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Now is the Time to Revisit ‘The Long Walk’, an Underrated Stephen King Classic

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There are few books as pulverizing and cringe-inducing as The Long Walk, yet it’s often overlooked in the large, sprawling body of work by Stephen King.

This is a crime.

The story is simple; during an event called The Long Walk, 100 teenage boys must walk until only one is left. No stopping – not until 99 of them have died from exhaustion or worse. Not for weather; not for sleep; not for total darkness. You walk, or you lose.

And what then? You get your ticket. But a ticket for what?

The last boy walking gets whatever he desires as his prize. He just has to outlast all of the others first. We focus our attention on a 16-year old Ray Garroty. And that’s the last that I’ll say about the plot.

King’s genius knows no bounds. He is able to weave terror out of some of the most abstract and complicated plots – think It – or, if he decides, he can scale everything back and wrench you mercilessly in his grip throughout a story that rests on a single pretense.

Just keep walking. And walking. And walking.

It doesn’t feature any possessed cars, rabid dogs, or otherworldly demons that live on fear. It simply digs deep into the reader’s psyche by exploring what such an endeavor would do to a young boy’s body, mind, and soul. Just imagine walking hundreds of miles until your feet are bruised and bloody, walking on gory nubs.

How’s that sound to you?

The Long Walk gives a short breath before taking off on its trek, and once it starts, it does not stop until the finish line. Readers have sometimes accused King of being longwinded and going on for too long at times about every minute deal (to which I disagree, but I digress); this is a novel for those type of readers. It is unrelenting. It is punishing.

Sitting around 380 pages, it’s a deceptively fast read – once you pick it up, it’s near impossible to put down. A fast-moving, straightforward plot doesn’t hurt either.

It’s also worth a read for the simple fact that it was actually King’s first novel. Though it wouldn’t be released until 1979, King wrote it between 1966 and 1967. For perspective, Carrie was not written for another 5-6 years, give or take.

After King’s success, he began to write under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. King released four novels under this name between 1977 and 1985. This may contribute to why The Long Walk is such an underrated work; but then again, maybe not. After King was discovered as being Bachman, Bachman’s book sales skyrocketed.

Maybe it’s the lack of any iconic monsters or larger than life antagonists. Maybe it’s because the story is too simple. Whatever it is, none of that really matters; what does matter is that you read it.

With the announcement of a film adaptationThe Long Walk may finally get the reputation it deserves. Here’s to hoping it captures the agony and terror contained within these pages.

StephenKing.com

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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