I'd just picked up an inter library loan, Caroline Bicks's Monster in the Archives: My Year Of Fear With Stephen King, at Orono Public Library and was waiting for the bus back to campus. A guy I was sharing a bench with asked me what I like best about Stephen King's writing.
It's that, although there are gruesome scenes in his books, the horror doesn't come from special effects, nonhuman monsters, gratuitous gore, or over the top violence, but from King's intimate knowledge of human cognition and emotions. He has his finger on the hopes, fears, ambitions, loves, and hatreds that motivate people. He realizes that underneath the personas we present we are complex and contradictory. His protagonists are far from perfect and his villains, even in their most monstrous incarnations, show flashes of humanity.
That's why I took to Monsters in the Archives like Tobago to Fancy Feast entrees and good quality nip. Bicks gets it.
Caroline Bicks is the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine. When she was about to start a sabbatical year she had an inspiration: to research how King's horror stories evolved from first draft to publication to gain insights into his creative process. For a year she had access to the Holy Grail of Stephen King primary sources: an archive attached to his famous Bangor home. She was the first person besides his family and Foundation to have access to those materials.
In the book Bicks focuses on five of King's early works: Pet Sematary, The Shining, Night Shift, 'Salem's Lot, and Carrie. By studying the evolution of plots and characters through these primary sources she gives readers insights into the Horrormeister's creative process. In Carrie, for instance, a number of revisions make Carrie less monstrous and more vulnerable, capturing her fading humanity.
The contextualization of Night Shift is particularly fascinating. Nearly all the short stories in this anthology were originally written when he was a University of Maine undergraduate. Bicks helps readers understand the influences of his growth and life challenges during what he's called "the most crucial and formative period of my life" and the politically turbulent era in which it took place.
Just like my Amber, Bicks started reading Stephen King's books at a very early age. She was only twelve when she read her first, Night Shift, and was terrified by one of the stories: The Boogeyman.
"In my imagination, the only thing worse than having my home ripped from its foundation and thrown into the wilderness was having it invaded by a monster that comes out when your parents are away."
Throughout the book she shares her reactions to his narratives. This openness and vulnerability make up a very fascinating strand, sure to resonate with readers who have had similar experiences.
Monsters in the Archives is a must read for the real Stephen King affecianado who wants to know the back story behind some of his most iconic works. I see it as a reference work one can return to profitably as opposed to a one time read. It would be an excellent birthday or Christmas gift.
On a purrrsonal note, although I had read King's earlier works as an undergrad, the Horrormeister didn't take up residence in my household until the winter of '97 when my 6-year-old Amber wanted to watch the TV version of The Shining. I videotaped it and watched it with her. At the end she announced that when she grew up she would be a horror story writer like Stephen King. She kept her siblings and friends entertained (and scared) with her stories. For awhile a nearby vacant lot became an animal Sematary. Fortunately the wildlife buried there never became reanimated. The girls and I had a special tradition that lasted well into their teen years of horror read alouds. Amber made good on her ambition. Her first horror novel, Little White Flowers, dropped last summer and her second, Hallowed Deadly Seeds, will be out in June. I think a tour of (fictional) Evanston, Maine might give even the Horrormeister the shivers.
A great big shout out goes out to Stephen King for creating such masterful narratives, to Caroline Bicks for sharing her insightful research, and to Amber Hathaway for not giving up on her childhood ambition.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my Galaxy
