Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition (25 page)

This America Under Siege segment is set in the New York apartment of an elderly and very wealthy businessman, Upson Pratt, a man with a nasty disposition. Pratt also had an unnatural fear of bugs, presumably caused by the fact that rats, roaches, bedbugs and silverfish had infested his home when he was a boy.

The ruthless Pratt was in the process of taking over Pacific Aerodyne. After finding control of his company had passed to Pratt Corporation, CEO Norman Castonmeyer shot himself through the right eye. Mrs. Castonmeyer rang to berate Pratt over the suicide but Pratt showed no concern.

That night much of the city was blacked out and bugs began to invade Pratt’s apartment. The first was a cockroach, which he sprayed to death and put in a matchbox. However, the body mysteriously disappeared. Among other bugs that now came into the apartment were some big, ugly ones with greenish carapaces; and “spider-things.” When these bit Pratt they drew blood. Many other types of bugs followed and Pratt kept up a valiant fight using Black Flag and other bug sprays but he was ultimately overcome and killed. After his death one last cockroach climbed out of a nostril!

As the scriptwriter King was able to include numerous links in the screenplay to his other works of fiction and a number of homages. Castle Rock is mentioned as being five miles from Jordy Verrill’s farmhouse. The town is a key location in
The Body
,
Cujo
,
Gramma
,
the
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
version of
It Grows on You
,
The Man in the Black Suit
,
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut
,
Needful Things
,
the
Skeleton Crew
version of
Nona
,
Premium Harmony
,
The Sun Dog
and
Uncle Otto’s Truck
.
It receives considerable mention in
Bag of Bones
,
The Dark Half
,
The Dead Zone
,
Squad D
and
The Huffman Story
; and it is
also mentioned in
Dreamcatcher
,
Gerald’s Game
,
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
,
Riding the Bullet
,
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
,
Under the Dome
and the
Complete and Uncut
version of
The Stand
.

In
Christine
Jimmy Sykes’ uncle said there was an opening for a janitor at the college where he worked because the other janitor had disappeared!
The Crate
is set at Horlicks University (where Regina and Michael Cunningham of
Christine
were teachers) and, of course, one of the victims of the creature in the Crate was the janitor, Mike! The unfortunate students from
The Raft
attended Horlicks University and, in
From a Buick 8
, Curtis Wilcox wanted to take science courses at that college. Now, while it is true it’s hard to get into a good college these days, this is one students who intend to graduate may wish to avoid!

The bumbling Jordy Verrill is also mentioned in the notes to King’s unproduced screenplay of
Pet Sematary
. In that script the Baterman place “looks like the home of Jordy Verrill.” Finally, the screenplay notes that there “may” have been a Letter to the Editor in the
Creepshow
comic book that mentioned
‘Salem’s Lot
. The comic book did carry a full-page advertisement for
Dawn of the Dead
and also “may” have carried a Letter to the Editor mentioning
Night of the Living Dead
. In a nod to the director of both those movies and
Creepshow
, there was also a feature on George Romero in the comic book.

The Grantham’s housekeeper in
Father’s Day
is Mrs. Danvers. In
Bag of Bones
King reminds readers that Mrs. Danvers was Rebecca de Winter’s housekeeper in the Daphne du Maurier novel,
Rebecca
. The use of this name is an apparent homage.

Considering readers and viewers can access this screenplay in a number of ways, including viewing the DVD/video or reading the graphic novel, and the passage of years, it would seem most unlikely that this screenplay will ever be published. Readers wishing to more fully experience
The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill
will need to find a copy of
Weeds
; and those interested in
The Crate
will need to access
Gallery
magazine, its reprint in
Nugget
or one of the anthologies in which it appears. This book also contains separate chapters on these last two tales.

King At The Movies

King’s love affair with the silver screen began at a very early age. As a result of his great success as a best-selling author he has been able to pen a number of screenplays and meet and work with over a dozen significant directors. He has also taken the opportunity to show his acting skills, which are quite acceptable for the roles he has taken. Hardcore King fans delight in each of these roles. He was at his best as the inept Jordy Verrill in
Creepshow
.
The movies and television episodes in which he has appeared are listed below.

Appearances

The movies and television episodes in which King has appeared are listed below.

