Journey step started: May 6, 2022
Journey step ended: Sep 10, 2022
Click the Google sheet to the right to see every item covered on this step of the journey.
<(prev) — Children of the Corn — The Last Rung on the Ladder — The Man Who Loved Flowers — One For the Road — The Woman in the Room — Overview
Children of the Corn
Day 215: Aug 3, 2022
Before the day is done, I’m going to take the first step into the cornfields where I’ll likely be for the rest of the month. Now reading “Children of the Corn”.
“She had been mounted on a crossbar like a hideous trophy, her arms held at the wrists and her legs at the ankles with twists of common barbed wire… Her eyes had been ripped out. The sockets were filled with the moonflax of cornsilk… her mouth filled with cornhusks.”
That might’ve been the most disturbing imagery of all of Night Shift.
Day 216: Aug 4, 2022
Watching the classic “Children of the Corn” tonight! I must’ve seen this a hundred times as a kid, but haven’t in the last 3 decades. Looking forward to revisiting it!
For a 1984 film, this opening title sequence doesn’t feel all that antiquated.
I’m trying to think of a creepier looking kid in all of filmdom, and I’m struggling.
Day 217: Aug 5, 2022
I have a speech I need to write tonight that I’m giving in the morning. But screw it – I’ve got some Stephen King I have to consume today & I’m going to spend it in Gatlin with Isaac, Malachai, and the gang of precious youth!
I could so fall in love with a 1984 Linda Hamilton!
The major changes from the story so far, I really like. Instead of a bickering couple whose marriage is falling apart, we have a loving couple – which will make the ending that more hard-hitting. I also like the little boy as the narrator of what’s happened with the town.
I am 100% sure I knew this kid, or at least his doppelganger, when I was in middle school.
The Blue Man… The Blue Man Group…
Day 218: Aug 6, 2022
–
Day 219: Aug 7, 2022
Yesterday will go down as only the 2nd day this year I didn’t pursue a SK-related activity. The first was because I had donated a kidney. Yesterday, my excuse was more mundane – just too busy! Tonight, I’ll finish this film.
Hey – I kinda dig this painting!
I wish someone would say *my* name the way she says “Bring… Malachai!”
If this kid isn’t somehow related to Tom Cruise, I’ll eat my hat.
(Corn child to the left. Tom Cruise to the right)
Look for the little kid in the bottom left. There’s no way he didn’t get injured in this scene the way the grown-ass man pummeled him!
This kid sounds like he’d fit right in as a villain in one of those Adam West Batman episodes.
What in Holy Cornholio was this???
Now I feel bad. According to IMDB trivia, this actor, John Franklin, “Was diagnosed with GHD as a child; GHD is the reason for his short stature. He was signed to an acting contract at the age of 23 because he looked like he was 12 years old.”
Well, that wraps up this classic film. I’ll join the chorus of other voices who say this was a MUCH better film in memory than it was upon rewatch. Not the worst film I’ve seen, but certainly not what I would call “good” either.
Now onto the 10 podcast episodes about this movie!
Day 220: Aug 8, 2022
Nobody does film take-downs better than Film Sack. Sacking “Children of the Corn” is a perfect way to start the day!
Now I get to rewatch “Children of the Corn” with some friends over at The Losers’ Club and their “Ka-mmentary” track! I wonder what amazing insights they will have to share? 😂
Watching the opening scene with the slaughter of the town’s adults:
“I think… I think this could happen!”
Hilarious observation from Film Sack earlier that the coffee poison technique ONLY works if all the patrons receive and drink their coffee at the exact same time.
“I have a very personal story about corn…”
Who says something like that?! 😂
Day 221: Aug 9, 2022
Continuing a rewatch “Children of the Corn” with the gang at The Losers Club and their “Ka-mmentary” track where they compliment Isaac on his fantastic hair.
Day 222: Aug 10, 2022
The journey behind the rows continues with Chat Sematary and their not-so-fond take on the movie “Children of the Corn”.
