[.ca] Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (ISBN 067103264X)

From Amazon.com:
Stephen King started writing Storm of the Century as a novel, but it evolved into the teleplay of an ABC TV miniseries. Set in Maine's remote Little Tall Island, the tale is all about vivid small-town characters, feuds, infidelities, sordid secrets, kids in peril, and gory portents in scrambled letters. The calamitous snowstorm is nothing compared to the mysterious mind-reading stranger Linoge, who uses magic powers to turn people's guilt against them--when he's not simply braining them with his wolf-head-handled cane. Don't even glance at that cane--it can bring out the devil in you. Just as The Shining was concerned with marriage and alcoholism as much as it was with bad weather and worse spirits, Storm of the Century is more than a horror story. It's creepy because it's realistic. But it's also unusually visual. Linoge's eyes ominously change color, wind and sea wreak havoc, a basketball leaves blood circles with each bounce. The 100-year storm no doubt hits harder onscreen than on the page, but the snow is a symbol of the more disturbing emotional maelstrom that words evoke perfectly. And the murders of folks we've gotten to know is entirely terrifying in print. The crisp discipline of the screenplay format makes this book better than lots of King's more sprawling novels--the end doesn't wander and the dialogue crackles. Here's the real test: It's impossible to read parts 1 and 2 and not read part 3, "The Reckoning." --Tim Appelo

Why publish a screenplay?:
I am a huge fan of King's novels. The problem here is that this is not a novel, it is some silly screenplay for a made-for-TV miniseries. Steve if you are going publish a book, make it a novel. Having said that, this story is also incredibly weak plot-wise. It builds, and builds and then it ends with no climax.

Teenage Opinon:
Stephen King has made another novel full of horror and suspense. The biggest storm ever is about to hit a town called Little Tall Island in Maine. While this storm is occuring a strange gentleman named Andre Linoge stops to visit. He walks up to a home owned by an old woman Martha Clarendon. Linoge charges in the old womans home and brutily murders her. Later, he purposly lets the police department arrest him.

Storm of the Century - Killer in the Keys:
In the summer of 1935, hundreds of World War 1 Veterans were in the Florida Keys to build the bridges linking the islands to the mainland. Many were curious and most unafraid when they heard a hurricane was coming. What was some wind and rain compared to bullets? Alas the Labor Day hurricane was perhaps the most powerful to ever assualt the U.S. mainland, moving across the Keys with 200-mph winds and a 20-foot storm surge. More than 400 people died, including many of the verterans in their makeshift work camps. Drye's well-researched narrative provides not only an hour-by-hour account of the storm track, but also chronicles the political fallout in it's aftermath. Note: This refers to the version by Willie Drye.

Master of horror strikes again in Storm of Century....:
Stephen King's "Storm of the Century" screenplay is further proof, if anyone doubts it, that he's not only adept at writing a horror story that gives one the creeps, but that he is not limited to writing in one format. Most novelists are content with sticking to one literary branch, letting other writers adapt their work to screenplay form. Tom Clancy and John Grisham sell the film rights to producers such as Mace Neufeld and screenwriters (Donald Stewart and John Milius, for instance) rework their basic plots into adapted screenplays. King, too, has allowed others to adapt his works for Hollywood, but he has also learned the demanding format of the screenplay and written quite a few (Creepshow, Silver Bullet, and The Stand, just to name a few). For the ABC-TV miniseries "Storm of the Century," King conjured up one of his darkest tales yet. As a severe winter storm of unprecedented fury approaches Maine's Little Tall Island, Martha Clarendon is murdered in an unspeakably violent manner. But instead of fleeing the scene of the crime as most killers do, Andre Linoge parks himself on his victim's easy chair and waits, his silver-wolf-head's cane in his hands, for the authorities to pick him up. But with Linoge's arrest, Little Tall Island's woes do not end; they are only beginning. For Linoge is one of those not-quite-human fiends Stephen King often creates to create havoc in small Maine communities like Little Tall Island, Derry, Jerusalem's Lot, and Castle Rock. He can destroy people simply by revealing their darkest secrets and manipulating them from afar. And by the time the Storm of the Century passes, the citizens of Little Tall Island will be horrified when they discover the meaning of Linoge's simple request: "Give me what I want, and I'll go away." The introduction to this published screenplay of "Storm of the Century" allows King to explain why he sometimes writes original teleplays rather than starting by writing a novel then adapting it. He also reveals why he sells his miniseries to a broadcast network with its stricter Standards and Practices staff (censors) instead of the more liberal cable networks (HBO, Showtime), and much more. I saw the original miniseries when it aired a few years back, and I am sure (okay, I know for a fact) that there is a DVD version of "Storm of the Century." This book reminded me of how effective the three-part "Novel for Television" was, and it is a fascinating read.

Exiting Screenplay!:
This is the first screenplay that I read of S.King., it is so well written that you can imagine it as if you were actually seen the movie. The story is so good that it keeps you interested at all times, without a clue about what is going to happen at the end.