Stephen King Lecture Notes

Okay, so, I didn't actually take any notes. But I was entertained. Last night, My wife, two friends and me went to see Stephen King at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. The man can scat. Two hours and only a brief reading from his new book, Lisey's Story.

Some thoughts:

• King likened writing to a tennis match, bouncing ideas off reality and writing down what comes back. This statement was in regards to how much of our 'selves' are in our characters.
• He discussed some of his favorite adaptations to film (Shawshank, Misery, The Green Mile) and some that he thought were shit (Sometimes They Come Back Again). He reported that Eyes of the Dragon was being made into an Animated Film, and John Cusak had just wrapped a film, called 1408, from the short story of the same name.
• On the popularity of Horror, King offered that people like to explore their darker thoughts, films and books are an easier way to do that than writing and filmmaking (stuck in the dark thoughts). He suggested that when people have to deal with extreme violence in reality, that is reflected in popular culture outlets (Saw, Texas Chainsaw).

An interesting night, full of anecdotes from his family life and medical issues (his recent pneumonia and subsequent infection, directly influenced the new book). He even conjured up a scare for the audience, bringing up reports that 1 in 50 people leave their cars unlocked and 1 in 100 leave their houses unsecured. That there would be someone waiting for those people in the rearview mirror or in a dark closet was assured. The only question: would they be carrying a kitchen knife or power tools?

Note: Another film currently in the works, The Mist, one of my favorite of King's short stories, is being directed by Frank Darabont (The Green Mile).