The subject of whether you, an adult, can ever bring yourself to kill an evil kid dominated most of The Kingcast‘s discussion about “Children of the Corn”. 😂
Day 223: Aug 11, 2022
I had forgotten that South Park episode where Cartman yells out “Outlander!” Thanks to Stephen King Cast for the fun reminder!
Cartman of the Corn
“…may you be blessed by He Who Walks Behind the Rows in Godawful MS-DOS Animation in all your rewatches.”
– Zach Dionne
😂😂😂
Previously, after reviewing “Children of the Corn,” The Kingcast discussed whether you could bring yourself to kill a child. Now, in the second episode about this movie, they’ve moved way past that to explore how many could you take on at once?
The final word on the “Children of the Corn” movie goes to David Farrington. That’s one step closer to finishing off Night Shift!
Day 224: Aug 12, 2022
It’s an exciting day! I now get to watch the NINE movies that came after the original “Children of the Corn” in 1984. First up is the made-for-TV remake in which I’m sure they fixed ALL the problems from the original. Right?
Let’s get this party started!
Well, that running-over-the-kid scene had more graphic sound effects than the original movie did. And I really didn’t need to see Vicki barfing as well.🤮
Yes, the 1984 version changed the main protagonists to be a loving couple. But in this 2009 version, this couple is so UNLIIKEABLE, you don’t even want to carry on with the movie.
I know there may be some inherent bias since I just watched the original “Children of the Corn”, but Malachai shouldn’t be 27 and Isaac ought to have outgrown training pants.
This new Isaac has a voice that belongs more in a Peanuts cartoon than in a horror film.
Day 225: Aug 13, 2022
Finishing off the 2009 made-for-TV remake of “Children of the Corn”.
Was the original bad? Yes.
Is this remake worse? Oh, most definitely!
“Go get him!”
And cue the Benny Hill music.
The question was asked before: Could you bring yourself to kill a kid in self defense? According to this movie, yes – as he proceeds to take out two including snapping the neck of a little one.
Well – there’s an unexpected nude sex scene towards the end. That just might bump up my opinion of this film just a tad.
Nope – all the little creepy corn kids stood around and watched two of the older ones get it on. No thank you!
Taken from right out the book. But a bit disappointed she wasn’t launched up into the sky like a firework.
As far as I can tell, Dark Tower Radio was the only one to have an episode that covered the 2009 remake of “Children of the Corn” that I just watched. I guess that’s a distinguishing honor?
Learned an interesting factoid from that episode: The writer and director of the 2009 version was a producer of the original 1984 release!
Day 226: Aug 14, 2022
Before moving on to the direct sequels of “Children of the Corn”, I learned about a 1983 short film adaptation called “Disciples of the Crow”.
It’s actually not half-bad. It does away with anything supernatural and just focuses on the kid-cult. The acting and filming is adequate but there’s this focus on this dunking bird that I found to be humorous.
So it appears that “The Night of the Crow” is a German film anthology where “Disciples of the Crow” was jammed in the middle and dubbed into German. Based on Amazon reviews, buyers of this collector’s item had no idea it was in German.
I received news this morning that a dear friend passed away. I miss her a ton already. To help take my mind off it, I’m going to start watching “Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice”. Hopefully, there will be a few chuckles here. I could use it.
The opening credits are about 37 minutes of THIS.
Tell me this Sheriff doesn’t look like Nick Cage’s younger brother, Rick.
Oh those 90’s shoulderpads on all the women’s shirt. How we do miss those! It always let us men know they were ready to suit up for offensive tackle should the need arise.
You would’ve thought by now that filmmakers would realize that it’s NOT POSSIBLE TO MAKE CORN SCARY! But no, they went on for another 100 movies assuming they could do so.
I think I found my new ringtone.
Day 227: Aug 15, 2022
Gonna force myself to finish this movie tonight. The fact that people paid money to see this crap in the theater is incredible! I would’ve asked for my $3 back if I had gotten this as a VHS rental.
The Little Rascals they ain’t.
Had an out-loud chuckle at this scene. The dummy in the wheelchair was so damn obvious – why did they slo-mo it? 😂
I want to see this thing vs The Mangler in a death match.
