Dear Stephen King,
I have become almost obsessed with the 18 page anthology you and your buddy Chris Chelsey put together called “People, Places and Things.” The info I found said you had your own publishing company called “Triad & Gaslight Books”. This was a publishing company created by two 13 year olds. That name is rather impressive. It almost sounds like you each had your own ideas for the publishing company, then you put them together to make one.
As I read through this short collection of one page stories, I see the beginnings of some of the things that would later grow into novels like The Shining. “The Hotel at the End of the Road” reminds me of what you wrote about Overlook Hotel where Jack looses his grip on reality while trying to write his next novel.
There are a few stories I have not been able to find in any way, shape or form. “The Dimension Warp” makes me wonder what is being describe. Is it a hole in the fabric of time that leads to another time or another dimension? Maybe it is one of the first ideas about a pocket universe, a universe between universes.
Then there is the story “I’m Falling” which, according to everything I have read, has been long lost in the depths of the darkest corners of time. I wonder how it was lost. It was ripped out of your personal copy, or maybe it is in your copy, but you want to keep it to yourself, keeping your fans feeling like there is something of yours they have not read. That would be an ingenious move to keep us in your deep dark pockets.
“I’ve Got to Get Away!” is a great testament of the repetitive nature of our assembly line society. We go to work everyday, help make some boss really rich, collect our measly paycheck and dream of getting away. I don’t know if a 13 year old you was thinking about that at the time, but that is how I read it.
I have a few more stories I am looking forward to reading. The stories “The Thing at the Bottom of the Well”, “The Stranger”, “The Cursed Expedition”, “The Other Side of the Fog” and “Never Look Behind You” I still have to find and read.
Thank you for your childhood creations,
Robert T Gasperson
Monday, April 28, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Finding Stephen’s Writings
Dear Stephen King,
For years I have followed your work. At one time I had a pretty impressive collection of your books. I had all the hardbacks, most of the anthologies and many of the old magazines that I could find on ebay. When I got married, I had to give up a lot of my collections, and My books shelf was one of them. I am not entirely sure I am over that sale. I did make the guy happy I sold the books to.
I have made it a challenge to find every piece of writing you have allowed into the open market. I started by looking at the complete list of written works on your website. It is a great list. It helps me find the stories that are not in my collection.
The next part of my search are the few works that were available before you sold “Carrie”. In “On Writing” you described a series of newsletters you and your brother Dave wrote called “Dave’s Rag” That led me to a story called, “I was a Teenage Grave Robber” which was published in Comics Review in 1967. This story led me to Horrorking.com and their list of Rare Works by Stephen King. This was the motherload. I was so excited about finding this.
I soon discovered an anthology you and your childhood friend Chris Chelsey wrote together. It contained 18 single page stories, of which you wrote 8 and 1 you co-authored with Chelsey. I have found synopsis of several of these stories, but I have not been able to find the stories themselves.
After a little more research, it turns out there are a number of books about rare works you have either not released or have not been republished in an anthology. "The Lost Works of Stephen King", by Steve Spignesi and "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished" by Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne & Norma Blackburn are two of those books. The first I can get pretty easily. The second I might have to settle for the kindle version. It is out of print and the copies available are $50-200. I look forward to the hunt though?
Thanks for the rare stories
Robert T Gasperson
PS. Do you enjoy hiding stories or leaving easter eggs inside stories for your true fans to hunt for?
For years I have followed your work. At one time I had a pretty impressive collection of your books. I had all the hardbacks, most of the anthologies and many of the old magazines that I could find on ebay. When I got married, I had to give up a lot of my collections, and My books shelf was one of them. I am not entirely sure I am over that sale. I did make the guy happy I sold the books to.
I have made it a challenge to find every piece of writing you have allowed into the open market. I started by looking at the complete list of written works on your website. It is a great list. It helps me find the stories that are not in my collection.
The next part of my search are the few works that were available before you sold “Carrie”. In “On Writing” you described a series of newsletters you and your brother Dave wrote called “Dave’s Rag” That led me to a story called, “I was a Teenage Grave Robber” which was published in Comics Review in 1967. This story led me to Horrorking.com and their list of Rare Works by Stephen King. This was the motherload. I was so excited about finding this.
I soon discovered an anthology you and your childhood friend Chris Chelsey wrote together. It contained 18 single page stories, of which you wrote 8 and 1 you co-authored with Chelsey. I have found synopsis of several of these stories, but I have not been able to find the stories themselves.
After a little more research, it turns out there are a number of books about rare works you have either not released or have not been republished in an anthology. "The Lost Works of Stephen King", by Steve Spignesi and "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished" by Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne & Norma Blackburn are two of those books. The first I can get pretty easily. The second I might have to settle for the kindle version. It is out of print and the copies available are $50-200. I look forward to the hunt though?
Thanks for the rare stories
Robert T Gasperson
PS. Do you enjoy hiding stories or leaving easter eggs inside stories for your true fans to hunt for?
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