Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished - Revised & Expanded Edition (43 page)

Herb Porter’s role is greatly expanded in the revised version. Born in 1933, he grew up in Danbury, Connecticut. An editor at Zenith House, he would sniff fellow editor Sandra Jackson’s chair! Hecksler called him the “Designated Jew.” He married Lisa in 1955 but they divorced in 1957 because of his impotence. He blamed this on having to deliver papers between the ages of 10 and 15 on a bike with a seat that was too narrow. Jackson confronted him about the seat sniffing and had him follow her up to the 6th floor women’s’ toilets where they had sex. It was his idea to co-write a book on Anthony Hecksler (
The Devil’s General
). 

Sandra Georgette Jackson, an editor at Zenith House, was having an affair with Riddley Walker but this did not seem to affect her desire to teach Herb Porter a lesson by seducing him. While the killings were occurring at the office she was at Coney Island with her 11-year-old niece, Dina Andrews. 

The last of the editors is Bill Gelb, described as an ‘Ivy League Tie-Wearing devil’ by Hecksler. He lived in Gates Falls, Maine as a child and attended Bates College, where he was known to smoke pot. He thought the ivy smelt like the seats in the Nordic theater in Freeport and came up with the idea of producing the
Alien Investing
book for Zenith House. If the story is resurrected we might learn more of Gelb’s childhood or of Gates Falls. 

There are numerous links from
The Plant
to King’s other fiction. The following links appear in both versions. The Beam is mentioned in a letter from John Kenton to Ruth Tanaka and appears to be a direct link to
The Dark Tower
cycle.  

In 1981 Carlos Detweiller lived and worked in the real town of Central Falls, Rhode Island. In 1975 Ben Mears and Mark Petrie briefly stayed there after leaving the vampire-infested
‘Salem’s Lot
. 

Richard Ginelli ran the Four Fathers Bar, where Roger Wade often drank. This establishment also appears in
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
as a bar Henry Wilson visited (there is no reference to Ginelli); and appears in a similar guise as the Four Fathers pizza restaurant, run by a Ginelli (no first name), in
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
. Richard Ginelli himself also appears in
Thinner
, where he was a silent partner in the Three Brothers (!) restaurant. In
Thinner
, he was murdered on 30 June 1983 and in both he has organized crime connections, so he could easily be the same Ginelli as in
The Plant
, which is set in early 1981.  

Riddley Walker’s Aunt Olympia lived in the fictional town of Babylon, Alabama. It is also mentioned in the
Six Stories
/
Everything’s Eventual
version of
Lunch at the Gotham Café
(John Ring’s mother lived there); and in
Dedication
(Martha Rosewall grew up there). There is certainly no coincidence in King’s choosing to have these three women all live in Babylon at some point. 

The following links appear only in the revised version. On Page 117 Kenton’s journal refers to the movie
Carrie
– “... remembering that horror movie where the hand suddenly shoots out the grave and grabs one of the teenagers...” 

Carlos Detweiller spoke the “Language of the Dead” to Zenith to get it to attack Anthony Hecksler. The “Language of the Dead” is also mentioned in both
Desperation
and
The Regulators
. 

As mentioned earlier, Bill Gelb grew up in Gates Falls, Maine. One of King’s earliest fictional towns, Gates Falls is a key location in
Graveyard Shift
,
It Grows on You
,
The Revenge of Lard Ass Hogan
,
Riding the Bullet
and
Sword in the Darkness
. It is also mentioned in
Blaze
,
The Body
,
The Dark Half,
The Dead Zone
,
Gramma
,
Hearts in Atlantis
,
Movie Show
,
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut
,
Needful Things
,
Rage
and
‘Salem’s Lot
. 

There are errors in the two versions of the story. In the original version the address of Zenith House is variously given as 5th Floor, 490 Park Avenue South or 9th Floor, 409 Park Avenue South. In the revised version the address errors from the original are not only left uncorrected but continue into the new Parts. Parts 1 to 3 give the address of Zenith House as 490 Park Avenue South, but Part 4 gives the address as 409 Park Avenue South on both pages 23 and 50. Part 3, page 38 has Zenith House on the 9th floor at 490 Park Avenue South, but page 23 of Part 4 has it on the 5th floor of 409 Park Avenue South. 