We got our required “Outlanders!” scream as well as the worst Jimmy “The Superfly” Snuka tackle of kids I’ve ever seen.
Well THIS just sorta came out of nowhere. I guess He Who Walks Behind the Rows is a… Klingon?
Worst game of catch ever.
Well THIS just sorta came out of nowhere. I guess He Who Walks Behind the Rows is a… Klingon?
Day 228: Aug 16, 2022
With 7 more sequels to go, “The Final Sacrifice” seems to be a case of false advertising. Nevertheless, I start my morning off with The Losers’ Club‘s very first “Lobstrosities” episode which was about this movie!
They made a great point: The corn fungus of “Children of the Corn II” was the midichlorians of the Corn Universe.
I love hearing them make fun of the exact same scenes that I picked the clip in my tweets over the last 2 days. Movies like “Children of the Corn 2” are best seen among a group of friends! A lot of hilarity to be found.
Randall: Any other thoughts on things we found effective, Dan?Anything else that you loved?
-pause –
Dan: No.
😂😂😂
Movies like “Children of the Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice” ought to have commentaries from The Kingcast as part of the theatrical release. It’s the ONLY way to make them entertaining! Shout-out to Bekka Supp for identifying all celeb lookalikes in this.
Day 229: Aug 17, 2022
Misery loves company and I was glad to share in the misery of “Children of the Corn II” with Chat Sematary!
Onto the 4th Corn Movie in this step of the journey. The much-beloved, direct-to-VHS, “Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest”. I’m guessing there’s some Corn-n-da-Hood happening here.
Dimension Films mean high quality, right?
Right?
A bad case of “gravel voice” passes as horror here.
The 90s were a more colorful time, fashion-wise.
Day 230: Aug 18, 2022
My self-torture continues with “Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest”. Two corn-kids travel to Chicago and a wonderful cultural exchange occurs!
Urban rule: If you a corn-bred, white-as-can-be transplant to the inner city, you can win over the respect of the entire black population if you are good at pick-up basketball.
I’ve swallowed a bug before. But I’ve never swallowed a flame. What an interesting way to go!
I think “Law & Order: SVU” accidentally wandered into the cornfield.
A young black man singing to the tune of the racist song “Camptown Races” is quite an unelightened 90’s moment.
Wow, these hardened Chicago schoolkids turned into a murderous cult rather easily.
Wait – Charlize Theron was in “Children of the Corn III”? I completely missed her!
Greatest fight scene since Cpt Kirk vs the Gorn.
This took a turn for the Hellraiser rather suddenly!
Now THIS is how you shoot a horror film on a $23 budget. Note the expert miniature work here! You can hardly tell.
Day 231: Aug 19, 2022
It’s incredible to believe that “Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest” warranted dedicated podcast episodes, but here we are with The Losers’ Club who who attack this film with the enthusiasm of an FBI agent at Mar-a-Lago.
Day 232: Aug 20, 2022
Chat Sematary experiences “Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest” and loved it so much they abandoned the rest of the films in the series.
“Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest” is analyzed by They Who Walk Behind the Podcasts, The Kingcast and April Wolfe.
“I like a red-headed corn child in my corn movies.”
That’s damn Shakespearean, folks!
Is this where the Children of the Corn series jumps the shuck? (get it?)
I embark on the rarely seen “Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering”.
It’s another high quality “Dimension Films” release, I see.
The only think Children of the Corn IV is famous for, apparently.
The new cornkid preacher has quite a bad case of acne.
90% of this movie are “dream sequence scares” like this. It’s freakin’ annoying.
Day 233: Aug 21, 2022
Finishing off “Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering” today. The most unforgiveable thing is how BORING it is. No. 3 was terrible but at least it swung for the fences in its lunacy. This one is just a bad X-Files episode.
A good movie is supposed to “show, not tell”. But Corn IV has what feels like a 13-hour “nothing but tell” scene that just won’t end!
It’s unfathomable, but The Kingcast actually found time & energy with Ben Mekler to take on “Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering”. While all other podcasts abandoned the series after no. 3, they continued on despite all warnings to stop!
