Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King

About this episode

Dr. Caroline Bicks explores Stephen King's creative process through his private archives, revealing insights into his writing and personal history.

Caroline Bicks became the first scholar granted extended access by Stephen King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writerʼs creative process—most of them never before studied or published. The year she spent exploring King’s early drafts and hand-written revisions was guided by a question millions of Kingʼs enthralled and terrified readers (including her) have asked themselves: What makes Stephen King’s writing stick in our heads and haunt us long after we’ve closed the book? Dr. Bicks focuses on The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ʼSalemʼs Lot, and Night Shift—to reveal how he crafted his language, story lines, and characters to cast his enduring literary spells. While tracking King’s margin notes and editorial changes, she discovered cut scenes and alternative endings that King is allowing her to publish now. The book also includes her interviews with King, that reveal new insights into his writing process and personal history. Part literary master class, part biography, part memoir and investigation into our deepest anxieties, Monsters in the Archive is unlike anything published about the master of horror. It chronicles what Dr…

People in this episode

Guest: Caroline Bicks

Topics covered

• Stephen King
• literary analysis
• creative process
• horror literature
• archives
• biography

Keywords

• Stephen King
• archives
• literary analysis
• horror
• creative process
• biography
• Caroline Bicks

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, ʼSalemʼs Lot, Night Shift

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