• Baseball
  (1994) as Himself (documentary series)
  
• Chappelle’s Show
  (2003) as Himself (comedy series)
  
• Creepshow
  (1982) as Jordy Verrill (segment, adaptation of
  Weeds
  and
  The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill
  ; Joe King appears in the movie as Billy)
  
• Creepshow 2
  (1987) as Truck Driver (segment,
  The Hitch-Hiker
  )
  
• Diary of the Dead
  (2007) as Newsreader (uncredited, voice only)
  
• Fever Pitch
  aka
  The Perfect Catch
  (2005) as Himself (uncredited, he throws out a pitch)
  
• Frasier
  (2000) as the Voice of Brian (
  Mary Christmas
  episode)
  
• Golden Years
  (1991) as Bus Driver (original TV series written by King)
  
• Kingdom Hospital
  (2004) as Johnny B. Good, lawyer on TV and AA sponsor (TV series written by King)
  
• Knightriders
  (1981) as Hoagie Man (Tabitha King also appeared, as this character’s wife)
  
• The Langoliers
  (1995) as Tom Holby (adaptation of the novella)
  
• Maximum Overdrive
  (1986) Man at the Cashpoint (original script inspired by
  Trucks
  )
  
• Pet Sematary
  (1989) as the Minister (adaptation of the novel)
  
• Rose Red
  (2002) as the Pizza Delivery Man (original mini-series written by King)
  
• The Shining
  (1997) as Gage Creed (mini-series adaptation of the novel, King’s character is named after the unlucky child in
  Pet Sematary
  )
  
• The Simpsons
  (2000) as Himself (
  Insane Clown Poppy
  episode)
  
• Sleepwalkers
  (1992) as Cemetery Caretaker (original script)
  
• The Stand
  (1994) as Teddy Weizak (mini-series adaptation of the novel)
  
• Stephen King’s Gotham Café
  (2005) as Mr. Ring (off camera, dollar baby adaptation)
  
• Storm of the Century
  (1999) as TV Lawyer (original mini-series written by King)
  
• Thinner
  (1996) as Dr. Bangor (adaptation of the novel)
  

Director

King’s sole directorial effort was 1986’s
Maximum Overdrive
.

Executive Producer

King has been listed as the Producer or Executive Producer for the following TV productions. Of these King also wrote the screenplay of all but
Ellen Rimbauer
, which is based on characters he created for
Rose Red
; and
Riding the Bullet
.

Desperation, The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer
,
Golden Years
,
Kingdom Hospital, Riding the Bullet
,
Rose Red
,
The Shining
(mini-series),
The Stand
(mini-series) and
Storm of the Century
.

Credited as the Writer

As of early 2010 King’s work was already credited with the creation of an astounding 110 film or TV projects that had actually been released. These range from the first,
Carrie
(1976) to
Secret Garden
and
The Mist
, from “dollar babies” such as Frank Darabont’s
Woman in the Room
to blockbusters by leading directors such as Darabont’s
The Shawshank Redemption
and
The Green Mile
and Stanley Kubrick’s
The Shining
. This last is but one of a number of stories that have been professionally adapted twice, the others include
Apt Pupil
(one production was not completed);
The Dead Zone
;
Children of the Corn
;
Sorry, Right Number
;
Carrie
;
Firestarter
;
and
‘Salem’s Lot
.

Adaptations of King are fast tracking to catch Charles Dickens (287), Edgar Allen Poe (221), Arthur Conan Doyle (215), Victor Hugo (142) and Mark Twain (119) and have left Nathaniel Hawthorne (44) in the dust.

⁴⁹
Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide
, p.25

⁵⁰
The Stephen King Story
, Chapter 12

⁵¹
Joseph Hillstrom King, writing as Joe Hill, is now an Award-winning novelist, short story and comic book/graphic novel horror author

Cujo – Unproduced Screenplay (Undated)
 

The material in this chapter was compiled with the assistance of a copy of King’s 1st draft screenplay. While the screenplay has never been published copies of it do circulate within the King community and there is also a copy in Box 2316 of the Special Collections Unit of the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine, Orono. As this is a public box interested readers may access the screenplay there. 

