STEPHEN KING’S LIBRARY OF novels and stories has terrorised and tormented millions of fans across the globe. That includes Keith Thomas. Growing up, the Vigil director immersed himself in anthologies of creepy tales, such as those from Edgar Allan Poe. Thomas then graduated to the works of HP Lovecraft and, eventually, all roads led to the Master of the Macabre, King.
“I was probably in middle school when I read Skeleton Crew,” Thomas tells SFX. “His other books were too big. There was no way I was going to read a 500-page novel. I started with the short stories. One of the first King novels I ever read was Firestarter. It was very much of the stuff I was interested in. For me, the gateway into horror was horror fiction. And then it became film. Of course, I had seen whatever I could rent from the store around the corner. There were always a lot of Stephen King ones. I ended up watching one of them, then reading some of the book, and then watching another one.”
Over the years, Thomas found himself being pulled back to Firestarter because the narrative didn’t fit into the typical supernatural mould. There were no menacing ghouls or entities. Thomas, instead, relished some of the parental beats.
This story is from the May 2022 edition of SFX.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2022 edition of SFX.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Spooks Ghouls & Freaks Fools
WITH ITS ECLECTIC cast, broad comedy and supernatural farce, Rentaghost was a mainstay of BBC children’s TV from the late ’70s to the mid-’80s and like nothing else.
LOST IN THE SHADOWS
THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS OF INTERDIEW WITH THE DAMPIRE DISCUSS THE FUTURE OF LESTAT, LOUIS, CLAUDIA AND WHERE THE ANNE RICE UNIVERSE IS HEADING
NINE LIVES
ON SET FOR THE FINAL SERIES OF INSIDE NO 9. STEVE PEMBERTON AND REECE SHEARSMITH REFLECT ON THE TYRANNY OF THE TWIST
NOA'S ARC
CAESAR'S STORY MAY BE DONE AND DUSTED, BUT AS HIS CREATORS RICK JAFFA AND AMANDA SILVER TELL US, THERE'S STILL PLENTY OF TERRAIN TO EXPLORE IN - KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
TICKET TO RIDE
DIRECTOR BEN CHESSELL TAKES THE TARDIS BACK IN TIME IN HIS TWO EPISODES
SERVING FACE
HAIR AND MAKE-UP DESIGNER CLAIRE WILLIAMS ON NEW LOOKS
BABY BOOM
The TARDIS lands on a spaceship. It was very, very hard to shoot. We used real babies! I like to do things that I’ve never done before and sometimes that’s quite hard, with such a long career as mine.
BOXING CLEVER
DOCTOR WHO IS BACK AND THIS TIME IT'S TAKING OVER THE PLANET
WELCOME HOME
THE CREATIVE MINDS BEHIND THE LIVE-ACTION ADAPTATION OF THE FALLOUT GAME SERIES EXPLAIN THEIR ORIGINAL TAKE ON BETHESDA'S POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD
MONSTERS INC
THE TITANS UNITE IN HOT COLLAB GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE