Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I have always been an avid fan of the collaboration between two of my favorite voices in contemporary horror, Peter Straub and Stephen King. When THE TALISMAN was released, it was one of those banner days to be a geek I remember from my youth. I bought the book first day, took it home, and dove in. The story of Jack Sawyer and his dying mother and his epic journey from the Alhambra Inn to the Black Hotel was a powerful piece of imagination, a lynchpin of sorts for King's sprawling DARK TOWER series. I don't imagine myself as an actor of any sort, but there was one role I wanted intensely, that of Wolf, Jack's loyal friend on part of the journey. I re-read the book any number of times over the years, always aware that Steven Spielberg had optioned the rights and was holding onto them over time. Last I heard, Richard LaGravanese was working on a feature adaptation for Spielberg. That was years ago, though, and after that...
... silence until this weekend, when I learned that Mick Garris was set to adapt the book for ABC and Dreamworks.
Mick is one of those mythical figures, the genuinely "nice guy" who has also somehow nurtured a successful career as a director. There was a time when he was writing articles for CINEMAFANTASTIQUE and hosting a movie show on LA's long-defunct-and-deeply-missed Z Channel, but by the time I first met Mick, he had already finished his gig as story editor for AMAZING STORIES and was gearing up to work on Stephen King's SLEEPWALKERS. I spent a lot of time on that set, and it was my first year in Los Angeles. Mick always went above and beyond to make the process open to myself and Harry Lime, and in the years since, it's been great to watch the partnership between he and King flourish with long-form adaptations of THE STAND and THE SHINING.
Now, more than ever, I envy Mick for the experience he's got ahead of him. Interest in THE TALISMAN should be at an all-time high soon with the release of the sequel, co-written once again by King and Straub, called THE BLACK HOUSE. Here's hoping that the long, strange development journey this material's been on is about to result in something that will capture just what makes this such a special story. Rest assured, we'll be following it as the story unfolds.
"Moriarty" out.