The Synopsis at the beginning of Part 2 reads, ‘On January 4th of 1981 Kenton receives a query letter from Carlos Detweiller…’ As the letter was written on January 4 (see Part 1, Page 3) in Rhode Island it seems the earliest it would have arrived was January 5. Indeed, also in Part One (Page 4) Kenton describes the letter in his memo summarizing submissions of ‘January 11-15th, 1981’ (this error was
not
corrected in the revised version). 

Herb Porter arranged a 25th Wedding Anniversary party for his parents in 1978, indicating they were married in 1953. The text indicates he was born in 1933 and states he married Lisa in 1955, divorcing in 1957. There is no indication that his parents are anything other than his natural parents, therefore it would appear this is an error. Page 130 states LaShonda’s name is LaShonda McHue, but on page 141 she becomes LaShonda Evans. In Part 5 we read, ‘I remember the narrative intro to that old TV show,
The Fugitive
. ‘Richard Kimball looks out the window and sees only darkness…’’ That character’s surname was actually spelled Kimble. 

In the early 1980s King included
The Last Survivor
as one of the submissions to Zenith House. The concept involved 24 people being put on an island where they had to survive for six months. One person was voted off each week and the last person got one million dollars! One wonders if the originators of
Survivor
had read
The Plant
? 

Will King return to this novel-in-progress? The first hiatus was fifteen years and it has already been over a decade since we last heard from Zenith, John Kenton and his colleagues. It appears King had lost direction at the time of the second hiatus and completion of the tale is unlikely. As King’s website says, time will tell. 

⁸⁵
Quoted in
The Lost Work of Stephen King
, Stephen J. Spignesi, p.151 

⁸⁶
Danse Macabre
, Stephen King, Chapter Six, Section 10. Nicholson’s actual movie debut was in
The Cry Baby Killer
earlier the same year. 

⁸⁷
See
Stephen King Collectibles: An Illustrated Price Guide
, George Beahm, p.85-87. The first three parts were limited to only 226 copies. 

⁸⁸
The Unseen King
, Tyson Blue, p.92 

The Poems 

Most of King’s published or known poetry was written in his college years or shortly thereafter. Poetry is an art that continues its slow death in the written form but remains vibrant in its oft-unrecognized incarnation as popular music lyrics. Rap artists, for instance, are but modern members of the Poet’s Guild. King has retained an enormous appreciation for modern music throughout his life and one wonders at the lyrics he might write for one of the great solo performers or rock bands. 

In total there are fifteen known King poems but only three have been published in his collections.
Brooklyn August
, a wistful and elegiac homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ last season in New York, appears in
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
. That poem was first published in
Io
(Number 10) in 1971 and was not republished until Tyson Blue’s
The Unseen King
in 1989, in which he tells the remarkable story of its rediscovery.  

For Owen
(1985), written for King’s younger son, has a hilarious fantasy quality, and appears in
Skeleton Crew
. Its only other published appearance is in
Rosebud
magazine, #27, for Summer 2003. The third,
Paranoid: A Chant
(1985), a harrowing testimony to madness, also appears in
Skeleton Crew
. 

The following poems were mostly published during or just after King’s college years, yet to date King has not included any of them in his collections. Perhaps he has been concerned with the unevenness of the work or considers them too strong a juxtaposition to his prose.  

However, there have recently been signs of King’s softening in this matter, with his agreement allowing six to be republished in Cemetery Dance’s spectacular dark horror poetry collection,
The Devil’s Wine
(2004), edited by the fine writer, Tom Piccirilli. Although Piccirilli requested all eight poems known at the time (
Dino
was not ‘discovered’ until March 2004) it is unclear why King chose not to allow the republication of the two from
Contraband
,
Woman with Child
and an untitled poem beginning with the line, ‘She has gone to sleep while …’  

In 2009 King again began to publish poetry
–
Mostly Old Men
and
The Bone Church
(2009), and
Tommy
(2010). And, as discussed later, King also kindly agreed to allow
Dino
to be reproduced in this book. 

