Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition (13 page)

The short story
The Bear
forms part of
The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands
. It was originally published in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
for December 1990. When included in
The Wastelands
(1991) the story was significantly different from the earlier version (see the later chapter in this book,
Stories Swallowed by Monsters
for more detail). 

Before the Play
is the prologue deleted from
The Shining
. It was first published in
Whispers
magazine, #17/18 in August 1982. Two sections were deleted for a republication in the
TV Guide
issue for 26 April to 2 May 1997, which coincided with the debut of the mini-series version of
The Shining
that week. Full detail of the history of this tale and the changes appear in a later chapter. The two publications are really one version, with the second an “abridged” form. 

Two parts of
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
were initially published in 1996 in a free giveaway paperback that accompanied some copies of
Desperation
and
The Regulators
. They were
Beneath the Demon Moon
and
The Falls of the Hounds
. There were numerous variations in the text between the booklet and the subsequent novel. 

Big Wheels
:
A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)
is a story King developed from an aborted novel,
The Milkman
. It first appeared in an anthology,
New Terrors 2
in 1980. King so substantially revised the story for its appearance in
Skeleton Crew
in 1985 that the two appearances are totally different versions of the tale. 

The Bird and the Album
was first published in
A Fantasy Reader: The Seventh World Fantasy Convention Program Book
on 30 October 1981. This short tale was published five years before it was included as part of the novel
It
. King substantially rewrote the piece for its inclusion in the novel. Full details of the story’s history and changes appear in a later chapter,
Stories Swallowed by Monsters
.  

Blind Willie
exists in three forms. First published in
Antaeus
for Autumn 1994, that version of the tale was republished in
Six Stories
(a Limited Edition collection issued by King’s own Philtrum Press imprint in 1997, but never released as a mass-market publication) with quite a number of minor revisions, including changing the name of a celebrity mentioned in passing (from O.J. Simpson to Michael Jackson!); and changing the first name of Willie Teale’s fake wife. 

King then completely rewrote
Blind Willie
for its appearance in
Hearts in Atlantis
, to make the characters part of the storyline of that collection. Bill Teale became Bill Shearman (one of the boys who beat up Carol Gerber in
Low Men in Yellow Coats
) and, instead of “Blind Willie” Teale, Shearman posed as “Blind Willie” Garfield (he still had Bobby Garfield’s glove, which he used when begging). As a result there are two clear versions of the tale – the
Antaeus
version and the
Hearts in Atlantis
version. 

The Blue Air Compressor
(subject of a later chapter) is one of the earliest of King’s published works. It originally appeared in
Onan
magazine for January 1971; and was republished with relatively minor amendments in
Heavy Metal
magazine for July 1981. Some of the variations appear to be correction of typesetting errors in
Onan
. Others are editing and style changes. Two sections were deleted from the
Heavy Metal
version (one reads, “It is desperately important that the reader be made cognizant of these facts”; the other effectively corrects what King regarded as a minor error). 

The Boogeyman
was first published in
Cavalier
for March 1973 and was reprinted in
Gent
for December 1975. There were extremely minor revisions for its subsequent appearance in
Night Shift
(1978). 

Cain Rose Up
was first published in the Spring 1968 edition of the University of Maine literary magazine,
Ubris
. Considering King was a college student at that time it is not surprising he choose to completely rewrite the story for its appearance in
Skeleton Crew
17 years later. One character name was changed and the original text is almost unrecognizable in places. The extra maturity in King’s writing shows between what are clearly versions of the story.
 

Calla Bryn Sturgis
was first released on King’s official website,
www.stephenking.com
on 21 August 2001. Readers were told it was the Prologue to the upcoming novel,
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
but hints were provided that this would not be its final form in the book. In fact, so as not to give away certain events in the novel, there had been some careful editing and changes. The story was delivered in such substantially different form as the Prologue,
Roont
when the novel was published in 2003 that there is no doubt the short story is a version of the tale. More detail appears in a later chapter,
Stories Swallowed by Monsters
.
 

The
Cat’s Eye
screenplay (1984) is reviewed in a later chapter. It contains a wrap-around section (published in a radically different form as
General
in the 1997 anthology
Screamplays
); as well as versions of
The Ledge
(originally published in
Penthouse
for July 1976 and revised for inclusion in 1978’s
Night Shift
), and
Quitter’s, Inc.
(an original story for the
Night Shift
collection), both involving fairly significant changes to the original short stories. 

Chattery Teeth
has appeared in two distinct versions. The first was published in
Cemetery Dance
magazine for Fall, 1992; it was significantly revised for
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
(1993). 

Three versions of
Children of the Corn
exist. These are the original short story, published in
Penthouse
for March 1977; its republication in
Night Shift
(1978); and an unproduced screenplay written by King (c.1978). The
Night Shift
version contains a number of changes; many of them are cosmetic but a number are specifically factual, meaning that each form, including the screenplay, are separate versions. The factual changes from the short stories to the screenplay are extensive and these are discussed in a later chapter, dealing with that script. 

The Crate
also exists in three versions. It was originally published in
Gallery
magazine for July 1979. King revised the story for inclusion in his
Creepshow
screenplay (also 1979) and there was further alteration for its appearance in the graphic novel
Creepshow
(1982).
The Crate
is described in a later chapter. 

King’s screenplay for
Creepshow
(subject of a later chapter) contains versions of five stories. Each story also appeared in the graphic novel
Creepshow
, in each case somewhat revised from the original screenplay. The stories are:
Father’s Day
(the only versions of the story are the screenplay and the graphic novel);
The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill
(known as
Weeds
in its text format published in two early men’s magazines);
The Crate
(as noted, it appeared in the screenplay, the graphic novel and
Gallery
magazine for July 1979, plus reprints of that version in anthologies);
Something to Tide You Over
(the only versions of this story are the screenplay and the graphic novel); and
They’re Creeping Up on You
(again, the only versions of the story are the screenplay and the graphic novel). 

Crouch End
first appeared in an anthology of Lovecraftian stories,
New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
in 1980. It was heavily revised for its later inclusion in
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
(1993). In the earlier version there is mention of a husband who went out for a pack of fags (English slang for cigarettes) and never came back. That is just how King’s father left his family. 

King wrote screenplay versions of his novel
Cujo
and
The Dead Zone
but neither was produced. The events in both scripts differ radically from the novels. Both screenplays are covered in later chapters. He also wrote a screenplay adaptation of
Cycle of the Werewolf
, which was produced as
Silver Bullet
, more of which is below. 

Dedication
first appeared when King biographer Douglas E. Winter edited an anthology,
Night Visions 5
, released in a Limited Edition and a trade hardback in 1988. The anthology actually included three King stories, the most ever released in one volume outside one of King’s own collections. They were
The Reploids
,
Dedication
and
Sneakers
. 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
Dedication
for its appearance in
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
. They are clearly two different versions of the same tale. 

Another King screenplay is his adaptation of
Desperation
. Again, the storyline was changed enough to justify calling this script a version. More detail is provided in the later chapter. 

Do the Dead Sing?
is one of the few King stories for which the title was changed when republished. It originally appeared in
Yankee
magazine for November 1981. King so substantially revised it for its inclusion in
Skeleton Crew
, under the title
The Reach
, that the two are clearly separate versions of the tale. A major change was the use of the term “Do You Love?” in
Skeleton Crew
. 

Dolan’s Cadillac
was first published serially in the
Castle Rock
newsletter over five issues from February to June 1985. King substantially revised it for publication as a Limited Edition from Lord John Press (1989) and included that version in
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
(1993). He also began a screenplay, which is the subject of a later chapter.