Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition (16 page)

Another vampire tale,
Popsy
first appeared in an anthology,
Masques II
in 1987. King made a significant number of textual changes, but changed few “facts” for
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
(1993). Among the changes was the correction of an error. In the
Masques
version Sheridan handcuffs Popsy’s grandson, “Sheridan clamped the other cuff on the arm of the seat and then fell back into his own…” But, in the
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
version: “Sheridan locked the other cuff onto the strut and then fell back into his own seat …” This was originally an error in that the handcuff was actually secured to a specially welded strut in the van. As so much text was changed each appearance should be treated as a separate version. In the
Notes
to
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
King states that he “rather thinks” that Popsy is also the eponymous character in
The Night Flier
. 

Quitters, Inc
., a tale describing a rather radical quit smoking program, was one of the few stories in the 1978
Night Shift
collection that had not previously been published. King adapted it for inclusion in the
Cat’s Eye
screenplay, changing many details. 

The Raft
was first published in
Gallery
magazine for November 1982, included as a pullout booklet. It was republished in
Skeleton Crew
in 1985 with a number of minor changes. These included the introduction of the term, “Do You Love?” and the correction of three minor errors. However, the two publications are simply variations of the same story. 

The only story set in Willow, Maine,
Rainy Season
was originally published in
Midnight Graffiti
magazine for Spring of 1989. King substantially revised it for
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
(1993), creating a second version of the tale. 

The Reach
is one of the few King stories for which the title was changed. As mentioned earlier, it was originally published as
Do the Dead Sing?
in
Yankee
magazine for November 1981. He then substantially revised the story and included it in
Skeleton Crew
under the new title. 

The Reaper’s Image
was King’s second professional sale, for which he received $35, and appeared in
Startling Mystery Stories
for Spring 1969. He made minor revisions for its appearance sixteen years later in
Skeleton Crew
. The only known reprints of the original variation are in anthologies edited by R. Chetwynd-Hayes and Stephen Jones
³²
. The two appearances are no more than variations. 

Part of
Pet Sematary
was published in the
Satyricon II Program Book
in 1983
³³
. This excerpt was titled
The Return of Timmy Baterman
. There are very minor variations between the short story and the final book but these have no impact on the characters. 

The Revelations of ‘Becka Paulson
was first published in
Rolling Stone
magazine for 19 July and 2 August 1984. King substantially revised it to form part of the novel
The Tommyknockers
in 1987. In its original form it also appears in the Limited Edition only of
Skeleton Crew
(1985) and was republished in a 1991 anthology,
I Shudder at Your Touch
. The tale is covered in detail in the later chapter,
Stories Swallowed by Monsters
. 

The Revenge of Lardass Hogan
is also described in the
Stories Swallowed by Monsters
chapter. It was originally published in
Maine Review
magazine. King updated it and included in his 1982 novella,
The Body
as a Gordie Lachance story. There are considerable differences between the two versions. 

The Road Virus Heads North
was first published in an anthology,
999
in 1999 and was revised for publication in the collection,
Everything’s Eventual
in 2002. Although the revisions were relatively minor, as character names were changed each publication deserves the status of a version. 

Rush Call
, like
Jumper
, was originally published in a neighborhood newspaper put out by King’s older brother David, over three parts in the winter of 1959-60, technically making them the earliest published of King’s works. They were both republished in
Secret Windows: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing
in 2000. According to the editors, “The stories are transcribed without the benefit of copyediting. Only the spelling has been corrected.” 

King has twice adapted his classic novel
The Shining
. The unproduced movie screenplay and the mini-series screenplay, which was produced, are covered in a later chapter. The various revisions King made to the particular storyline and mythology of this tale are also detailed in that chapter. 

Silver Bullet
is King’s screenplay version of the short novel,
Cycle of the Werewolf
. In November 1985 Signet published a tie-in book to the movie. That edition carried
Cycle of the Werewolf
, the original shooting script for the film and a new Foreword by King. As the published screenplay was King’s final shooting script, it differed from the release print of the film. 

Sneakers
first appeared in the anthology,
Night Visions 5
, mentioned earlier in regard to the short story,
Dedication
. Gollancz of the United Kingdom published
the anthology in 1989 under the title,
Dark Visions: All Original Stories
. Berkley Books finally released the anthology in the US as a mass-market paperback in 1990 under yet another title,
The Skin Trade
. King completely re-wrote
Sneakers
for
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
(1993). For instance, in the original the killer is unknown but in the collected version the ghost reveals to John Tell that Paul Jannings had killed him. The two forms are clearly two different versions of the same tale. 

Something to Tide You Over
appears in the 1982 graphic novel,
Creepshow
and, in a slightly different version, as part of the screenplay for the movie of the same name. 

Sometimes They Come Back
was originally published in
Cavalier
magazine for March 1974. Very minor variations made to the text for its inclusion in
Night Shift
(1978).
 

The “Final Shooting Script” of
Sorry, Right Number
is held in a box at the Special Collections Unit of the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine, Orono. Dated July 11, 1986, it is significantly different from the
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
version published in 1993. King gives the background to the screenplay in the
Notes
to that collection. In them he confirms that the
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
version was written first and the shooting script later to fit budgetary requirements. There are key factual differences between the two scripts, reviewed in a later chapter. 

The serial killer short story
Strawberry Spring
was originally published in
Ubris
magazine for Fall 1968. King substantially rewrote the tale for its publication in
Cavalier
for November 1975 (reprinted in
Gent
for February 1977). The later version was collected in
Night Shift
(1978). In a third version King adapted the story for his unproduced
Night Shift
screenplay, which is detailed in a later chapter, which includes the key differences between each version of
Strawberry Spring
. 

Stud City
was also published in
Ubris
, for Fall 1969. King heavily revised it and included it as a story written by Gordie Lachance in the 1982
Different Seasons
novella
The Body
. The original version is dealt with in a later chapter,
Stories Swallowed by Monsters. 

Suffer the Little Children
was first published in
Cavalier
for February 1972. It was reprinted in that form in a number of anthologies before King significantly revised the story for 1993’s
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
. Perhaps the key difference between the two versions is that in the latter the story is set in Maine, while in the earlier the location is unclear. 

Survivor Type
, a tale of self-cannibalism, was first published in
Terrors
, an anthology published by Playboy Press in 1982. King made minor revisions for its appearance in
Skeleton Crew
(1985). 

The Tale of Gray Dick
is a version of the chapter of the same name in
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
, published in November 2003. The stand-alone short story was first published in the magazine,
Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern
on 25 February 2003; and in an anthology,
McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales
the following month. Prior to the release of the novel informed sources advised that there were variations between this publication and the chapter in the full-length novel. Indeed, there
were
revisions, including both the deletion and addition of material for its appearance in
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
. These changes were clearly made to avoid giving away plotlines in the novel ahead of its publication. The short story is therefore more of a variation to, than a version of, the tale. Further detail is provided in the later chapter,
Stories Swallowed By Monsters
. 

That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French
was first published in
The New Yorker
for 22 and 29 June 1998. King made minor changes for
Everything’s Eventual
collection (2002). 

They’re Creeping Up On You
appears in the 1982 graphic novel,
Creepshow
and, in a slightly different version, as part of the screenplay for the movie of the same name. 

Trucks
was originally published in
Cavalier
for June 1973 and appeared, with very minor changes in
Night Shift
(1978). A theater adaptation published as
Stephen King’s “Trucks”
, appeared in
Scholastic Voice
for September 6, 1991.
Maximum Overdrive
is a wholly different story, inspired by
Trucks
but not an adaptation of that tale.