Big debate on that episode on whether it was a standard tray found in the gurney that cut the cranky doctor in half or if it was an affixed razor blade that did the deed. Here’s the best film still I could take of the instrument of death so you can decide for yourself.
Well that was the last of any of the podcasts I could find that dealt with Children of the Corn movies. Looks like I’m on my for for sequels 5 – 9. That’s almost seven hours of straight-to-video garbage for me to sift through. But sift through it I will!
Day 234: Aug 22, 2022
I am “He Who Walks Behind the Rows of VHS Tapes” to pull out & watch obscure titles like “Children of the Corn V: Fields Of Terror”. It is inexplicable how this has turned into a 10-film franchise!
The Dark Tower makes an early appearance, I see. 🗼
The font used in the title is likely the scariest thing about this film.
If you look closely, you can tell that is a stunt dummy.
Every scene is either shot from ground-level or from a sky cam.
David Carradine is waaaaaaay too good to be in this film. I mean, this is Academy Award level line delivery, compared to the rest of the film!
Spoiler alert! Who the hell am I kidding? You’re never gonna watch Children of the Corn V…
Here’s a somewhat batshit death scene. There’s so many cutaways, it’s tough to tell what’s going on here.
Day 235: Aug 23, 2022
-no entries for today-
Day 236: Aug 24, 2022
It’s the most anticipated sequel of the series! The bad-ass preacher kid is back. Dipping into original cast members means this is gonna be good, right? Right?
I like the way the 6’s are staggered. And the crosses for t’s is pretty good. Looks like they spared no expense on the title screen!
Stacy freakin’ Keach is in this film?
Stacy Keach is in my favorite film of all time – a little known work called “The Ninth Configuration”, written & directed by William Peter Blatty. He’s the author of The Exorcist.
So to see Keach in a Children of the Corn movie is shocking to me!
They got this film to stretch out to 80 minutes by filming most scenes in slow motion, just like this one.
Day 237: Aug 25, 2022
Tonight, I’m finishing off what is shaping up to be the dullest entry in the Children of the Corn saga. I watched half of it last night and can’t remember a single blessed thing about it today.
This is what we in the industry call a burrrrrrrrrrrn!!!!
In case you’re wondering, Isaac retains ZERO of the energy that he had in the first film. Where is the screaming preacher kid we’ve all come to know and love?
The thing that made Children of the Corn special was how creepy the kids were.
In this movie, they’re as creepy as a Barney the Purple Dinosaur casting call.
Day 238: Aug 26, 2022
So many unanswered questions from the last film. Questions like “Why the hell did they make it?” and “Why the hell are they making more?”
Hopefully, those answers will be revealed in “Children of the Corn 7: Revelation”
Off to a bad start as the title font is definitely a step backwards from the last film.
The first 15 minutes were spent with this lady walking around a dimly lit condo and one of the apartments shouting out “Grandma?”. 😴😴😴
We’re 30 minutes into this film and she’s still looking for grandma.
It’s “She-who-walks-behind-the-tomatoes”.
Looks like The Exorcist may have wandered onto the wrong film set.
Day 239: Aug 27, 2022
Torturing myself tonight with the second half of “Children of the Corn 7: Revelation”. The only thing revealed was how bad the CGI was that they used. See clip in thread below.
Computer corn glows and grows at an alarming rate.
Budget cuts only allowed for exactly TWO children of the corn in this film.
My brain cells are dying from watching this movie.
1. Guy scrapes what he thinks is blood off the wall and taste-tests it??? Is that standard investigative procedure?
2. “It’s Hershey’s.”
“Chocolate?”
Day 240: Aug 28, 2022
Having been completely turn off to corn in general for the rest of my life, I plod forward with “Children of the Corn 8: Genesis”.
You don’t say…
From IMDB: “The film was rushed into production by Dimension Films because the studio was about to lose the rights to the Children of the Corn series”
Looks like they just took some unused footage from one of the “Ringu” films and threw some corn into it.