There is an interesting history to the
final
screenplay for the 1983 movie adaptation of King’s early novel
Cujo
. After King wrote the first draft, responsibility passed to Barbara Turner (credited as Lauren Currier), who wrote two revisions, and Don Carlos Dunaway, who rewrote it again. The Writer’s Guild of America denied King a writer’s credit after Turner lodged a protest. King told
Cinefantastique
, “I was in England at the time and I just didn’t have time to mess with it.” In the end, the movie version is only slightly different from this first draft screenplay. 

Considering the dispute over the credit, the fact that novel is likely to be in print for decades to come and that the movie may be rented or purchased on DVD/video, there would appear to be no prospect of this screenplay ever being published. 

As readers will be very familiar with the premise and storyline of
Cujo
the summary of King’s screenplay may be kept to the minimum. In the script a bite presages a fight to the death. On 16 June, the Camber’s dog Cujo, a good, gentle St Bernard was bitten by a rabid bat while chasing a rabbit. As the disease took hold Cujo slowly lost his mind. 

On 12 July, having won $10,000 in the Maine State Lottery five days earlier, Charity Camber and her son Brett left Castle Rock, Maine by bus to visit relatives in Connecticut, leaving husband Joe with Cujo on their isolated property. Vic Trenton also left Castle Rock, on a business trip, still angry over his wife Donna’s recent affair with a local poet and furniture refinisher, Steve Kemp. Their son Tad had been suffering from night fears, including of a bat shaped monster in his closet, but his father had alleviated the terror by teaching Tad “monster words” that would fend off anything lurking in the dark. 

Cujo, now suffering from rabies, attacked and killed one of Camber’s neighbors, Gary Pervier. Shortly after, he also killed Joe Camber. Unsuspecting, Donna Trenton drove her ailing blue Pinto to the garage on Joe Camber’s property to be repaired. On a day where the thermometer hit 87°F, Cujo trapped Donna and Tad in the car after the Pinto failed to restart. 

The next day, while Vic Trenton was in New York, Cujo kept Donna and Tad trapped, with the thermometer hitting 100°F. Tad’s condition deteriorated and Donna also suffered from heat stress and sunburn. Steve Kemp trashed the Trenton’s house and then left Maine for New Hampshire. That evening, after Donna left the car and ventured into the Camber’s house, Cujo attacked her, savaging her leg and stomach. Concerned about his wife’s failure to answer the home phone, Vic contacted the Castle Rock police. 

Shortly after midnight, policeman Roscoe Fisher went to the Trenton home, which he found vandalized. At 1.02am Sheriff George Bannerman called Vic Trenton in New York to tell him what had been found and Vic immediately left for Castle Rock. At dawn on the 14th Donna and Tad were still trapped in their car. Cujo killed another neighbor, egg farmer Alva Thornton. Tad suffered a convulsion and Donna had to revive him with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. At 6.50am Vic Trenton arrived in Castle Rock where it rapidly became another very hot day, with the temperature already 85°F at 8.15am. Tad was in a very bad way and it appeared he would not survive. Donna left the car and fought Cujo, he savaged her again and she severely injured him with her tire iron, puncturing his right eye. Bannerman and Vic Trenton arrived at the Camber place and Bannerman shot Cujo dead. Somehow, Donna and Tad had survived. 

In adapting his novel for the screen King made particularly important changes to the entire final confrontation between the antagonists, along with a number of minor alterations. In the screenplay Tad Trenton survives (as he did in the actual movie) whereas in the book he dies. In the screenplay Bannerman kills Cujo but in the novel it is the other way around (as a result this “second” Bannerman has an alternative life in King’s fictional world). Cujo also killed Alva Thornton in the screenplay, a fate the farmer did not suffer in the original version. 

This adaptation of King’s Maine Street Horror novel is quite faithful to the original (however, King is quoted in Jones’
Creepshows
as saying, “I thought my script was pretty good. It was not as faithful to the book as the final result was”). As a result it is not surprising to find there are many links to King’s other fiction. Cujo himself is also mentioned in
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut, The Sun Dog, Pet Sematary, Needful Things, The Body
and
The Dark Half
, usually in the context of Castle Rock.  

