The Kingcast

Horror author Nat Cassidy (When the Wolf Comes Home) has a new book of short stories coming out called I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours so it was only natural that we brought him back on the show to talk about one of King's most beloved short story collections: Nightmares and Dreamscapes.
This is one of King's doorstoppers, so me, Breznican, and Nat all pick our three favorite stories and see what overlaps and what doesn't. Come of the talk of vampire urine, stay for the insightful chatter about how authors curate the pacing of short story collections.
Nat's new book, I Know A Place, is available for pre-order now and hits shelves May 5th.

We have something of an academic detour for you with this episode. Listen along as we're joined by Professor Andy Hageman (Director of the Center for Ethics and Public Engagement at Luther College) who recently got access to the exclusive Stephen King Archive where he got hands on with King's original typed manuscripts and discovered something fairly interesting about King's process, particularly when it comes to The Dark Half.
The Prof tells us what it was like to get that close to literary history as well as what it's like teaching King at a college level and what he thinks future scholars will teach when it comes to Stephen King.
If you like what you hear, make sure to check out Hageman's essay on this experience for the LA Review of Books here: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/stephen-king-dark-half-revisited-archives-richard-bachman/

Director Natasha Kermani (Abraham's Boys, The Dreadful) is our guest this week and she picked a very interesting title to discuss: Stephen King's collaboration with his son Joe Hill titled Throttle. Kermani is no stranger to the work of Joe Hill, having adapted his story Abraham's Boys last year, and has some keen insights into both father and son's work, especially how both authors wrote about those very specific roles.  
Kermani's latest film, The Dreadful, starring Game of Thrones's Sophie Turner and Kit Harington, alongside Mrs. Carmody herself, Marcia Gay Harden, releases in a theater near you February 20th.

Mr. Clarke himself, Randy Havens, joins The Kingcast boys to talk about the final Stranger Things season, the not-so-chill fans that showed up in its wake, working with Frank Darabont and looking back at Darabont's very first Stephen King adaption: The Woman in the Room.

For those sensitive listeners out there, consider this fair warning: when our guest Mallory O'Meara (Girly Drinks, The Lady from the Black Lagoon) pops up on The Kingcast, things tend to get a little raunchy and this episode is no exception. She may be a James Beard award winning author, but she also hosts a podcast called Reading Smut.
Mallory returns to the show to finally dive into some Dark Tower waters as the topic turns to Stephen King's novella The Little Sisters of Eluria, which takes place not too long before the first novel in the Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger.
What does Pixar's Cars have to do with this story? What about a surprisingly extended conversation about what other bodily fluids can sustain a vampire? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out!