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The Gwendy Trilogy (with Richard Chizmar)
Castle Rock has called Stephen King back home, but this time he’s bringing a friend.
The author has teamed up with Cemetery Dance publisher and fellow horror scribe Richard Chizmar on a new novella called Gwendy’s Button Box, which returns to the small Maine town King said farewell to with a bang in 1991’s Needful Things.
The fictional community was the site of some of King’s most well-known early tales: The Dead Zone, Cujo, The Dark Half, and his Different Seasons novella The Body (which kept the name Castle Rock for the movie Stand By Me, but shifted the town’s location to Oregon.)
Now King and Chizmar are returning with a coming-of-age novella that has a sinister twist, and Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive cover reveal. Here’s some detail on the story:
“There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.
At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.
One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: ‘Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.’
On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat, like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat…”
Based on that timeline, Button Box would seem to predate all of King’s other Castle Rock stories except The Body, since it is set roughly around the time that Johnny Smith, the wounded clairvoyant from The Dead Zone, would be emerging from his coma. It’ll be interesting to see if any familiar faces turn up.
King has teamed up with other authors before, most notably Peter Straub on The Talisman and its sequel Black House. He has known and worked with Chizmar, whose most recent book was last fall’s short story collection A Long December, for many years, and Cemetery Dance Magazine frequently publishes his short fiction and has regular columns about his books and screen adaptations.
“I had a story I couldn’t finish, and [Chizmar] showed me the way home with style and panache,” King said in a statement. “It was a good time, and I think readers will have a good time reading it. If they are left with questions, and maybe have a few arguments, all the better.”
The initial premise was King’s, then the two writers spent several weeks bouncing pages back and forth.
“Steve sent me the first chunk of a short story,” Chizmar says. “I added quite a bit and sent it back to him. He did a pass, then bounced it back to me for another pass. Then, we did the same thing all over again – one more draft each. Next thing you know, we had a full-length novella on our hands. We took a free hand in rewriting each other and adding new ideas and characters. The whole process took about a month.”
The novella comes just as J.J. Abrams is revisiting Castle Rock for a new 10-episode Hulu series that will thread together a wide range of King’s stories, including It, Misery, Needful Things, and The Shining — although not all of the ones referenced in a teaser trailer had a major connection to the town.
Cemetery Dance will publish the hardcover for Gwendy’s Button Box in May. Until then, here’s a full look at the jacket.
The author has teamed up with Cemetery Dance publisher and fellow horror scribe Richard Chizmar on a new novella called Gwendy’s Button Box, which returns to the small Maine town King said farewell to with a bang in 1991’s Needful Things.
The fictional community was the site of some of King’s most well-known early tales: The Dead Zone, Cujo, The Dark Half, and his Different Seasons novella The Body (which kept the name Castle Rock for the movie Stand By Me, but shifted the town’s location to Oregon.)
Now King and Chizmar are returning with a coming-of-age novella that has a sinister twist, and Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive cover reveal. Here’s some detail on the story:
“There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.
At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.
One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: ‘Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.’
On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat, like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat…”
Based on that timeline, Button Box would seem to predate all of King’s other Castle Rock stories except The Body, since it is set roughly around the time that Johnny Smith, the wounded clairvoyant from The Dead Zone, would be emerging from his coma. It’ll be interesting to see if any familiar faces turn up.
King has teamed up with other authors before, most notably Peter Straub on The Talisman and its sequel Black House. He has known and worked with Chizmar, whose most recent book was last fall’s short story collection A Long December, for many years, and Cemetery Dance Magazine frequently publishes his short fiction and has regular columns about his books and screen adaptations.
“I had a story I couldn’t finish, and [Chizmar] showed me the way home with style and panache,” King said in a statement. “It was a good time, and I think readers will have a good time reading it. If they are left with questions, and maybe have a few arguments, all the better.”
The initial premise was King’s, then the two writers spent several weeks bouncing pages back and forth.
“Steve sent me the first chunk of a short story,” Chizmar says. “I added quite a bit and sent it back to him. He did a pass, then bounced it back to me for another pass. Then, we did the same thing all over again – one more draft each. Next thing you know, we had a full-length novella on our hands. We took a free hand in rewriting each other and adding new ideas and characters. The whole process took about a month.”
The novella comes just as J.J. Abrams is revisiting Castle Rock for a new 10-episode Hulu series that will thread together a wide range of King’s stories, including It, Misery, Needful Things, and The Shining — although not all of the ones referenced in a teaser trailer had a major connection to the town.
Cemetery Dance will publish the hardcover for Gwendy’s Button Box in May. Until then, here’s a full look at the jacket.