Of course, Castle Rock is the setting for
The Body, Cujo, Gramma,
the
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
version of
It Grows on You, The Man in the Black Suit, Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut, Needful Things,
the
Skeleton Crew
version of
Nona, Premium Harmony
,
The Sun Dog
and
Uncle Otto’s Truck
. The town receives considerable mention in
Bag of Bones, The Dark Half, The Dead Zone, Squad D
and
The Huffman Story
; and is also
mentioned in the
Creepshow
screenplay
, Dreamcatcher, Gerald’s Game, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, Riding the Bullet, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
,
Under the Dome
and the
Complete and Uncut
version of
The Stand
. 

George Bannerman also appears in
The Body
(although it seems likely this is a different George Bannerman) and in
The Dead Zone
. Bannerman is also mentioned in
Needful Things, The Dark Half
and
The Sun Dog
. 

Donna Trenton and Tad Trenton also appear in
The Monster in the Closet
(an excerpt from the novel published as a short story) and
Needful Things
; and are also referred to in
The Sun Dog
. Joe Camber is also mentioned in
Needful Things, The Sun Dog, The Body, Gramma
and
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut
. Charity Camber is also mentioned in
Needful Things
and Castle Rock police officer Roscoe Fisher also appears in
The Dead Zone
. Gary Pervier is also mentioned in
Needful Things
and
The Sun Dog
. 

Interestingly, the only other mention of Town Road #5, on which the Cambers and Gary Pervier live, is in
Needful Things
. For some reason King changed the name of the road from the novel’s Town Road #3. In another interesting road reference Donna’s erstwhile lover, Steve Kemp, lived and worked on Castle Rock’s Back Harlow Road (this is the only King work where this road is mentioned), a name that echoes Castle Rock’s neighboring town. 

When King was originally approached to change the ending to make it more marketable to movie audiences by letting Tad Trenton live he agreed, despite having told the book’s publisher that such a change was “non-negotiable.” 

The result was that King had to totally rewrite his original ending. In the novel Donna and Tad were trapped by Cujo until Bannerman visited the Camber property at Vic’s request (Vic was still away on business) but was attacked by Cujo and killed. Donna was able to beat the dog to death with a baseball bat. However, the ordeal was too much for Tad and he died before help could arrive. In the screenplay Vic returned to Castle Rock and went out to the Camber property with Bannerman, who shot Cujo, saving Tad’s life. This rewrite leaves George Bannerman alive. King also provides a new future for Bannerman (remembering there will soon be a new Sheriff to accommodate in the Maine Street Horror Reality in the person of Alan Pangborn). That November, the script tells us, Bannerman was elected to the Maine State Senate and was expected to run for Governor in 1988.  

However, little Tad does not get off lightly. The screenplay tells us that the following August he was diagnosed with leukaemia but was later in remission. In other developments both Vic Trenton and the Municipality of Castle Rock sued Charity Camber but the suits were later dropped. Charity and her son Brett then moved to northwestern Maine. When Donna’s lover, Steve Kemp, left Castle Rock he had posted a poison pen letter to Vic Trenton and trashed the Trenton’s home. He was arrested for this crime in Twickenham, Massachusetts. The Trentons later dropped the charges and he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

The novel is set in 1980 but no specific year is given for the events portrayed in the screenplay. It must be set before 1988, as Bannerman was elected to the State Senate the November following Cujo’s rampage and was expected to run for Governor in 1988. As is often the case in King screenplays he takes the opportunity in this one to tip a nod to close associates. Charity Camber mentions Chris Chesley in the script as someone she could get to go up to her house to check on Cujo and Joe. Chris Chesley and Stephen King self-published
People, Places and Things
in 1960, a publication covered elsewhere in this book.
Chesley was a childhood, teenage (in Durham, Maine) and early adulthood friend of King’s. 

In the script Vic Trenton asked his secretary to get Chris Spruce on the phone. Christopher Spruce is the brother of Tabitha King and Stephanie Leonard, King’s sister-in-law. Spruce both assisted in editing and published the
Castle Rock
newsletter and, for a period, ran WZON, a Bangor radio station King owns. 

All in all, any King fan would have been happy with King’s screenplay for this movie. The actual movie, made on a budget of $5 million, took over $21 million at the box office, a substantial result in 1983. It starred
E.T.
actress Dee Wallace as Donna and
www.imdb.com
members rate it 5.7 out of a possible 10, which seems a little harsh. While it was a competent movie, and the final production is not enormously different from King’s script, perhaps King’s feel for the story and the characters would have ensured a more effective translation to the screen.