The physics of this scene has left me baffled.
1. Can a grown man be knocked over by a cob of corn thrown at him?
2. He’s at the top of a staircase. How did he fly out the window?
3. Can a cob of corn thrown at a grown man cause him to fly through a window pane?
Despite the ridiculous opening scene, the acting is actually quite a step up compared to the previous films.
45 minutes in and corn stalks finally showed up. Almost like they were making a cameo appearance out of nostalgia.
I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did.
Um… small question. WHY DIDN’T THEY STOP THE CAR AND PULL OVER?
They. Just. Kept. Driving.
Final synopsis – probably the best level of acting since the first film.
But what a stupid story!
Day 241: Aug 29, 2022
I have reached the end of my Children of the Corn step with the final terrible movie in this series: “Children of the Corn 9: Runaway”.
This movie is so low budget, they couldn’t afford color film.
They’ve decided to try a poor man’s version of “300” blood splatter effects.
I’m only 25 minutes into this film and I’m already completely lost as to the plot. Help me make sense of this!
Day 242: Aug 30, 2022
Tonight’s the night! I finish off “Children of the Corn 9: Runaway” and put this long nightmare of bad movies behind me.
Corny Soprano isn’t sitting well with me. The kids are supposed to be religious creepy, not mob-boss-you-owe-me-money violent.
Look – there’s definitely some filmmaking competence in this movie. But there’s no point to it. No point at all.
I WANT A STICKER FOR HAVING SAT THROUGH ALL TEN OF THE “CHILDREN OF THE CORN” MOVIES!
I watched ALL TWELVE of the Children of the Corn movies last year. Now The Losers’ Club is taking me back to that dark period of my life…
I really liked their deep-dive into Dimension Films and its wide variety of film quality having seen their logo open up many of the Hellraiser and Children of the Corn direct-to-video sequels.
Day 511: May 26, 2023
I’m taking a break from my one-episode-a-day Dead Zone TV series run to circle back to a book I finished last year, Night Shift, and watch the new Children of the Corn movie that just come out.
I’ve heard nothing but great things about this movie. Some dared whisper that it deserves Oscar recognition!
Just kidding – I heard it was a piece of shit. But I’ve watched the other 11 movies, so how bad can this be in comparison?
First off, I’ve been watching the square dimensions of early 2000’s The Dead Zone TV series for so long that it was a bit jarring to see the wide angle dimensions of a modern-made movie!
So, I’m just gonna soak up all this glorious corn in this wide-angle shot!
Why show all the gory detail if you can just write about it in a news post?
That corn face just might be the scariest thing that has appeared in ANY of the corn movies!
Some of these shots are beautiful, though.
There are some interesting images to be seen here. Gotta give the them some credit for this.
Here’s the kids are painting hog’s blood on the corn roots. It probably does something evil to the corn, I suppose.
I was wondering when they were going to earn their R-rating.
Finally, a little bit of impressive cosmetics at the halfway mark!
I think I’ll stop here for the night and see if the second half of the movie gets any better tomorrow (doubt it!).
Day 512: May 27, 2023
I’m now watching the 2nd half of Children of the Corn 2020.
Basically, the premise of this movie is: Why did the children kill all of the adults in their little town?
Well, it basically stems from the fact that the children were laughed at when they objected to the intentional destruction of their corn crops which had gone bad due to pesticides, etc
Yep, that’d be enough to send me into a murderous rampage when I was a kid!
The little corn children ringleader grabbed the preacher by his balls.
His eyeballs, that is.
Final thoughts on Children of the Corn (2020):
It was a competently made movie. You can tell Kurt Wimmer is no novice at this. Of all the Corn movies, I’d say this ranked 3rd on the list, behind only the original and the absolutely bananas Children of the Corn III.
But the biggest word that comes to mind after having seen it is: Unnecessary. There was no reason to make this film. It added nothing new. And ultimately, it’s forgettable.
Day 513: May 28, 2023
The Losers’ Club gives their review of Children of the Corn (2020).
