Would you kill Baby Hitler? How often would you use psychic powers if you had them? What famous director did young Alex Winter corner on the street to geek out with over the work of David Cronenberg? All these questions and more are answered in today's episode of The Kingcast.

In this episode the boys are joined by writer/director/actor/producer/renaissance man Leigh Whannell and they break down Stand By Me. Did anyone have a run quite like Rob Reiner did in the 1980s? How different is the novella from the movie? Which of the four boys gives the best performance? What would you do if you were halfway across a train track and you heard the terrifying whistle behind you? All that and more can be found in this episode.

Steven Weber joins Vespe and Wampler in this special bonus episode that dives deep into all his Stephen King work, from filling Jack Nicholson's shoes in Mick Garris' The Shining to narrating the audiobook for IT and many more stops into Kingville along the way. 

Crouch End was one of the best shorts in King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes and was one of the worst episodes in TNT's short lived series of the same name.

Killer sentient trucks + coked out director + insane producer = one of the most fun cult movies of the 1980s. 

Killer lipstick, a buried spaceship and a novel written at the height of King's cocaine addiction. Vespe and Wampler are joined by Tickled's David Farrier to discuss all the above and much more. 

Vespe and Wampler are joined by best selling author Mallory O'Meara (The Lady From The Black Lagoon) to delve into one of King's creepiest novels and the extremely good film adaptation that followed.

Do you want even more Kingcast Content? Well, Vespe and Wampler have you covered.

Damien Echols' love of Stephen King was actually used against him in a court of law. The outspoken member of the West Memphis Three spent almost 20 years on death row before walking free and he joins Vespe and Wampler to discuss how the Dark Tower books, The Gunslinger in particular, helped him survive on the inside. 

Garth Marenghi himself, Matthew Holness, stops by to chat with Vespe and Wampler about how Stephen King has impacted his life and the reasons why he chose King's first sober novel, The Dark Half, to talk about.

Prolific filmmaker Mike Flanagan joins Vespe and Wampler to dig into King's haunted hotel room short story and the Mikael Hafstrom adaptation starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. 

The man behind Doctor Strange and Sinister joins Vespe and Wampler to take a look at the controversial adaptation of Stephen King's deeply personal story of Jack Torrance and the evil influence of The Overlook Hotel. 

Subtitle: "Of Mice and Lawnmower Men."  Vespe and Wampler are joined by the very funny Sarah Beattie (@nachosarah) to take aim at the Stephen King adaptation so bad King himself sued the production company to get his name taken off of it. 

Elijah Wood joins Vespe and Wampler to discuss Rob Reiner's Misery. Elijah shares some scary #1 Fan encounters and admits to being a fan of King movies without having read any of the master's work.

The director of genre faves The Invitation and Jennifer's Body, Karyn Kusama, joins the boys to discuss Stephen King's very first novel and Brian De Palma's classic adaptation of it.

Showrunner Glen Mazzara joins the boys to discuss, in detail, the Dark Tower pilot he made for Amazon Prime and his epic vision for the series had it been picked up.

The boys are joined by writer/director Michael Dougherty (Trick R Treat, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) to break down King's quasi-calendar "novelette" and the '80s movie that followed. (Yes, we hate the term "novelette" as much as you do)

Famed comedian, Oscar-nominated writer and newly anointed muscle daddy Kumail Nanjiani join Eric and Scott to dive deep into The Running Man, from Bachman to Schwarzenegger.

Eric and Scott introduce everybody to the concept of the show, detail their Stephen King origin stories and give a sneak peek at the first full episode with guest Kumail Nanjiani.