Harrison State Park ’68
(1968) 

In this America Under Siege poem the narrator describes a mixed bag of images, including a little girl dead on a hopscotch grid and a cow’s skeleton in Death Valley.
Harrison State Park ’68
first appeared in the University of Maine literary magazine,
Ubris
,
for Fall 1968. Its only subsequent publication is in
The Devil’s Wine
, which is the easiest access point for readers. It is also possible to photocopy the original
Ubris
at the Raymond H. Fogler Library of the University of Maine at Orono. 

The poem, the first of King’s to be published, is headed by two quotes. “All mental disorders are simply detective strategies for handling difficult life situations” (Thomas Szasz); “And I feel like homemade shit” (Ed Sanders). Harrison State Park itself is also mentioned in
Rage
. In that Bachman novel, Charles Decker took a girl called Annmarie there. 

The verse about the dead little girl (a recurring theme in King’s prose in such works as
The Dead Zone
,
The Huffman Story
and
The Green Mile
) reads:  

We have not spilt the blood/ They have spilt the blood/ A little girl lies dead/ On the hopscotch grid/ No matter/
–
Can you do it?/ She asked shrewdly/ With her Playtex living bra/ cuddling breasts/ softer than a handful of wet Fig Newtons./ Old enough to bleed/ Old enough to slaughter/ The old farmer said/ And grinned at the white/ Haystack sky/ With sweaty teeth. 

A possible portent of
The Stand
appears in one verse, “and someone said/
–
Someday there will be skeletons/ on the median strip of the Hollywood Freeway.”  

There are strong sexual overtones in this poem, perhaps not surprising for a poet around his 21st birthday. It opens, “
–
Can you do it?/ She asked shrewdly/ from the grass where her nylon legs/ in gartered splendor/ made motions.” Later there is mention of “Over a dozen condoms/ in a quiet box” and “call me Ishmael/ I am semen.” 

This work bears re-reading and is complex in its themes and tone, taking us for the first, but far from the last, time into the realm of murderous insanity. In retrospect it is one of his best poems, clearly part of the King canon and another signpost in the early development of the best-selling writer.  

The Dark Man
(1969) 

This poem was first published in the University of Maine literary publication
Ubris
for Fall 1969 and was reprinted without changes in a small magazine,
Moth
, in 1970 (in both publications the poem is credited to him as “Steve King”), along with two other King poems. Its next publication was not until
The Devil’s Wine
, nearly three and a half decades later, in 2004. This may be explained by the fact that this poem serves as the basis for one of King’s most significant characters, Randall Flagg, the anti-hero of
The Stand
and a key opponent for Roland in
The Dark Tower
cycle. As King reached the end of that cycle and began to consider future directions in his writing might he have reached a decision to “release” this poem from its close confinement? 

The figure of a/the Dark Man has consumed King and his writings from the time this poem was penned (and possibly even earlier); and the whole concept of the Dark versus the White lies at the moral core of all King’s work. It is therefore impossible to overstate its importance. Any reader serious about King and understanding his motivations, and that of his characters, has an obligation to read and study this poem. Its easiest access point is now
The Devil’s Wine
but the original
Ubris
may be photocopied at the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine in Orono. Alternately, copies of
Ubris
come to market rarely, commanding prices of up to $1000.
 

In an interview with Waldenbooks in July 2003 King had this to say:  

Actually, Flagg came to me when I wrote a poem called “The Dark Man” when I was a junior or senior in college. It came to me out of nowhere, this guy in cowboy boots who moved around on the roads, mostly hitchhiking at night, always wore jeans and a denim jacket. I wrote this poem, and it was basically a page long. I was in the college restaurant …. I wrote the poem on the back of a placemat. It was published, as a matter of fact, but that guy never left my mind. 