Day 570: May 30, 2023
The Kingcast had a Patreon episode with a running commentary throughout Children of the Corn (2020) with Brian W Foster.
It appears to have disappeared from their feed, but I had downloaded it when it came out and listened to it today.
But sadly, no link because that Patreon post is gone. I wonder what the scandal was?
Day 568: Jul 22, 2023
***circling back***
Finally, I head over to the review of Children of the Corn (1984). Sadly, this book, being as comprehensive as it is, covers the 5 sequels as well, so I’ll be stuck in the cornfields for a bit.
Day 569: Jul 23, 2023
***circling back***
I’m reliving the Children of the Corn saga through “Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide”. This morning, I start with Children of the Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice (1992).
I need to start paying more attention to these cheesy movie taglines! 😂
“These children are home alone too. But their parents are never coming back.”
Next is an article about Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995).
While this article added nothing to my knowledge about Children of the Corn 3, it will always be remembered for having one of the absolute cheapest effects I’ve seen since grade school in which they used a miniature toy doll to stand in for a woman being picked up by a huge corn monster.
This was an absolute “I give up” moment on the part of the producers.
Finally for today is a one-page article in “Creepshows” about Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996).
Day 570: Jul 24, 2023
***circling back***
Now reading the writeup on “Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror” “Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide”.
Gun to my head – I can’t remember a blessed thing about this film!
Oh wait – I do remember now. This is one with David Carradine! How low he must’ve fallen to accept a role in a direct-to-video Children of the Corn release.
Continuing to circle back to podcast episodes released from books I’ve already read:
Here’s The Kingcast with an episode about “Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return” – a movie that was very underwhelming given the return of the most memorable character from the first film.
Day 571: Jul 25, 2023
***circling back***
I made it halfway through this episode last night. They went on for about 40 minutes and never did quite get to the topic at hand.
“They chose to do a close-up of Isaac when he opens his eyes for the first time in 19 years and he’s clearly wearing contact lenses. If I had contact lenses in for nearly two decades I’d be pissed off too.”
😂😂😂
I didn’t realize that John Franklin, the guy who played Isaac in the original Children of the Corn movie, wrote the script for “Children of the Corn 666”!
The final word on “Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return” (1999) is from “Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide”.
Still can’t believe that Stacy Keach was in this film. That man’s a legend!
“The mandate was to make a horror film that was smarter and cooler and more happening.”
Ummmm, LOL.
Last, but not least for today, I’m listening to Chat Sematary talk about the Children of the Corn remake that came out last year.
Spoiler: They were not fans.
Day 572: Jul 26, 2023
***circling back***
Just a few more days and I get to start on the next book of my journey, Cujo!
But first, I have to get through a review of that beloved Children of the Corn remake from last year and this episode from the Kingslingers.
The Last Rung on the Ladder
Day 243: Aug 31, 2022
After having been stuck in the corn fields for weeks, I now get to move on to the next story in this collection, “The Last Rung on the Ladder”.
Another story with reference to Nebraska? Why are we stuck here?
I have to say, “The Last Rung on the Ladder” is my current favorite story in Night Shift. There was no horror, no hint of the supernatural. Just a truly human, tragic story that was told with an absolute beauty of a master.
Next up is Dark Tower Radio who covered “The Last Rung on the Ladder” as well as “Battleground”.
Day 402: Feb 6, 2023
***circling back***
My revisit to Night Shift is nearly complete as Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came cover my personal favorite story of the collection, “The Last Rung on the Ladder”.
The Man Who Loved Flowers
Day 244: Sep 1, 2022
The 18th story in the Night Shift collection is the shortest one, “The Man Who Loved Flowers”.
Not a particularly scary title, so we’ll see how this goes!
Well that was a beautiful short love poem that took a damned dark turn at the end. Loved it!
So far, I’ve been impressed with the opening sequence and the light-hearted early 60s soundtrack. This is definitely not as amateurish as other baby dollar films I’ve seen.
It’s set into modern times and with no budget to speak of you can’t blame anyone for that decision. But the long shot opening scene following those kids, and then reversing course to the young businessman – it definitely had that nostalgic city feel of the 60’s.
