Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition

by Rocky Wood

  The Man Who Loved Flowers was originally published in Gallery magazine for August 1977. When republished in Night Shift the following year there were five almost insignificant changes, four in style and one of substance, but barely that (the word “yoe” was changed to “yowl!”).

  The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands was first published in a 1981 anthology, Shadows 4. It was significantly revised, most of the changes relating to King’s updating of the story to link it with The Breathing Method as a “Club” story, for its publication in Skeleton Crew four years later. The original version also appears in The Best of Shadows, published after Skeleton Crew, in 1989. These are clearly two different versions of the same tale.

  A story inspired by King’s work in an industrial laundry, The Mangler was originally published in Cavalier for December 1972. King rewrote it for Night Shift (1978). However, as few facts change (Hunton’s friend Mack Jackson becomes Mark, for instance) the two forms are variations, not versions.

  Memory, a moving short story, first appeared in Tin House magazine for Summer 2006 and, in 2007, in the hardcover first edition of Blaze. It was revised for inclusion in the novel, Duma Key.

  One of King’s novellas, The Mist was first published in a 1980 anthology, Dark Forces, edited by King’s agent at the time, Kirby McCauley. King substantially rewrote it for Skeleton Crew (1985). In the Notes to that collection he says, “I never liked it much until the rewrite …” The two forms, while using the same characters, show substantial changes in storyline and must be considered as totally separate versions.

  The Monkey was originally published in Gallery magazine for November 1980. King so significantly rewrote the story for its inclusion in Skeleton Crew in 1985 that they are clearly separate versions.

  The Monster in the Closet was promoted as an “excerpt” from the novel Cujo when it appeared in the Ladies Home Journal for October 1981. However, the form of the story was not a direct excerpt, as it spanned a number of sections of the novel and there are some minor changes, as well as material added. More detail is included in the Stories Swallowed by Monsters chapter later in this book.

  Another story to appear first in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction was The Moving Finger, in the December 1990 edition. It was so significantly revised in Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993) as to represent two quite different versions of the same tale.

  A tale inspired by one of Tabitha King’s habits, Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut was first published in Redbook for May 1984. The story was updated with minor variations for Skeleton Crew (1985) but these were not significant enough to warrant a second version being declared. In the Notes to Skeleton Crew King describes the genesis of this story, “My wife is the real Mrs. Todd; the woman really is mad for a shortcut, and much of the one in this story really exists. She found it too. And Tabby really does seem to get younger sometimes…”

  The Whitney Museum originally published My Pretty Pony in 1988 as a Limited Edition. In October of that year it was released in a Limited Trade Hardback. King so substantially revised the tale for its inclusion in Nightmares and Dreamscapes in 1993 as to leave no doubt these are two separate versions of the same tale.

  The New Lieutenant’s Rap has a unique history. Printed as a chapbook under King’s Philtrum Press imprint, the entire text is in King’s handwriting. It was provided to guests at a New York City party to celebrate King’s 25th anniversary in book publishing in April 1999. Marsha DeFilippo, King’s secretary, confirmed to the author of this book that copies were left at the party by guests who did not know what they were leaving behind! The story has never been published in the mass market and most likely will not be. Differing substantially from Why We’re in Vietnam, which appeared in Hearts in Atlantis later that year, it is effectively an earlier version of that story. The New Lieutenant’s Rap is reviewed in a later chapter.

  A vampire tale, The Night Flier was originally published in an anthology, Prime Evil: New Stories by the Masters of Modern Horror, in a Donald M Grant Limited Edition (April 1988) and a mass market hardback issued by NAL (June 1988). King significantly revised the story for Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993) and they are clearly separate versions. For instance, in the earlier version King mentions himself, Johnny Smith and Jerusalem’s Lot but deleted these very important references from the collected version.

  King wrote a screenplay titled Night Shift that was never produced and is the subject of a later chapter in this book. The script included revised versions of Strawberry Spring, I Know What You Need and Battleground.

  Night Surf is one of King’s earliest published stories and forms a prototype for his later masterpiece, The Stand. It was first published in the literary magazine, Ubris for Spring 1969 and contained King’s first use of the term “Captain Trips” to describe a worldwide superflu epidemic. He substantially revised the tale for its appearance in Cavalier for August 1974 and further minor revisions were made for Night Shift (1978). As a result there are two versions, the original Ubris and the revised Cavalier/Night Shift.

  The atmospheric tale Nona was originally published in the 1978 anthology, Shadows and was substantially revised for Skeleton Crew (1985). In the latter version it became a Castle Rock story while in the earlier it had been set in Blainesville, Maine, a town with the same geography as Castle Rock! Of perhaps most interest is that the original Ace Carmody (who dies in a car crash) becomes the infamous Castle Rock character Ace Merrill (he does not die in this tale) in the Skeleton Crew version. An error in the Shadows version was also corrected in the later publication.

  The short sequel to ‘Salem’s Lot, One for the Road, was first published in Maine magazine for March/April 1977. King made very minor revisions before republishing it in Night Shift the following year, but these are no more than variations. It was later republished in an anthology, Vampire Omnibus (1995). There were very minor revisions (style only) in that publication but, almost uniquely, the story appeared under the title Return to ‘Salem’s Lot.

  King’s 1986 screenplay for the movie version of Pet Sematary is remarkably faithful to the novel but does include a number of factual changes in the storyline. The screenplay is certainly a version of the story and is covered in considerable detail in a later chapter.

  King originally provided The Plant as a Christmas gift to a limited number of people in 1982, 1983 and 1985. Published by his imprint, Philtrum Press as a serialized novel, he stopped writing the story after the 1985 episode. To worldwide publicity King returned to the tale in 2000, updating the storyline and releasing it again as a serialized novel on the Internet through his official website, www.stephenking.com. After six parts, The Plant folded its leaves once more, with the story once again unfinished. The history of this unusual publishing venture is detailed in a later chapter.

  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 Jones32. The two appearances are no more than variations.

  Part of Pet Sematary was published in the Satyricon II Program Book in 198333. 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.

  A Castle Rock story, Uncle Otto’s Truck originally appeared in Yankee magazine for October 1983. It was substantially rewritten for Skeleton Crew two years later. An error was also corrected – in the earlier version the price of land Schenck and McCutcheon bought was said to be at a rate of $23 per acre. They bought 4000 acres and this would total $92,000, not the $10,000 mentioned.

  Another crime caper, The Wedding Gig was originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine for December 1980 and the same version was reprinted in that m
agazine’s June 2004 edition. The tale was substantially revised for Skeleton Crew (1985).

  The story known in the King community as Weeds was originally published in Cavalier for May 1976 and reprinted in Nugget for April 1979. In both Cavalier and Nugget it is listed on the Contents page as Weeds but the headline of the story, spread over two pages, reads, “More Than a Green Thumb … Will Be Necessary to Stop the Weeds: A chilling new story by the author of Carrie and ‘Salem’s Lot.” When King updated this story for the two Creepshow versions (screenplay and graphic novel) the story was retitled The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill and became a Castle Rock tale. As a result, there are effectively three versions of this tale.

  Why We’re in Vietnam, one of the stories in the Hearts in Atlantis collection, is effectively a new version of The New Lieutenant’s Rap, as mentioned earlier.