Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "castle-rock"

Elevation by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An entertaining novella set in Castle Rock, with a strange mystery at its centre.

Scott Carey confides in his friend and doctor that he is experiencing increasingly bizarre medical symptoms – he is measuring weight loss at a consistent and alarming rate, yet is experiencing no physical signs. In fact, he is feeling healthier than ever.

His new neighbours, Deirdre and Missy, have only recently moved to Castle Rock, and Scott is becoming ever more frustrated with their dogs defecating on his front lawn. Scott’s attempts to resolve the issue amicably are met with disbelief. However, when he presents evidence, it only serves to sour their relationship further.

Scott bears no ill will towards his neighbours and strives to forge a friendship with them, particularly when he witnesses the discrimination the couple are facing in the village, which also threatens the success of their new business. As he embarks on this mission, Scott continues to ruminate on one question – what will happen when his weight hits zero?

Stephen King has not only mastered several genres, but also multiple forms of narrative – his novels (including sheer epics), novellas and short stories all equally skilful and successful, packed with well-developed characters, vivid imagery and intriguing plotting. The fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine, has featured and been alluded to in multiple Stephen King stories, beginning with the novel ‘The Dead Zone’ in 1979; it has even earnt its own TV series of the same name. Visiting there once again makes you feel immediately at home.

The novella also explores the impact of everyday, largely passive but no less harmful, prejudice and discrimination that remains woven into many a community – at the story’s heart is a message that to care for and help our fellow human beings with love and compassion is surely the true purpose of our lives.

‘Elevation’ is a heart-warming tale that ends with a poignant, emotional finale.



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The Dead Zone by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A classic thriller from horror master Stephen King.

Since suffering an injury as a child, Johnny has experienced moments when he can see and feel with such clarity almost as if with a view into the future. Yet it’s affected his life little up to this point. Now a dedicated teacher, he is delighted when fellow teacher Sarah agrees to a date. Yet their night is due to end tragically, with Johnny left comatose and barely clinging to life.

Almost everyone has given up on Johnny, when, four and a half years later, he wakes from his coma. His precognitive abilities are now far more powerful – with the briefest touch, he can see into someone’s life with terrifying clarity. Johnny’s road to recovery is a difficult one, while his newfound abilities become evermore heavy to bear.

He wants nothing more than to be able to recover and live a quiet life, to get back into teaching and move on from the past. But others will not allow him to rest, while Johnny wrestles with his internal struggle between intervening in the lives of others to offer help and moving on to live his own. But the presence of evil is impossible to ignore and, against his better judgement, threatens to become an obsession that will ultimately consume him.

‘The Dead Zone’ is a gripping, character-driven horror thriller; spanning several years and told from the perspective of a core cast of characters, it has the feel of an epic whilst brimming with elements of supernatural horror and science fiction, with moral questions at its core. I felt a lot of empathy for Johnny, not only through his injuries and recovery, but also in his personal relationships and the increasing burden of his moral struggle. I loved his relationship with Sarah, one that becomes tinged with tragedy, a piece of their life stolen from them before it could be fully realised. There are some relationships you never truly move on from and the novel deals poignantly with that concept. Johnny, Sarah and Herb are developed particularly well, with glimpses into many of the secondary and minor characters, some of which become far more significant as the novel progresses.

King explores themes he has explored in previous novels and would explore again in the future – notably forms of psychic phenomena and the dark side of power, both political and preternatural. I could see shades of Randall Flagg in Greg Stillson and his fascist politics, while Johnny’s precognition presents similar challenges to one who might discover the ability to time travel, which King later explored superbly in '11.22.63’. The novel is also notable for being the first to feature fictional town Castle Rock, the town’s serial killer, whose apprehension is recorded here, often referenced in future novels and TV series.

The novel has twice been adapted for the screen, the first as a film released in 1983, and the second for television as a series which began airing in 2002 and lasted for six seasons. It is a story that lends itself perfectly for adaption to the screen; the novel itself is fast-paced, at times intense and emotionally resonating, with both plot and characters blended perfectly to form a thrilling narrative that builds to an almost inevitable, but satisfying, denouement.

Engrossing and moving, ‘The Dead Zone’ hooks from beginning to end, posing thought-provoking questions and telling a thrilling tale.



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Cujo by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A classic tale of terror from the modern master of horror.

Cujo, a gentle-natured Saint Bernard, lives with his family on the outskirts of Castle Rock.

Bitten by a rabid bat, Cujo is left untreated, his symptoms unnoticed until it's too late.

As Cujo descends into madness and violence, he turns on any human prey unfortunate enough to cross his path.

'Cujo' is a natural horror novel by Stephen King, a fast-paced chiller dripping in blood and brutality as a creature from the natural world turns on humanity – in this case, one we have embraced as a common pet and brought into our homes. The narrative centres around two families living in Castle Rock - Cujo's owners, the Cambers, and the Trentons, who become ensnared by this animalistic threat by sheer circumstance.

King's superlative skill is in pulling the reader into the character narratives, keeping us hooked as the suspense builds and the plot unravels; his novels always an absorbing experience. Raw emotion bubbles to the surface throughout, not least because of poor Cujo, who was a gentle, loving dog prior to his infection. Relentless, tragic, and thrilling, we are reminded that we remain at the mercy of the natural world should it decide to turn its fury upon us.

In ‘Cujo’, we return to the town of Castle Rock for the second of many visits, following our first in 'The Dead Zone' to hunt a serial killer with Johnny Smith. The novel toys with the idea that the infection may be deeper than the rabies that infected Cujo, with Tad's nightmares and premonitions suggesting of evil lurking in the shadows deep in his closet, that something dark and malignant coalesces in this locale. We may only have scratched the surface in these early novels, but there is plenty more to come from Castle Rock, as well as references to the infamous Saint Bernard far and wide in King's universe, Cujo's tale taking on the aura of urban legend.

The novel was adapted for film under the same name in 1983. This was also notable as the first on-screen visit to Castle Rock; while this may have been succeeded by many visits, Cujo himself has yet to make his return to the screen. Meanwhile, in print, 'Cujo' will get a long-awaited sequel with one of the stories in King's upcoming collection 'You Like It Darker' - tantalisingly entitled 'Rattlesnakes'.



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