An unexpected and fun piece of the King metaverse!
For what ends up being 5 minutes of actual story content, the end credits are as long as those for Avengers: Endgame!
To wrap up “The Man Who Loved Flowers” is David Farrington with an analysis of that short film.
I agree that the radio news brief works better if it were BEFORE the twist ending, acting as a foreshadow rather than after as a explanation.
Otherwise, 👍👍👍!
One For the Road
Day 245: Sep 2, 2022
The 19th story in Night Shift collection is “One For the Road”. I love picking up a book nearly 40 years after having originally read it. Everything is so new!
“…I wondered why God felt he had to make fools from New York City who would try driving around in southern Maine at the height of a north-east blizzard.”
Having experienced a large number of Northeast blizzards, I totally get this sentiment.
‘What’s this town, Jerusalem’s Lot?’ he asked. ‘why was the road drifted in? And no lights on anywhere?’
I love the callback to the first story, “Chapelwaite” which also had Jerusalem’s Lot connections.
Okay, so this story is more than just a connection to Jerusalem’s Lot. It’s more of a sequel taking place a couple of years after the events of ‘Salem’s Lot.
t’s been a while since I listened to Kingslingers Pod as they didn’t do much with “Night Shift”. But they covered the two ‘Salem’s Lot short stories, so it’s good to hear their voices again!
I agree with them that “One For the Road” was a big F-U to Mark and Ben from ‘Salem’s Lot.
Day 246: Sep 3, 2022
I’m not quite done with Night Shift’s “One For the Road” as there are a pair of adaptations in my queue to consume. First up is this “Dollar Baby” submission.
Now where have I seen that name before… Oh yeah! From last year when I binged on all those godawful Phantasm movies!
So they eliminated one of the main characters of the story – namely the snowstorm. For budget reasons, I’m sure, it was recast as fog.
It’s Attack of the Spirit Halloween Store!
Well that was a faithful adaptation of the story, really underscoring the point that the story probably isn’t worth adapting.
There’s one final step in “One for the Road” and that’s another Dollar Baby adaptation, but this time it’s a 42-minute audio-drama. Will it fare better than the 12-minute video that I watched earlier today?
The acting & production of this audio-indeed were of the highest quality! The fatal flaw though were the descriptive lines of dialogue that’d never actually be spoken in real life. Worst violation was the wife leaving a over-descriptive voicemail of what she sees from the car.
Day 402: Feb 6, 2023
***circling back***
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came reviewed the next-to-last story in the collection, “One for the Road”.
And finally, for the Night Shift revisit, Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came reviewed the “Dollar Baby” film adaptation of “One for the Road”.
The Woman in the Room
Day 246: Sep 3, 2022
One last task before I go to bed: Read the final story in Night Shift, “The Woman in the Room”!
“The doctor has told her that the ‘cortotomy’ involves sticking a needle into her neck and then into her brain… When the needle has poked into her pain centre, a radio signal will be sent down to the tip of the needle and the pain centre will be blown out. Like unplugging a TV”
I had to look that up to see if it was for real.
Perfection!
“He had discovered on that day and for all time that there is nothing in the world so perfect to set a twelve-year-old’s impression of his place in the scheme of things into proper perspective as being beaten across the back with a wet grandmother-diaper.”
What an absolutely depressing story to end a collection with! I’m not even sure I want to see the famous Frank Darabont film adaptation of “The Woman in the Room” now. Going to bed in a terrible funk tonight. 😞
Day 247: Sep 4, 2022
After having been totally bummed out by Night Shift’s “The Woman in the Room” I turn to David Farrington for some comfort.
The addition of a conversation between the protagonist (who’s a lawyer) and his client, the “prisoner”, was fascinating. It allowed for the explanation of what a cordotomy was as well as a conversation about what it is like to kill someone.
Excellent dialog!
Wow. This was one of those rare examples of where the film adaptation surpasses the written work. 30 mins long and no sense of padding. Exceptional acting, music, dialog, pacing. Emotionally gutwrenching. This makes up for all of the Children of the Corn movies I had to watch.