With this confirmation, the poem is linked directly to Flagg’s appearances in all versions of
The Stand
, both versions of
Eyes of the Dragon
and
The Dark Tower
cycle. Appropriately, no timelines are given for in the poem, which is an America Under Siege work. 

Both in its original reading and in retrospect
The Dark Man
is stunning. In only five verses King manages to deliver a horrific spectral being, fully formed to prey on our subconscious. The poem is headed by a quote from T. S. Eliot, “Let us go, then, you and I …” It is filled with lines of great beauty and horror: “…and over it all a savage sickle moon that bummed my eyes with bones of light …” and “…where witch fire clung in sunken psycho spheres of baptism…” 

The poem ends coldly, with a verse fit for a Flagg: “…and in the sudden flash of hate and lonely/ cold as the center of a sun/ i forced a girl in a field of wheat/ and left her sprawled with the virgin bread/ a savage sacrifice/ and a sign to those who creep in/ fixed ways:/ i am a dark man.” (Note that the “””
is
in lower case in the poem. Indeed, there is no capitalization whatsoever in the body of the work.) 

Donovan’s Brain
(1970) 

The original appearance of this 12-line King poem was in
Moth
magazine in 1970. Its next publication was not until
The Devil’s Wine
, the easiest access point for readers. It as an America Under Siege work. 

In this 104 word, 24-line poem the reader receives mixed images of Shratt, his woman and an electric tank, more of which below.  

Frankly, this is not one of King’s better or more accessible poems, at least at first reading. Michael Collings says this
⁸⁹
, “Based on Curt Siodmak’s novel and the subsequent film of the same name, the poem focuses on Shratt, the victim of a pseudo-science that transmutes into horror.” That novel, also titled
Donovan’s Brain
, was published in 1942. It spawned two successful movies,
The Lady and the Monster
(1944), starring Erich von Stroheim and
Donovan’s Brain
(1953).  

King writes extensively about both the novel and the films in
Danse Macabre
⁹⁰
. There he tells us (in part): 

Horror fiction doesn’t necessarily have to be nonscientific. Curt Siodmak’s novel
Donovan’s Brain
moves from a scientific basis to outright horror (as did
Alien
). Both the novel and the films focus on a scientist who, if not quite mad, is certainly operating at the far borders of rationality. This scientist has been experimenting with a technique designed to keep the brain alive after the body has died – specifically, in a tank filled with an electrically charged saline solution. In the course of the novel, the plane of W D Donovan, a rich and domineering millionaire, crashes near the scientist’s desert lab. Recognizing the knock of opportunity, the scientist removes the dying millionaire’s skull and pops Donovan’s brain into his tank. 

The operation is a success. The brain is alive and possibly even thinking in its tank. The scientist begins to try to contact the brain by means of telepathy … and succeeds. In a half-trance, he writes the name
W D Donovan
three or four times on a scrap of paper, and comparison shows that his signature is interchangeable with that of the millionaire. (“
he signed checks with Donovan’s name,” the poem tells us
). 

In its tank, Donovan’s brain begins to change and mutate. It grows stronger, more able to dominate our young hero. He begins to do Donovan’s bidding, revolving around Donovan’s psychopathic determination to make sure the right person inherits his fortune. The scientist begins to experience the frailties of Donovan’s physical body … low back pain, a decided limp (the poem again: “Shratt came on limping” and “…there was a drag of pain/ in his left/ kidney”). As the story builds to its climax, Donovan tries to use the scientist to run down a little girl who stands in the way of his implacable, monstrous will (
the poem tells us: “he tried to run down a little girl”
). 

King concludes his dissertation in
Danse Macabre
by saying,  

Siodmak is a fine thinker and an okay writer. The flow of his speculative ideas in
Donovan’s Brain
is as exciting as the flow of ideas in a novel by Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke, or my personal favorite in the field, the late John Wyndham. But none of these esteemed gentlemen has ever written a novel quite like
Donovan’s Brain
… in fact, no one has. For all its scientific trappings,
Donovan’s Brain
is as much a horror story as M. R. James” “Casting the Runes” or H.P. Lovecraft’s nominal science fiction tale, “The Colour Out of Space.”