Stephen Kingcast

This episode is an introduction to a larger exploration occurring over on Patreon.

"Ladies and gentlemen, at long last I am diving into the bibliography of one of Stephen King's most prolific contemporaries, the legendary Dean Koontz. In the horror heyday of the 80s and 90s, you could count on two things in the horror section of any bookstore: massive quantities of King books taking up one section and massive quantities of taking up a complete other section just a few feet over. Their creative output and their books' close proximity from the beginning of their last names caused a generation to compare and contrast these two authors, and created a conjured, imagined war between the two: you were either a King fan or a Koontz fan. Clearly, King won the larger pop culture war, but let's not count out Koontz. With over 100 books under his belt, he has been a reliable source of entertainment for decades, and for many of us growing up in the 80s and 90s, it was a treat to have such a vast treasure trove of riches to choose from.

Though I grew up reading nearly all of his books, over the last twenty years, I'd fallen off. And when I needed a book to read, I found myself pulling out Winter Moon from a box of old books in my basement. It was one of the books I don't remember clearly, and therefore, it was a perfect book to read again for the first time. I have a lot of thoughts, and I'm happy to share them here on the Dean Koontzcast, one man's musings on the works of Dean Koontz!"

For the full episode, head over to the Stephen Kingcast Patreon page for this review, and much, much more!

This week, I'm taking a break from the coverage of televised Stephen King works to review this banger of a movie that passed me by when it first came out.

Starring rising Scream Queen Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets, Heretic, Companion), always likeable Chris Messina and everyone's favorite weirdo, David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), The Boogeyman tells the tale of a wounded family, recently shattered from the loss of its mother/wife, stalked by the mythological creature.

This very easily could have been a generic, run of the mill, cut and paste horror movie, but between the talent on screen, the believable characterizations, the lived-in-world of this family, the visual flourishes and the strong direction from Rob Savage (director of Host, the Zoom-inspired horror that you need to see if you haven't already), it is a must watch Stephen King adaptation.

As always, you can write in at [email protected]

Follow me on Bluesky, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook.

And check out more reviews at patreon.com/stephenkingcast

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars crashed and burned its sequel trilogy with a final installment that created doubt for the future of the franchise. However, at that same time, a little show called The Mandalorian had taken the pop cultural world by storm, and the inclusion of Star Wars' newest character, Baby Yoda, breathed new life into a franchise that, at least on the big screen, seemed on life support.

Flash forward seven years later, and Disney finally releases its next Star Wars movie, one based on that smash hit television show. However, we have to ask the question is, did they wait too long? Have audiences tired of this lone wolf and his cub? Is there enough substance in this movie to warrant its place in theaters?

In this episode, I contextualize the character, his television show and his movie in the greater landscape of Star Wars before breaking down the elements of the film into the categories of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Strap on your jet packs and launch into my my review of The Mandalorian and Grogu. This is the way.

Subscribe for more episodes at patreon.com/stephenkingcast

Write in at [email protected]

Airing during the summer of 2006, this 7 part TNT adaptation starred William Hurt, William H Macey, Kim Delaney, Steven Weber, Jeremy Sisto, Ron Livingston and more to provide seven adaptations of King's short stories. I'm all for a fun anthology show, but the question is: was it any good?

Find out this week on The Stephen Kingcast!

As always, you can write in at [email protected]

Follow me on Bluesky, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook.

And check out more reviews at patreon.com/stephenkingcast

Come for the review of Riding the Bullet, stay for the examination on Houlden Caufield, Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf and 28 Years Later. 

It was a fun review. I can't say the same about the movie itself. But for all my thoughts, check it out. 

As always, you can write in at [email protected]

Follow me on Bluesky, Tik Tok, Instagram and Facebook.

And check out more reviews at patreon.com/stephenkingcast