Listened to Chat Sematary talk about this short Darabont adaptation. They enjoyed it as much as I did.
And that does it for my individual steps for each story in Night Shift! However, I’m far from done as there’s about another 18 hrs worth of podcast eps covering this book as a whole.
Night Shift Overview
Day 248: Sep 5, 2022
Now it’s time for a whirlwind tour of Night Shift with The Losers’ Club as they collectively rank the bottom 10 of the 20 stories in the collection.
I agreed with 9 of their 10 choices, but I would’ve swapped “The Man Who Loved Flowers” (which I truly liked) with “One For the Road” which I thought was a bland snoozefest.
I went back to The Losers’ Club for the second half of their Night Shift rankings.
They put my favorite story, “Last Rung on the Ladder”, as their #2. And I completely disagree with their #1 pick, “One for the Road”. I found that one to be ponderous.
Day 249: Sep 6, 2022
I start of my morning with The Losers’ Club‘s third episode in their own “Trilogy of Terror” as the cover the nearly 1,000 film adaptations of stories from Night Shift. A 3-hr podcast isn’t ENOUGH to get to them all!
I wish I could say I enjoyed this episode, but it honestly brought up so many bad memories of the atrocious movies I had to watch to get through the Night Shift step of this journey, I may have developed PTSD from the whole thing!
Day 250: Sep 7, 2022
After that 8 hour marathon deep dive from The Losers’ Club, it’s a change of pace to have a light & brief overview of Night Shift from Chat Sematary.
Another fun & quick overview of Night Shift with Stephen King Podcast. I don’t know how old this episode was, but in their news section they were complaining about the delay in the release of the movie adaptation of “Cell”. 😂
Day 251: Sep 8, 2022
Nearing the end of my Night Shift journey! This morning, I started with Stephen King Cast and his review of selected stories from that collection.
Finished off today’s journey step with David Farrington‘s ranking of the Night Shift stories. Of all the overview episodes I’ve listened to so far, David’s came closest to my list.
Day 252: Sep 9, 2022
I conclude my Night Shift journey step with The Kingcast‘s 3-hour extravaganza where a different celebrity covers each story of this collection. Flula Borg’s contribution, as usual, was the highlight!
Day 254: Sep 11, 2022
Having fully completed the “Night Shift” milestone in my journey, I leave it with a few thoughts and stats:
Stories read: 20
Individual steps taken: 211
Hours spent: 185
Days passed: 128
Movies watched: 28
of movies in Hindi: 1
My top 5 stories of Night Shift:
1. Last Run on the Ladder
2. The Man Who Loved Flowers
3. I Am the Doorway
4. Jerusalem’s Lot
5. The Lawnmower Man
My bottom 5:
16. Children of the Corn
17. Strawberry Spring
18. Trucks
19. One for the Road
20. The Mangler
My proudest accomplishment of the Night Shift milestone: Watching all 10 Children of the Corn movies.
The most painful part of the Night Shift milestone: Watching all 10 Children of the Corn movies.
The most surprising moment of the Night Shift milestone: Watching “No Smoking” – the bonkers Bollywood take on “Quitters, Inc”. I will probably remember this movie most from the months I spent in this book.
The worst piece of media: The audio-drama rendition of “Strawberry Spring”. It was godawful.
The best piece of media: The award goes to The Losers’ Club with their 3-part, 8-hour dive into all of the Night Shift stories and related movies. I found that to be very enjoyable!
Up next – circling back to Carrie, The Shining and Doctor Sleep to listen to some podcasts that were released while I read Night Shift as well as some new podcasts I discovered halfway through. After that: The Stand!
Day 496: May 11, 2023
***circling back***
Day 497: May 12, 2023
***circling back***
Day 498: May 13, 2023
***circling back***
Day 500: May 15, 2023
***circling back***
Day 501: May 16, 2023
***circling back***
Day 517: Jun 1, 2023
***circling back***
The Kingcast had a fun romp through the entirety of Night Shift with Rob Savage, director of the upcoming film, The Boogeyman.