>>> Source
Comments
There will be a signed Limited Edition and signed Lettered Edition of this title announced by Lonely Road Books soon (but not just yet!), and we recommend signing up for the LRB newsletter or following them on Twitter and Facebook for updates because the print run will be extremely low. Collectors who purchased the previous Lonely Road Books title will be offered the signed editions first. Then, due to the high demand and the VERY low print run (among the lowest for a Stephen King Limited Edition in many years), the remaining copies will be offered via a "random drawing" process. This has been the standard practice for some other presses dealing in Stephen King Limited Editions and it seems like the most fair way to sell this small of a print run. Every interested collector will get "one entry" and have the same chance of winning the right to purchase ONE copy of the Limited Edition or the Lettered Edition. You don't have to watch a website at a specific time and hope to get lucky with timing your order just right, etc. So, it doesn't matter where in the world you live or when you work or if you're going to be away for a day. Every collector will have the same chance of being able to purchase a copy for their collection. Follow Lonely Road Books for complete
— Publishers Weekly
http://www.thenocturnalreadersbox.com/
HAIL TO THE KING
Hey Nocturnal Reader's, we are thrilled to announce that we have been working with Cemetery Dance to create an exclusive Nocturnal Reader's Box edition for Stephen King and Richard Chizmar's upcoming "Gwendy's Button Box."
This will be something that you will not be able to get anywhere else and we are very grateful to the team at Cemetery Dance, D&V agency, Richard Chizmar and of course Stephen King. Which brings us to the Theme of June: All Hail the King. We will have limited boxes and once they are sold, they will never be printed again! We will tease the new cover art soon! It's completely different from the trade edition cover, and its beautiful!
It will be a highly collectible box with a very limited run on this cover. Everything in this box is limited to this box for this month On Sale May 1st 12am CST. They will sell out!!! We can't save any for anyone, first come first serve.
Booklist Reviews 2017 May #1
*Starred Review* Castle Rock, Maine, is known for the
strange things that always seem to happen there. It has been a while since King
let his imagination wander back to this beloved location, but with the help of
award-winning author Chizmar, Castle Rock reveals one of its best secrets yet.
Readers meet Gwendy in the summer of 1974, as she climbs the 305 Suicide Steps
to the top of Castle View to find a man in a dark suit and hat waiting for her
on a bench. He has something to give her, something beautiful but sinister: the
button box. It dispenses valuable coins and amazing chocolate treats, but it
can also be used to cause worldwide devastation—and Gwendy is charged with
keeping the box safe for the foreseeable future. This coming-of-age novella is
told in a tone that is both sweet and ominous. As she grows from a plump
12-year-old to a college graduate, Gwendy's time as the steward of the box is
filled with its share of utter happiness and crushing sorrow. Where the story
shines is in the universal questions it asks: how much of any of our lives is
our own doing versus a result of intervention from an unseen force? And how
much power do any of us have to save the world—or destroy it? Readers will
eagerly devour this thought-provoking, satisfying tale, even as it leaves them
unsettled. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.
Can't wait to see what else King related is in the box.
About the Book:
When Gwendy Peterson was twelve, a mysterious stranger named Richard Farris gave her a mysterious box for safekeeping. It offered treats and vintage coins, but it was dangerous. Pushing any of its seven colored buttons promised death and destruction.
Years later, the button box entered Gwendy’s life again. A successful novelist and a rising political star, she was once again forced to deal with the temptation that box represented.
Now, evil forces seek to possess the button box and it is up to Senator Gwendy Peterson to keep it from them. At all costs. But where can you hide something from such powerful entities?
In Gwendy’s Final Task, “horror giants” (Publishers Weekly) Stephen King and Richard Chizmar take us on a journey from Castle Rock to another famous cursed Maine city to the MF-1 space station, where Gwendy must execute a secret mission to save the world. And, maybe, all worlds.
Published as a trade hardcover edition:
• Printed on acid-free paper
• Bound in cloth with colored head and tail bands
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Wrapped in a full-color dust jacket
• Retail price $28
Reviews and Praise for the Gwendy trilogy:
"Man, I love this story! The whole thing just races and feels so right-sized and so scarily and sadly relevant. Loved the characters... and the sense of one little girl's connection to the whole world through this weird device. It all just sang."
— JJ Abrams
"Horror giants King (End of Watch) and Chizmar (A Long December) revisit one of King's most popular locales... (this) story packs quite a punch, and the only complaint readers will likely have is that it isn't longer."
— Publishers Weekly
"
Where the story shines is in the universal questions it asks: how much of any of our lives is our own doing versus a result of intervention from an unseen force? And how much power do any of us have to save the world—or destroy it? Readers will eagerly devour this thought-provoking, satisfying tale, even as it leaves them unsettled."
— Booklist